San Fran, Yosimite, Death Valley, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon South rim, Phoenix

[ringfire]

Hi All

Love the forum. This will be my first post but not my first road trip.For honeymoon done NY 5 days, flight to LV 5 days, Dodge Charger to HDam, then down to see Majove, Joshua Tree. Stayed in 29 palms then on to San Diego, loved the road trip, it gave the bug to come back & do it again.

So here is my next trip which I am planning at the moment, looking at September this or next year but not fixed on dates. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I have been looking at forums to this is where I have got of my ideas.
The plan is both sets of parents & little boy, wife & myself. So six adults & 1 child (under 3). I would like to fly to San Fran & stay there for approx 4-5 days, then hire a suitable people carrier for us, first stop Yosemite, then on to Death Valley then Las Vegas for 4-5 days, leave there swing by Hoover Dam (others have not seen it) then onto Grand Canyon South Rim then head down to Phoenix for flight home.

My initial thoughts:

SF 4-5 days
Overnight Yosemite 1 day/night
Overnight Death valley 1 day/night
LV 4 days
Drive to Williams via Hoover Dam 1 day - stay in Williams
Grand Canyon 1 day
Head towards Phoenix via Flagstaff/Sedona
Fly home - Sadly does not give us anytime in Phoenix, one for another trip maybe.

Any advice on small changes to plan & places to stay would be great, thanks in advance.

Best Regards
Steve

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

It's what works best for you that is most important and your trip will work. What I would consider is one less day in SF and LV and add an extra day in Yosemite and more time at the Grand canyon, perhaps leaving later in the day from GC on the second day there and stop in Flagstaff or perhaps better still, Sedona and enjoy a bit of that area.

There are other options open to you if you were open to not spending so much time in the City, such as Monument Valley or even Zion and Bryce canyon NP's in Southern Utah.

[Midwest Michael]

If you aren't planning to spend any time in Phoenix, you might consider back tracking to Vegas for the flight home. Many times, you can find car rentals without a one way drop fee if you are going from SF to Vegas, however, dropping the car in Phoenix will likely result in a pretty significant one-way fee. Flights can be cheaper out of Vegas too.

Something to at least consider as you are pricing out your trip.

[ringfire]

Thanks Guys, will take note of both comments

"such as Monument Valley or even Zion and Bryce canyon NP's in Southern Utah."

Can you advise what is the attraction with the areas mentioned above, I will consider less time in cities but would like to know whats worth the extra trip for.

Thanks again

[Midwest Michael]

They are all amazing scenic and natural areas that really are unlike any other places on earth. Monument Valley, for example, is the backdrop for countless movies - especially westerns, and the spot where Forest Gump stops running, for example.

It would really be worth your time to spend a few minutes looking into these places (and others in the area) by at the very least looking at the websites for each park. For that matter, do a google image search and you'll at least have an idea of what you could see.

[Lifemagician]

... I will consider less time in cities but would like to know what's worth the extra trip for.

As Michael said, it is amazing country, almost impossible to put into words. Through all of southern Utah (and many other areas of the South West) all you want to do is stop every minute, every mile, to capture yet another image.... to take another photo, lest you forget the spectacular scenery and land formations.

The Grand Canyon may be the pinnacle of it all, but you could spends weeks in that area, and still want to go on seeing more. It is an area through which I have travelled three times and hope to this year get there for a fourth time, to check out all those places I have not yet seen.

If this were me, I would half my days in the cities, and double the time at Yosemite and the Grand Canyon, and spend the rest of time in some of the other amazing parks in the region.... Zion, Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands etc. Or even return to LV via Sedona and Oak Creek Canyon. The choices are endless.

Take your time. You won't regret it.

Lifey

[ringfire]

Thanks guys, I will certainly look up the areas mentioned, cant wait to get it booked.
Regards
Steve