xman

my son and i are considering a long road trip out west to see many of our great parks. thinking a renting a car in vegas, head to grand canyon, north to bryce and zion, then up to yellowstone. further north to nw montana, maybe some fly fishing, over to oregon to crater lake, then south to yosemite and sequoia, and back to vegas. very anxious for feedback on itinerary, expected timeframe, and great places to stop and see.

nytraveler

It sounds like a great trip - but I hope you have 6 weeks or so. First, since distances are not small, and second - you've included a whole bunch of places.

maps

when are you going and for how long? How old is your son? Suggestions for activities are different for a 6 year old, teen or 25 year old. All places you listed you may be able to visit in one month or one year. What do you want to do beside fly fishing? Do you want to hike, drive through these parks, drive by? Do you want to shop, gamble, focus on geology, history, natural history, etc?

xman

all good questions. my son is 28. we have not seen this part of the country so sightseeing is a priority. fly fishing, hiking, maybe some white water rafting would be fun. hard to know ho0w much time to spend in each place. thats why we are looking for input. hopefully someone has done a similar trip.

irishswampyankee

Last yr, hubby and I took 4 wks late Aug - Sept flew into SLC and rented a car and drove through Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Cody, WY, SW and NW MT including Glacier NP, through the Canadian Rockies - Banff and Jasper, then all the way through ID and back to SLC. A different itinerary but doable in 4 wks. We drove about 4,000 miles. I got lots of help- from this website, the AAA website and Mapquest for distances and travel times. We had wanted to be flexible but wound up making reservations throughout and were glad we did. I was amazed at how many people were traveling then so that's a suggestion, esp if you do your trip in the summer. It took lots of research and hrs for planning, but was well worth it. I would suggest you have a pretty good idea of where you want to go and what you want to see. That will save time and miles. It sounds like a great trip. Just do your homework and enjoy.

Ackislander

Irishetc is right. Many of these places are pretty isolated and have limited numbers of motel rooms (and that is your usual choice). Everyone wants to travel in July and August, so there is often little availability.


We attended a wedding in Glacier National Park two years ago, then did some touring. When we got to Whitefish, MT, every single room in town was booked -- fortunately we had a reservation.

Dukey

You might consider starting out in Salt Lake City instead of Vegas