Road Tripping in the USA!

[Amp34]

If you're willing to camp and "rough it" slightly there may be lots of availability just outside the park if you can't get a campsite in it. Lots of the public lands (Forestry Service and Bureau of land management) have free camping all over the place, but usually don't have running water or toilets (but some do). I'm not entirely sure about how close they are around Yosemite as I haven't been there, but there seems be lots of free camping locations.

https://www.exploreserac.com/10-little-known-free-campsites-near-yosemite-national-park/
http://traveltips.usatoday.com/camping-near-yosemite-35497.html

It's the same near many national parks as we found out over the last couple of weeks in Utah. The most beautiful spots were in fact the free spots. Many will be down dirt roads however so if you're taking a Mustang or something then it may not be an option.

 

[daz]

Just back from Florida and driving a Ford Explorer XLT for 2 weeks. What a hateful car. Would not recommend!

 

[Rich]

If you're willing to camp and "rough it" slightly there may be lots of availability just outside the park if you can't get a campsite in it. Lots of the public lands (Forestry Service and Bureau of land management) have free camping all over the place, but usually don't have running water or toilets (but some do). I'm not entirely sure about how close they are around Yosemite as I haven't been there, but there seems be lots of free camping locations.

https://www.exploreserac.com/10-little-known-free-campsites-near-yosemite-national-park/
http://traveltips.usatoday.com/camping-near-yosemite-35497.html

It's the same near many national parks as we found out over the last couple of weeks in Utah. The most beautiful spots were in fact the free spots. Many will be down dirt roads however so if you're taking a Mustang or something then it may not be an option.

I have camped in Utah in summer - I couldn't recommend it. It was absolutely sweltering To be fair, we had a standard Vango, British weather tent, which was fine for all the other national parks. If I were to do it again I would either 1)Get a cheap hotel with air con or 2)Pick up a mesh tent in best buy or similar.

 

[Amp34]

Your mistake was going to Utah in summer. Spring and autumn are peak seasons for them, it’s too hot in summer.

 

[mohawk]

Just back from Florida and driving a Ford Explorer XLT for 2 weeks. What a hateful car. Would not recommend!

I have a feeling this is the car that we have for the first part of our trip! what was so wrong with it?

 

[geekman]

Just back from Florida and driving a Ford Explorer XLT for 2 weeks. What a hateful car. Would not recommend!

Granted it's not the same as driving it, but I'm frequently a passenger in one of these and it seems fine to me? It's not a Range Rover, but then it doesn't have a Range Rover price either. What did you find so bad about it?

 

[Rich]

Your mistake was going to Utah in summer. Spring and autumn are peak seasons for them, it’s too hot in summer.

Just the way it fell we did a lot of parks and all were fine other than that. We did get a cabin in Death Valley though

 

[daz]

I was a bit harsh calling it hateful. It's just a big cheap box on wheels which is probably fine for what it needs to do. Think I averaged 16MPG.

 

[timmeh]

It's a Ford, of course it's a cheap box on wheels. The XLT is the one above the base spec model too so you're not going to have any creature comforts in there.

20 uk MPG isn't bad for a 290bhp SUV is it?

 

[Roland Butter]

All SUVs are hateful in my book, Americans have lost interest in overlarge saloons and
their love of big SUVs continues unabated.

Car hire prices have gone up stateside in the last year, not sure why.
I struggled to get a standard sized saloon for a fortnight for under £500.

 

[Ezah]

I am starting to plan a bit of a road trip for August and would welcome any input you have. I have been to most of these spots before but not for many years and I'll be with my wife and a 7 year old..

Any tips for places to stay or alternative way points would be appreciated


LA 3 nights
San Diego 2 nights
Yuma 1 night
Phoenix 2 night
Monument Valley 1 night
Grand canyon 1 night
Las Vegas 2 nights
San Francisco 3 nights
Monterey Bay 1 night
LA

cheers

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Is the 3 nights in LA are because you are wanting to go to Disney? If so I would consider putting that at the end of the trip, a jet lagged 7 year old at Disney sounds like hell to be honest.

Las Vegas to San Fran in one day is bit much for one leg and I don't think there is really much on the most direct route to do. It's 600 miles or a 9 hour drive without stopping which isn't realistic. You could drop a night in San Fran and spend a night between Death Valley and Yosemite. Even then that's a bit of a rush though Yosemite and you would arrive San Fran really late. You might need to knock a day off LA to make it work otherwise you only really have 1 full day in San Fran and your next leg wouldn't really work. Alternatively drop the day in Yuma and go straight to phoenix. Or you could fly and save a load of time but that's more £££.

