R.V trip in Utah parks - need some R.Vs information
May 19th, 2009, 03:35 PM
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R.V trip in Utah parks - need some R.Vs information
Hi,
we are going to take a R.V in LS and do the Utah NPR toor including north GC North rim.
from LS -> Grand Canyon -> Bryce ->Capital reef -> Canyonland -> arch -> Zion and back to LS
the round trip is for 10 days.
I need help from the experts here on 2 things :
1) I can;t find too much article nor sites that can give me good infromation on campground for night stay with the R.V I'll approciate any infromation . since we are planning to start the trip on the last week of June Ineed to make some reservation....
2) for now we plan to be 1 day in each park , if you can tell me what are the MUST DO in each park above it will be perfect
Thanks in advance
we are going to take a R.V in LS and do the Utah NPR toor including north GC North rim.
from LS -> Grand Canyon -> Bryce ->Capital reef -> Canyonland -> arch -> Zion and back to LS
the round trip is for 10 days.
I need help from the experts here on 2 things :
1) I can;t find too much article nor sites that can give me good infromation on campground for night stay with the R.V I'll approciate any infromation . since we are planning to start the trip on the last week of June Ineed to make some reservation....
2) for now we plan to be 1 day in each park , if you can tell me what are the MUST DO in each park above it will be perfect
Thanks in advance
May 21st, 2009, 04:23 PM
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This will make a good route but 10 days will be a fast moving trip with a lot of driving. You will be covering over 1200 miles with a vehicle that doesn't go fast on some of these back roads. You don't mention what time of the year you will be going. The N. Rim does close mid. October so keep that in mind.
Las Vegas to the N. Rim is 265 miles but the drive is SLOW for an RV once you leave Fredonia. It's a slow curvey road so plan on 6 - 7 hours of driving time from Las Vegas. Since you won't have much time to see the park the first day, please plan on spending two nights here for one full day. If you want to spend the night at the N. Rim, they do have a campground but it's been years since we visited there. I do know you can make reservations and I'd do it as soon as you know your dates.
N. Rim to Bryce. You are going to have to drive back over the same slow road you came in on to get to Bryce. Plan on the 159 miles taking you 4 - 5 hours. There are two campgrounds in Byrce. http://www.nps.gov/brca/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm The campground is in a pine forest setting. Sunset campground is first come first serve and it fills up early in the day. North campground takes reservations and I'd advise making them if you want to camp in the park. There are no RV hookups in the park. If you want water and electrical hook ups there is Ruby's Inn & Campground near the entrance to Bryce. You can even pick up the free Bryce Shuttle buses at Ruby's campground. It's ok as far as private campgrounds go. We've haven't had to make reservations ahead of time there, but if you know the dates you might call a head a couple days in advance. I'd recommend spending two nights so that you have one full day to explore the park.
Bryce to Capitol Reef you will want to take scenic Hwy 12 over the Boulder Mountains to Torrey and then Hwy 24 to the park. This is one of the most beautiful drives. The Fruita campground in Capitol Reef is one of our favorites. It's first come first serve so try to get in as early as possible. Lots of shade trees and beautiful scenery. There are no hook ups in the park. There are plenty of private campgrounds in Torrey. You could probably get away with only one night in Capitol Reef by spending a little time of the next day before moving on to Moab.
Moab is 145 miles from Capitol Reef and plan on about 3 - 3 1/2 hour drive. Willow Flats campground in Canyonlands, Island in the sky district only has 12 sites, is very primitive and there is no water there. Great views, but this place fill up fast. There is camping at Dead Horse State park but we've never camped there. The only problem with making one of these as your base camp is it's a long way in and out of the park to Arches or Moab.
Arches Devils Garden Campground is small and fills up before 6 am. You can make reservations and if you decide to stay in the park that will be a must. As with Canyonlands, making this your base camp for both parks means a lot of driving in and out of the park.
If you are planning a summer trip, I highly recommend staying at one of the private places in Moab so you can have electrical hook ups. Moab will make a good location to visit both parks. There are several BLM campgrounds along the Colorado River on both Hwy 128 and Hwy 279. BTW, if you have time, drive out both Hwy 128 and 279. Fantastic scenery!
You will want to spend 3 nights in Moab for one full day at each Canyonlands and Arches.
Moab to Zion via I-70 and I-15 is 347 miles and will take about 6 hours. There are two campgrounds in Zion National Park. South campground is first come, first serve, has not hook ups and will fill up fast in the summer. Watchman Campground has electrical hook ups and you can make reservations. I highly recommend Watchman campground. I hope you can spend 2 nights in Zion to really get to see the park. You can leave your RV in the campsite and take the free shuttle buses into the main canyon.
We've had two different motorhomes over the last 16 years and we go to this area very often. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Utahtea
Las Vegas to the N. Rim is 265 miles but the drive is SLOW for an RV once you leave Fredonia. It's a slow curvey road so plan on 6 - 7 hours of driving time from Las Vegas. Since you won't have much time to see the park the first day, please plan on spending two nights here for one full day. If you want to spend the night at the N. Rim, they do have a campground but it's been years since we visited there. I do know you can make reservations and I'd do it as soon as you know your dates.
