WillCAD

I don't travel much. My yearly vacation is almost always at Walt Disney World. But I've decided to try something new and exciting in 2012, and even though I have more than a year to plan it, I figured that the many traveling photographers here would be able to help me narrow my choices a bit.

I want to see and photograph some national parks. But I will only have about a week; probably an 8-day trip, total, in October. I have come up with two main options:

1) Fly from home in Baltimore to San Fransisco, see the Golden Gate and Alcatraz, maybe meet a few folks who live there from the photo message boards I frequent (dgrin.com), then drive to Yosemite, Sequoia, maybe Death Valley since it's on the way, up through Vegas to see the Hoover Dam and Valley of Fire (NV state park but well worth a visit), then on to Bryce and Zion. Return would be by driving back to Vegas and flying home.

2) Reverse it - Start in Vegas, drive up to Bryce and Zion, then reverse course and end up in San Fransisco for the flight home.

To do this, in either direction, I would have to do a one-way vehicle rental. Air is not a major problem, since I always fly Southwest and they're not picky about booking two one-ways vs a round-trip.

And again, I have three possible options for the transportation method:

1) Rent a small RV and stay at various campgrounds, RV parks, or camping areas in the national and state parks along the way. This one is my preference, but is probably the most expensive. I've also never driven an RV, and have no experience at operating one, though the rental places will teach you the basics when you take out their expensive equipment.

2) Rent a car and stay at various lodges, motels, and hotels. This one is probably cheaper than renting the RV when you factor in space rental, hookup fees, and of course the thousands upon thousands of gallons of gas that an RV uses, but it also generally puts me farther from the parks I want to see. I really like the idea of actually staying IN those parks, at least those with RV campgrounds.

3) Rent a car and tent camp in those places. This one is cheapest, but I haven't done any tent camping in over 20 years, and I'm not terribly enthused about sleeping on the ground and not having my own bathroom available. I also need some electrical hookups - I haven't shot film in 5 or 6 years, and I need power to charge my camera batts and run a laptop so I can download and backup my digital pics.

Argh, this turned into a novel. Any way, I'd appreciate some suggestions about my itinerary, route, and transportation method.

exerda

Another possibility is to try the "great circle" of Utah National Parks & Monuments, and not just Zion & Bryce. Arches has a lot to say for it--Bryce may be my favorite, but Arches is a close 2nd and edges closer ever time I visit--and Canyonlands is nearby and an easy morning or afternoon. I haven't visited Capitol Reef NP or Natural Bridges NM yet. Utah's state parks are also very nice; Goblin Valley and Coral Pink Sand Dunes are two I've visited and were well-pleased with, and Red Canyon just before Bryce is a fantastic place to stop at sunset. October is at the border for visiting Cedar Breaks NM (somewhat similar to Bryce but at a few thousand feet more in altitude--it can be snowed in in October to vehicular traffic).

Using Utah as a base, you can easily swing down into northern Arizona (Monument Valley, or even over to the Grand Canyon), or into Colorado. I've flown into either LAS or GJT (Grand Junction, CO) for my trips to the area, but there's also SGU (St. George, UT), CNY (Moab, UT), and several others to consider.

There are ample cheap motels and camping to be had in the vicinity of all of these attractions. Several of the parks have lodges on-site in addition to camping, so you don't have to worry so much about staying in, say, SGU and then driving all the way to Zion; you can stay at the lodge in Zion. (Pricier, I'm sure, and IIRC in October they're still running the mandatory shuttle service where you park at the visitor's center or the lodge if you're a guest, and take the shuttle through the park's stops.)

allset2travel

To visit and photograph all those places you mentioned in 8 days sounds very aggressive. If you only have 8 days, try to eliminate some destinations from the list. You would be spending a great deal of time driving rather than shooting Besides, most photographers would prefer shooting at sunrise and sunset. Places like Yosemite, Zion and Bryce, I'd stay for least 2 days each.
Open jaw and car rental are your friends. I am not a camper, I’ll let others chime in on that.

