If I can arrange it with my employer, we (family of 4) want to take a national parks road trip summer 2019. Because we live in the land of (almost) no national parks, the plan is to fly into LA, rent a minivan, and travel around to a Denver ending point with flying out from there. Transportation (flight, rental, gas) is planned at almost $3500 because of this. We can get into the parks for free and camp for half price due to the Access card. Any other tips to save money? Are showers really $5 each, or is it true we can shower free with our own towels?
Plan is for 5-6 weeks. Tent camping with a few AirBnBs sprinkled in. Would love to rent a campervan, but that seems cost prohibitive. Food budgeted at 120% of home spend due to allowing for some conveniences.
Also, any must see stops/parks from southern California through Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, etc? I have a tentative list but haven't been to any of the parks besides the Grand Canyon as a child
Grand Canyon is amazing - Mather Campground. We've camped there twice. I don't remember how much it costs to shower there.
Joshua Tree National Park is a must-see, but it's going to be hot in the summer - so I wouldn't actually camp there. No cost to shower at Joshua Tree because not showers!
I'd look for an AirBNB during that time frame.
In Utah: Bryce, Zion, Canyonlands, Arches. When we went to Utah a couple of years ago, we stayed in an AirBNB in Kanab, UT and did day trips to Zion and Bryce (1-2 hrs).
If you are heading north at all from LA, then Yosemite, but the southern route (Joshua Tree, Grand Canyon, Utah - easier).
At one point I looked into Escape Campervans. They were reasonably priced at the time (out of LA), more like a rental car. But the bummer was that they were closed the day we wanted to do drop off (Memorial day), so we just tent camped it.
Anyway, here's a summary of our road trips.
1. Kingman, AZ (hotel) -> Grand Canyon (camping at Mather) -> Sedona (B&B before the days of AirBNB) -> Santa Fe (stayed with friends) -> White Sands, NM (cheap hotel) -> Tucson, AZ (stayed with relatives) -> Joshua tree (camping). About 10 days, pre-kid.
2. Kingman, AZ (hotel) -> Grand Canyon (camping at Mather) -> Page, AZ (cheap rental) - took a boat trip down the Colorado -> Phoenix, AZ (visited a friend) -> Tucson, AZ (visiting relatives) -> Home (did this trip with 1 kid, he was 5)
3. Victorville, CA (cheap hotel) -> Kanab, UT to see Bryce, Zion, and Coral Sand Dunes NM (AirBNB) -> Barstow, CA -> Home (Did this trip with 2 kids, aged 10 and 3)
4. Durango, CO (flew in) -> from there visited Telluride and Mesa Verde National Park, and Canyon of the Ancients NP. Flew out of Durango again. Kids were 11 and 5.
5. Joshua Tree NP (camping) -> Kingman, AZ (hotel, it was freaking cold in November for camping) -> Grand Canyon (cheap hotel, see: cold) -> Phoenix (stayed with cousins) -> Home Kids were 11 and 5.
Things I wished I'd had more time for:
The Durango trip, I really wanted to drive and camp and see Grand Canyon again, and then Bryce, Zion, Grand Escalante, and Canyonlands - all on the way to Durango. Then, I was super hoping that we could come home the northern route and see Great Basin, NV, Death Valley, CA, and Sequoia.
I agree a loop might be better. And like I said, Joshua Tree is AWESOME (we go almost annually), but not in the summer.
We hit Utah on spring break, so it wasn't super busy. My kids definitely prefer to stay in a place at least 2 days, and for sure they like swimming pools. So on our last couple of trips we used points to stay at hotels with pools for 1-2 nights. It made them happy.
http://www.randalolson.com/2016/07/30/the-optimal-u-s-national-parks-centennial-road-trip/As far as campgrounds filling up fast...that is for sure true here in California. It seemed to me on our Colorado trip last summer (where we didn't camp), that campgrounds were much more plentiful.