Sacramento to Bryce Canyon route

[trailerdude]

Leaving mid april for Bryce canyon city Utah with our rockwood 22ft trailer. Trying to figure out the best route. 50 through Nevada has some high passes and long distance between gas. Through Vagas is longer. Anyone done this trip?

[mmartin_tdc]

The wife and I did a similar trip back in 2015, on our Goldwing motorcycle.
We headed up towards South Lake Tahoe, came back down 395 towards Lone Pine, then headed across Death Valley on 190, then south on 95 towards Vegas.
Stayed north of Vegas and caught 15 up to Hurricane, which was our initial destination. We went to North Grand Canyon, Zion on different day trips and then up to Bryce from there. Goldwing had about 200 mile safe range on a tank, we usually stopped after about 150 so we didn't get caught low on fuel.

Didn't have any legs of the trip where I felt we were getting dangerously low.
Did stop short (100 ish miles) if the next part of the trip looked to be pushing our range of fuel. Better safe than walking...

[Hoomi]

We've gone up through Utah many times, as my in-laws live in a small town smack dab in the center of the state (in fact, it has one of the oldest LDS Temples, despite being a tiny town, for that very reason). We come up from Arizona, though, so I can't help much on the route from Sacramento. That said, we've driven the 15 through Utah, and the 89. The 89 is a much more scenic route, with the gorgeous red rock scenery around Kanab at the southern border of the state, and the small towns along the way. While the route is hilly, it's not bad, and we've seen the entire spectrum of RVs on the route. In Kanab, the visitor center for Grand Escalante National Monument is nice to visit.

If you take the route through Vegas, you can either take the 9/59/389 down through Colorado City to Fredonia, and then up into Kanab, or, if your rig is within the tunnel guidelines, take the 9 through Virgin, Utah, and Zion NP for a really scenic drive. Be advised, there is a $15 fee to take RV rigs of a certain size range through the Mt. Carmel Tunnel in Zion, due to the need to stop opposing traffic while the RV traverses down the center of the tunnel. The route through Colorado City is longer and not nearly as scenic, but has no such restrictions.

https://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvis...mel-tunnel.htm

[simiHal]

Originally Posted by Hoomi

We've gone up through Utah many times, as my in-laws live in a small town smack dab in the center of the state (in fact, it has one of the oldest LDS Temples, despite being a tiny town, for that very reason). We come up from Arizona, though, so I can't help much on the route from Sacramento. That said, we've driven the 15 through Utah, and the 89. The 89 is a much more scenic route, with the gorgeous red rock scenery around Kanab at the southern border of the state, and the small towns along the way. While the route is hilly, it's not bad, and we've seen the entire spectrum of RVs on the route. In Kanab, the visitor center for Grand Escalante National Monument is nice to visit.

If you take the route through Vegas, you can either take the 9/59/389 down through Colorado City to Fredonia, and then up into Kanab, or, if your rig is within the tunnel guidelines, take the 9 through Virgin, Utah, and Zion NP for a really scenic drive. Be advised, there is a $15 fee to take RV rigs of a certain size range through the Mt. Carmel Tunnel in Zion, due to the need to stop opposing traffic while the RV traverses down the center of the tunnel. The route through Colorado City is longer and not nearly as scenic, but has no such restrictions.

https://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvis...mel-tunnel.htm

Just curious, what small town are you referring to smack dab in the middle of Utah? I sold my property in Fillmore 2 years ago which allowed us to by our trailer. Sometimes I regret doing that.

[clhjsh]

I love driving Hwy 50. I would take 50 from Sacramento to Carson City fuel up then continue on 50 to Ely and fuel up, I think it is around 330 miles from Carson to Ely. You can also fuel up in Fallon which is about 60 miles from Carson. I just got back from Fallon a couple of minutes ago and the cost of fuel is similar to Carson. I am not to familiar with the route beyond Ely but hopefully this helps. If you go through Reno don’t fuel there since fuel is typically 30 to 40 cents higher.
There are some fairly big grades along the way but just take your time and enjoy the drive.

[ronngail]

We did this trip last October. we left sac, up through Carson city, fallen. continued on hwy 50 to Eli. an sound east into cedar city Utah, we have a 35 foot trailer an we fueled up every time we had a chance an had no problems at all. we did day trips from cedar city. KOA had a blast.

[JimMorrell]

Check out Google Earth! You can go 80 to Reno and then Hwy 50 and on, or at about 159 miles further, you can go I 5 to 58, Bakersfield, Tehachapi, pick up I 15 and on to Bryce. Either way is reasonably good for trailers, but the Reno way will give you more 2 lane roads.

[Hoomi]

Originally Posted by simiHal

Just curious, what small town are you referring to smack dab in the middle of Utah? I sold my property in Fillmore 2 years ago which allowed us to by our trailer. Sometimes I regret doing that.

Manti, Utah. The town is so small, if you want to go to a McDonald's, you have to drive a few miles up to Ephraim. Beautiful old Mormon Temple there, though. My better half and I aren't LDS, so we've never gone inside, but I admire the architecture all the same.

[guyster]

We did 50 across. If you are going east, when you top off the fuel tank get the post card that you get stamped at each fuel stop and send it in. Nevada sends you a certificate " Survived highway 50". A group of us did it a few years ago on motorcycles. Kind of a fun thing to do. Stop at the caverns along the way.

[trailerdude]

Thank you for the quick responses! Sounds like 50 Nevada is the way to go. We will just be careful about the fill ups for sure.

[jwfrede]

Originally Posted by trailerdude

Leaving mid april for Bryce canyon city Utah with our rockwood 22ft trailer. Trying to figure out the best route. 50 through Nevada has some high passes and long distance between gas. Through Vagas is longer. Anyone done this trip?

There are a couple of youtube videos by RVers that have taken this route.

Bryce Canyon is above 10000 ft elevation. Temperatures in the low 20s to mid 50s are the average lows and highs in mid April. If a cold snap hits at the wrong time freezing tanks and lines could be an issue.

[elchilero53]

Originally Posted by trailerdude

Thank you for the quick responses! Sounds like 50 Nevada is the way to go. We will just be careful about the fill ups for sure.

We've driven US 50 many times. Fill up in Carson City, top off in Fallon. Next gas is in Austin (111 miles; gas station is on the west end of town). There's a steep climb going east out of Austin (a couple of switchbacks). Then Eureka is the next gas (70 miles). It's a larger town than Austin. Then the next gas is Ely (78 miles). Ely to Delta UT is approximately 152 miles, which is a pretty long pull with a trailer, so make sure to fill up in Ely for sure. There is a gas station at the State Line (and a casino, too, of course) so you can fill up before getting to Delta UT (still a long way). Yes, it is a loooonnng drive! Then swing south on US 50 to I-15. One note of caution. It can and does snow across that country in mid April, especially heading south on I-15, so watch the weather. We crossed there coming out of Vegas to Ogden the third week of April in 2018 and there was 6" of snow around Cedar City and Beaver. The highway had been plowed, so it was just a little wet when we went through.

Safe travels!

[ppine]

You need to cross Nevada on Route 50, you just don't realize it.

[ppine]

In remote country like most of Nevada, just get in the habit of keeping your fuel gauge near half full at all times. Not only are the fuel stations far apart, but some have high prices.