As far as choosing San Francisco or Vegas to start/end your trip, it depends on which itin offers lowest airfares.

darthbimmer

I agree with the idea of focusing your trip on the red rocks country of southern Utah and northern Arizona. There's a huge amount of beautiful scenery there. And October's a good time-- it won't be 105 like in July. I recommend visiting Arches, Canyonlands, Monument Valley, Antelope Valley, Bryce, and Zion. If you'll have a good SUV there are also interesting offroad sites in Capitol Reef and Escalante. And there are many smaller parks at the state level that are fun to visit, too. Even with this narrower focus you will have to make choices about what to visit and what to skip in 8 days.

KoKoBuddy

Re: Option 3

You can charge your stuff in the car. So if access to power is the only thing stopping you from doing 3, there is that possibility.

Renting an RV is expensive. It's about $1000 a week for the base rental, plus insurance plus mileage. Your plan is for a lot of miles, so probably $1000 for mileage alone. Then add gas at $4/gallon (even more in the more remote areas you will be filling up) for a 5-7 MPG vehicle and KA-CHING!! Then add insurance and...well you get the idea.

Whoever mentioned cheap motels....depends on your definition of cheap. Not much is cheap in the area during summer season. Expect $100 a night for a basic motel during high season. $200+ if you want to be inside the parks themselves.

mjtx

We just did the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. They were breathtaking. You could also add Glacier.

azcoyote

to tag on to the above comments, this would be a case of "less is more." Fewer parks but more depth will provide a much richer experience. As for where, I'm not sure it really matters. All of them have so much to offer.

mjtx

For those travelers who are US citizens and are 62+ the Senior Lifetime Pass for $10.00 ($20.00 if you order it by mail) is a huge bargain. Once you buy the pass it is good for free entry into all of our National Parks for you and everyone in your car.

WillCAD

That IS a wonderful bargain, and when I hit 62 (in 2031), I will definitely get one!

For my 2012 trip, however, I might get an America the Beautiful Annual Pass for $80, which will cover my entrance fees to all of the national parks and rec areas on my list. I'll have to add up the total entrance fees once I finalize my itinerary, and see whether it is cheaper to get the AP or to pay out of pocket per entrance.

azcoyote

One thing to keep in mind is that the annual park pass is good until the end of the month of the year following the month of purchase (buy on Oct 1, 2011and it's good until Oct 31, 2012). So, best to buy at the start of the month, and get nearly 13 months out of it.

Roger

This is pretty much what we would like to do. May I ask your advice on overnight stops - 1 or 2 nights each? - and where.

We're starting and finishing in LA in the fall and thought that our first and last legs would be via Las Vegas and/or St George UT with about 10 days for the parks, traveling by car.

Thanks for your help.

darthbimmer

Arches and Canyonlands parks are fairly close together. The nearby town of Moab, UT is an excellent place to stay while visiting them. It has plenty of motels and outfitters. You could see the highlights of both parks in 3 days but you could also spend 5-6 days there without getting bored.

For Zion I have usually stayed in Springdale UT, another great little "gateway" town. It's just outside the popular canyon area of the park and even has bus service from town into the park.

Bryce Canyon is a small park, and a lot of people try to visit it for just part of a day while passing through. I think that's a mistake-- it's better to spend a night in one of the nearby towns and take a bit more time to enjoy this compact but richly beautiful place.

Antelope Canyon is just outside Page AZ. There are plenty of other recreation areas nearby, particularly Lake Mead. You could easily do 3 days here.

Study maps to figure out what driving route makes the most sense for you. Be sure to measure the distances and think clearly about your personal tolerance for driving.

Roger

Brilliant! Thank you very much, darthbimmer.

That's exactly what I was looking for.

Diamondback

We've done a number of National Park driving vacations. Your itinerary looks way too agressive. I prefer to spend 2-3 nights at each stop if you are driving for more than 4-5 hours to reach destination. Last year we did SLC (1nt), Grand Tetons (2nts), Yellowstone (3nts). This year we did Pocatello (1nt), Glacier (3nts), Banff (3nts).