That itinerary sounds awful. You'll hardly see anything of the parks, and you'll be driving all the time. Pick three parks and actually enjoy them.

What the actual?

Child. Several of those places require several days. Also, that sounds like hell. Why not enjoy the natural beauty and take a hike or three?

Anonymous wrote:I was also thinking that about HALF of this would be a reasonable itinerary.

Half would also be insane as we are talking about going as far north as Yellowstone, east to Rocky Mtn national park, south to Grand Canyon.

You could do this but would need more like 3-4 weeks.

I think this must be a joke. reduce the stops by 75% and then this is possible and even then hectic. Day one, fly in and see yellowstone? then day two leave for grand teton and then go back to yellowstone?

pick 3 sites and do those for two weeks or just go somewhere else and relax!

You will have a TON of traffic (Yellowstone looking at you) to stay on schedule.

Too ambitious and a lot of wasted time (and gas money to boot!!).

You are too late to book hotels. They are filled up already or otherwise get ready to pay premium dollar for what is still available.

If you aren’t traveling with kids (and don’t have to plan around kid school schedules) I would plan a trip in the shoulder season. Some of these parks will be insanely crowded in summer

Your first two days are like a week's worth of travel. Yellowstone in July will be filled with traffic and getting anywhere will take time.
The Tetons are 2+ hours from Yellowstone and will also have lots of traffic. And you plan to spend about 8 hours in each park? Then you'll drive another 8 hours to spend a day in RMNP?
Was this a theoretical, AI itinerary? Troll? Otherwise crazy.

You're underestimating how HUGE everything is an all the distances. Yellowstone alone requires several days. Also not logical to go back up and then down to Jackson.

You would be better off doing that for one trip and then a Utah/AZ loop another time. There is so much to see.

I was also thinking that about HALF of this would be a reasonable itinerary.

So you want to drive through national parks and not actually see or do anything in them, that is what I am getting.

We spent 5 days in Yellowstone and only got out of the main tourist areas for one longer hike. We could easily go back and spend more time. We spent 5 days in the Grand Tetons hiking and backpacking. And there are lakes for kayaking and paddle boarding. We spent 4 days in Death Valley, in April, and enjoyed the hiking and going to a few of the different sections of the park.

The only National Parks I have been to so far that I can comfortably say you can enjoy in a day, to include some hiking, are Arches and Joshua Tree. Every park you have listed is one you could spend a week to two weeks in and still have a lot to do and see.

We spent a week just in Yellowstone and Grand Teton. So much to see and do. So many activities, whitewater rafting, hiking, swimming, etc.

You’re basically just driving for 13 days with some roadside hikes here and there. The two of you will end up divorced somewhere around day 6.

Day 1
Fly from DC to Bozeman, Montana
Head to Yellowstone
Stay in West Yellowstone

Day 2 - Yellowstone

Day 3 - Yellowstone

Days 4 - 6:
Head to Grand Teton NP
Sunrise in the tetons
Scenic stops/short hikes
Stay in GRAND TETON

Day 7-13 - choose 1-2 more parks on your way to airport of return

Day 13
Fly out from San Fran (if you already bought the tickets), if not see something closer to the 1 or 2 additional parks you choose

I live out west and have been to most of these places- your itinerary is overly ambitious. You won’t enjoy this very quick paced trip, especially if you have never done something like this before.

Driving these distances is draining, as is checking into a new hotel every night. Many of the roads you will be on are not straight highways, but winding through mountains. In some places it is dangerous to drive at night.

I would cut your number of stops in half and spend longer in each location.

If you’re not big hikers why go to all these places? For a child-less trip, I would do something that is better without kids, like cities. National parks have generally lousy dining and lodging options

I would focus on one geographic area.

These are also great family trips, so I wouldn’t plan like this is the only time you’ll ever see these places.

This is insane. Did you look at a map- these places are far apart and you’re proposing like 2 hours in each place??

I don’t mean to be unkind.

Also, Death Valley in the summer is like 120+ degrees.

I'm new to planning trips and DH and I want to go out west this summer for a road trip to see the national parks. My parents (graciously!) want my daughter to stay with them for two weeks in July so we thought we'd do a big getaway to see some of national parks out west. Neither of us have been out west before. this is what I have put together. We want to see as much as possible.

Day 1
Fly from DC to Bozeman, Montana
Head to Yellowstone
Stay in West Yellowstone

Day 2
Head to Grand Teton NP
Sunrise in the tetons
Scenic stops/short hikes
Go back to Yellowstone to see what we missed
Stay in Jackson

Day 3
Head to Rocky Mountain NP
Scenic stops alogn the way
Trail ridge road at sunset
Stay in Estes Park CO

Day 4
Quick hike in Rocky Mountain
Make our way to New Mexico
Stay in ABQ?

Day 5
Drive to White Sands NP
Sunset at White Sands
Stay in Alamagordo New Mexico

Day 6
Head toward the grand canyon
Stop at Saguaro NP along the way
Sunset at the grand canyon
Stay in Tusayan Az

Day 7
Short AM hike at the Grand Canyon
Head to Zion NP
Quick sunset hike
Stay in Springfdale Utah

Day 8
If we score an Angels Landing permit, do this hike today
Head to Bryce Canyon NP
Scenic overlooks at Bryce
Stay in St George

Day 9
Make our way to Death Valley
Stop at Valley of Fire state park
Quick stroll on the vegas strip
Stay in Pahump NV

Day 10
Drive though DV national park (no hike/overlooks only)
Stay in Bakersfield CA

Day11
Head to Yosemite
-Tunnel View / El Captian / Yosemite Falls
Stay in Mariposa CA

Day 12
Go back to Yosemite to see anything else we wanted to see
Head toward San Francisco
Stay in Sf

Day 13
Fly out from San Fran

What do you think? We aren't big hikers, we just want to make the most of our time off.