23 day round trip

[Southwest Dave]

You have a wonderful adventure to look forward to !!

Here are my thoughts on a couple of things that are worth considering.

1 - 3 - San Francisco

You could depart in the afternoon of 3 and stop over around Carmel giving you a little extra time for all the scenic stops down the coast.

5 - LA (we have no real interest in LA, other then staying the night)

LA has much to offer but with your itinerary you will likely arrive later in the afternoon and have to leave at reasonably early time next morning. I'm not sure it's worth using that time when you will spend a lot of it in traffic. You could stop over in Morro bay/Pismo beach and go through Santa Barbara and Ventura and go across the top of the city to Joshua tree NP.

Lake Havasu was mostly a stopover, could be any other place in that region, only thing I found interesting there is London Bridge.

Heading to Lake Havasu from Joshua tree means you could stop to see the bridge and continue to Williams same day.

8-9 - Grand Canyon
10 - Monument Valley (perhaps going to Page same day)

Tough choice, as you could head out through Monument valley to Moab to see Arches NP and then head to Bryce canyon via UT24 and scenic 12 through Escalante. You would need to spend a full day or 2nights but if you skip LA and drive through Lake Havasu you have freed some time. US191/UT24/12 is a fantastic drive ! (Either way you could consider staying just outside the east entrance of the Grand canyon for your 2nd night at Cameron Trading post.

18 - Bishop
19 - Bodie

From Vegas you really want to drive through Death valley and make a few stops. With that in mind you could stop at Lone Pine, maybe check out the Alabama hills and Mobus arch. Great views of Mt Whitney ! Then stop in Lee vining before heading across Tioga pass into Yosemite valley, take your time, it's spectacular up there !

As mentioned in the title, your trip looks great and these are only considerations I suggest you look at. I would get your NP park lodgings sorted asap, or those close by as they are very popular. September is a brilliant time to be travelling this area !

With regards to ther National parks, purchase an annual pass at the first one you visit as it will be cheaper than buying individually. Secondly, if you wish to go to Alcatraz (recommended) I would book tickets in advance using the official ticket office.

Keep coming back if you have more questions, if not please return and share your trip story with us.

Dave

[Tehshort]

Thank you so much for the great input Dave.
Actually a great idea, and go through the top of LA..

You got some great points and we will look into them..
We/I sure will come back if we have more questions, and very much so, when the trip is over, and share it with you all..

All the help so far, from everyone is much appreciated.

[Tehshort]

Once again I kindly ask for feedback to the route and if it is doable in 2 weeks' time.

We originally planned a 3 weeks trip, but due to vacation time available, it will be shortened to 2 weeks.
This is the plan, what do you guys think?

Day
1 - 3 - San Francisco
3 - 4 - Yosemite
4 - 5 - Yosemite - Bodie - Las Vegas (through death valley)
5 - 6 - Las Vegas
6 - 7 - Las Vegas - Zion
7 - 8 - Zion - Bryce Canyon
8 - 9 - Bryce Canyon - Monument valley
9 - 10 - Monument Valley - Grand Canyon
10 - 11 - Grand Canyon - Kingman/Lake Havasu
12 - 13 - Kingman/Lake Havasu - LA
13 - 14 LA
14 - Fly out

It is about 3538km / 2198 miles

Would it be to tight a trip? Is there somewhere worth going to on that route, and/or something you need should be changed?

Merged threads as it's essentially same trip and some previous advice valid.

[Southwest Dave]

Your revised plan is doable and if you are happy to keep on the move will be enjoyable. What you need to consider is your travel times and if that leaves you enough time at each destination to keep you satisfied. For example Yosemite, one of the greatest spots on earth ! If I am reading your plan correctly you really won't have time to do it justice as you basically have a day there at best. To stay a night on the east side of Yosemite (Lee vining) would give you a long day to visit Bodie and Death valley and get to Las Vegas, but the highlights of Yosemite are on the west side of the mountains. So the individual decisions we have to make are do we take it steady and skip certain things or hurry through to see more ? Personally I would re-think Bodie, Monument valley and Kingman/Lake Havasu (or at least visiting all of them) and spending more time in the National parks. At the end of the day it's your trip and only you can decide what works best, but this is what mine might look like.

Night 1-2 San Francisco
3/4 > Yosemite (West side. Explore valley and Glacier point)
5>Lee vining/Bishop. (Explore Tioga pass. Bodie?)
6/7 > Las Vegas
8-9 >Zion NP
10>Bryce canyon
11> Grand canyon village.
12> Kingman (after exploring more of Grand canyon through the day)
13/14? LA

[Tehshort]

Thanks for merging the two threads, didnt think about adding new questions in existing thread.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and your absolutely right, that we would also want to take in the places we see, and not rush through it all, so we will be cutting more, then just the coast route.
Thanks

[Tehshort]

Got a question, and was unsure where it belongs..
Me and my brother will be going on a road trip this September, and we will start out in San Francisco, and head north over Golden Gate, to get a viewpoint just west of the bridge, not the question is, since we will be going to Yosemite after that, and I know that there is a toll going south on Golden Gate, is there a toll on Richmond Bridge?

[Southwest Dave]

I don't think there is a toll across Richmond eastbound but there is if you use 1-580 express lanes. You can find Toll details for the Bay area here.

There can be lovely views looking down to the GG, SF and Alcatraz from the Marin headlands on Conzelman road but check the weather, if there is fog (which can be a lottery) you won't see anything. If you use CA120 into Yosemite you will get some great views along the Priests grade.

(I have moved your post to the original thread as we try to keep a 'One thread, one trip policy'. It's easier for you to find all the info, us to follow what has and hasn't been covered and for anyone using the search function who is doing a similar trip and looking for answers, they can see all relevant info in one place)

Dave

[Tehshort]

Thank you so much again Southwest Dave.

Yah I know it can be a bit of a lottery with the fog, but we will take the chance and see, other then that the plan is a day or 2 in SF.

[Midwest Michael]

Just confirming what Dave said, tolls on the Richmond bridge are only collected for West bound traffic.

The rule of thumb is that for bay area bridges, you're charged heading towards San Francisco - so westbound, except for the golden gate which charges southbound.

[Tehshort]

Thank you Michael, I looked at google maps as well, and can see toll booths on roads towards San Francisco.