Help with a trip to the southwest

[dm]

We are planning on heading out from SW Florida to see some of the national parks, and anything else along the way. Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and maybe Colorado. And of coarse we will be passing thru several states on the way.

We are planning on doing some tent camping, along with staying in motels. We did have a travel trailer years ago and liked it, but haven’t stayed in a tent in 40 years. So I’m not sure how that’s going to work out, we will practice some this year.

I’m thinking mid April next year, and planning to be gone 3-4 weeks. We will be taking the new Jeep so hopefully we will be able to pack plenty of gear.

Any suggestions on what to see? And how long to plan to stay at each of the big parks? Any off the path things to see?

On the trip out we are thinking of stopping in Fredericksburg TX, and on the way back the wife wants to dig for diamonds in Arkansas. Other than that we are just starting to plan.

 

[dm]

This is the tent I’m thinking of buying. https://gazelletents.com/collection...th-screen-room-gt450ss?variant=37760208732328

Any opinion on this size and style?

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Are you “hike the popular trails in National Parks” people or “explore the National Parks in a car with maybe doing some short (i.e about a mile or less) walks on well defined paths now and then” people? That will make a lot of difference in time spent in the major parks.

 

[Ronstar]

The mighty five state parks in Utah, monument valley, Grand Canyon. Not sure about camping, but these are great sightseeing spots

 

[dm]

Are you “hike the popular trails in National Parks” people or “explore the National Parks in a car with maybe doing some short (i.e about a mile or less) walks on well defined paths now and then” people? That will make a lot of difference in time spent in the major parks.

Somewhere between the two. We, meaning me, plan to start getting in better shape. The wife walks quite a bit now, I walk some. But we could probably do 5 miles or so.

 

[Ronstar]

Somewhere between the two. We, meaning me, plan to start getting in better shape. The wife walks quite a bit now, I walk some. But we could probably do 5 miles or so.

Do some research before taking off on a 5 mile hike in the southwest. Many trails have a few thousand feet of elevation difference. Quite different and more difficult than going for a walk around the neighborhood.

ETA - AllTrails.com is a great resource for finding great hiking trails.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Somewhere between the two. We, meaning me, plan to start getting in better shape. The wife walks quite a bit now, I walk some. But we could probably do 5 miles or so.

I recommend the Grand Circle itinerary. Something like this…

https://www.americansouthwest.net/itineraries/grand-circle.html

You’d probably want at least 2 full weeks to do the itinerary in the link. More, if you can do it. I find the timing shown in the link to be too short at most of the stops, especially if you want to leave your car to hit some hiking trails. I did a quicker version in 9 days by skipping a few of the places and not doing much hiking. I need to do the circle again now that I’m retired and spend more time on it. It’s a great trip. We did hotels/motels. But there are plenty of camping opportunities.

 

[bolt]

I'd suggest you not miss Utah's Zion area & Bryce Canyon.
To me both outshined all other area's in the traditional GrandCanyon area's tours.
I'm suggesting this from 89/90s evaluation of all conventional info & views at that time.

Good luck & Best wishes...

 

[Car-Guy]

Off the top of my head... (In this driving order generally from east to west.) I've been to them all, some of them several times. (My personal favorites are (1) Big Bend and (2) The Grand Canyon)

Texas - Big Bend (great for 4 wheeling) but not required in "most" areas of the park. Plan on a day or two, maybe more.
Texas - McDonalds Observatory (FT Davis Mts) interesting but 2 to 3 hours is enough
New Mexico - Carlsbad Caverns (worth seeing but ~2 hours is enough, IMO)
Arizona - Petrified Forest and Painted Desert (about an hour apart from each other if I recall correctly)
Arizona - Grand Canyon (South Rim) Plan on spending a day or more
Arizona/Nevada - Hoover Dam and Lake Mead
Utah - Zion National Park - Drive thru park unless you are into some serious hiking and/or rock climbing.

 

[Involuntary Retiree]

If you're traveling through New Mexico, Carlsbad Caverns National Park is rather off the the beaten path, but worthy of a detoured trip there. White Sands has recently been upgraded to a national park and is interesting and, if on the way elsewhere, is worthy of a stop.



As previously suggested, don't miss Bryce Canyon. You'll remember it forever. We have not been to Saguaro National Park but plan to go next time we're in the neighborhood of Tucson. Of course, the Grand Canyon is not to be missed!

