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Old 01-11-2017, 02:28 AM   #1
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Question Looking for information for westward trip

For anyone who lives or has journeyed out west. I am planning a 2-3 week trip starting in Maryland and heading west. My main points that I am having trouble figuring out are from Mount Rushmore through Yellowstone, Bryce Canyon, Zion national park, hoover dam, four corners. I have been trying to figure out how much time to allow for each place and where to camp along the way. I was figuring about 6-7 days for all of them so the family has enough time to see and enjoy everything. I looked at good sam's website and tried the trip planner, but hitting the exact areas is like throwing darts because with some of them it just places a mark. Are there any really good travel planning sights out there or any and all ideas of where to go and what to see would be very helpful in planning this adventure. After four corners, I figured a trip through Albuquerque and then meander our way back home in a northeast direction.

Some things I am looking for:
1 day at Mount Rushmore? Should I cam in the area?
2 days for Yellowstone and where would the entrance be and where to stay
2 days for Zion and Bryce canyons again, good place to stay
1 day at hoover dam (or drive by)
1 day at four corners

Are all of these places RV friendly? I am towing my jeep so we have a vehicle to run around so leaving the RV in a campground is fine.

Thanks for any help provided (all help is appreciated and will be noted so I can sift through it )

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Old 01-11-2017, 09:18 PM   #2
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[QUOTE=RVCampingNut;54931]For anyone who lives or has journeyed out west. I am planning a 2-3 week trip starting in Maryland and heading west.

Sounds like the 6 week 7,500 mile trip we took last fall. We wished we had spent more time at Rushmore and the Badlands. The campgrounds looked great, but Rushmore encourages dispersed camping. We had a wonderful spot right on a lake. You will need reservations and patience at Yellowstone. I realize your pressed for time, but heading to Utah; Arches, and over to Mesa Verde in Col. is a must see. You will need reservations at Arches, but plenty of great BLM and NFS sites nearby. On to Brice and Zion. Zion was our favorite. Have good water shoes to walk the narrows. There are plenty of YouTube videos on the Grand Circle Tour, covering all these parks.

From Albuquerque; you are 200 miles South of Pagosa Springs Col. The absolute best kept secret for Hot Springs in the USA.
Good luck! You're going to have an amazing time.
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Old 01-11-2017, 09:59 PM   #3
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We've done this a few times with and without an RV. Based on those experiences, 2-3 weeks is a very short time frame. If that is all the time you have then you've ought to plan some long driving days to get to the areas of interest. We've made more trips through the midwest than I care to remember unless you like wheat, corn or sorghum.

Here is a GREAT site to get info on Yellowstone NP from a variety of entrances. Road to Yellowstone We made the trip from Mt. Rushmore to Yellowstone in 2015 with 3 grandkids. They loved it. The Crazy Horse site was one of the kids favorites - they got to see a work in progress.

Best advise - see as much of our great country as possible - love it.
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Old 01-11-2017, 11:28 PM   #4
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I agree with other sentiments, as a seasoned traveler in the US and Canada, and would say that only 3 weeks is not near enough time, unless you mostly want to be traveling every day of the trip...

we all want to get to 'everything' out there since we're going all that way, but just the shear mileage between each, the time to drive and really 'enjoy' the trip, and other unknowns, such as set up and tear down time each day, traffic within the parks, and weather can play such a pivotal role.

I would suggest limiting your pinpoints to two really important areas for you and your family and make sure that you spend quality time for each area. And remember, the trip to get there is half the fun... don't rush each days journey, make time to stop for those places you never knew would come along, and limit your mileage to 250-300 miles daily. You'll then have time to actually 'relax' at the end of each travel day...

I remember wishing so bad when I was young that we could have taken the vacations that my neighboring friends family did. They would go out west to Yellowstone or CarlsbadCaverns for a whole week long vacation!
..........now that I think about it, though, how in the WORLD would you be able to travel from Georgia to W Wyoming and back in a week alone, much less have time to see the sights and for Dad and Mom to enjoy the journey??? Maybe I'm glad I didn't have to sit in the 'reverse' rear seat in that old '79 station wagon with my sister the whole way!

