Critique this Road Trip California/Nevada/Utah road trip

[GettingPast]

Trip to be done in July with 2 adults & 2 kids 12 + 16.
22 nights total. It's very fully packed....

San Francisco – arrival afternoon - 3 nts
PETALUMA (Muir Woods + Wine region) 1 nt
BRIDGEPORT (Bodie State) 1 nt
MAMMOTH LAKES (Yosemite/Lakes) 3 nt
SPRINGDALE – via Death Valley (Zion) 2 nt
MOAB (Canyonlands/Arches) 3 nt
BRYCE (Bryce Canyon) 2 nt
LAS VEGAS (Casinos) - 1 nt
PALM SPRINGS (Joshua Tree) – 1 nt
Losa Angeles (Warner Bros + Universal) – 2 nts
PASO ROBLES (Hearst Castle) – 1 nt
CARMEL (Beach) – 2 nt
San Francisco – depart afternoon

Intrigued by this thread. I have been to SF, LV and LA in one trip but I flew between.

I have since coveted a SOCAL road trip between LA and Temecula wine country, plenty of attractions in San Diego and back up the coast to LA.

I also fancy going to Yosemite on a separate trip. It would be nice to do just lake and hiking activities. You can't fit it all in with a road trip.

If I were taking the dc to Vegas we would see a cirque de soleil show and do a trip to see grand canyon and hoover dam. I think you need longer in LV. It's kind of pointless as a pool relax place.

It seems mad to go to desert national parks in July.

I think you need to plan this as 2 or 3 trips.

Get VIP passes for Universal in LA if you can. It turns a hot sweaty day into an absolute pleasure and you'll see everything.

I'd look out for an afternoon show when you're in vegas, as it is so hot and there is a lack of shade at a lot of the pools. There are still a few afternoon magic shows are cheap and fun with welcome aircon.

We did this last year and imo you are spreading yourself too thin!!
We flew into SF and out of LA, would definitely recommend doing that otherwise the driving will be way to much (my dp loves driving).
2 nights max in SF, we only did Alcatraz and Golden Gate Park/Bridge.
Bear in mind the drive across Yosemite, just to park can take 3 hours in the height of Summer!
Check route 1 carefully, parts were indefinitely closed last year, there is no diversion, you have to go back up and across, it's a bloody long way.
Agree Monteray is better than Carmel, although I would ditch both and visit Santa Monica.

Carmel beach is lovely! Don’t see the attraction of Monterey above Carmel. Good whale watching from Monterey but Carmel is more chic. Just nicer.

I don’t want to be massively critical again, but also I don’t want you to have a shit holiday.

There’s no driving “through” Yosemite unless you just intend to skirt round and do the Tioga pass. Mono lake is somewhere to stop and eat your sandwiches. It’s a sight to behold, but passing up Yosemite’s valley floor and waterfalls to do Mono Lake doesn’t make any sense to me. I’d recommend that from San Francisco you go straight to Yosemite, and stay two nights in El Portal or Groveland so you can actually do Yosemite a little justice. There are giant redwoods at Tuolumne Grove, if that’s the main reason to visit Muir.

Driving into LA is hideous. Minimise it as much as you can. I drove from Palm Desert to LAX last week and it took 4 hours and I had three near misses with insane weaving drivers. It’s less than 130 miles. Thinking you can drive pretty much there from Springdale - on the I15 which can be a carpark through Las Vegas - is foolhardy.

@SnakesAndArrows I don’t understand the need to do so much driving. Nothing is enjoyed or savoured. It’s tick box and rushing on to the next “attraction”. We tend to be slow travellers and actually enjoyed driving Mulholland Drive and to the Getty Centre. We liked the canyons and a bit of expensive neighbourhood sightseeing.

It is a balance, I agree. I’ve done Las Vegas to Grand Canyon North Rim, to Bryce, to Zion and back to Las Vegas to catch a plane to San Francisco with just one night in each National Park, but I wouldn’t want that pace for the whole holiday.

I’m not at all interested in cities and suburbs - I just want mountains, canyons, deserts, forests and wild beaches, with plentiful wildlife, comfortable lodging and excellent breakfast restaurants.

Ha! We did that for an autumn holiday but added in a few other places. Rarely do one night anywhere - except LV. Was grateful for that.

I actually like cities. Mainly because I like art and cultural museums and architecture. So loved Chicago!LA was interesting too. We often go for wildlife and non city holidays so it’s a mixture for us. The Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the Antarctic was a big wildlife one for us and Botswana coming up. We just don’t rush, rush, rush.

Hi SnakesAndArrows & others!

