Looking for some help from those who have done it before

Hi all, 

My wife and I are booking sites for our first RV trip, and have most of the timing worked out but we keep coming up with the same questions for each place we'll be stopping.  Without a toad, how will we get to the parks from the RV?  At Zion we have the shuttles, so we're ok there.  At Bryce, we're staying at Ruby's Inn, so worst case we can hike the mile and a half into the park. 
We're also doing Canyonlands, Arches, and some cool stops in Moab.  I was thinking of setting up a base of operations at the OK RV Park, but it looks like we'll be a half hour outside Moab and as of now it looks like I'd be relying on tours (Moab Jett and Canyonlands by Night) to provide transportation to the parks and river. 
Does anybody have a suggestion of how to plan this out?  We're going in October, so not right around the corner, but coming up soon.

Also, related question:  I'd love to hear suggestions for RV sites in Page, Arizona and for the Grand Canyon NP.  We'll have 2 days in Page and 4 days at GC.  We're open to doing 2 days North Rim and 2 Days South or just one or the other and just getting in there to see as much as we can.  Neither of us have been before, so it's all good stuff to us.  We did want to do a rafting trip on the Colorado, or if possible a rafting trip/helicopter tour. 
Thanks for your help, I can't wait to get all of this booked.

How bout bicycles? You could probably keep them in the RV while you are driving.

It would be nice if you told us what kind of RV you had.

Better yet would be to put it in your profile.

I was thinking bicycles too. If your really active you could try skateboards.  ;D  There small enough to carry with you.
Of course if your MH is big enough you could get a ramp to carry a moped type of unit that could carry 2 people if that is needed.

And of course if you don't like any of those there are car rentals available or even Uber drivers might take you where you want to go.

Good luck and let use know what you end up doing as it might help someone else out that's in your same shoes.

I am guessing you have a motorhome with no toad.  I have the same setup and my motorhome is 32' long.  First, Bryce also has shuttles that you can get on right at Ruby Inn. 

Second, there is no reason to rely on tours unless you really like tours.  National parks and even state parks are set up or motorhomes or even trailers and tow vehicles, so enjoy your trip and just drive wherever you want to drive. 

National parks nearly all have parking spaces for big vehicles at visitor centers and scenic pullouts. And that time of year will not be busy, so no problems.  I have been in those parks and a bunch of others in my five years of full-timing and the only time I was not able to find a parking spot in a national park was at Yellowstone in July when cars were taking up all the RV spots!!!  Grrrrr.  Horrible crowds.

Best place to stay in Grand Canyon is Trailer Village, which is right inside Grand Canyon Village.  The number for reservations is located on the GC site.  Trailer Village has full hookups and the campground is next to the shuttle stop and lots of bike trails.  Lots of elk wandering around campground!! 

My favorite campground in Page is also right in the national park--Wahweap Campground.  Incredible views of the lake and many sites have full hookups and free Wifi.  Nice laundry room and store, as well. You can walk or ask for a ride at the store to the hotel about a half mile away where the boat tours leave from. Or you can drive down and park at the hotel parking lot.  If you want to go to town, just drive there.

Also, it is not a good idea to carry bicycles inside the living portion of your motorhome.  In an accident, they could become missiles.  Better to use a bike rack outside or us folding bikes that store in a compartment if you have one large enough.  In any case, you can easily drive anyplace, so you won't need bikes unless you like to ride them for recreation. 

When the wife and I had no towed.. We had no choice but to drive the house wherever we went. Church, Shopping and of course the RV parks.

They rent Jeeps in Moab, highly recommended as the trails are one of the most interesting parts of the "Moab Experience"

Ernie

Driving a motorhome around is inconvenient, but guess that's what you will have to do unless you rent a vehicle at those places.

JudyJB said:

Also, it is not a good idea to carry bicycles inside the living portion of your motorhome.  In an accident, they could become missiles.  Better to use a bike rack outside or us folding bikes that store in a compartment if you have one large enough.  In any case, you can easily drive anyplace, so you won't need bikes unless you like to ride them for recreation.

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The bikes could be secured in the MH. That shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks everybody!  At least I know I wasn't just missing something obvious now.  I was thinking bikes also, the thing is we're renting the RV when we land in Vegas (we're coming from the east coast) so we'd have to rent bikes as well.  Not impossible, but I don't know if it's worth the cost.    What I really wanted to hear was that there are places to park just about everywhere we plan to go, so looks like we'll just be driving!

We'll be in a 26' Class C, rented from Road Bear RV.  They didn't give us too many details on the actual vehicle, it sounds like the reservation just makes sure there's A vehicle when you show up, and not necessarily a specific one.  In fact, I reserved a 21-24' and when I called to confirm they told me they'd changed it and bumped us up to a 26' .

