National Park Tour Recommendations Wanted!

I will be making the trek to the following national parks in about a month and am interested if the community has any recommendations as to camping locations, trails, stops along the way that I've missed, etc.

1. Joshua Tree
2. Zion
3. Grand Canyon
4. Petrified Forest
5. Moab/ Arches
6. Death Valley
7. Sequoia
8. Yosemite

Thanks!

 

I hope you plan on spending like a month on this trip. With tourist season hitting soon, this is going to be a lot of traffic and a lot of driving.

 

I will be spending 2-3 weeks total. I’m gonna be solo for most of it so I only need 2-3 days in each location

 

1st piece of advise, plan on spending more time than you think.
For example: Arches NP shows as a 23 mile drive from entrance to the back of the park, but most of the good areas are on hiking paths that can range from 1 to 15 miles in length.
You will spend more time than you think!
Wife and I have seen 32 of the 52 NP's and this is always the case for us.

 

Thanks that is really good advice! Maybe I should be more realistic on how many parks I plan to visit

 

you can visit them all in that time frame, just be realistic on what you plan to do while at each one. You can spend a week in a single park and not see it all, but you can spend a day and see several highlights. Research the parks your planning on visiting, the things you'd like to do or see and you'll do fine. By yourself you can cover a lot of ground, just be prepared a small backpack with snacks and plenty of water is highly recommended if your gonna be hiking trails. That area is dry and hot during the summer and you will dehydrate quickly without knowing it.

 

Do you want to hike, drive offroad, take photos, interested in history or simply check off National Parks? With the time you have, I'd suggest the Utah Mighty 5 (Arches, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands and Zion), the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (camp outside in Kaibab National Forest) and maybe a couple of Utah State Parks (Kodachrome Basin, Dead Horse Point). Google "Utah Mighty 5" and you'll get a ton of options. I could easily spend a month around Moab and Grand Staircase Escalante.

This is a good link to get started https://www.visitutah.com/road-to-m...0XrUKSI9kfm8Ud8bmeK1R2ZTXvHr3h1hoCCSUQAvD_BwE

 

Here's a 2 week trip around Utah I did last year leaving from Denver that's got a little bit of everything. You could modify it to fit your plan better by starting in petrified forest and then heading up to Arches.


Date Time Activity Distance (miles) Duration (hours)
9/29/2018
Sat 6:00 Depart Denver for Montrose 266 5:30
11:30 Lunch in Montrose 0 0:30
12:00 Drive Rim rocker trail to Nucla 53 2:30
14:30 Drive Rim rocker trail to creek crossing 15 0:40
15:10 Drive to hanging flume 5 0:45
15:55 Drive Rim rocker trail to near buckeye Reservoir 34 2:00
17:55 Dispersed camp around area 10 0:30
18:25 Dinner in camp 0 1:00

9/30/2018
Sun 7:00 Packup camp 0 1:00
8:00 Depart camp for La Sal, UT 24 1:10
9:10 Head to newspaper rock 39 0:40
9:50 Visit newspaper rock 0 0:45
10:35 Head to south spring utah/Beef basin (67) 47 2:50
13:25 Visit ruins around beef basin 10 2:00
15:25 Head into Canyonlands NP via bobby's hole/elephant hill 15 1:10
16:35 Camp at Bobby Jo Campground inside Canyonlands NP 0 0:45
17:20 Hike Joint Trail 3 1:30
18:50 Dinner in camp 0 0:45

10/1/2018
Mon 7:00 Packup camp 0 1:00
8:00 Depart on Elephant Hill Trail (66) to confluence overlook 9 2:00
10:00 Hike part of confluence overlook trail from 4WD road 2 1:00
11:00 Drive to visitor center 13 2:30
13:30 Lunch on trail 0 0:30
14:00 Visitors center 0 0:45
14:45 Drive to horse/salt creek canyon 10.1 1:00
15:45 Hike castle arch + fortress arch 1.8 1:00
16:45 Drive to peakaboo campsite 10.1 1:00
17:45 Dinner in camp 0 0:45

10/2/2018
Tue 5:30 Packup camp 0 0:30
6:00 Drive to Moab 80 1:45
7:45 Quick breakfast in Moab 5 0:20
8:05 Raft fisher towers full day with red river adventures. 8:15 start 14 6:30
14:35 Drive to hells revenge 4 0:10
14:45 Run Hells Revenge trail (42) 8 4:00
18:45 Dinner in Moab 0 1:00
19:45 Drive to campsite 18 0:30
20:15 Dispersed camp along courthouse rock trail (13) (Mill canyon road)? 0 0:45

10/3/2018
Wed 7:00 Packup camp 0 1:00
8:00 Drive to Delicate Arch via willow springs road 22 0:40
8:40 Hike delicate arch 3 2:00
10:40 Drive to double arch/windows 6 0:10
10:50 Hike double arch/windows 1 0:45
11:35 Lunch at truck 0 0:30
12:05 Drive to balanced rock 2.1 0:10
12:15 Drive to eye of the whale arch 3 0:20
12:35 Hike eye of the whale arch 0.5 0:30
13:05 Drive to Tower Arch parking area 9 1:00
14:05 Hike tower arch + marching men 1.2 2:00
16:05 Drive to campsite 18 0:30
16:35 Dispersed camp along courthouse rock trail (13) (Mill canyon road)? 0 0:45