N. Rim to Bryce. You are going to have to drive back over the same slow road you came in on to get to Bryce. Plan on the 159 miles taking you 4 - 5 hours. There are two campgrounds in Byrce. http://www.nps.gov/brca/planyourvisit/campgrounds.htm The campground is in a pine forest setting. Sunset campground is first come first serve and it fills up early in the day. North campground takes reservations and I'd advise making them if you want to camp in the park. There are no RV hookups in the park. If you want water and electrical hook ups there is Ruby's Inn & Campground near the entrance to Bryce. You can even pick up the free Bryce Shuttle buses at Ruby's campground. It's ok as far as private campgrounds go. We've haven't had to make reservations ahead of time there, but if you know the dates you might call a head a couple days in advance. I'd recommend spending two nights so that you have one full day to explore the park.
Bryce to Capitol Reef you will want to take scenic Hwy 12 over the Boulder Mountains to Torrey and then Hwy 24 to the park. This is one of the most beautiful drives. The Fruita campground in Capitol Reef is one of our favorites. It's first come first serve so try to get in as early as possible. Lots of shade trees and beautiful scenery. There are no hook ups in the park. There are plenty of private campgrounds in Torrey. You could probably get away with only one night in Capitol Reef by spending a little time of the next day before moving on to Moab.
Moab is 145 miles from Capitol Reef and plan on about 3 - 3 1/2 hour drive. Willow Flats campground in Canyonlands, Island in the sky district only has 12 sites, is very primitive and there is no water there. Great views, but this place fill up fast. There is camping at Dead Horse State park but we've never camped there. The only problem with making one of these as your base camp is it's a long way in and out of the park to Arches or Moab.
Arches Devils Garden Campground is small and fills up before 6 am. You can make reservations and if you decide to stay in the park that will be a must. As with Canyonlands, making this your base camp for both parks means a lot of driving in and out of the park.
If you are planning a summer trip, I highly recommend staying at one of the private places in Moab so you can have electrical hook ups. Moab will make a good location to visit both parks. There are several BLM campgrounds along the Colorado River on both Hwy 128 and Hwy 279. BTW, if you have time, drive out both Hwy 128 and 279. Fantastic scenery!
You will want to spend 3 nights in Moab for one full day at each Canyonlands and Arches.
Moab to Zion via I-70 and I-15 is 347 miles and will take about 6 hours. There are two campgrounds in Zion National Park. South campground is first come, first serve, has not hook ups and will fill up fast in the summer. Watchman Campground has electrical hook ups and you can make reservations. I highly recommend Watchman campground. I hope you can spend 2 nights in Zion to really get to see the park. You can leave your RV in the campsite and take the free shuttle buses into the main canyon.
We've had two different motorhomes over the last 16 years and we go to this area very often. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Utahtea
Jun 13th, 2009, 09:24 PM
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Utahtea
Thanks for the detailed information .
I'm sure it will be helpfull for me , we will be there next week...
since the 10 days is a bit short for this loop I'm thinking to skip grand canyon, what do you say ?
Thanks for the detailed information .
I'm sure it will be helpfull for me , we will be there next week...
since the 10 days is a bit short for this loop I'm thinking to skip grand canyon, what do you say ?
Jun 14th, 2009, 05:08 AM
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I haven't RV=ed in years but when I was a kid, my family spent the summer in one traveling around the US and visited all the parks you listed. We loved them! It was a great experience and I hope to recreate it with my own family some day.
We only occasionally stayed in "backcountry" type campsites with no hook ups. We preferred parks with water and electricity, pools, stores, and other services. I guess we were a little wimpy, but we loved being able to take a swim!
I remember our bibles for finding parks were campground guides from AAA by state and:
http://koa.com/
http://www.goodsamclub.com/
This was in the 70s, so no internet. We had guides for all the states lined up in our camper. It was a memorable trip. I hope you enjoy yours!
We only occasionally stayed in "backcountry" type campsites with no hook ups. We preferred parks with water and electricity, pools, stores, and other services. I guess we were a little wimpy, but we loved being able to take a swim!
I remember our bibles for finding parks were campground guides from AAA by state and:
http://koa.com/
http://www.goodsamclub.com/
This was in the 70s, so no internet. We had guides for all the states lined up in our camper. It was a memorable trip. I hope you enjoy yours!
Jun 14th, 2009, 06:58 PM
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The drive to the N. Rim is long and slow and with only 10 days, you probably should cut something. Either the N. Rim or Canyonlands and Arches. If it was me, I'd skip the N. Rim only because I prefer the S. Rim of the Grand Canyon anyways. Besides if you haven't made any reservations for the N. Rim I don't know what your chances are of getting a campsite there. I sure wouldn't want to drive all that way and not be able to find a campsite.
Utahtea
Utahtea
