3 week road trip from Las Vegas to SF

[pickledseal]

Hi,

I have a rough itinerary for a road trip this summer but am looking for advice or any changes you would make. We will be camping in all the national parks and will attempt to reserve campground spots when they become available.

We have previously spent time in Zion NP which is why we are skipping it for Bryce Canyon NP, we have also been to Yosemite before so I would be interested to hear if you would move one of the days in Yosemite for a day elsewhere.

Aug 26 MAN > LV
Aug 27 LV
Aug 28 LV
Aug 29 LV > Bryce
Aug 30 Bryce > Capitol Reef
Aug 31 Capitol Reef > SLC
Sep 1 SLC > Teton
Sep 2 Teton
Sep 3 Teton
Sep 4 Teton > Yellowstone
Sep 5 Yellowstone
Sep 6 Yellowstone
Sep 7 Yellowstone > Elko
Sep 8 Elko > Tahoe
Sep 9 Tahoe
Sep 10 Tahoe > Yosemite (via Tioga Road)
Sep 11 Yosemite
Sep 12 Yosemite
Sep 13 Yosemite > SF
Sep 14 SF
Sep 15 SF
Sep 16 SFO > MAN

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

This looks like a very good plan and I don't see much anything I'd suggest changing. The only thoughts I have are pretty minor potential tweaks. I'd perhaps give one more day at Yellowstone and one less at Teton so you have at least 3 full days at Yellowstone, but if you leave Teton first thing in morning of Sept 4, you'd still have essentially a full day there.

If you're looking to spend one less day at Yosemite, Yellowstone could also be a place to use that time. Yellowstone is huge so it's really hard to spend too much time there. You could also spend a little time in other parts of the Sierras. Maybe Sequoia National Park (although that might be a little rushed) or exploring the Gold Rush trail. Heading over to Monterey before going up to SF is also a possibility.

[glc]

Welcome to RTA!

One comment I have is you may want to look at arriving and leaving from the same city, "close the loop". This may save you money on flight and vehicle rental costs. It looks like you have plenty of time, and this would allow you to travel south from SF down the CA-1 coast highway.

When you arrive at the first national park, which looks to be Bryce Canyon, buy a $80 annual parks pass. This will save you money over paying the admission fee at each park and may get you discounts on some amenities within the park.

Normal fees:

Bryce Canyon - $35
Capitol Reef - $20
Grand Teton - $35
Yellowstone - $35
Yosemite - $35

I highly recommend you use scenic UT-12 to go from Bryce Canyon to Capitol Reef.

Another suggestion - to get to Bryce Canyon from LV, take I-15 to Cedar City, UT-14 to UT-148 through Cedar Breaks to UT-173 to Panguitch.

When you enter Bryce Canyon, watch the short movie in the visitor's center, then drive to the end of the road and turn around. All the scenic overlooks will be on your side of the road on the way back.

[AZBuck]

Just to expand on what glc said and to give you some conrete examples, I did a search of available airfares for both the two one way tickets you propose to buy and two 'closed loop' round trips to San Francisco and Las Vegas. The results were eye opening to say the least!

The flights as you currently have them: £1,300 - 1,500
Round trip in and out of Las Vegas: £750 - 1,000
Round trip in and out of San Francisco: £575 - 600

I think that taking a day to drive between San Francisco and Las Vegas, which can be a scenic drive in itself and include Death Valley National Park AND save several hundred pounds would be the way to go. You could also use the money saved to upgrade to a better seat with more legroom, which can be very important on long-haul flights like these.

AZbuck

[Southwest Dave]

I would agree that creating a full loop would be better financially and more rewarding. You could go from Tahoe to SF, then stop over in Yosemite and cross the Tioga pass and through Death valley back to LV. It looks as though SLC is more someplace to break the drive between CR and the Tetons. If that's the case, I personally would look at continuing east on UT24 through Hanksville to I-70 and take US191 north. Far more rewarding than Interstate and you could check out Flaming gorge Res on the way.

[travelingman]

Zion?

If you’ve never done the Narrows Hike, consider doing Zion again. This hike IN THE RIVER blows away anything else Utah has to offer, in my opinion. It is VERY dependent on the amount of river current and the likelihood of flash floods. If conditions are right, go for it. If not, avoid it.

Id exchange a day at Teton.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EwZQQ52fOOs