Are We There Yet!!!!!
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Old 01-12-2017, 01:18 AM   #5
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Hate to pile on even more, but anyone who visits Yellowstone (first time there?) should also visit Grand Teton Nat'l Park. They're so close to each other and the Tetons offer some of the most majestic mountain views on earth.
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Old 01-12-2017, 01:29 AM   #6
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I didn't read everyones response...
presuming you are making this trip in Spring and/or Summer...
just for reference...we live near Kansas City...
when we head west...say to Bryce...it is, easily a 2-3+ day trip...driving through southern Colorado...stopping in Durango for a break...Cortez...(Mesa Verde)...
Moab (Arches Nat'l Park) , Grand Staircase, etc. getting to that destination....
We, like many others, have been to all the locations you plan to visit...please make time to spend several days at most locations.
Hoover Dam is a day or half day trip...and when in the Las Vegas area...
visit Red Rock and several other local areas.
Four Corners is about an hour at most... you are in the general area of Mesa Verde and Monument Valley and you can do a drive by of Shiprock
If you drop down from Yellowstone through the Tetons...at Vernal, Utah is
The Dinosaur Dig and Museam...then continue down to I70 to head west to
Utah and all the wonders of that area !
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Old 01-12-2017, 01:35 AM   #7
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Glad you are taking a toad. You would miss a LOT driving through Yellowstone, for one instance, in the Challenger. Too much eyes on the road, no time for the scenery, let alone trying to get in and out of places like the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. I would strongly recommend finding a campground outside the park (get reservations early) and only taking the toad into the parks. Unless you are eligible for the senior pass, at least get the interagency annual pass. You are going enough places it will save you a bundle.
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Old 01-12-2017, 01:54 AM   #8
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[QUOTE=Dbadger777;55032]
Quote:
Originally Posted by RVCampingNut View Post
For anyone who lives or has journeyed out west. I am planning a 2-3 week trip starting in Maryland and heading west.

Sounds like the 6 week 7,500 mile trip we took last fall. We wished we had spent more time at Rushmore and the Badlands. The campgrounds looked great, but Rushmore encourages dispersed camping. We had a wonderful spot right on a lake. You will need reservations and patience at Yellowstone. I realize your pressed for time, but heading to Utah; Arches, and over to Mesa Verde in Col. is a must see. You will need reservations at Arches, but plenty of great BLM and NFS sites nearby. On to Brice and Zion. Zion was our favorite. Have good water shoes to walk the narrows. There are plenty of YouTube videos on the Grand Circle Tour, covering all these parks.

From Albuquerque; you are 200 miles South of Pagosa Springs Col. The absolute best kept secret for Hot Springs in the USA.
Good luck! You're going to have an amazing time.

Thank You for the ideas. I totally forgot about Arches National Park. I should have enough time to reserve time/space.
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Old 01-12-2017, 01:56 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bigben View Post
We've done this a few times with and without an RV. Based on those experiences, 2-3 weeks is a very short time frame. If that is all the time you have then you've ought to plan some long driving days to get to the areas of interest. We've made more trips through the midwest than I care to remember unless you like wheat, corn or sorghum.

Here is a GREAT site to get info on Yellowstone NP from a variety of entrances. Road to Yellowstone We made the trip from Mt. Rushmore to Yellowstone in 2015 with 3 grandkids. They loved it. The Crazy Horse site was one of the kids favorites - they got to see a work in progress.

Best advise - see as much of our great country as possible - love it.
Thank you for the site. Three weeks is all I can manage until I retire in 20 years . I did plan on driving as much as possible for the first two days to get out to Mount Rushmore (with one stop in the RV hall of fame my son (11) wants to see)
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Old 01-12-2017, 01:58 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by RV1863 View Post
Hate to pile on even more, but anyone who visits Yellowstone (first time there?) should also visit Grand Teton Nat'l Park. They're so close to each other and the Tetons offer some of the most majestic mountain views on earth.
Damn, there's another one I forgot about. hmmm, maybe I might have to plan 2 different trips and concentrate on Mount Rushmore down to Yellowstone/Bryce/Zion
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Old 01-12-2017, 02:00 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vkb View Post
I didn't read everyones response...
presuming you are making this trip in Spring and/or Summer...
just for reference...we live near Kansas City...
when we head west...say to Bryce...it is, easily a 2-3+ day trip...driving through southern Colorado...stopping in Durango for a break...Cortez...(Mesa Verde)...
Moab (Arches Nat'l Park) , Grand Staircase, etc. getting to that destination....
We, like many others, have been to all the locations you plan to visit...please make time to spend several days at most locations.
Hoover Dam is a day or half day trip...and when in the Las Vegas area...
visit Red Rock and several other local areas.
Four Corners is about an hour at most... you are in the general area of Mesa Verde and Monument Valley and you can do a drive by of Shiprock
If you drop down from Yellowstone through the Tetons...at Vernal, Utah is
The Dinosaur Dig and Museam...then continue down to I70 to head west to
Utah and all the wonders of that area !
All of these are great. I might have to really rethink this now so we can really enjoy the trip.
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Old 01-12-2017, 02:02 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by CasaLoca View Post
Glad you are taking a toad. You would miss a LOT driving through Yellowstone, for one instance, in the Challenger. Too much eyes on the road, no time for the scenery, let alone trying to get in and out of places like the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. I would strongly recommend finding a campground outside the park (get reservations early) and only taking the toad into the parks. Unless you are eligible for the senior pass, at least get the interagency annual pass. You are going enough places it will save you a bundle.
Chuck Peck in CasaLoca
How do you get/What is the interagency annual pass? Unfortunately I am nowhere near qualified for a senior pass. I still have many years to go for that one.
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Old 01-12-2017, 02:04 AM   #13
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Tips for Arches, Moab UT, and surrounding area

