European on a US roadtrip - fill in my itinerary

[cathy63]

I'd make these changes:

Fly into Las Vegas (2 nights)

-- drive to Zion National Park spending 1 or 2 nights in Springfield UT or in the park

North to Bryce Canyon (3 nights)
-- don't need 3 nights here. 1 is enough.

Drive south to Grand Canyon (2 nights)
-- I'm assuming you want the South rim, not North rim. North would be a shorter drive, but all the developed facilities are on the South side. I'd do this after Utah rather than before.

Death Valley (1 night)
-- D.V. is extremely hot in September. Not sure when the entire park reopens for the fall/winter season, so check on the hotels. A ranger once told us that the only people she ever sees there in the summer are German tourists (or maybe Austrians? :-))

Yosemite (3 nights)
-- from D.V. go out hwy 190 and then take US 395 north. You can stop at Manzanar National historic site for a couple of hours if you are interested. Then go north to Mono Lake and see the tufa before heading over Tioga pass (hwy 120) to Yosemite. Tioga is one of the most beautiful drives in the entire Sierra range and to my mind, much preferred over going around the southern way, though it's a bit more impressive going the other direction from how you're traveling.

San Francisco (4 nights)
-- lots to do here. Walk the GG bridge, Alcatraz tour, Fort Point, do the 39-mile drive, see a baseball game, visit the Marin Headlands and/or Muir Woods, Point Reyes light house, drive to wine country.

Coast between SF and LA (3 nights)
-- you've already heard about the Pfeiffer bridge outage. If it's not repaired by the time of your trip, use US 101 as an alternative. It's more scenic than I-5 and you can stop in Santa Barbara on the way to L.A. If you are able to drive on Hwy 1, then Monterey/Carmel and Hearst Castle are great stops. Also the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo.

Los Angeles (3 nights)
-- also lots to do here. You could focus on movie making and see the Chinese Theater, Hollywood sign, Warner Bros Studio Tour (Universal is more of a theme park so you may prefer that), drive Mulholland. Or maybe you'd prefer wandering around the OC coastal towns -- Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, etc. Or Disneyland Resort.

It might be a little easier to reverse the stops after Death Valley and go to L.A. next, ending in S.F, but I assume you already have flights out of LAX.

The National Parks, especially Zion, Grand Canyon and Yosemite are going to be 100% full in September, so you need to make reservations for those areas ASAP. These three also operate shuttle buses and at least Yosemite and Zion prevent you from driving in some areas of the park. I don't know if GC also limits auto traffic, but I do remember they had buses last time we were there.

[meierlde]

Quote:

Originally Posted by COcheesehead Bryce is in the middle of no where so I agree on the food options, or lack there of. Personally, I would suggest Arches and Canyonlands near Moab. Both are superior IMHO to Zion or Bryce, but that is a bit out of your range. Moab is a fun area too.

Perhaps a bit less driving to get to a similar site Cedar Breaks national monument which is just outside Cedar City, rather than the somewhat longish (for a european not somebody from the western us) drive from the two big cities of Cedar City or Richfield. Again Cedar Breaks is an erosional amphitheater similar to Bryce but somewhat smaller and about 1000 feet higher. Another park in Utah is Capitol Reef. There are restaurants in in both Bryce park and outside it at least a diner (No fancy restaurants however)

Just for reference you might also look at Esclante Grand Staircase Monument as well (in that area essentially the low land visible from the rim of Bryce Canyon)

[meierlde]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cathy63 I'd make these changes: Fly into Las Vegas (2 nights) -- drive to Zion National Park spending 1 or 2 nights in Springfield UT or in the park North to Bryce Canyon (3 nights) -- don't need 3 nights here. 1 is enough. Drive south to Grand Canyon (2 nights) -- I'm assuming you want the South rim, not North rim. North would be a shorter drive, but all the developed facilities are on the South side. I'd do this after Utah rather than before. Death Valley (1 night) -- D.V. is extremely hot in September. Not sure when the entire park reopens for the fall/winter season, so check on the hotels. A ranger once told us that the only people she ever sees there in the summer are German tourists (or maybe Austrians? :-)) Yosemite (3 nights) -- from D.V. go out hwy 190 and then take US 395 north. You can stop at Manzanar National historic site for a couple of hours if you are interested. Then go north to Mono Lake and see the tufa before heading over Tioga pass (hwy 120) to Yosemite. Tioga is one of the most beautiful drives in the entire Sierra range and to my mind, much preferred over going around the southern way, though it's a bit more impressive going the other direction from how you're traveling. San Francisco (4 nights) -- lots to do here. Walk the GG bridge, Alcatraz tour, Fort Point, do the 39-mile drive, see a baseball game, visit the Marin Headlands and/or Muir Woods, Point Reyes light house, drive to wine country. Coast between SF and LA (3 nights) -- you've already heard about the Pfeiffer bridge outage. If it's not repaired by the time of your trip, use US 101 as an alternative. It's more scenic than I-5 and you can stop in Santa Barbara on the way to L.A. If you are able to drive on Hwy 1, then Monterey/Carmel and Hearst Castle are great stops. Also the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo. Los Angeles (3 nights) -- also lots to do here. You could focus on movie making and see the Chinese Theater, Hollywood sign, Warner Bros Studio Tour (Universal is more of a theme park so you may prefer that), drive Mulholland. Or maybe you'd prefer wandering around the OC coastal towns -- Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, etc. Or Disneyland Resort. It might be a little easier to reverse the stops after Death Valley and go to L.A. next, ending in S.F, but I assume you already have flights out of LAX. The National Parks, especially Zion, Grand Canyon and Yosemite are going to be 100% full in September, so you need to make reservations for those areas ASAP. These three also operate shuttle buses and at least Yosemite and Zion prevent you from driving in some areas of the park. I don't know if GC also limits auto traffic, but I do remember they had buses last time we were there.

