Help an Aussie plan his RV road trip :)

[Smithy_56]

Hey people,
My girlfriend and I are planning to head over to the USA in September and would like some help regarding where we should stop on our road trip.
We have booked C class RV from Dallas to be dropped off in Las Vegas. We will be leaving first thing in the morning on a Sunday and need to have the RV back in Vegas at midday on the following Saturday. So far we have planned to spend the last afternoon/night at the grand canyon and would like to pass through Phoenix along the trip. We understand they will be long days roughly 300 miles per day, obviously depending on which route we take but we are hoping to leave early most days and have the afternoon/night at the destination. Any help would be appreciated regarding route's to take, places/cities to stop at, RV parks to stay in and any other tips
Really appreciate any info!
We have purchased extra mileage and the most we could get is 1500 miles, the rest we will have to pay at the rate of $0.35/mile
Thanks heaps

 

[Smithy_56]

Anyone??

 

[tonyandkaren]

I like the Utah Grand circle trip which starts in Vegas and makes a loop through some of the most spectacular national parks - http://www.us-parks.com/1-week-grand-circle.html - but I've heard that the scenery is similar to parts of Australia. Any way you can't miss with national parks and Vegas is a great place to start. You can go west to Yosemite , east to the Rockies or north to Yellowstone ,all exceptionally beautiful places.

 

[sheltie]

Hey people,
My girlfriend and I are planning to head over to the USA in September and would like some help regarding where we should stop on our road trip.
We have booked C class RV from Dallas to be dropped off in Las Vegas. We will be leaving first thing in the morning on a Sunday and need to have the RV back in Vegas at midday on the following Saturday. So far we have planned to spend the last afternoon/night at the grand canyon and would like to pass through Phoenix along the trip. We understand they will be long days roughly 300 miles per day, obviously depending on which route we take but we are hoping to leave early most days and have the afternoon/night at the destination. Any help would be appreciated regarding route's to take, places/cities to stop at, RV parks to stay in and any other tips
Really appreciate any info!
We have purchased extra mileage and the most we could get is 1500 miles, the rest we will have to pay at the rate of $0.35/mile
Thanks heaps

Loved Australia and hope I can help you a little.

Your trip is VERY ambitious for such a short period of time.  As long as you are totally aware of that, let's go.  I'm concerned about you not acclimating to the time changes because they could be bothersome until you get used to it.  I recommend that from Dallas go to the Grand Canyon, then consider either/both Zion and Bryce national parks in Utah, over to Monument Valley area of Utah (where they shot all the Western movies), Mesa Verde NP in southern Colorado, Goblin Valley State Park in Utah, Phoenix and then on to Las Vegas.  This may be a bit much but I recommend that you Google these places and see if they would interest you.  You may have to re-order the sequence to suit your time frames but these are places I think you will like.

Incidentally, I live in Texas and we are 17 hours different from the west coast of Australia so remember that when you send a post and no one answers you quickly.  It's only because we are probably still asleep!

 

[Smithy_56]

Thanks heaps for the input guys, looking at some maps Utah would make it a fair bit more driving but looking at some pics it does look nice. Anyone know any good RV parks or RV accessible camping grounds in Lubbock, Las Cruces or Bullhead city?

 

[sheltie]

Thanks heaps for the input guys, looking at some maps Utah would make it a fair bit more driving but looking at some pics it does look nice. Anyone know any good RV parks or RV accessible camping grounds in Lubbock, Las Cruces or Bullhead city?

I've been away for a few days and couldn't answer sooner, sorry.

In Lubbock I always stay at the Loop 289 RV Park.  Nothing fancy, just decent and comfortable.  I can't help you with the other places but recommend you check out www.rvparkreviews.com for what other folks feel about RV parks in all areas of the country.

 

[joester]

Is your route set? reason I say this, is that if you were to travel northwest to Amarillo then west on I-40 to Flagstaff, you'd save almost 250 miles in that leg of the trip alone.
just a thought as I looked at the map. having your last night at the canyon means some doubling up if you wanted to get into Utah and some of those parks. travelling 300 miles per day doesn't give you too many options in Utah to make it work. I suggest you really look at what you want to see, and check the mileages between those places. I did a quick route - and dallas to Phoenix, north to the grand canyon, then to las vegas is over 1700 miles right there. sounds like you may need to put more than 300 miles per day if you want to see more.
have fun both planning and on your trip!!!

 

[Possum]

Your whole trip is a tad over 1459 miles so it is less than 300 miles per day driving. At Williams Az you can catch the old steam train ride to the lip of the Grand Canyon.

Take I-10 Dallas to Phoenix
Take I-17 North to Flagstaff (Williams is west of Flagstaff on 40)
Take I-40 to Kingman
Take 73 and 515 to Las Vegas.

 

[Smithy_56]

Thanks for the input, I'm starting to lean towards taking the more northern route through Amarillo, Albuquerque, Flagstaff. Works out to be a fair bit shorter! Exactly why I posted on this forum to get tips on areas I have never been, Thanks!

And recommended stops through on this route? I-40 I believe??

 

[Wendy]

Spend a night in Flagstaff and visit Walnut Canyon, Sunset Volcano, and Wupatki National Monuments then head up to Grand Canyon. There's a nice Forest Service campground by Sunset if you're ok with no hookups.

Have Fun!
Wendy

 

[Smithy_56]

Cheers, Thanks

 

[GaryandAngela]

Hi, We did our first trip in 2010 LA to LV 9 days.. heading back in June .I would suggest Sedona, GC , Antelope canyon, Zion Np, not sure why you would want to go to Pheonix.
We have a FB site set up to help first timers.

Cheers Gary

 

[Flyboy]

Hey people,
My girlfriend and I are planning to head over to the USA in September and would like some help regarding where we should stop on our road trip.

Please check your messages. My reply is too long for the forum thread.