It feels like quite a lot of distance for the time you have out there especially with a young child and it might not really be do-able. I will concede to those that have more experience on that one though.

 

[Ezah]

Thanks for that. This is early stage planning, but you are right about the jetlag part, and I hadn't really got into distances and drive times either, so that all needs a rethink. We have some flexibility with the dates too as nothing is booked yet, but I dont mind giving Yuma the elbow
Is it still possible to just rock up at a motel/inn on these routes or do you need to book ahead in Summer?

 

[Joe T]

I agree, that looks too ambitious for the time you have. California + Vegas + Grand Canyon requires 2.5 weeks minimum (based on the two times I've done that sort of trip) and that was without Phoenix or San Diego.

 

[rossk26]

Drop a night in LA at the start and add in a night at Mammoth Lakes in between Vegas and San Fran. I'd personally also drop a night off at San Fran and have another night along the PCH, maybe somewhere like Pismo. I wasn't a fan of San Fran, the chilling out at the end of the holiday along the PCH was one of the highlights of the whole holiday for me

 

[Ezah]

Thanks Guys, taken all your feedback into account. Thinking about just sticking to CA for now and building a more leisurely schedule between SF and SD, with plenty of stops, and leaving Arizona/Nevada for another time
While I don't mind the long drives, it may not go down too well with the family. 2-3 weeks just for that should be relaxed enough with a flight back from SD to SF at the end.

 

[sesevans]

I am starting to plan a bit of a road trip for August and would welcome any input you have. I have been to most of these spots before but not for many years and I'll be with my wife and a 7 year old..

Any tips for places to stay or alternative way points would be appreciated


LA 3 nights
San Diego 2 nights
Yuma 1 night
Phoenix 2 night
Monument Valley 1 night
Grand canyon 1 night
Las Vegas 2 nights
San Francisco 3 nights
Monterey Bay 1 night
LA

cheers

Hi all

I saw Ezah trip and I agree with initial comments made about it being ambitious but I am planning a similar trip (with no children) in late Sept/early Oct and believe it is doable without too much strain but a fair amount of driving. I am a newbie on this thread (Road tripping in USA) and would be grateful for any suggestions on schedule, hotels to stay in cities, type of car to rent for 2 adults and towns and lodges in National Parks and anything else you can think of.

Arrive LA and drive to Santa Monica: 3 nights
Drive 2 1/2 hours to Palm Desert for 7 nights with friends for R & R
Drive 6 hours to Grand Canyon National Park: 2 nights
Drive 2 1/2-3 hours to Monument Valley: 2 nights
Drive 6 hours to Las Vegas: 2 nights (not a gambler). Drop off rental car.
Fly from Las Vegas to San Francisco: 3 nights. After 3 nights pick up new car rental.
Drive to Monterey: 2 nights including visit to Carmel
Drive from Monterey/Carmel to Santa Barbara: 2 nights.
Drive from Santa Barbara to LA on day of departure. Drop off rental car.

Any thoughts and suggestions most appreciated.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Looks fine to me, driving to and from the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley will be a bit of a drag, looks like a whole lot of nothing between them.

Make sure you stop off at the Hoover Dam on the way into Vegas. You will almost certainly miss the full tour but the reduced tour is still well worth it.

I would be *tempted* to re-jig it so could do Yosemite and Death Valley for a day each. But that would would reduce the scope of the other places you visit.

When you are in San Fran stay in town, it will cut down on walking considerably and without a car you have much more choice. Public transport is good and there is also Uber/Lyft. If you are planning a trip to Alcatraz tickets are released 3 months in advance and sell out before the day. I would recommend going on the night visit, those sell out way in advance.

In Vegas stay on strip at one of the newer hotels and you shouldn't be disappointed (Wynn, Aria, Cosmopolitan). Some hotels like Caesars palace and MGM Grand are gigantic and it can take 20 mins to get back to the strip from your room if you are at the back of the hotel, I would avoid those.

 

[Roland Butter]

Is it still possible to just rock up at a motel/inn on these routes or do you need to book ahead in Summer?

You'd be unlucky to turn up in a town and everything is booked solid because
the Colorado Dentists Convention is in town, most towns have an array of budget,
mid-price and upmarket hotel brands.

But for peace of mind it's sensible to pre-book.

 

[timmeh]

It's easy enough to just jump on a site like booking.com before you leave. That's what I did when we did a lap of the US and didn't have a problem. In fact, we got some very good deals doing that, our hotel in San Fran was $125/night for 4 of us, just a short walk from Fishermans Wharf.