West - National Park Tour in the Southwest - Which Ones?

Hi Everyone,

I've been lucky enough to visit a few national parks in the Southwest US while travelling with work and would like to do a 3 week tour of some of them with Mrs Roberino. I wanted to do a roundtrip, say from LAX to SFO.

What airports would you start and finish at, and which NP's would you recommend I visit along the way? The list is currently:

Start at LAX
Joshua Tree
Meteor Crater (via Sedona)
Petrified Forest
Grand Canyon
Monument Valley
Lake Powell
Arches
Zion
Las Vegas
Sequoia
Yosemite
SFO

Any suggestions, modifications or eliminations from this list would be welcomed.

You might want to take a look at Valley of Fire (not too far from Las Vegas) and possibly Bryce. Also (another state park, but you'll be so close) is Goosenecks State Park. Google for pictures - pretty cool.

Also possibly (as a drive-through) Death Valley. Not sure if it would work out, but you might go through it and see Badwater between LAX and LAS.

I'm thinking of doing something similar myself later this spring, just haven't really started mapping it out yet. Some on your list are favorite places I just want to visit again (and again).

Oh, also, you very well might find yourself in the vicinity of Antelope Canyon, one of the most spectacular accessible redrock slot canyons and absolutely worth a visit.

When are you planning on visiting? If you're coming in the summer I would avoid Death Valley and Joshua Tree.

Definitely visit Bryce Canyon as well. I've always enjoyed Canyonlands, too.

I've always been a fan of Tonto National Forest. Might be worth taking a look at, it's amazing how you're so close to Phoenix but once inside the park it's like being in a whole different world.

http://www.fs.usda.gov/tonto

Canyon De Chelly in Arizona is a place you might be able to add while you go through Monument Valley. I was fortunate enough to see it in the spring. The hike to the bottom was nice because of the time of year.

Two things to consider:

1) What time of year are you visiting? Some of these destinations are too hot to spend significant time at in the summer, others have limited activities in the winter.

2) The Southwestern US is an incredibly scenic area with countless possible attractions. Before you make a hugely long list of everything people recommend you see, think carefully about which attractions/activities are your top priorities and how much time you'd like to spend at each. Also consider how much time you're willing to spend driving between locations.

To give you an idea of the place I have been on the list, none of them are duds and all worth visiting:

Joshua tree, can spend two days if you want to do short hikes, I would say one day minimum to drive through if you do both the desert section, and the rocks section, maybe 3/4 day for just the rocks.

Meteor crater, a few hours, but its a long way from Sedona. Sedona you could spend a long day just exploring the sights there.

Petrified Forrest, about a day and a half to really enjoy the park, could do it in a long day but it is nice to walk around amongst the wood and painted desert a little.

Grand Canyon, a long day if you just ride the bus to the over looks. I would allow a second day to hike down 1\4 way or 1\2 way depending on your fittness (though you can only hike easily in Spring or fall, winter has snow and summer too hot, though if you are careful and time it right you can do summer). You get a better perspective if you hike into the canyon.

Awesome suggestions, people! We will be going in September (we have a habit of being off our native continent whenever Mrs Roberino has a birthday) so we're hoping to avoid overcrowding and queueing to see the views. Keep 'em coming!

Awesome suggestions, people! We will be going in September (we have a habit of being off our native continent whenever Mrs Roberino has a birthday) so we're hoping to avoid overcrowding and queueing to see the views. Keep 'em coming!

Labor Day weekend is the first weekend in September and it's the last holiday before younger kids go back to school. Almost any other time in September should be fine.

Yosemite is huge and is much more than the Valley. It's also my favorite park. Unfortunately, it's also the favorite of lots and lots of other people.

It books up quickly, except for the Ahwahnee Lodge which is quite expensive and tents at Curry Village. I'm not sure when Tuolumne Meadows lodging closes. It's a high sierra meadow with hikes off into the mountains, some of which can be done as day hikes, if one is quite fit.

Hi Everyone,

I've been lucky enough to visit a few national parks in the Southwest US while travelling with work and would like to do a 3 week tour of some of them with Mrs Roberino. I wanted to do a roundtrip, say from LAX to SFO.

What airports would you start and finish at, and which NP's would you recommend I visit along the way? The list is currently:

Start at LAX
Joshua Tree
Meteor Crater (via Sedona)
Petrified Forest
Grand Canyon
Monument Valley
Lake Powell
Arches
Zion
Las Vegas
Sequoia
Yosemite
SFO

Any suggestions, modifications or eliminations from this list would be welcomed.Las Vegas has been made a national park? Must have missed that announcement. :D

September in Yosemite should be nice, but not the park at its best. May is the best time to go, when the waterfalls are full with snow melt. In September the falls will likely be low to non-flowing, depending on the summer weather. Lodging, however, will be much easier to get if you go Monday to Thursday; even in autumn the weekends in the park are mobbed and not nearly as much fun. We used to go from Sunday to Friday for family trips.

When you're in the area of Yosemite and Sequioa/King's Canyon, I'd add Devil's Postpile National Monument to the list. http://www.nps.gov/depo/index.htm

Definitely visit Bryce Canyon as well. I've always enjoyed Canyonlands, too.

+1. Although unless you want to do some real hiking in Canyonlands there's somewhat less to see on the drive in/drive out approach.

This itinerary looks more like a car trip with stops in national parks, not really a trip to national parks. 3 weeks isn't time enough for all of this.

I would fly into Las Vegas and leave from Salt Lake City, hitting the Utah/Arizona parks. And then make a separate trip for the California parks.

+1. This itinerary looks more like a car trip with stops in national parks, not really a trip to national parks. 3 weeks isn't time enough for all of this.

I worked it out as 50 hours driving, so about 2-3 hours per day, which I'm happy to do early or late in the day. Mrs Roberino was of the same mind as you though. I think we will end up doing two trips in the end. Wouldn't doing Vegas/Utah split the rest of the South West parks in half though? The ones east of LA and the ones east of San Francisco?

New question! How would you guys split this up into two trips?

Las Vegas has been made a national park? Must have missed that announcement. :D

Las Vegas should be a National park. It's like nowhere else on earth...

I worked it out as 50 hours driving, so about 2-3 hours per day, which I'm happy to do early or late in the day.

I expect you'll drive a lot more than than when you add in the "local" trips-- driving between hotel & park and amongst sites in the parks.

New question! How would you guys split this up into two trips?

That part's easy. Split it into east and west halves with Las Vegas at the middle. On one trip drive a big circle through southern Utah and northern Arizona. On the other trip visit parks in California and possible some of its major cities.

You might want to take a look at Valley of Fire (not too far from Las Vegas) and possibly Bryce.

I would definitely make an effort to go to Bryce since it isn't far from Zion. Valley of Fire is nice too since you will be close.

Bobette

Canyon De Chelly in Arizona is a place you might be able to add while you go through Monument Valley. I was fortunate enough to see it in the spring. The hike to the bottom was nice because of the time of year.

Canyon de Chelly is one of my favorite places in the SW. Several years ago, we took two trips into the canyon. One on horse back, the second by 4WD the following day. Both required a Navajo guide. The horse back trip was an experience I will never forget. Our guide was very reserved and said little for the first hour. We stopped at a very interesting site and we started asking questions. That seemed to break the ice and the rest of ride (4-5 hours) was fascinating. We talked with him about life on the reservation (poverty and alcoholism), his religion, and many other issues. Of course, the scenery was spectacular.