Bucket list trip out west

[Sagelady]

Hi everyone, new here. All signed up. Want to use this site to plan a month long trip in the summer of 2017. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Here's the basic plan... Fly from Michigan to Las Vegas. Rent a small motor home/ van conversion. Here are the highlights.
National parks- Yosemite, mt Rushmore redwoods in California , old faithful, Grand Canyon. And any others worth showing my husband who has never been pasted the Mississippi.

Visit with friends and family- San francisco, ouray Colorado and flagstaff arizona and Mesa arizona.

Also " do" the pacific coast highway and travel around in the Rocky Mountain natl park area in Colorado.

I realize I jumped around a lot. Looking for the best order/ route in which to see as much of this as feasible in a month or so. Order of importance if this is to much to see and do in that time of course would be the visits with friends and family. The mountains of Colorado and the coastal area of Californis. What ever national parks that can be done along this route would be a plus.

Any suggestions from seasoned travelers? I have been to most of these places over the years. But would like to share them with my husband. Looking forward to planning the trip of a lifetime.

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA forum!

Well, you are right that right now, your list went all over the map.

The most efficient way to do a trip like this is a big loop. Based on what you listed so far, that would start from Vegas, head to your various stops in Arizona, up through Utah and Colorado to South Dakota, and then back through Yellowstone on your way to California. The great thing about doing a loop is that you wouldn't be tied to having to start/end in Vegas. You could compare prices for airfare/RV rental among any of the major cities on your route, be it Vegas, Phoenix, Denver, Salt Lake City or San Francisco.

Being that you are still two years out, the next best thing I can suggest is reading and research. Pull out a good map and really get a good look at the area you'll be traveling through, as it should give you more than a few ideas. Otherwise, just spend time making up a wish list, figuring out which parks look most interesting to you and your husband, and where you want to spend the most time. A month is a fantastic amount of time for such a trip, but even that time will go quickly, so you will probably have to do some picking and choosing for which places you spend your time.

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

Your best place to start would be with a good paper map where you can mark out the places you want to see and then begin to join the dots to create a nice loop trip. That way you could start and finish in either Denver, Vegas, SF or even Salt lake City depending on which one offers the best value.

From Vegas you could head to the GC and then through Monument valley to Four corners, Mesa Verde and Ouray on route to the Rockies before heading north to Rushmore and then towards Yellowstone. Then it would be head towards the Redwoods and down the coast to SF, through Yosemite and Death valley back to Vegas. You might want to check out some of southern Utahs NP's such as Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands depending on time and pace. Of course there are thousands of attractions to choose from along the way and thats where you will need to research somewhat.