Las Vegas to LA via GC-ZP-Sequoia-Yosemite-SF

[ecat]

Dear Forum
I’ve been reading avidly since I joined and I have found all the different posts really useful. My family and I are planning our first trip in August and we are all really looking forward to it. Could I please have your input on the following (I know it’s a pretty standard loop but I am struggling to work out if it’s doable without spending all our time rushing from sight to sight?
Day 1 Arrive Las Vegas
Day 2 Stay Las Vegas
Day 3 Grand Canyon South Rim
Day 4 Stay Grand Canyon
Day 5 Springdale (Zion NP)
Day 6 Las Vegas or Death Valley or Lone Pine
Day 7 Sequoia National Park
Day 8 Yosemite
Day 9 Stay Yosemite
Day 10 San Francisco
Day 11 Stay San Francisco
Day 12 San Simeon
Day 13 Los Angeles
Day 14 Stay Los Angeles
Day 15 Stay Los Angeles
Day 16 Flight out

As you can see I am unsure where to aim for on day 6. Should we/can we include any other sights?

Also where would the best area in Los Angeles to enjoy some relaxing time whilst still giving us access to the movie areas and a day at Universal (older teenage kids; we visited Disneyland a few years ago). I was thinking maybe by the coast? Finally can I buy a national parks season ticket once we arrive at the Grand Canyon to use there and for the rest of the trip or should I buy it before?

Thank you.

[DonnaR57]

Welcome to RTA!

I see a good pattern in your plan, similar to the way my hubby and I would plan. I will let someone else chime in about your day 6, though, as I've never been to Death Valley. Lone Pine is just a little town, and going back to Las Vegas probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense. However, others may have different ideas.

As far as a good place to stay in LA while doing up Hollywood, Universal is concerned -- there are some nice hotels along the coast if you want to stay there. There's also a Best Western and a couple of other places close to Universal, or stay in the Burbank area. (There's a decent Holiday Inn there, as well as a Marriott, in Burbank. Be careful about making any reservations in "North Hollywood", as some of the areas can be questionable.)

Buy your national parks season pass at the first place you go -- in your case, Grand Canyon. Grand Canyon, Sequoia and Yosemite all charge $20 entrance fee (good for 7 days only at that park), and Zion charges $25 (also good for 7 days), so that $80 at Grand Canyon will be well spent and saves you $5.


Donna

[glc]

To get from Zion to DV, you essentially have to go back through LV anyway - how far you get past there would depend on what time you leave Zion.

If you are going through DV, why not go to Yosemite via Tioga Pass? Upon leaving Yosemite you can go to Sequoia before SF. That would be a bit more efficient than what you have planned. A possible stop before DV would be Pahrump.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Day 6 Las Vegas or Death Valley or Lone Pine
Day 7 Sequoia National Park
Day 8 Yosemite
Day 9 Stay Yosemite

You need to cut out Sequoia National Park -- there is no way you can get it in -- unless the only part of the parks you want to see will be from the front seat of your vehicle.

Las Vegas or Pahrump would be fine, but I'd recommend you spend as much time as you can in Death Valley and then spend the night at Bishop. Very nice restaurants and one of the nicest B&B's in the area.

Mark

[Southwest Dave]

It's going to be extremely hot in Death Valley, but if you want to drive through with a couple of short stops, you could get to Ridgecrest or possibly Lake Isabella with a long day on the road and then continue to Sequoia NP next day. The problem with that is that you are leaving yourself little time at Zion NP if you are driving in from GC on your first day there, and then leaving early next day to get across DV. I would most likely opt for more time in Zion, skip Sequoia and visit the 'BIG' trees while in Yosemite at Mariposa Grove, and as above, head to Bishop for the night. You will then enter Yosemite over the wonderful Tioga Pass [CA120].

[Charlie H]

I would agree with those who have suggested you're trying to cram too much in to too short of a time.

I think I would devote more time to Zion and skip Sequoia. You have a 250 mile drive from Grand Canyon to Springdale on two-lane highways. Granted you will see some of Zion coming in from the east on Highway 9 but I doubt if you would have time for any more. Between Grand Canyon and Springdale, you are going to pass close to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park. Kids love sand dunes and it would be well worth a stop of an hour or so.

I would suggest going back in to Zion the next morning and then driving to Las Vegas, Pahrump (Lodging in Pahrump is very limited) or Beatty in the afternoon and then driving to Bishop via Death Valley the next day. From Bishop, go to Yosemite via Tioga Pass.

Since you indicate you plan to stay at Grand Canyon, Yosemite and perhaps Death Valley, my biggest question would be: Do you have lodging reservations? If not, at this late date, you're probably out of luck for staying in the Parks. If you can't find lodging at Grand Canyon our Tusayan, you are probably going to have to stay in Williams or Flagstaff which would cram up your schedule even more. When we visited Yosemite a few years back, we stayed in Mariposa which is a nice little town with some nice motels and some decent restaurants.

Have A Great Trip!!