 

[Slacker]

I would suggest Moab area in April or early May--more crowded than it used to be.Delicate Arch not to be missed in Arches Park , take the Dan Mick's guided Jeep tour..what a blast that was for us,our dvr did things with that Jeep that were crazy fun/scary in the Slickrock area . Arches needs 2 days to see/hike some of the best stuff. The drive from Moab along the Colorado river up to Fruita CO. was rated one of the 10 most scenic in the US. Deadhorse Point was another amazing spot that is 20min from Downtown Moab.

2ND the Bryce mention and the south rim of the Grand Canyon
AZ.. Sedona has some very scenic hiking . Winslow has the huge asteroid crater
Zion Park..Angels landing hike--if ur not afraid of heights.. We love AZ/Utah/Colorado
You'll be amazed at the scenery out there, and the star gazing is incredible compared to back here in the east IMO.

 

[ABQ2015]

My suggestion would be to try to spend about 2 days each at Arches, Zion, Bryce, and Grand Canyon South Rim; and time permitting, 1 day at Capitol Reef and ½ day at Canyonlands and Escalante Grand Staircase. Note that some of these National Parks are at higher elevation and may get too cold at night for tent camping in April. I use the Accuweather website to check daily historical highs and lows and those for the previous year. Sounds like you will be taking I-10 on the way there and Big Bend and Carlsbad are worth a stop, time permitting. Not sure where you plan to start heading north but Sedona and AZ 89A through Oak Creek Canyon to Flagstaff are beautiful. Montezuma Canyon National Monument near I-17 and Camp Verde and Wupatki National Monument east of Flagstaff are interesting Ancestral Pueblo Indian ruins and Dead Horse Point State Park near Arches is impressive and a popular camping site.

If you have not been to Santa Fe, it is worth a short detour on your way back if going back on I-40. Alternately if Arches is your last stop in Utah, you could head east as Slacker suggested towards Fruita or Grand Junction, CO and Colorado National Monument to De Beque and south on CO 65 through Grand Mesa to Montrose and then head south on US 550 or the Million Dollar Highway to Ouray, Silverton, and Durango, some of the most beautiful scenery in Colorado, weather permitting as the elevation goes up to 9000 ft, and then make your way back to I-40 or I-25.

If traveling from Grand Canyon to Zion, my preference is AZ 89A through Marble Canyon, Navajo Bridge, and the Vermillion Cliffs National Monument rather than AZ 89. UT 12 through Escalante is spectacular. I also like UT 95 from Blanding through Fry Canyon up to UT 24 towards Capitol Reef with a stop at Natural Bridges National Monument although this route is likely to be out of your way.

 

[Sunset]

This is the tent I’m thinking of buying. https://gazelletents.com/collection...th-screen-room-gt450ss?variant=37760208732328

Any opinion on this size and style?

For 2 people ?
It's large enough , also pretty expensive.

I got an ozark trail instant popup 6 person cabin tent a number of years ago for $130 and was sold by Walmart.
I tested setting it up, and it was excellent and easy

For camping, the mattress under the sleeping bag will be appreciated.

I really like the stainless steel vacuum insulated water bottles are fantastic, as I fill them with ice cubes (get a wide mouth one) and then water. We have ice cold water all day.

 

[RetireeRobert]

We travelled the SW a few about four or five years ago. Our highlight of all the national parks we saw was Mesa Verde in SW Colorado. Also enjoyed driving through Monument Valley and the Four Corners area, and Grand Canyon surely deserves a couple of days.

But do visit Mesa Verde for sure: https://www.visitmesaverde.com/

 

[mountainsoft]

We made a trip to the Southwest back in 2010:
Aug 11, 2010 - Southwest Road Trip

We camped overnight in Arches national park, awesome night time views with no light pollution. We timed it perfectly for August 12th to watch the Perseids meteor showers.

Other memorable stops were hiking up river in the Zion narrows (walking on bowling balls), staying overnight in the Kokopelli cave, Mesa Verde, Bryce canyon, and hiking to Calf Creek Falls in the Escalante area.

I wanted to visit the slot canyons in the Escalante (Grand staircase) area, but recent flash floods had washed out the roads and we just had our small passenger car. I had always hoped to go back again, but eleven years later we still haven't.

 

[DrRoy]

Look up permit/entry requirements if you go to Zion especially. Not sure if other NP's are as restricted. Arches had some mid day capacity limits in April.

