Hello Friends & Merry Christmas! Need Some Guidance....

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RVoorhis318

RVoorhis318

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Joined
Jul 19, 2012
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Location
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Will leave Florida 3/1/18 west bound. We are in no rush, thinking AZ, UT, & CO then a straight shot back east to CT. Our list of things to see is:

Sedona
Grand Canyon (have been but want more time there & helicopter tour)
Monument Valley (have read tours Arte available) update us if you would be so kind
Wondering if we should trek to the coast and see the Redwoods? Convince me please!
Maybe SanFrancisco???
Have to see Colorado, never been, have people there
Have a great friend in Santa Fe NM (yes, No???)
Want to see Grand Tetons, the badlands..

Any advice is appreciated as always, this is a big trip for us so please advise! Pulling 10K 5th wheel with an F250 gasser - best way into Monument Valley and maybe places to avoid???

Thanks & Merry Christmas

Rob
 
North Rim of the Grand Canyon won't be open until mid-May, if you're planning on camping there. 
If you boondock, check out Goosenecks State Park, near Mexican Hat, Utah.  Close to Monument Valley, and not crowded either time I've been there.
You might want to hit the Tetons and such on the way back.
Colorado?  Pretty much anywhere in the state.  :))
San Francisco?  I grew up in the area.  Wouldn't drive/pull an RV anywhere close, but then I hate cities.
 
Make Colorado anywhere west of Denver, i.e. in the mountains.  I could easily spend a month there alone.  East of Denver is just prairie grasslands.

San Francisco has excellent public transit.  Stay at Marin RV Park in Greenbrae and walk to the Golden Gate Ferry terminal for a 45 minute cruise across the Bay to downtown Market St.  Then take SF 's numerous buses, trolley or cable cars sightseeing.  Use your truck to see outlying places like Mt. Tamalpais, the Muir Woods redwood grove and Stinson Beach.  The town of Sonoma and the Napa Valley make good day trips, or relocate to the Napa Expo RV Park.

If Muir Woods whets your appetite, the larger Redwoods begin about 180 miles north along Hwy 101.  Then the Oregon Coast is another 180 miles north of there.

Highway 1 along Big Sur suffered heavy storm damage last year.  The northern approach from Monterey is now open, but the megaslide north of Hearst Castle will keep that stretch of the road closed for a while.

The Grand Tetons are just west of Yellowstone, might as well take that in, too.

Don't forget the Black Hills in the SW corner of South Dakota (Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse monument, etc.)  It's easy to overlook on a map and is just west of the Badlands.
 
If I recall correctly,there was a length limit on the road to Muir Woods.  I don't recall the actual limit but you may want to look in to that.  But yes,some redwoods,if you are out there anyway.  Bear in mind,some of these roads are scary.  Steep drop-offs and seemingly no budget for guard rails.  At least,that's my memory of CA. 
 
Yosemite National Park and Sequoia National Park are my all time favorites.  Love the big trees!!

Robin
 
The redwoods North of SF on HW 101 are great.  What is not great is the price of fuel.  I am in AZ right now and gas in CA is a dollar or so more than in AZ.
 
Rob VanVoorhis said:
Any advice is appreciated as always, this is a big trip for us so please advise! Pulling 10K 5th wheel with an F250 gasser - best way into Monument Valley and maybe places to avoid???
Click to expand...

I just came back from a month in Southern Colorado.  If you're into scenic tours, the Cumbres and Toltec and Durango-Silverton trains are spectacular, using narrow gauge tracks to wind through back country you won't see any other way.  I went from Antonito, CO over the mountain to Chama to ride the Cumbres train, then took US 84 and US 160 to Durango, then west to Cortez without any problem in a 27 ft. Class A towing a Bronco II.

Don't miss Mesa Verde National Park if you're going that way.

Monument Valley is along US 163 between Bluff, UT and Kayenta, AZ.  I don't recall any steep grades going in or out of there.  North to south gives the best views.
 
Be sure to check the weather before driving all the way to Yosemite or Sequoia. We tried to go there last year when we were in California, and a huge snow storm had them both closed. We also couldnt go down much of the coastal highway due to the landslides. There are many websites where you can get the info. We did the redwoods in northern California, SanFransciso, as well as driving through to Vegas and beyond to the grand canyon . We started in Kelowna bc, drove south to L.A., then east to Nashville. We then headed north back to Ontario Canada where we are from.
 
Santa Fe - Yes.
A nice drive is from Santa Fe north to Taos, then north to Alamosa, CO.
From there, West to Durango. Take the Durango-Silverton Railway tour.
Then on to Mesa Verde, and Cortez, and west to Utah and the canyon lands.

Though, March is pretty early for a lot of the high country. March and April are two of the snowiest months in the Rockies.
Same with Yellowstone and the Tetons.
 
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