30 day westcoast roadtrip (any tips?)

[luuk88]

Hello everyone,

We are two Dutch friends going on a Westcoast roadtrip. We've made an overview of the places we want to visit and a preliminary schedule of the number of nights we want to spend in every place.

San Francisco 3
(Columbia, groveland) 1
Yosemite Park 3
Sequoia Park 1
Barstow 1
Las Vegas 3
Zion 2
Bryce/Burr trail 2
Monument Valley/Navajo 2
Grand Canyon/Flagstaff 1
Lake Havasu 2
Palm Springs 1
Los Angeles 3
Road from LA to SF 2
San Francisco 1

We have the first part of our trip until Las Vegas planned pretty well. After that the number of nights per place is open for changes. We have a few questions. First, are there any places where you need to make reservations in advance? (we have booked a hostel in SF and a camping in Yosemite already) We are looking for some tips for places to stop on the road between Sequoia and Las Vegas and the road between Flagstaff and LA. Also, we are wondering if there is something to do at Lake Havasu in the end of September for two mid-twenty guys? What do you recommend for the road from LA to SF? We are thinking of taking the coast road, but have not decided on places to stop there. If anyone has some other tips, they are welcome as well of course!

Thanks!

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

Your plan looks pretty good and if it's how you want it then that's all that matters.

I would consider you drive direct to Yosemite as there is no real need to stop the night outside of the park and then use that 'spare' night you would have used in Goveland for the onward journey to Vegas. You could spend an extra night near Sequoia, or instead of going to Barstow you could detour into Death Valley. In fact I would head from SF to Sequoia and then go to Yosemite and drive across the mountains on the spectacular Tioga Pass [CA120] and across Death valley to Vegas.

I personally would also spend just one night at Monument valley and 2 nights at the Grand canyon. I can't help with Lake Havasu, but you could spend a night in Page AZ where you will find Lake Powell, Antelope canyon, Glen canyon and Marble canyon all nearby.

Cambria is a good midway stopover point on the coast between SF and LA with just one overnight stay.

Travelling to National parks in the summer months would require booking up in advance to make sure you got a bed in, or nearby to the parks.

The other thing you could consider is reversing the order of your trip and head south down the coast, putting the Ocean and oceanside viewpoints on your side of the road.

The links in this thread cover the area and you will find much more searching the forums.