If you do decide to stop at Arches, let me know. Our second home is outside of Moab and we spend about 6 months a year out there. I could point you to some really interesting trails and the good food in Moab.
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Old 01-12-2017, 02:20 AM   #14
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How do you get/What is the interagency annual pass? Unfortunately I am nowhere near qualified for a senior pass. I still have many years to go for that one.
https://www.fs.fed.us/visit/passes-p...on-fees-passes
Here is one place to get info about the interagency annual pass. It is available through US Forest Service, National Parks, and I suppose other places as well.
The first federal recreation area that you reach that charges fees will have this pass for sale. They may first offer you the short term pass for their facility. Tell them that you want the annual nationwide pass. There are place where two park passes alone will cost more than this one pass. And it gets you discounts on camping as well.
See a lot of parks and save enough to fill your gas tank a couple of times.
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Old 01-12-2017, 02:21 AM   #15
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If you are looking for stops that are a little different:
Stop in Winslow, AZ and Stand on the Corner in Winslow, AZ
Also stop at Meteor crater (keep in mind it took millions of years to make the grand canyon, but meteor crater was created in milliseconds).
Or stop and take some pics at the Wigwam motel in Holbrook, AZ
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Old 01-13-2017, 02:00 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by JamieGeek View Post
If you are looking for stops that are a little different:
Stop in Winslow, AZ and Stand on the Corner in Winslow, AZ
Also stop at Meteor crater (keep in mind it took millions of years to make the grand canyon, but meteor crater was created in milliseconds).
Or stop and take some pics at the Wigwam motel in Holbrook, AZ

Cool. Thank you. This is why this forum is so great. Lots of great ideas and helpful information
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Old 01-13-2017, 07:49 AM   #17
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The USA is a lot bigger than you realize, It is 2,000 miles from MD to Pahaska WY. (near to the east entrance of Yellowstone.. That's at least 4 days travel time @ 500 miles a day.. Plan wisely.
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Old 01-13-2017, 09:55 AM   #18
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We have done similar trips out west (longer) in both our RVs and on the Harley. The only thing I might add is about reservations at CG's. There are some really popular ones you may want to book early, for example close to Yellowstone, etc. If you have locked in reservations then start allowing some built in "break down" time in your other planning. You never know when something will go wrong and you will get 300 - 500 miles behind in your schedule. Most CG's will work with you but some busy ones will not and you could lose some money quick.
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Old 01-13-2017, 01:55 PM   #19
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It sounds like a great trip and we have driven out West from Florida a half a dozen times in the past 10 years. I would caution too about trying to schedule too much and ending up spending all your time driving and not actually seeing anything. In the National Parks like Yellowstone, for example, 99% of the visitors never get more than a few hundred yards from the road or major walkways. The beauty of the parks is found on the trails and away from the major tourist destinations. We have spent a week in Yellowstone and a week in Grand Teatons alone. I don't mean that you have to spend that much time, but scheduling one day at a park and locking yourself in with reservations could lead to frustration. We did that in our first two week trip driving thru Europe. We spent most of our time in the car driving from scheduled hotel to scheduled hotel and seeing little. We could say that we had been there, but that was about all.
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Old 01-13-2017, 08:31 PM   #20
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After reading all of the threads and really thinking about the relaxation time and seeing the sights, I am still locked to 3 weeks. Maybe I was overzealous when I first thought about this. I love driving the RV, but not so much that I would be driving all the time and missing out. Maybe this trip, I concentrate on the northern route and then next year plan for the southern route.

I am currently re-working my 3 week trip to cover from Mount Rushmore to maybe hoover dam and then coming back straight across the U.S. and not taking a southern route to make it back. This way, I could spend more time seeing sights and actually relaxing.
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