Late April-May Roadtrip from Western Canada to American Southwest and Back

[shirohniichan]

Keep in mind that you have to use the shuttle in Zion from April through October, and that will add time to getting around. The first one leaves the Visitor Center at 7:00 AM, and the last one leaves the Temple of Sinawava stop at 9:30 PM.

[dmoore]

Alright, so after considering all of the advice we were given, we have created another draft of our trip, with minor adjustments along the way. Once again, any and all suggestions are more than welcome! (hidden fees, places to stay, eat, things to do, etc.). We're one step closer as our departure date approaches...we're hoping to reserve camping spots sometime within the next week or so, and potentially a hotel or two along the way if we find really good ones. Anyways, here it is!


-April 25th (Day 1)
Leave from Calgary, AB and drive until Idaho Falls, ID or Pocatello, ID. Accommodations are still unknown.

-April 26th (Day 2)
Leave from ID and take I-15 south to highway 17 (Hopefully arrive at sunset) to Zion National Park. Camp at Watchman Campground, Stay overnight. About $17 per night.

-April 27th (Day 3)
The next morning, do a quick hike or two in Zion, and hit the road for Kanab, UT. We will likely stay the night in here.

-April 28th (Day 4)
Sleep in, and hit the road. Stop in Page, AZ (about 1hr drive) and take the Antelope Canyon tour at 11:30am. Have lunch (Mexican food?). Head for the Grand Canyon Village (2-3hr drive…arrive at around 4pm)! We plan on camping--we're looking at the Mather Campground—set up our site and do a small rim hike; eat dinner. Watch sunset.

-April 29th (Day 5)
Get up early, do a big-ish hike. Leave by about 2 or 3pm and hit the road for Sedona, AZ. We plan to camp two nights in Sedona. Stay the night in Sedona.

-April 30th (Day 6)
Explore Sedona and do a big hike. Do something “cool”—rent mountain bikes, go on a plane tour, etc.—and stay the night (camp).

-May 1st (Day 7)
Get up, finish exploring Sedona, have breakfast and leave early for Yuma (long travel day) (where we will stay the night in a hotel). Dinner and a movie?

-May 2nd (Day 8)
Wake up, check out and leave relatively early for Niland, CA (about 2 hrs to Niland). Explore Salvation Mountain for a few hours, and then head to San Diego where we will stay the night.

-May 3rd (Day 9)
Wake up potentially explore a few things here, and leave for Newport Beach, CA. Explore the shopping scene, and hit the beach. Stay the night north of LA.

-May 4th (Day 10)
Wake up and hit the road to Santa Barbara and stay the night.

-May 5th (Day 11)
Wake up, check out and take the CA-1 to Santa Cruz (couple hours drive), where we plan to check out the "Mystery Spot" that morning and stay in Santa Cruz.

-May 6th (Day 12)
Wake up and explore San Francisco, check out the pier, ride Cable cars, and see the bridge. Date night?? Stay the night potentially in a hostel--"Adelaide Hostel"

-May 7th (13)
Once we get up, we will begin our journey home. We will stay in a couple hotels somewhere along the way as we'll be homebound through Redding, Kennewick and Spokane.

-May 8th (Day 14)
Finish the drive home, and hopefully arrive back in Calgary.

Thanks for your input...it's really appreciated!

[dmoore]

Antelope canyon is on my 'to do' list, but up to now I have not been. Like yourself, I have had to pick and choose wieghing up all the Pros and cons and it remains on that 'To do' list. Personally I don't think the entry fee is too steep for such an amazing place and I believe most tours are 1.5 hours in duration, or 2.5 hours for photographic, or extended tours, that cost more like $80. So it makes no difference if you have an afternoon or all day, that's the time you get. What adds time is getting there in good time for the start of the tour and getting away again.

It really comes down to personal choice, but my point with your current itinerary is that to get to Page for a tour, you will be limited with time in Zion to a few hours in the morning. That could work if you were to take a 5pm tour, but if you decide not to do one at all, then I would sit tight in Zion and have the whole day and evening to relax and enjoy !

We've re-considered and are now planning to at least consider Antelope Canyon again, and have included more time at Zion. Please check out my Draft two at the bottom of the thread and let me know what you think :)

[dmoore]

Specifically, we are looking for a decent place to camp in Sedona for two nights. I found this website: http://www.dreamsedona.com/sedona-campgrounds.html that lists a few popular ones that seem good. Any other recommendations? We're hoping to find one with a shower as we will probably be wanting one after all the hiking haha. A couple of them mentioned on the site do have them, but they charge a minimum of $3 at one place. Is this to be expected at all campgrounds in the area?

[glc]

May 4th (Day 10)
Wake up and hit the road to Santa Barbara and stay the night.

-May 5th (Day 11)
Wake up, check out and take the CA-1 to Santa Cruz (couple hours drive), where we plan to check out the "Mystery Spot" that morning and stay in Santa Cruz.

It's a LOT more than a "couple hours" from Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz, no matter WHICH road you take! I think you lost a whole day somewhere!

