Legas -> SF campervan trip in Sept & Oct, do we need to book ahead?

[japher]

Hi all,

My girlfriend and I are planning a 3 week trip starting in Las Vegas then travelling in a campervan via Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce and Yosemite all the way to San Francisco.

Our planned route is here:
http://tinyurl.com/24zcsrd

We'll be arriving in during the last week of September, and staying until the second week in October.

One question: do you think we'll need to book the national park campsites in advance?

I'm hoping that it will be quiet enough by that time of year that we can just turn up. We'd rather not have to limit ourselves by booking up a rigid schedule up front. Anyone have experience of the campsites at this time of year?

[Mass Tim]

While I don't have experience with those campgrounds at that time of year, I don't think you'd have to book ahead, at least weekdays. However, you will want to have your options open, with a Plan B in case you are unable to get into the park campground of your choosing. That most likely would be to know what nearby campgrounds there are and to have the contact information handy.

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

We were starting our RV trip as yours is ending, and although we booked in advance there were empty spaces. If you don't want to stick to a fixed schedule you should be OK but keep in mind that if the parks are booked up it can be quite a drive in and out of them when staying outside. We decided that booking would give us peace of mind as we really wanted to stay in the park, and if we fell a little behind we could forfeit the booking and $18 or so for that night.

It's also worth pointing out that if you have a large RV the number of sites to accommodate them can be limited.

You can see the sites we stayed in the link above, plus if you go through Tonopah late in the day there is the Millers rest area where you can stop the night free of charge.

With 3 weeks you could visit Monument valley and Capitol Reef and you could head through Death valley between Zion and Yosemite, it just depends on the pace you want to set yourselves.

[japher]

Sorry for the late response, I actually forgot I had posted this question!

Many thanks for the replies. We only have a small camper van so I think we may just chance it.

Dave - I'll certainly look into the details of your trip. I may have more questions :)

Cheers!