Thanks again ...I really appreciate your feedback. For Yosemite I do realise the Valley is a dead end but I was hoping to get a flavour of the park through the Tioga Pass road & still be able to cross over to see Bodie, which we all really want to visit...

I don't want to sleep only 2 nights in SF as we arrive late the 1st day I just think we'll be too jet-lagged to enjoy the city & the tour at Alcatraz on day 2? I also think my kids girl enjoy city / shopping time more than Park time, so it's also for them. DH and I would probably enjoy more time in Yosemite, although we both like cities too: Yes the trip is a compromise. I don't plan to go another time to be honest and we only have school holidays.

Skipping Bolinas/Muir Woods & Mono Lakes area & adding more time in Yosemite could look like this...

4 -DRIVE TO YOSEMITE - Sleep El Portal (if not fully booked)
5 Visit Yosemite Valley - Sleep El Portal
6 IF OPEN (apparently yes from June) - DRIVE (200 km) via Crane Flat through HWY 120 Tioga Road- if Open - visit Bodie (afternoon) - Sleep Lee Vining / somewhere along the route toward Death Valley
7 DRIVE -DEATH VALLEY - Dante's view - Sleep Las Vegas

We could also skip Death Valley but it holds a certain (crazy) fascination.

I would like to keep a chill day in Las Vegas, again for the girls, they really want to see American City life with all the trashy diner joints even if for me 1 night is enough. I was hoping the Pool (will try to find a place with a water park) would help.

As for driving I-15 into LA, I was wondering about traffic. We are staying in north LA (near the Studios) and could enter through the north (Santa Clarita I5, joining from H14) . This would avoid I-210 which looks on the map to be busier.

Ah I see. Bodie does look great. There are some ghost town-like exhibits near the Death Valley visitor centre at Furnace Creek, but I agree that Bodie should stay if at all possible.

Tioga will be open by July. You could possibly get from El Portal (or Groveland - which is lovely and you have to pass the redwoods on your way into the valley) to Bodie for lunch time ish, a quick look at the sand flies Mono Lake on your way past, and then get to Lone Pine for the night. It’s a former film set town so interesting, and beautifully set between the mountains and the desert.

From there you could take all day to drive through Death Valley via Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek stopping at all the points along the road. A detour to Badwater Basin and Artists’ Drive will take about 90 mins. You’d then get to Vegas in time to chill before bed.

It will be stupidly hot, and you absolutely must fill up with gas before you start and travel with loads of water (and Gatorade). There’s a great ice cream parlour at Furnace Creek Ranch.

You presumably know you can buy an annual National Parks pass that gets you and a car full into all the National parks for $80 for the year?

Another tip - get an ice cooler from a supermarket. They are about $7 and will keep cold things cool for a while while you’re out on the road, longer if you can freeze ice packs/bottles of water or buy bags of ice from subsequent supermarkets when you stock up on drinks.

We were in Arizona, Utah and Death Valley last summer (madness, to be honest, but it was our window of opportunity) and it was insanely hot. Being outside was uncomfortable whenever we were at low elevations during daylight hours, so chilling by the pool in Vegas might not be a realistic plan.

Did I mention ice and lots of drinks? 😀

If you can book a show at the Shpere in Las Vegas it is highly recommend it. It's incredible and worth every penny.

Look it up.

Also, open a Wanderlog account - it's free- and use that as a planning tool. It makes trip planning much easier as it automatically maps everything and automatically pulls up information that you might use.

You will be able to share you itinerary with each other easily too.

I use the paid version now but the free version has almost all the features.

We’ve done 4 big long USA road trips like this with 3 children and the driving is absolutely fine. In many ways it’s always been one of the best parts of the trip. And we’ve covered more miles than you’re suggesting.

The only comment I would have is that I really wouldn’t have 3 nights in San Francisco and would also recommend thinking about flying out of LA. Enjoy!

It's a shame the US is so much more expensive now. We found even breakfasts out in Denny's those places were a lot more pricy than they used to be what with the exchange rate etc.

Another thought. Bryce was closing to non-residents on some days last summer. Get there early (you’ll want to anyway).

Also the Mount Carmel Highway is very spectacular but can get very, very busy through the tunnel. There’s a diner at Mt Carmel Junction called Thunderbird. It’s nothing spectacular (and can also be very busy) but it’s a place to stop (there’s very little else between Bryce and Zion!) with hummingbird feeders outside.

DH reckons you could potentially see Canyonlands and Arches in one day. I’ve not been yet.

@FillFall agree with you, we really struggled with a family of five on our last trip. It was a Deep South road trip in September 22 and it was eye watering.