Note no shuttle at the north rim, but IMHO better views than the south rim. Also a couple of viewpoints just outside the park on the north side. Beyond the lodge in the park there is the Jacob Lake resort about 40 mi north of Bright Angel. or it is possible to stay in Kanab, as well.

[Fedup]

Ruby's Inn near Bryce Canyon entrance has decent food. Buffet type, not too expensive.

[kimcdougc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cap_Scarlet We have booked a West coast US roadtrip in September this year and we have about three weeks. We've booked the major stops (hotels) and I now want to make sure we don't miss anything! The outline itinerary looks like the following: Fly into Las Vegas (2 nights) Drive south to Grand Canyon (2 nights) North to Bryce Canyon (3 nights) Death Valley (1 night) Yosemite (3 nights) San Francisco (4 nights) Coast between SF and LA (3 nights) Los Angeles (3 nights) We're two active mid 50's and will be travelling with our adult son. So....what's "not to miss"?

Hoover Dam is worthwhile.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fedup We met a tour bus with lots of French people in Bryce Canyon. It's a good time for me to brush up on my French, listening skill only. I can barely speak the French language now.

When in Bryce a few years ago, I also observed quite a few French tourists. In Zion, more Germans. May be just coincidental. Also saw a busload of Frenchmen at Glen Canyon Dam.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeWras Bryce is unique but you can see a lot with a quick look...

If you want to take a hike down from the rim, it will take at least 1/2 day just to do a couple of trails. And going down to the south end of the park will take additional time too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cap_Scarlet We have booked a West coast US roadtrip in September this year and we have about three weeks. We've booked the major stops (hotels) and I now want to make sure we don't miss anything! ... We're two active mid 50's and will be travelling with our adult son. So....what's "not to miss"?

You will always be missing something. I have lived on this side of the US for 40 years, and have done a lot of travel through the western states through the years, and I have not seen it all. First, you hit all the major points of interest, then you go back and see the secondary places. Finally, you take the back roads, and see places that they don't talk about much in travel books.

[brucethebroker]

+1 to Hoover Dam, also to Hollywood tours. Ask about free tickets for game shows or comedies as part of the audience.

[Scuba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivinsfan Are you saying you have already booked all the hotels? IMO Bryce is a one night park. Skipping Zion is a mistake in IMO.. consider Bryce, North Rim of the Grand Canyon and Zion.. That's much more doable and better scenery.. I'll second Valley of Fire it's on the way to the Utah stops.

+1. I would add Zion and skip Death Valley. I would consider wine tasting in Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles or Santa Ynez Valley. Consider skipping Los Angeles unless there are specific attractions you consider to be a must do.

[JoeWras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cathy63 I'd make these changes: Fly into Las Vegas (2 nights) -- drive to Zion National Park spending 1 or 2 nights in Springfield UT or in the park North to Bryce Canyon (3 nights) -- don't need 3 nights here. 1 is enough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scuba +1. I would add Zion and skip Death Valley. I would consider wine tasting in Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles or Santa Ynez Valley. Consider skipping Los Angeles unless there are specific attractions you consider to be a must do.

Agree on both above. I did not see the 3 nights in Bryce. 3 nights in Bryce is too much. And it is NOT easy to drive to Zion from there if you use Bryce as a base. Add time in Zion, take time off in Bryce. You can "do" Bryce in one day if you start early. Get a view from the rim, and take a quick hike down among the fairlyland spires. Long hikes here don't add much. However, long hikes in Zion add a lot.

Skip death valley and add the time somewhere else.

We also need clarification on the Grand Canyon. OP said:

Quote:

Fly into Las Vegas (2 nights) Drive south to Grand Canyon (2 nights) North to Bryce Canyon (3 nights)

The GC to Bryce is a difficult drive (and I'm assuming South Rim). It says 5 hours, but it is a draining 5 hours that forces you to go out of your way due to the canyons. I would add a night to the GC, and then drive to Zion (see Springdale on my map snippet below).

