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Hey travel forum, Me and a buddy want to do a road trip from Vancouver BC down to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. I haven't done a multi-day road trip through the USA before, so I'm wondering how to plan this. This a possible route: https://goo.gl/VhwS3W Google says a 21h drive, so we'd probably break that up into 3 days each way. Looking at sometime in August or September doing this, is tent camping a realistic thing along this route at this time of year? Should we rent a campervan instead? How much time should we allow at both Zion and Bryce Canyon once we get there? I'm a hiker so I'd like to do a day hike or two maybe at at least one of those spots. Thanks for any tips!
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Jul 12, 2017 20:20
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| # ? May 5, 2024 00:54 |
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Craters of the Moon park in ID is a different kind of place. It's a giant exposed lava bed and you can walk into a lava tube that has (had) an ice floor all year round. It might make an interesting side trip.
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Jul 13, 2017 08:13
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What's your over all time and budget? Tent camping is absolutely doable, although you might want to check on site reservations at Zion/Bryce since those are both two very heavily visited parks. The biggest thing off the bat is that your current route just follows the major interstates, which will probably make for a slightly quicker but boring drive. I would suggest looking up some alternative routes along the way. If I were you I'd definitely look into Craters of the Moon, and also consider skirting East through the Grande Escalate on your way into Zion/Bryce. Overall both of those stops might add a day to your trip down... Yellowstone and the Tetons are also "on the way", sort of.
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Jul 13, 2017 17:39
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Thanks for ideas for alternate routes, and that Craters of the Moon park looks surreal! Budget doesn't really have any hard limits, just "be reasonable and camp where possible". Time limit will likely be 2 weeks, hoping to not take more work vacation than that. Thanks all!
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Jul 13, 2017 17:42
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Cool. If budget is flexible, I'd say skip the camper van idea, and just get an occasional motel. Especially on the "driving" days, not messing around with breaking camp is sometimes worth it.
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Jul 13, 2017 17:49
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LogisticEarth posted:Cool. If budget is flexible, I'd say skip the camper van idea, and just get an occasional motel. Especially on the "driving" days, not messing around with breaking camp is sometimes worth it. I absolutely love tent camping in campgrounds, so I was leaning towards that, but you're right that motels would be faaaar easier! I'm also used to road trips/camping here in British Columbia where there are definitely no hotels/motels/etc near the parks, it's very rugged and in the middle of nowhere, I'm not used to having motels as an option!
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Jul 13, 2017 18:17
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To save you from having to look around too much, if you want to split the difference, there is a Best Western at Mt. Pleasant Utah (which is just a junction of two highways). It sits about 15 miles east of Zion and about an hour south of Bryce (if you find something off of 89, you'll be okay). The Best Western has a restaurant called the Thunderbird (home of the Ho-Made Pies, I kid you not, my husband still wears the t-shirt). It is very comfy and between the parks - we stayed there for a few nights in 2014 and it was very un-pretentious (unlike us) and the restaurant was quite capable (and the pies were varied and pretty good). You will not be disappointed with Zion or Bryce, they are amazing - and honestly you are close enough that if you wanted to do the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, you could add a day or two in for that (it is just 100 miles South of the Best Western). Do Angels Landing if you aren't afraid of heights or a somewhat difficult ascent/descent - that was one of the best things I've ever done.
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Jul 13, 2017 20:55
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So I changed the whole plan of this trip due to real life time/date limitations as well as cost considerations. Now, we're flying into Vegas mid October and starting the road trip from there in a rental vehicle. Planning to go through Zion, stay a couple days, hit up Bryce, go to Monument Valley, stay there, then back to Vegas. Thanks for the ideas starksfergie, that Mt Pleasant place looks like a good place to stay! Any other recommendations for this trip area? A coworker said to make sure I check out Horseshoe Bend near Page AZ. Also I googled the Angels Landing hike and 100% I am doing that, holy poo poo balls
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Jul 19, 2017 19:42
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I found the Hoover Dam tour pretty interesting. It's about a 45 minute drive from Vegas but it'd add some time to the drive to Zion.
