Which National Park?

[2LaneCruzer]

El Yunquke is nice; too bad the hurricane damaged it so badly that it's closed.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd568469.pdf

It's a bus ride from San Juan, which is another delightful place to visit...if you like to "hike", visit the two old Spanish forts there. The beach is gorgeous.

 

[MossRoad]

That's 6 days of driving 10 hour days just to get there and back. With no stops, that's no fun, in my opinion. I enjoy a drive, don't get me wrong. But man, that's a lot of driving with no stops. You mentioned having a week.... is that a week plus the 6 days of driving?

When we went to yellowstone, we drove 10 hours the first day from here to Souix City, SD. From that point on, we never had more than a 2 hour drive without stopping to see an attraction for the next 11 days. Then one 8 hour and one 10 hour drive to get home for 14 days on the road in a car with 2 kids.

If I were you, I'd look at Allegiant Airlines. They fly direct flights to Las Vegas from all over the country, including Charleston, SC. Rent a car in Vegas and drive to the canyon, Bryce and Zion.

 

[MossRoad]

Allegiant Air

 

[MossRoad]

Loop, sorry, you'd have to fly like Charleston to Indy, then Vegas, or something like that.

We've flown them direct to Vegas and down to Disney in FL. Nice airline. :thumbsup:

 

[RSKY]

We've flown Allegiant a few times. Cheap tickets but they charge you for EVERYTHING else.

 

[N80]

That's 6 days of driving 10 hour days just to get there and back. With no stops, that's no fun, in my opinion. I enjoy a drive, don't get me wrong. But man, that's a lot of driving with no stops. You mentioned having a week.... is that a week plus the 6 days of driving?

I feel sure we'd stretch the drives beyond 10 hours. I don't like it but I can do it. And, we'd probably stop in places we'd like to see again like Memphis. But, overall, I agree, the biggest issue would be the wasted time. I don't have paid vacation so when I don't work I don't get paid. So time is an issue. And we've already decided not to drive if we do this trip.

If I were you, I'd look at Allegiant Airlines. They fly direct flights to Las Vegas from all over the country, including Charleston, SC. Rent a car in Vegas and drive to the canyon, Bryce and Zion.

We can get direct flights from Charlotte to Vegas for reasonable prices so flying should be easy. Packing will be tricky but we'll figure it out. Camera gear and tripod are the big issue. Its expensive stuff and can be heavy. But, people do it all the time.

 

[N80]

Rent a car in Vegas and drive to the canyon, Bryce and Zion.

As it stands right now, that is the plan.

Now, here is maybe a stupid question. A lot of the time when we travel, food is one of the primary attractions. In fact, our trip to Italy was primarily a food trip to the heart of Italian cooking, Emilia-Romagna (not just to eat, I was learning about Italian cooking too). Clearly, this trip to these national parks will not be food driven............but in this region are there interesting towns, good restaurants, to be found?

 

[Oaktree]

You do realize that that paragraph regarding hordes of tourists and tourist traffic on the roads pretty much eliminates most of the major National Parks during the summer? Living in the west, I've been to pretty much every National Park east of the Mississippi (some I've explored multiple times) except for Great Bend down in Texas - and that's on the agenda. Yellowstone, the south rim of the Grand Canyon, even Glacier are an absolute zoo June through August. Death Valley you don't want to visit except November through about March.

You make a good point. The OP didn't mention whether or not he had school-aged kids, but if not why not postpone the trip until Sept.? The crowds are MUCH smaller, but the weather is still pleasant and most facilities are still open thru Columbus day or so.

I'll put in my vote for using Rapid City as a hub...lots of beautiful country within a day's drive, including Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, Badlands.

If you're over 65, it would be smart to get a golden age pass...$80 and you get into any National park for the rest of your life. You only need one...it's good for I believe up to 4 people in the same vehicle. My wife got hers a few years ago when it was only $20. One visit and it's more than paid for itself.

 

[N80]

You make a good point. The OP didn't mention whether or not he had school-aged kids, but if not why not postpone the trip until Sept.? The crowds are MUCH smaller, but the weather is still pleasant and most facilities are still open thru Columbus day or so.

I'll put in my vote for using Rapid City as a hub...lots of beautiful country within a day's drive, including Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, Badlands.

If you're over 65, it would be smart to get a golden age pass...$80 and you get into any National park for the rest of your life. You only need one...it's good for I believe up to 4 people in the same vehicle. My wife got hers a few years ago when it was only $20. One visit and it's more than paid for itself.

I did mention that it was our 30th anniversary but I guess it is still possible that we had school age kids. We don't. Both grown and on their own. It will just be the two of us, I'm 55, she 54.

We have probably narrowed it down to Bryce, Zion, North Rim.

She says September is probably an option. May is also an option.

Talked to my brother yesterday. He used to be a serious hiker/camper and had made many trips to the national parks, Rockies, etc. He said this area is one of his favorites.

 

[MossRoad]

As it stands right now, that is the plan.

Now, here is maybe a stupid question. A lot of the time when we travel, food is one of the primary attractions. In fact, our trip to Italy was primarily a food trip to the heart of Italian cooking, Emilia-Romagna (not just to eat, I was learning about Italian cooking too). Clearly, this trip to these national parks will not be food driven............but in this region are there interesting towns, good restaurants, to be found?

All I can tell you is that when we went to the south rim of the grand canyon, there's a little village just outside the gate where, I assume, many of the seasonal workers live. This was about 12 years ago, or so. A Big Mac at the McDonald's was like $47.00.... :laughing: OK, that's exaggerating. But it was way higher than anywhere else.