5 week tour of western usa

hi guys, need a bit of help in plotting the best route. thinking of hiring an r.v starting beginning of june 2007 for 5 weeks in the west.

would just like some hints and tips on the best routes to take between places.

i want to fit in all of the major attractions, including -

* death valley

* grand canyon

* yosimite national park

* golden gate bridge

* alcatraz

* vegas

etc etc....

can i do this comfortably in the time i have? and are there any guide books that should be top of my christmas list?

cheers

5 week tour of western usa

5 weeks is MORE than enough time to see the sights you mention although I cannot help you with where to park an RV in th ecities on your route. Are you more interested in natural wonders/parks or do you want time in cities too like SanFrancisco,LA ,SAnDiegoetc. What do you like to do?hike, beach activities,, visit historical sights,theme parks, museums,national parks,wineries.? The more we know about you ,the more we can suggest appropriate things to do and see.

5 week tour of western usa

In mid summer why not do the loop of Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park and Grand Canyon NORTH RIM out of Las Vegas. Midsummer the meadows will be full of flowers and being at a higher elevation it will be cooler than South Rim and less crowded.

Death Valley will be extremely hot inside an rv . Also are you used to driving a big rig like this on winding roads once you get off the interstate? Also calculate gasoline costs as se have had sticker shock this summer even though nothing compared to what you pay.

I favor the Dorling Kindersley guides. Many published for your different destinations as well as one for the west.

National Geographic have excellent guides to what to see as you drive the roads in most of the National Parks you would visit.

Each park has an excellent website full of useful tips. You will need to figure whether you will try to get reservations in parks campgrounds and I am guessing now would be the time or you would want to look at alternatives like KOA or other private parks which are not necessarily close to natural attractions. Try to stay at Tuolumne Meadows on 120 for at least one night in Yosemite though there are no hook ups. It is out of the valley so will be cooler and the scenery and hikes are awesomne, plus summer will be in full swing with warm days and nights and wildflowers busting out all over.

Many visitors from UK like to explore the central CA coast along Big Sur but driving an rv on this coastal highway would take skill and be challenging. www.bigsurcalifornia.org

we rent RV%26#39;s all the time and have done the Zion(campsite had a river running next to it and near Ranger station), Grand Canyon (National Park) and Las Vegas route. I will have to get back to you and let you know where exactly where we stayed after I find my book. I do remember in Vegas we stayed at Circus Circus as they have an RV park on the premises and it is on the ';strip';

Our RV had a hard time running the air conditioner to Death Valley so we aborted that trip.

I would NOT recommend driving in an RV all around in San Francisco. The streets are narrow. But I have to add that Alcatraz was very interesting and so is the Golden gate bridge. We also had a hard time on the narrow winding road to the Sequoias. Maybe experienced RV drivers can do it with ease.

Yosemite is awesome and we did stay in Tolumne too. I would also recommend a stay in Big Sur as well. We stayed at one with a river running though that campsite as well and is very family oriented. campingfriend.com/BigSurCampgroundandCabins/…

We liked Felton (Cotillion Gardens RV Park) has a stream running past it and is within walking distance of the narrow gage train. Walk up the train tracks to the small western ';town'; and take a ride though all the giant trees in Coswell Redwoods State Park. The next day drive the RV to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Go early to get an RV parking space.

I also think wine country was very neat as well. Make a stop in Solvang! It is so beautiful.

Maybe Hearst Castle and the 10 miles scenic route in carmel might be a good stop too.

So much to see!

Thanks for taking the time to help me out guys!

Well, i%26#39;m more interested in the national parks and historical sights, places like the canyon and yosimite. But also things like the goden gate and alcatraz.

On the other hand, my fiance would kill me if we didnt visit newport beach (due to the o.c.), the film studios etc

Also, would i need to prebook rv sites? or could i just turn up and get a plot?

You must prebook as the spots go real fast...we here, also love our National Parks. Here is the website used for booking

http://reservations.nps.gov/

Solvang, Hearst Castle and the drive in Carmel I wouldnt recommend staying at....My recommendation is that as you are driving to the next National park to/from Vegas these are great spots to stop stretch out your legs and rest along the way...must see spots in California.

Laguna Beach and Newport are great places too!

Just a little side note about TV programs. The program Laguna Beach IS actually made in the town of Laguna Beach BUT the OC is NOT filmed in any one town. Parts of it are made in different areas all over LA/Orange County .

June is a very popular time for camping in the areas described so I%26#39;d even think about making your reservations now. If you have a choice do Death Valley early on in the trip (since it will be hot at the beginning of June, but will get hotter week to week.) As such, if you have a choice to drive from South to North, I%26#39;d do that.

For booking campgrounds, I%26#39;d recommend the following web sites as a start:

For Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park, you can book on-line at: http://reservations.nps.gov/. I%26#39;d read this now and decide what campground you want and book your resevations in advance....especailly if you are considering a multi-day stay. That way you won%26#39;t be disappointed as the best place to stay will be inside the parks.

For San Francisco, there are several places nearby where you can stay and then take a shuttle into San Francisco. For example,

http://www.sanfranciscorvpark.com/ They also have sight-seeing tours directly from the park.

For Las Vegas, Circus Circus has an RV campground.

http://www.lasvegaskoa.com/ (Note: KOA also has many campgrounds to think about staying at throughout the area you are going.

Another site to check out for Camping is the California State Parks (you can also reserve) in advance. The campgrounds are quite nice (some nicer than others). There are many very nice ocean state parks to stay at plus many more throughout California.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/

As for guide books, I find the web to be among the best. For written materials, the State of Californai puts out an excellent guide:

…ca.gov/state/tourism/tour_homepage.jsp

and you can order the guide on:

http://www.usa-800.com/rback/ca/ca1.asp

And of course Trip Advisor site is an excellent site for planning your trip. Do ask about many more questions!

And if you%26#39;d like any help on planning how to split up those 5 weeks, please do let us know, so we can suggest an itinerary with possible places to camp out.

Enjoy planning your trip.

At Yosemite, we stayed in Upper Pines as it was close to the village.

Zion we stayed in the South Campground - loved it.

travelwest.net/parks/zion/campgrounds.html

If you are going to take the eastern (inside) passage up to SF maybe you should stop by Bodie (the ghost town) for a visit or even Mammoth.

The Coastline drive is absolutey beautiful and really shows you what California is all about. Dont discount it. I too would start in North Rim Grand Canyon and end in SF. Although, I am not sure how easy it is to get an RV from that starting point. For instance, our favorite rv rental place is El Monte and they only have fly/drive one ways in SF, Los Angels and Las Vegas.

Have Fun!

Since you are doing five weeks I think you may also have time to go farther north in CA and maybe even into So. Oregon. The scenery up north is wonderful and doesn%26#39;t seem as crowded as So CA in the summer. Shasta is wonderful with great camp sites, Lassen is also pretty cool with all the thermal pools, and of course the Eureka area is incredible. If you get to Oregon the jet boat tours on the Rogue River are great fun.