[Cap_Scarlet]

Thanks everyone for your replies - they are all very helpful. So here is a little more detail on a day by day basis:

Fly to Las Vegas
Las Vegas
Grand Canyon (South rim)
Grand Canyon
Page
Bryce Canyon
Zion NP
Death Valley
Mammoth Lakes
Mariposa (YNP)
[Spare night]
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Francisco
Carmel / Monterrey
Cambria
Santa Barbera
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Fly home

Of the places we are visiting, Vegas is the only place we've been to before so we're not spending much time there. We're staying one night in Page just because it felt like such a long way between the Southern GC and our next stop although reflecting on that now it may give us the opportunity to visit the North rim.

We're actually staying at a place between Bryce and Zion - so thanks for all the tips on Zion - we will definitely do that.

We're not really intending on visiting DV but I think we need to drive through it to get to our next stop (in Mammoth), we would then drive through the park / visit the park on the next day, staying on the other side of the park in Mariposa. We've left the spare night at the moment in case we want to spend another night in the vicinity of the park although we might use it to drive to Napa.

The time in LA is really to visit some of the theme parks (six flags, universal etc.) which our son is very keen to do, otherwise we are thinking of the iconic sites (Hollywood, Chinese Theatre etc.)

With the exception of the spare night all our lodging is booked as i took some earlier advice that it might be quite busy around September.

Once again - thanks for all your tips!

[MichaelB]

Sounds like a fantastic trip.

[COcheesehead]

Have fun!

[ivinsfan]

Page is more then a place to stop...Glen Canyon Dam, Lake Powell,Horseshoe Bend...
There are a couple of great lodging options directly at Bryce..

So we have done BC, Zion and North Rim all as day trips by staying in Kanab....this was on our first summer trip and we just wanted to see the area. We used that trip to make plans to go back and see more of our favorite areas.

We went to the North Rim in early December during an open winter and you could count the people in the park on both hands...that's a trip we will never forget.

[ivinsfan]

I realize you have probably bought your plane tickets. For someone reading this for a future trip, it would be much more efficient to fly into PHX and go to the Grand Canyon and do the rest of the trip from there. You will pay a pretty large drop off fee on the rental either way.

[meierlde]

Actually if you make your base for Zion Cedar City (which also gets you a chance to visit the Kolob Canyons Section of Zion park which is pretty but unknown) you could head up to the Lonliest road in America across Nevada thru Ely, Eureka, Austin, and Fallon. Then if interested Drive thru Virginia City, down 395 to Mammoth.

[ivinsfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by meierlde Actually if you make your base for Zion Cedar City (which also gets you a chance to visit the Kolob Canyons Section of Zion park which is pretty but unknown) you could head up to the Lonliest road in America across Nevada thru Ely, Eureka, Austin, and Fallon. Then if interested Drive thru Virginia City, down 395 to Mammoth.

St George makes a great base for Zion as well and would be a better place to fine reasonable rooms. Then you could do Snow Canyon State Park, which in IMO tops the Kolob Canyon Section of Zion.

[Cap_Scarlet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivinsfan I realize you have probably bought your plane tickets. For someone reading this for a future trip, it would be much more efficient to fly into PHX and go to the Grand Canyon and do the rest of the trip from there. You will pay a pretty large drop off fee on the rental either way.

Thanks - we seriously considered that. At the end of the day we wanted to go back to Vegas for a couple of days (our son has not been there) and also relax a little before hitting the road. We weren't keen on the drive between LA and Vegas and hence we choose this anti-clockwise route.

[ivinsfan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cap_Scarlet Thanks - we seriously considered that. At the end of the day we wanted to go back to Vegas for a couple of days (our son has not been there) and also relax a little before hitting the road. We weren't keen on the drive between LA and Vegas and hence we choose this anti-clockwise route.

It's a great trip either way and I hope you don't run into too much summer traffic on the way to the GC,that can make for some very frustrating driving.

[JoeWras]

OK, with your new details, I like your itinerary better. Just be aware you will be doing a lot of driving. I think you know that. You'll be moving! We did all the parks in Utah like this. It wasn't so bad, as long as you like to keep going.

One final tip. Please heed the warnings about heat if you decide to walk down some of the trails in the GC. If you are fit, it is do-able, but it gets hot as you go down. Even in early September, temps over 40C are possible only a short way down the trail (despite it feeling very nice at the top). You may get lucky, however, and get a cool spell. They start happening around then.

In our two trips to the South Rim, we witnessed at 4 distressed tourists requiring help. None were critical (no helicopters), but it was still very scary for them. This despite all the warnings in at least 5 different languages.

On our August trip, we went to the bottom (requires planning) and it was 45C/113F by the river.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tfudtuckerpucker I suggest you skip Bryce and hike "Angel's Landing" in Zion. It a strenuous half day, but is considerably more impressive, keeping in mind that occasionally someone takes the shortcut down.

Bryce is very beautiful, great, but is only a 1 day event.

There are many trails all short and easy for avg person. each from different parking lots.
Be aware of the timezone change, we were not and got locked out of the parking.
If you leave your car at the outside free lot and take the free hop on hop off shuttles, be super aware of the timezone change and last buses.

It's a few hours to drive back to Vegas as we did it.