[dmoore]

It's a LOT more than a "couple hours" from Santa Barbara to Santa Cruz, no matter WHICH road you take! I think you lost a whole day somewhere!

Yes, my bad..it's around 5 hours, right? But even so, I'm sure it's doable to wake up, drive 5hrs, get to Santa Cruz at, say 3pm at the latest, potentially hit the beach and go to the "Mystery Spot", stay overnight in Santa Cruz, and head to San Fran the next morning (as it's only about an hour or so away from there?

[Southwest Dave]

It's all doable, but it's going to take longer than you expect. I would allow nearer 6 hours to Santa Cruz along CA1 and that's without stopping. I doubt you will be able to drive this great road and not stop, and why would you want to ? ;-) Start out at 8am and expect to roll into Santa Cruz around 4pm. Getting into San Fran will take more than an hour, I doubt you would manage that with a police escort !! Depending on where in SF you are headed and what the traffic is like, you should allow up to a couple of hours. Non of which are 'deal breakers', but when packing a lot in, I always veer on the side of caution, because it better to have too much time than not enough, as to not feel rushed, imo.

[dmoore]

It's all doable, but it's going to take longer than you expect. I would allow nearer 6 hours to Santa Cruz along CA1 and that's without stopping. I doubt you will be able to drive this great road and not stop, and why would you want to ? ;-) Start out at 8am and expect to roll into Santa Cruz around 4pm. Getting into San Fran will take more than an hour, I doubt you would manage that with a police escort !! Depending on where in SF you are headed and what the traffic is like, you should allow up to a couple of hours. Non of which are 'deal breakers', but when packing a lot in, I always veer on the side of caution, because it better to have too much time than not enough, as to not feel rushed, imo.

Hey Dave!

So we've broken the CA part up as follows:

-Wednesday May 2nd (Day 8)
Wake up, check out and leave relatively early for Niland, CA (about 2 hrs to Niland). Explore Salvation Mountain for a few hours, and then head to San Diego where we will stay the night.

-Thursday May 3rd (Day 9)
Wake up potentially explore a few things here, and leave for Newport Beach, CA. Explore the shopping scene, and hit the beach. In mid to late afternoon, head to Santa Monica and stay there.

-Friday May 4th (Day 10)
After waking up, finish checking out Santa Monica and head for Santa Barbara where we will stay the night. (this is potentially where we will stay in a nice hotel!)

-Saturday May 5th (Day 11)
Wake up, check out, and begin the drive to Santa Cruz (about 5hrs). Stop in Carmel along the way, and arrive in Santa Cruz later that afternoon. Plan to check out the "Mystery Spot" that afternoon or the next morning and stay in Santa Cruz.

-Sunday May 6th (Day 12)
Wake up and head to San Francisco (or check out Mystery Spot, if haven’t already). Explore San Francisco, check out the pier, ride Cable cars, and see the bridge. Date night?? Stay the night potentially in a hostel--"Adelaide Hostel"

-Monday May 7th (13)
Once we get up, we will begin our journey home. We will stay in a couple hotels somewhere along the way as we'll be homebound through Redding, Kennewick and Spokane. We are looking to stay in a place called Bend, Oregon.

-Tuesday May 8th (Day 14)
Continue the drive home, stop somewhere else

-Wednesday May 9th (Day 15)
Arrive back home.




How does this look? And also, have you done the Antelope Canyon tour? And would you recommend making reservations for it? What do you think?

I've also been looking for a good resource explaining what we are/aren't allowed to bring into the US border from Canada (in terms of food), but can't seem to find a solid reputable one. Do you know of any? I have read that fresh fruits and veggies are a no, and one place told me no meat or anything. I'm just wondering how we can go about packing sandwiches and such with such limited materials allowed to pass through. Any other advice as far as customs go?

[dmoore]

I realized after I posted my reply that we had already discussed antelope canyon and you haven't been yet..haha. We're just reconsidering potentially going back to the original draft in the sense that we may arrive at Zion, stay at the campground (we've booked our campgrounds now), spend the whole next day there, and leave around dinner or something for Page where we will stay the night and do the Antelope Canyon tour in the morning (and explore Page before heading to the Grand Canyon). Does this sound like a sufficient amount of time to spend in each place to enjoy Zion, Page, and the Grand Canyon? I realize that more time in Zion would be ideal, but I'm just trying to work with what we have (acknowledging the comment as well on the need to use shuttles in Zion--if we started our day at 8am or so at Zion, we could spend about 10hrs there?)

[Southwest Dave]

If you decide to do Antelope canyon I personally would book a tour in advance, especially as you are on a bit of a time crunch. Your trip along the coast looks just fine although you still won't make it to Santa Cruz in 5 hours when taking the coast road. LOL ! You will always stumble across things that you hadn't planned for and maybe not make it to some that you have planned for, but that's what makes the road trip great !

Bend OR would make a good first night stop, or you could consider stopping earlier and have time to take a 'peak' at Crater Lake with Spokane a good 'target' for night 2.

Sorry, I have no idea about the border crossing and foods.