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Jul 19, 2017 20:52
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As awesome as that looks, I am not sure there is much hiking there (but I've never checked). I can only tell you how secluded and beautiful the North Rim is, plus you are much higher than the South Rim and the hikes are varied. If you aren't much into long hikes there are a lot of short hikes there as well. But as you'll be near Monument Valley, Horseshoe Bend shouldn't be out of the way at all, so you might as well. If you'll be in Page, you should look and see if you can do a day pass for the Wave (it looks amazing, but I know you have to have luck with getting a pass, we've never been but it is on our list) and yeah, Angels Landing was phenomenal
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Jul 19, 2017 20:54
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Monument Valley, with stops is a solid day's ride from Zion, so I would suggest making the most of that leg of the journey as possible. Horseshoe Bend is right on your route. Antelope Canyon too. You'll be driving across the Painted Desert, which is a nice and scenic ride. I would suggest trying the North Rim of the Grand Canyon instead, but it's winding down for the season at that time of year. Instead of just turning around from Monument Valley and heading back, you could swing up to Hite Crossing over Lake Powell, then swing west through Capitol Reef, and come down through Grande Esacalante. Towards Zion/Vegas. Would likely add another 1-2 days to your trip, depending on your schedule. Might be better than spending a full day backtracking from Monument Valley to Vegas.
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Jul 19, 2017 20:57
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Thanks for the ideas all! I actually did the Grand Canyon (and Hoover Dam) last year, so no need to detour there this time  It was amazing though!Oh my god I googled both Anteloupe canyon, holy poo poo it's THAT PLACE! I will absolutely be stopping by there. The Wave looks incredible but that permit system is insane, we may try for the drop-in one.
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Jul 19, 2017 21:21
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Don't skip the Narrows when you are in Zion, unless you have to due to high current or flooding or w/e.
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Aug 2, 2017 06:50
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Hey clam down, I'm in the midst of doing basically what you described in your op as a family road trip, and might have some thoughts for anyone else thinking of doing the same. We took the ferry in to Port Angeles, and toured the Olympic Peninsula before continuing along the coast. We're also taking a lot more time, doing a big loop. Not going to have a lot to say about big hikes, or nightlife, due to the kid. Here's some thoughts off the top of my head: camping fees are getting pricier the further south on the coast we go. Not that far into the trip, but just about at San Fransisco now. Take the 101, or 1 if it's an option. Get a little lost on side roads every once in a while. Oregon state parks have their poo poo together. All the amenities you could want, efficient check in, nicely curated and presented info on all their parks all in one magazine sized pamphlet. Was incredibly surprised throughout Washington and Oregon at the lack of weed smoke. Seemed like the Oregon coast had a big old "Get yer weed here!" sign every drat mile, but I barely caught a whiff of it. Contrast with back home, where every time I go camping, I'm sure to smell it from several campsites. Portland seems pretty cool, but it also seems like kind of a shithole. Holy poo poo those are rhododdendrons just growing all over the place, huge as gently caress! Not having to be babied to be kept alive as some stunted shrub thing. (I like plants and gardening. Not very exciting for most people I admit, but the vegetation on this trip has been amazing.)
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Sep 16, 2017 06:27
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Hey, if anyone gives half a poo poo, here is an update. Just finished seeing craters of the moon, and it is surely a place to visit! As are all the other places clam down listed as places to see. One thing to realise though: it is getting pretty cold in these areas right now. Hitting freezing temps overnight, so be prepared if you plan on camping in a tent. It will likely be cold for you. And for some reason, we spent a bunch of time in rain forest on the trip south without a cloud in sight. Nice and warm. Vegas was very pleasant temperature wise. But as soon as we get into the "high desert", the temperature plummets, and it starts loving raining. Didn't see a drop of rain until we were amongst cacti.
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Oct 1, 2017 04:10
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Little late for an update but I did the road trip! Ended up being a lot shorter than planned for my buddy and I due to work vacation time limitations, but I saw all my planned destinations  Only thing missed this was was the Grand Canyon north rim because it was really out of the planned route and I've already seen the south rim a year ago which I've heard is better anyways.            I absolutely loved my Monument Valley pics the most above and both stargazing and watching the sunrise in that place was truly magical, but probably the most visually breathtaking place was Zion, holy poo poo I want to go back and spend like a week in that one park.
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Oct 24, 2017 06:10
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drat, that looks stunning. I've seen a million photos of Antelope Canyon but it's still impressive. Nice photos too. Most of the times I see people upload things like that on FB they're taken on a cell phone and the colors are ultra washed out.
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Oct 24, 2017 11:43
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| # ? May 5, 2024 00:54 |
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CLAM DOWN posted:I absolutely loved my Monument Valley pics the most above and both stargazing and watching the sunrise in that place was truly magical, but probably the most visually breathtaking place was Zion, holy poo poo I want to go back and spend like a week in that one park. YES. Zion is amazing! It was my favorite place on that trip too... I remember the feeling of driving in through the canyon walls and how I couldn't wait to get out and explore! We didn't get to do the Narrows that trip so I'm definitely going back for that, what hikes did you end up doing there?
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Oct 24, 2017 13:19
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