Planning help needed - a trip out west this fall

[ppine]

Taking a trip in Sept-Oct gives you much smaller crowds, but the potential for some bad weather. You will have an easier time making reservations, but will have to deal with some snow. I like the fall best. The animals are busy, the ones with antlers are in rut. The colors are turning. The weather can be really good, just carry chains and be ready to sit out a day or two.

[rsdata]

Taking a trip in Sept-Oct gives you much smaller crowds, but the potential for some bad weather. You will have an easier time making reservations, but will have to deal with some snow. I like the fall best. The animals are busy, the ones with antlers are in rut. The colors are turning. The weather can be really good, just carry chains and be ready to sit out a day or two.

X2 best advise yet...

Don't look forward to much camping in the NParks... I think the reservation window for them is 6 months out and I will bet they are already full for your time frame. Start booking national forest service and state campgrounds which will be a little less crowded. Cell service can often be scarce.

Even though 6 weeks sounds like a long time to be gone, you are planning a lot of miles and you will be stopping early to find an available camp site, so your miles per day will be low.

Plan on stopping at a central location and do some driving to the scenery.

OH and I would start with some really good new tires on the TV. I have been on some pretty rough and rocky campground roads.

[Hoomi]

If you plan on visiting Saguaro National Park here in Southern Arizona, Gilbert Ray Campground is the closest camping to the Tucson Mountain Division of the Park. Gilbert Ray has electric sites, but no water or sewer hook-up sites. There is water and a dump station on site. The campground is reasonable and well-maintained, and spaces can be reserved online. SNP is divided into two divisions - Tucson Mountain Division, on the West side of Tucson, and the Rincon Mountain Division on the East side of Tucson. Neither division has camping in the park. There is a KOA in Tucson run by the Lazy Days RV dealership, that is nicely maintained and very central to both divisions, along with other RV parks in the area. The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, near SNP Tucson Mountain Division, is the attraction here in our home town that I most often recommend to visitors. Part botanical garden, part wildlife park, part natural history museum, part art gallery, and with a touch of aquarium thrown in, it highlights the spectacular diversity of the Sonoran Desert that we call home. For aircraft buffs, the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson benefits from its close proximity to the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB. Boneyard tours run from PASM, though to take the tour, visitors must apply ahead of their visit, due to USAF security regulations.

For Petrified Forest National Park off I-40, and the adjacent Painted Desert, Homolovi State Park, between Holbrook and Winslow, is a nicely maintained state park, close enough for easy touring about the area. Homolovi is not one of the more popular State Parks, simply because it's more historic than scenic, so spaces are usually available there. Added bonus is the ability to go in and take a picture standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona (it's such a fine sight to see).

For Grand Canyon, you have the choice of North or South Rim. There is camping in the park on both rims, and ample places to set-up outside. For the South Rim, the city of Williams, on I-40, has a National Forest campground, Kaibab Lake. We've driven through this campground to check it out, and it is nice looking, but no hookups. The Williams KOA has hookups, but the spaces are fairly close together. There is another KOA just north of Williams, but it is not as nice as the one in Williams proper. For the North Rim, Jacob Lake is a nice National Forest campground, but again, no hookups. The campground is around 7000 - 8000 feet of altitude, so stays cool even during the summer. It's on the 89A at the junction where the road heads south to the North Rim, about 40 miles away. The North Rim campground is nice, though again, when we stayed there, we had no hookups. One advantage of Jacob Lake, is that it is also close enough for an easy day trip into Zion National Park in Southern Utah, coming from the Kanab side.

The 89 up through Utah, from Kanab north, is a beautiful drive. We have family up in Utah, and whenever we head up for a visit, we take the 89 instead of the 15. The 15 is a freeway with a higher speed limit, but the 89 goes through beautiful forest area, quaint small towns, and along both the Virgin and Sevier Rivers. There is an RV park midway between Zion and Bryce that, many years ago, used to be a KOA. We stayed there when I was a kid, sometime around the early 1970s, to visit Zion and Bryce. We've noticed it every time we've driven up for a visit, and it seems to be taken care of.

Capitol Reef NP is often overlooked, but well worth a visit. The scenery is gorgeous, and it doesn't tend to be too crowded like the more popular Zion and Bryce tend to be. As I recall, there is a small campground in Capitol Reef, and several RV parks just outside (we stayed at one of those when we visited). Arches NP has camping, along with places to stay in nearby Moab, and incredible geological formations. Be advised, if you go in summer, Arches is HOT. Canyonlands National Park is also nearby, though we have not made it there yet.

At the southern corner of Colorado is Mesa Verde National Park, another one that tends to get overlooked. The Anasazi ruins in the park are amazing, and the park campground is very nice. Mesa Verde is close enough to Durango, Colorado, for an easy day trip to ride the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, which carries passengers on an incredible trip through scenic canyons to the town of Silverton and back.

