Hello all,
I am planning a trip across the Southwest in summer. First thing is to set the timeframe ... I would like to avoid periods of school vacation in order to not hit the big crowds. How can I find out when vacation periods are? Is it regulated by state, or by county, or individually per school?
thanks for any hints!
mac

It's set by each school district, with some overarching requirements by the state. Keep in mind that a school district may have opted for a year-round schedule, with different groups of students on break at different times of the year. And private schools will set their own schedules. Of course, summers are the biggest break period, but exact dates are not going to be easy to pin down. When are you thinking of going?

The exact dates for summer vacation, in the case of the public schools, are set by the various School Districts and for private schools by the individual schools. While these dates can vary from state to state and district to district for planning purposes you can figure that school vacations will usually be sometime between the middle to end of June through shortly after Labor Day (early September). In other words, in the US "school summer vacation" is pretty much the entire summer.

In the summer you can expect to encounter hordes of vacationers if you visit any of the main tourist/vacation destinations like Theme Parks, National Parks, Seashores, Mountain Lakes, Resort areas, even some of the major cities.

Not trying to put a damper on your travel plans but almost all American families with school age children traditionally go on vacation some time during the summer months. There's no escaping that.

The you asked about California but mention the 'Southwest' which includes other states.

In CA specifically, some school districts break at the end of May and return the middle of August - but the next school district may not break until early June and return around Labor Day. And colleges/universities tend to have a longer summer break. Year round scheduling is much less common and has little impact.

If you are limited to the June - August summer period, you will not be able to avoid school holidays.

thanks, sludick and roamsaround,
our idea is 3-4 weeks between august 1 and sept 8.
i just checked this site publicholidays.us/school-holidays/california/
and it appears that most districts return to school between 13 and 23 august, so i would guess that the crowds start fading after this period.
which means that even though we will not escape the crowds entirely, the rule should be: the later the better, right?
(yes, of course, our itinerary includes the obvious places, NPs, theme parks, cities)

>>yes, of course, our itinerary includes the obvious places, NPs, theme parks, cities

(just noticed you are brand new -- welcome to Fodors

There is a limitation to how often one can post until they have been around for a few days (I think it is five posts before they take off the training wheels) so you probably can't post immediate responses. When you can post again -- answer the 'where' questions.

Just because California School Districts may resume their Fall terms in mid-August it doesn't mean "crowds" will dissipate. Vacationing families from all over they country will still be visiting California and the National Parks in that state as well as other states and parks in the Southwest during that period since their particular schools won't reopen until after Labor Day.

You really have to travel after Labor Day (this year that holiday will be on Sept 3) to see any appreciably decline in family travel and even then it's a time when many senior citizens visit those areas because, like you, they are hoping to avoid crowds.

Sorry, but like I said in my earlier reply, August is still "prime vacation time" in the US.

Is that new?

If you come before Memorial Day or after Labor Day, you will miss the main summer season. Most schools will be in session. September has the best weather in most of California, so places will still be busy, but not summer crowd busy.

>>Is that new?

Good idea.

thanks for the advice, everyone.

janisj: the itinerary i have in mind is probably not the most creative one: fly into SLC, Yellowstone, Zion, Bryce, Antelope, GC south rim, LV, LA, SEKI maybe, Yosemite, Monterey maybe, SF. always with 2-3 days in each NP and city. standard stuff.

so, of course, vacation periods in NV and AZ may matter, too. from the info on CA i take it that it will not be much different for the other states.

September is the hottest month of the year for most of the southwest including California. Las Vegas is an oven in July August & September. April 20 into May would be much better for decent weather, low crowds and lower-priced lodging. Many schools are changing their calendars and by next fall will be out unitl Labor Day.

>>September is the hottest month of the year for most of the southwest including California.

Families in Arizona head to California in droves when school gets out, mid May to late July/early August.

Sept is still prime time for visiting the Utah Natl Parks. It's not just westerners who visit. People come from all over the US and the rest of the world and the parks are CROWDED almost year round now. There will be no noticeable difference between summer, spring and fall. Also you need to avoid free admission weekends for the Natl Parks and the annual Utah school holiday weekend in October when everyone with kids goes somewhere. Look up UTA 2018 for the dates.

Not sure why you only asked about CA school schedules when your trip is the southwest.