 

[Bamaman]

We just returned two days ago from visiting the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. We flew into and out of Las Vegas, and put 1100 miles on a rental car.

Coming out of Florida, I would suggest you fly out. We flew on Spirit Airlines round trip for $143 each. It's a 2350 mile one way trip to Zion N/P, and that's a pretty fiscally and physically demanding distance to travel. So much of the trip is flat and boring too.

Let me warn you about costs. We found marginal hotels like Super 8 to be $110, and food prices even in McDonalds to be twice that of the southeast. The hotels at Zion were more like $250-$350 a night.

Normal prices for a burger in a local restaurant is $15, and we were so thankful to have found a couple of Cracker Barrell restaurants. With 2 grandkids, we flat spent some money just eating. If I was going to do something different, I would have gone for 7 days instead of 11 days.

We found visiting the National Parks to be a 1/2 day each. And they were incredibly beautiful. Had we been bikers or hikers, more time might have been needed.

 

[NW-Bound]

We just returned two days ago from visiting the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park...

We found visiting the National Parks to be a 1/2 day each. And they were incredibly beautiful. Had we been bikers or hikers, more time might have been needed.

1/2 day each NP? We are not true hikers, and still spent about 2 to 3 nights at each location when visiting these parks on RV trips. And we barely scratched the surface.

 

[dm]

We just returned two days ago from visiting the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. We flew into and out of Las Vegas, and put 1100 miles on a rental car.

Coming out of Florida, I would suggest you fly out. We flew on Spirit Airlines round trip for $143 each. It's a 2350 mile one way trip to Zion N/P, and that's a pretty fiscally and physically demanding distance to travel. So much of the trip is flat and boring too.

Let me warn you about costs. We found marginal hotels like Super 8 to be $110, and food prices even in McDonalds to be twice that of the southeast. The hotels at Zion were more like $250-$350 a night.

Normal prices for a burger in a local restaurant is $15, and we were so thankful to have found a couple of Cracker Barrell restaurants. With 2 grandkids, we flat spent some money just eating. If I was going to do something different, I would have gone for 7 days instead of 11 days.

We found visiting the National Parks to be a 1/2 day each. And they were incredibly beautiful. Had we been bikers or hikers, more time might have been needed.

We may change our mind and fly, but we are thinking about making some stops along the way to break up the trip.

 

[dm]

We travelled the SW a few about four or five years ago. Our highlight of all the national parks we saw was Mesa Verde in SW Colorado. Also enjoyed driving through Monument Valley and the Four Corners area, and Grand Canyon surely deserves a couple of days.

But do visit Mesa Verde for sure: https://www.visitmesaverde.com/

This is something we want to see also. Thanks.

 

[Chuckanut]

Two great sites near Flagstaff, AZ are Walnut Canyon NM and Sunset Crater NM. You can do them both in a day.

By all means, visit at least one large Pueblo in New Mexico. The most famous is Taos and it is worth the time to see it. Or visit, the Sky City in the Acoma Pueblo, the oldest continually inhabited settlement in the USA (Sorry St. Augustine). Visit both if you get a chance. The cultures while similar also have some differences.

While in New Mexico drop over to Pie Town Pies in the city of Pie Town for a delicious slice of pie. It's the #1 restaurant in Pie Town according to Trip Advisor.

 

[braumeister]

Two great sites near Flagstaff, AZ are Walnut Canyon NM and Sunset Crater NM.

+1
I've always considered Walnut Canyon to be very underrated. Well worth a visit.

 

[Bamaman]

1/2 day each NP? We are not true hikers, and still spent about 2 to 3 nights at each location when visiting these parks on RV trips. And we barely scratched the surface.

We've got short attention spans, and move pretty fast. My wife was in an electric wheelchair this trip after foot surgery in January--and a 6 month recuperation.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have not been back to Walnut Canyon in more than 40 years.

Taos is a nice town to visit.

And I did have a slice of pie in Pie Town, in a trip to Ruidoso a few years ago because it was on the way. Interesting, but not sure if one should make a detour for this.

 

[NW-Bound]

We've got short attention spans, and move pretty fast. My wife was in an electric wheelchair this trip after foot surgery in January--and a 6 month recuperation.

Well, the lack of mobility certainly limits one's options.

One thing about RV'ing vs. car road trips is that we tend to linger longer when RV'ing. Maybe because we only started to RV after we already retired, and had more time.

Now, we are back to not having free time because of my wife's being the watcher for her 95-year-old mother.