[ppine]

I agree with rsdata. I mostly camp in National Forests and visit NPs just for the day. By October many of the parks are pretty quiet and it can be a great time to visit. The difference between Oct and the summer can be remarkable in terms of what your visitor experience is going to be like. UT and AZ are a good bet for the fall except for traveling in higher elevations.

[ppine]

I had a contract on the Navajo Res in Arizona for 6 years. We made 12 trips in May and October traveling through southern Utah to get there. In that time we had temperatures well over 90 degrees and snow. It is a great part of the country to visit and it changed my thinking about a lot of things. Do not miss the archaeological sites along the way. For once someone is planning a really good trip.

[Chief T]

Originally Posted by Hoomi

If you plan on visiting Saguaro National Park here in Southern Arizona, Gilbert Ray Campground is the closest camping to the Tucson Mountain Division of the Park. Gilbert Ray has electric sites, but no water or sewer hook-up sites. There is water and a dump station on site. The campground is reasonable and well-maintained, and spaces can be reserved online. SNP is divided into two divisions - Tucson Mountain Division, on the West side of Tucson, and the Rincon Mountain Division on the East side of Tucson. Neither division has camping in the park. There is a KOA in Tucson run by the Lazy Days RV dealership, that is nicely maintained and very central to both divisions, along with other RV parks in the area. The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, near SNP Tucson Mountain Division, is the attraction here in our home town that I most often recommend to visitors. Part botanical garden, part wildlife park, part natural history museum, part art gallery, and with a touch of aquarium thrown in, it highlights the spectacular diversity of the Sonoran Desert that we call home. For aircraft buffs, the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson benefits from its close proximity to the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB. Boneyard tours run from PASM, though to take the tour, visitors must apply ahead of their visit, due to USAF security regulations.

For Petrified Forest National Park off I-40, and the adjacent Painted Desert, Homolovi State Park, between Holbrook and Winslow, is a nicely maintained state park, close enough for easy touring about the area. Homolovi is not one of the more popular State Parks, simply because it's more historic than scenic, so spaces are usually available there. Added bonus is the ability to go in and take a picture standing on the corner in Winslow Arizona (it's such a fine sight to see).

For Grand Canyon, you have the choice of North or South Rim. There is camping in the park on both rims, and ample places to set-up outside. For the South Rim, the city of Williams, on I-40, has a National Forest campground, Kaibab Lake. We've driven through this campground to check it out, and it is nice looking, but no hookups. The Williams KOA has hookups, but the spaces are fairly close together. There is another KOA just north of Williams, but it is not as nice as the one in Williams proper. For the North Rim, Jacob Lake is a nice National Forest campground, but again, no hookups. The campground is around 7000 - 8000 feet of altitude, so stays cool even during the summer. It's on the 89A at the junction where the road heads south to the North Rim, about 40 miles away. The North Rim campground is nice, though again, when we stayed there, we had no hookups. One advantage of Jacob Lake, is that it is also close enough for an easy day trip into Zion National Park in Southern Utah, coming from the Kanab side.

The 89 up through Utah, from Kanab north, is a beautiful drive. We have family up in Utah, and whenever we head up for a visit, we take the 89 instead of the 15. The 15 is a freeway with a higher speed limit, but the 89 goes through beautiful forest area, quaint small towns, and along both the Virgin and Sevier Rivers. There is an RV park midway between Zion and Bryce that, many years ago, used to be a KOA. We stayed there when I was a kid, sometime around the early 1970s, to visit Zion and Bryce. We've noticed it every time we've driven up for a visit, and it seems to be taken care of.

Capitol Reef NP is often overlooked, but well worth a visit. The scenery is gorgeous, and it doesn't tend to be too crowded like the more popular Zion and Bryce tend to be. As I recall, there is a small campground in Capitol Reef, and several RV parks just outside (we stayed at one of those when we visited). Arches NP has camping, along with places to stay in nearby Moab, and incredible geological formations. Be advised, if you go in summer, Arches is HOT. Canyonlands National Park is also nearby, though we have not made it there yet.

At the southern corner of Colorado is Mesa Verde National Park, another one that tends to get overlooked. The Anasazi ruins in the park are amazing, and the park campground is very nice. Mesa Verde is close enough to Durango, Colorado, for an easy day trip to ride the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, which carries passengers on an incredible trip through scenic canyons to the town of Silverton and back.

Thx for sharing the info on Tucson area. We're heading to Roper Lake and Kartchner Caverns State Parks at end of month.

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by Chief T

Thx for sharing the info on Tucson area. We're heading to Roper Lake and Kartchner Caverns State Parks at end of month.