10/4/2018
Thu 6:00 Packup camp 0 0:30
6:30 Drive to Moab 20 0:31
7:01 Breakfast in Moab 0 0:29
7:30 Go canyoneering with red river adventures. 7:15 start 3 4:00
11:30 Lunch in Moab 0 0:30
12:00 Drive to capitol reef NP 137 2:20
14:20 Visit Fruita orchard, visitor center, historic town, etc… 0 1:30
15:50 Hike Hickman natural bridge 1.8 1:00
16:50 Drive to campsite along FR 539 via south draw road 28 2:00
18:50 Dispersed camp along FR 539 0 0:45

10/5/2018
Fri 7:30 Packup camp 0 1:00
8:30 Drive to Bryce canyon NP 97.7 2:30
11:00 Bryce canyon visitor center. Showers in general store 0 1:30
12:30 Lunch at Lodge at bryce canyon 0 1:00
13:30 Setup camp in park 0 0:45
14:15 Geology talk with ranger @ 2PM at sunset point 0 0:30
14:45 Explore Bryce canyon/hiking? 20 1:00
15:45 Watch sunset @ 7:05PM. Get ranger recommendations 0 0:30
16:15 Dinner at Lodge at bryce canyon 0 1:30
17:45 0 1:00

10/6/2018 6:00 Packup camp 0 1:30
Sat 7:30 Drive to Zion east entrance 73.5 1:30
9:00 Drive to Zion human history museum 10.6 0:30
9:30 Take shuttle to Angle's landing trailhead 4.2 0:30
10:00 Hike Angle's landing 5.4 4:00
14:00 Head to riverside walk 2 0:20
14:20 Riverside walk/hike part of narrows 4 2:00
16:20 Stay at Holiday Inn Express Springdale 0 1:00
17:20 Dinner? 0

10/7/2018 6:00 Breakfast at Hotel then checkout 0 1:00
Sun 7:00 Pick up shuttle in town to take us to trailhead ?
7:00 Orderville Caynon Canyoneering 12.3 8:00
15:00 Park shuttle back to campsite 30 2:00
17:00 Drive to campsite 26.6 0:50
17:50 Camp north of Kanab

10/8/2018 Grand Canyon North Rim
Mon 6:00 Pack up Camp and Breakfast 1:00
7:00 Travel to North Rim Visitors Center 95.3 2:00
9:00 visitor center 16 1:00
10:00 Bright angel point hike 1 1:00
11:00 Lunch in Park 0 1:00
12:00 Mule Rides Uncle Jim's Point or Supai Tunnel?? 0 3:00
15:00 Point Sublime 17.7 3:00
18:00 Set up camp at Point Sublime 0 1:00
19:00 Dinner in Camp at Pont Sublime

10/9/2018
Tue 7:00 Pack Up Camp and Breakfast 0 1:00
8:00 Off Road Trail back to NR GC Main Drag 17.7 2:30
10:30 Cape Final Hike 4 2:00
12:30 Lunch in GC 0 1:00
13:30 Drive to flagstaff 192 3:30
17:00 Lowell observatory programs 0 2:00
19:00 Hotel in Flagstaff 0 1:00
20:00 Dinner in Flagstaff 0 2:00

10/10/2018 Start heading towards Denver
Wed 8:00 Breakfast at hotel 0 1:00
9:00 Drive to petrified forest NP 117 2:15
11:15 Tour park 60 4:00
15:15 Drive to Albuquerque 208 3:10
18:25 Dinner in Albuquerque 0 1:30
19:55 Hotel in Albuquerque 5 0:30

10/11/2018
Thu 5:00 Leave hotel early
6:00 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta morning session dawn patrol 0 5:00
11:00 Complete drive to Denver 450 7:00
18:00 Unpack truck 0 1:00

 

That's really hitting a lot of parks.

If you want quantity over quality, that's the way to go, but IMO, I would rather take some more time visiting fewer parks. As others said, slow down and take your time. Enjoy the parks, don't just race through them.

Your calendar may have you spending "3 days" at each of the parks, but 2 of those days are travel days, so that's really only ONE full day at each...

I would recommend doing maybe the CA parks in one trip, maybe add in the Mojave Road (3+ days), then next summer do the Utah/AZ parks.

 

I guess it depends on what you like to do. If you just want the sampler platter I think you can check all on your list although you could probably tweak the route and get more bang for your buck.

If you want to do some marquee hikes and possible do backpacking then you should cut down the total stops.

It really comes down to what you want out of it!

 

Zion is everything. My favorite NP, and I’ve been to many of them.

 

If you’ve never been to Yosemite, be aware that the line to get in on Hwy 120 “in season” can be far worse than the Bay Bridge toll plaza during rush hour. It’s stunning, but crowded, limited vehicle access and this year Tioga Pass will open late. Since you’re in the Bay Area, check it out off season (too late for this Spring/Summer). Sequoia is similar but less crowded; ditto the Grand Canyon and Zion but it feels easier to escape crowds there too. JTree, Arches/Canyonlands and Death Valley have great off-pavement roads to get away from crowds, also some dispersed camping (check regulations,) but it’s getting warm there. Don’t underestimate the isolation and heat.

 

How did the trip go, @CentralCaOverland? You hit a few of my favorite places in the world on that map in the original post. I'll be spending a few days in Joshua Tree very soon and this post came up in a quick search.