j4along

I am planning a trip out west for our family of 5 plus my parents and possibly my in-laws...so a total of 9. We are planning on traveling the first 2 weeks of July, 2014. We feel like this will be the only time we get out west and want to "see it all"! On our list of places to visit is Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park, Antelope Canyon, Zion NP, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Sequoia National Park. I have 3 teen girls and at some point I want to take them to LA for a few days. It would either be at the beginning or end of our trip. We are thinking of traveling in a rented motorhome. Cruise America has one way rentals that we are looking into. Am I crazy to think that we can cover that much land in 10-14 days? What other sights are a must see? Flights into South Dakota are expensive, so I'm thinking we will have to start our trip in LA. Thoughts? Suggestions?

garyt22

Time on the road for this trip is over 60 hours... I would eliminate Yellowstone and Mt Rushmore and maybe even Antelope Canyon as they are the farthest drive(over 30 hours)

Consider spending more time instead in Flagstaff, Jerome, Sedona, Meteor crater, Sunset crater and fly back from Phoenix

The Itinerary would be...

LA for three nights...Lots to see... Teen girl Heaven!!!

Sequoia... then drive to Vegas for an overnight...then Zion... then Bryce... then Grand Canyon... then Flagstaff... then Sedona... Jerome... and finish in Phoenix AZ...

This is a WAY Better plan ... Mt Rushmore, Antelope, and Yellowstone are EACH 12 hour plus drives for a few hour visit...

Good luck planning...

garyt22

PS... if you took that itinerary, you could even drive back to LA and save money on the RV and Air by making both of the trips roundtrip fares

janisj

Garyt22 has given you great advice. You simply don't have time to see/do everything. His drive time estimates may even be optimistic since a lot of those areas will be VERY slow in a motor home.

His suggested itinerary is totally doable - but parts of it will be very hot and most of your activities will have to be in the mornings.

tomfuller

Nine people sleeping in an RV? I don't think it will work out well. Check into flying to SLC and making a loop including Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce and Zion.
Drop the idea of visiting South Dakota.
In addition to the RV you will want to rent a full size auto (or van) so that you are not driving the RV into town to go grocery shopping.

Gretchen

Two motorhomes first off. Nine adults is crazy. Reservations probably necessary, so itinerary needs to be nailed down.
And no, you can't do it all.
I have no idea where this is originating, first of all.
Tom's idea is MUCH more attractive than the Arizona highlights.
What is the "call" of LA? And in a motor home?
The Dakota part is out.
Start in Vegas and head north to Yellowstone?
Grand Canyon,Bryce, etc.?

nytraveler

I can't imagine you can get 9 people in one RV - no mater how big it is. Never mind that some people might want some privacy - there simply isn't enough room. I would do 2 cars instead and stay at budget motels - I think you will find it much less expensive and a lot more comfortable for all.

Plus you won;t have to drive one of these behmoths on any small, curving mountain roads.

janisj

I agree re two cars vs one RV. I missed that it was NINE adults. That would be hell in a motorhome IMO. my guesses you never saw The Real Housewives of New Jersey episodes about easterners heading west in motorhomes.

Rent two cars and stay in nice motels - you'll spend less and be more comfortable.

j4along

Thanks everybody. I wasn't really looking for advice on how many people to put in an RV. I was looking for destination hotspots.

peterboy

In July, they'll all be hot.

WhereAreWe

I'm not sure which Antelope Canyon garyt22 is referring to as being out of the way, the one in Arizona is just a few hours from the Grand Canyon and definitely doable.

If you want to spend s few days in LA plus do all that driving, that's going to burn 8-9 days or more without factoring in time to actually stop and see anything. As everyone has said, you'll need to cut back and eliminate Yellowstone and Mt. Rushmore. Yellowstone alone deserves 3-5 days just to see the park and you don't have the time to drive there and see much of anything.

I wouldn't go into this trip with the idea that it's the only time you'll get to see everything so you have to pack it all into one trip. Make several trips covering the different areas and you'll be much better off.

I would also go along with everyone's advice to split into 2 vehicles, that way if some in the group want to go off and do something different for a day they are free to do so. And the 9 of you can switch around from car to car so it's not always the same people getting on each other's nerves. I know you don't want to hear that but your original post did ask for thoughts and suggestions so you need to be prepared to hear them. Honestly, with the amount of driving you have on your plate, there's no room to give suggestions for more destination hotspots so we really have nothing else to talk about.

jayne1973

If you want to do LA, sticking to sites in the Grand Canyon/ Vegas area makes the most sense. It would be easy to include Zion and maybe Bryce, too. It's gonna be hot, as I am sure you are aware.

If you do Yellowstone, it will be cooler and totally amazing, but LA seems so far from there. I wonder if San Francisco would be an acceptable alternative?

spirobulldog

I never understand why people choose to spend 3 hours in each national park and 20 in a car. Narrow your list way way way down. Like cut it by 70%. You need 5 or 6 days just in Yellowstone/Tetons. Another 4 could be spent in Rushmore area. There is your 10 days.

jayne1973

Forget my suggestion for San Francisco if you want to see Yellowstone-- way too far, too. Instead, Denver, maybe. But Denver is no LA! haha

Gretchen

As I suggested, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Utah, Tetons and Yellowstone.

Otherwise, Mt. Rushmore is a driveby. Badlands a couple of days going through. This and LA are the outliers.

WhereAreWe

I would agree with that plan Gretchen. I think the OP should plan a separate trip just for LA and the 3 teens and not include that as part of this family trip.

janisj

Definitely - if you can dump LA etc . . . a huge motor is NOT useful, easy in LA.

InSandy

> yup! spend at least as much time in a place as you took to get there.

j4along. I hope by now you have the understanding that you can't do it all in a 2 week trip. Narrow down what you really want. Each of the places you have mentioned (plus a lot of stuff in between them all that you haven't mentioned) are wonderful and worth seeing. It isn't like we can say "oh, don't bother with that, not worth your time". I feel like every American should see Mt Rushmore and stay for the evening program. Yellowstone is a treasure with a little bit of everything. We used to spend a week up there just fishing. I can't tell you how many times I've been to Bryce, Zion and Grand Canyon- I think I'm finally getting close to having seen them. Sequoia is wonderful, but if you head that way you really ought to include Yosemite. And I don't understand the appeal of LA- San Francisco is much more interesting.

So what else isn't included? Teton's, Capitol Reef, Rocky Mt National Park, Aspen and Independence Pass (which I wouldn't do with a motor home), Arches and Canyonlands, Monument Valley, Great Basin National Park, Death Valley (not a good idea in summer), Glacier, Olympus, etc, etc. I mean if you say you want to see it all you haven't even started... So give up that idea please and decide on 4-5 places that are fairly close together and not spread out across half the continent.

janisj

oops - should have said >>a huge motorhome is NOT useful, easy in LA.

ltt

so as you know...this is a crazy idea. don't know if this forum lets you delete your own post but i'd do that...do more research and come back with a better plan so we can give you some contructive advice. 9 people in a rv....oh my gosh...just shoot me now!!! even if you bring a tent along and some people sleep in that at night...that's still a lot f people in the vehicle while tavelling. and, just a word of warning...some of the popular spots in California are tricky to get campground reservations...you need to book as soon as the reservation system opens in the spring and cross your fingers.