FYI, Bryce also has a shuttle system, and it stops at Ruby's

Joel

Many popular tourist areas have rental cars available if you think you are going to be out a lot. Most people just drive the RV though. As others have noted, the Bryce shuttle stops at Ruby's, and the Grand Canyon has a shuttle service during much of the year. I still would get out in the RV to drive the eastern side of the road since the shuttle doesn't go there.

Looks like I was too late to get a spot at Trailer Village GC, am I correct to assume the closest place with full hookups is Williams?  The Grand Canyon Railway RV Park has availability but I don't think we'll enjoy hearing the trains go through all night, and I'm not too thrilled about driving an hour to and from the park and using up all our gas for the 4 days we'll be at the Canyon. There's a KOA about 50 miles out, so that may be our next target unless somebody has a gold nugget for me here.  Anybody have an RV park that they know of that wouldn't come up on a google search? 

Try TripAdvisor.

I mostly use these websites to find campgrounds;

http://www.rvparkreviews.com/
https://www.campendium.com/rv-parks
https://freecampsites.net/
http://www.passport-america.com/campgrounds/participating-campgrounds
http://www.goodsamclub.com/travel/campgroundsandrvparks/
https://www.nps.gov/findapark/index.htm

If you stayed in Flagstaff, you could probably rent a vehicle to go to the Grand Canyon to the north, then a different day go to Sedona to the south. The Sedona area is awesome and you dont want to take a motorhome through the road as it has some mean switchbacks between Sedona and Flagstaff. Either destination is less than an hour from Flagstaff. You could even go to Winslow Arizona and stand on a corner, it such a fine sight to see. lol Have fun, you will be awed by the entire area. I was.

You'll need a car or motorhome in Arches N.P.  The main road in Arches is 26 miles long and there are numerous pull-offs and side roads to see various sites, many of which include hiking trails.  We do see bicyclists on the road but there are two very long and strenuous uphills on a narrow and curvy road.  You need to be in really good shape and experienced to bike on that road.  I always think of Arches for hikers and Canyonlands for four-wheelers.  At the north end of Moab there is a bridge crossing the Colorado River and rafting is available near the bridge, as well as the Canyonlands at Night boat ride.  You also can get tours in town and rent Jeeps.

ArdraF

AutoFx said:

Looks like I was too late to get a spot at Trailer Village GC, am I correct to assume the closest place with full hookups is Williams?  The Grand Canyon Railway RV Park has availability but I don't think we'll enjoy hearing the trains go through all night, and I'm not too thrilled about driving an hour to and from the park

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The town of Tusayan is just outside Grand Canyon's main entrance, it's easy to overlook on most maps because it's inside the National Forest that surrounds the park.

Grand Canyon Camper Village is a private RV and tent campground in Tusayan, about a mile south of the park's entry gate.  Don't confuse this with Grand Canyon Village inside the park.

Buy your park entrance pass in Tusayan, then take the free shuttle bus to the South Rim.  The pass is good for 7 days, when you're ready to leave you can use the pass to drive your motorhome into the park (use the Re-Entry lane to avoid the lines of cars at the gate), and go out the park's East Entrance, which will set you up to go north to Page or through Monument Valley to Moab.

Grand Canyon's North Rim is less developed, but it's a long drive from anywhere.  Campsites are limited and primitive, and I'd give it a pass unless you have several days to spare.

Great advice, thanks everybody.

I emailed GC Camper Village and was able to get a full hook-up site with a fire ring. So everything is now booked!

Here's where we decided to park in case anyone in the future does a search for a similar trip:

Zion: 4 days/4 nights @ Zion Canyon Campground https://www.zioncamp.com/

Bryce:  3 days/2 nights @ Ruby's Inn https://www.brycecanyoncampgrounds.com/

Moab:  4 days/3 nights @ Kane Creek http://www.moab-utah.com/kanesprings/  (From here we'll access Canyonlands and Arches, and do some really cool side quests in Moab)

Page:  3 days/2 nights @ Wahweap http://www.lakepowell.com/rv-camping/wahweap-rv-campground/  (Lake Powell, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, and more)

Grand Canyon:  4 days/3 nights @ http://www.grandcanyoncampervillage.com/


Now that all the RV parks are booked, we can't wait to get to the really fun stuff and figure out all the details of the trip.  There's so much to do!  2 weeks went from seeming like an eternity to "Uh-oh we have to triage activities because there's too many things that we want to do and see."  Good problem to have I guess!

You would love the Sedona area if you have a way to get there. As stated you dont want to take the rv. You probably wont look at the Grand Canyon for four days, so you might be looking for a day trip.