Kartchner is fantastic, and has a nice RV park. Lots to do/see in Tombstone and Bisbee area. Roper Lake is okay, but we find we now just skip it and stay longer in the Tombstone area.
One place you might look at is City of Rocks near Deming NM. I would vote for City of Rocks over Roper Lake any day! You will not find anything like City of Rocks anywhere else. It is still the trip our now grown grandkids talk about

[Chief T]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

Kartchner is fantastic, and has a nice RV park. Lots to do/see in Tombstone and Bisbee area. Roper Lake is okay, but we find we now just skip it and stay longer in the Tombstone area.
One place you might look at is City of Rocks near Deming NM. I would vote for City of Rocks over Roper Lake any day! You will not find anything like City of Rocks anywhere else. It is still the trip our now grown grandkids talk about

Thanks, drove by it couple years ago on way to Silver City; looked interesting.

[metalsideup]

Lot of good suggestions here. I did a 3 month adventure out west last summer without any prior reservations. I plotted as I went and made calls to secure a site for end of day when necessary. One habit I developed that was very helpful in my plotting was making conversation with any other RVers going the opposite direction. I would ask where they stayed or for recommendations on what not to miss. I was directed to several gems I wouldn't have known about without that chat.

[robo44]

Originally Posted by Thomas ho

possible bad weather outside albuquerque" Tijeras csnyon " " clines corner" on i 40 east of albuquerque. been early snow last few years.

Aint that the truth - I had to make a run from CA to MI exactly 1 year ago from today, pulled out of Albuquerque on HWY 40 east, it was raining.. 7 miles east near Tejeras i hit a blizzard. So hard snowing I had to pull off the road. almost slid off the exit into a ravine in my Class A.
I turned around and headed back to Albuquerque at 5MPH, to spend the night and wait for the snow to subside. Next day i saw it snowed 10" in Tejeras,
The 100 or so mile drive to Texas the temp never got above 25 and the fog was so dense i could only see 50eet in front of me.
Scariest 2 days I ever have driven in.
So Advice, check the weather, any hint of snow, just park it.

[ppine]

thanks to robo44.

[robo44]

On a positive note - HWY 40 was a nice ride, plenty of things to see and do, I will leave it to others for more specifics places to say, Other tan I did stay at a Williams / Exit 167 / Circle Pines KOA Holiday. It was great for kids -.
Stop off and see all the quirky things on R66/Hwy40

[Dela]

Ahhh, I am envious. We went west from VA last Aug/Sept. It was my first long trip in my 2003 Class C, but we planned well. I will try to sum up the best tips:
We planned our route, took paper maps AND the Garmin GPS for RV's. I did the morning driving and my partner did the second half of the drive; we went from Winchester, VA area to Buffalo WY in 3 days. We used a book called "The Next Exit", so about 45 minutes before we wanted to stop driving, I read the book, searched for campgrounds, or boondock areas, and made necessary phone calls for reservations. Coming home was Labor day, so we boondocked at Walmart without any issues. We made reservations at a few campgrounds for where we knew we would be spending some time, specifically Buffalo WY- we stayed at the KOA and it was wonderful. Very nice folks, clean laundry area and real showers felt amazing Since we traveled with my 2 lab mix dogs, we rented sites with fenced in yards so they could run free a little bit. It was perfect. We picked up a rental car in Gillette WY, also preplanned. We stayed at a private campground in Cody, WY, to get closer to Yellowstone, and didn't keep our entire reservation, as we found the sites on the Federal land along the Sheshone River, and pulled in with the camper around 8am and had our pick of sites to boondock. NOTE: Soft side campers were not allowed, nor tent camping. ALSO: take cash- it was a first come first served system, with a lockbox to deposit your payment. No atm!



If i did it again, I would make more time for Custer state park in South Dakota. I love Buffalo WY so I'd go there again in a second. It's a good jump off point for daytrips, including local rodeos, Devil's tower, Jim Gatchel museum, and The Occidental Jam session is not to be missed.



We did the 2500 miles in 3 days, 2 people to drive, 2 dogs to take care of- but it was mid-pandemic so we packed food and ate in camper. I was glad i wasn't towing anything. We took extra gas and brought it all home, but we started looking for stations when tank got to just under half. We took basic tool kit, 5 gallon fresh water jug, and went over the camper head to toe before we left. We joined AAA for RV Premier membership. We had a leak in the top window due to prior shoddy repair (Woodstock VA business) from tree damage in windstorm, but we caulked it when we got to buffalo and did our best to mitigate the damage inside.



Safe Travels! Hope this helped. We won't be going this year, as my one dog is 13 and a half now, and not up for 3 weeks on the road, but she did great last year. We hope to do it again, for sure.

[ppine]

I first drove across the country in 1969. It became a habit every summer, so I moved West 50 years ago. There is so much to see, you need to get started. There are really no must sees, or do not miss things to do.

Once people visit the popular National Parks, then they can start thinking about the quieter places like National Forests, BLM land and unmarked places on the map.

It is wise to have some reservations for popular spots, but I quickly learned that a more flexible schedule is best. Go in the shoulder season Call ahead a day or two for reservations.

Avoid driving vacations at all costs.