Trip out west with the family

LBarr2002

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2009
Location
SC
We're not sure if it's going to happen yet or not, but the wife and I have been discussing taking the kids cross country June '22. They'll be 8 and 6. I know a few here have done family RV trips, so looking for opinions.

I want to hit the Grand Canyon and a few days in Moab, Colorado if time allows a day or two. I'm thinking I could do 10-14 days but I'll have to 'work from home' a little while I'm away.

My dilemma is do we tow the camper or crash in hotels/rentals? I have a 2005 Yukon XL 2500 that we'll likely drive either way. It's my rolling tool box, and will likely have a hidden winch under the front and some more aggressive AT tires by then. I went to Moab with my jeep last year, so I have an idea of some dirt road exploring we could do in the yukon, and would probably rent a jeep or 4 seat sxs for a day to hit some actual trails.

The camper is a 20' no slide bunkhouse.

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We've gone back and forth on whether we want to take the camper or not. There are definitely pros and cons both ways, but what do you think?

Camper pros:
Our own space
Cheaper stays / boondocking on trip
Towing our bathroom (6yr old...)
Kitchen/fridge easier to eat on the road, Cheaper food in general.

No camper pros:
Cheaper travel (fuel)
Easier to get in and out of roadside stops
Could make better time on travel days
 
Take a tent. The camper is limiting. Go north, do Montana and Wyoming instead. Also, go in August. Got to wait for the snow to melt.
 
I vote camper. One reason for me is that the bed bugs I'm sleeping with are MY bed bugs. (and all other cooties, bodily fluids, etc)

Besides, what are your kids going to remember about the trip in 40 years? Sitting around a motel room, or sitting around the campfire?

We are planning on Fall '22. Easy trip out, enjoying the sites and not killing ourselves (why hurry and throw on miles getting there, when you then need to sit around three days recovering from the driving?). Instead of moving every couple of days once we are out there, plan to spend a week or so in several general locations, and day-trip from there. Save time making/breaking camp.

I have hit all the high points "must-sees' in Utah. Wife has seen none. I have also done a lot of the stuff that the tourists don't normally hit, and many of those places are just as pretty as the places that are slammed with tourists, especially in June/July. Don't be afraid to hit some of the state/local parks, and don't fret if you have to skip over one of the must-see national parks.
 
shawn said:
Take a tent. The camper is limiting. Go north, do Montana and Wyoming instead. Also, go in August. Got to wait for the snow to melt.
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That crossed my mind too. Tent for a few nights but hotels otherwise...
 
kaiser715 said:
We are planning on Fall '22. Easy trip out, enjoying the sites and not killing ourselves (why hurry and throw on miles getting there, when you then need to sit around three days recovering from the driving?). Instead of moving every couple of days once we are out there, plan to spend a week or so in several general locations, and day-trip from there. Save time making/breaking camp.

I have hit all the high points "must-sees' in Utah. Wife has seen none. I have also done a lot of the stuff that the tourists don't normally hit, and many of those places are just as pretty as the places that are slammed with tourists, especially in June/July. Don't be afraid to hit some of the state/local parks, and don't fret if you have to skip over one of the must-see national parks.
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I would love to spend more time and do the base camp thing, but my work situation just won't allow it.

One of my favorite parts of our trip last year was the 'jeep trail' in Arches out to Tower Arch. I think I could easily do that in the Yukon.
 
@rockcity did Yellowstone, Moab, and all the things last summer with his girls (when they were 10?) in the bus. Maybe he can weigh in.

Last summer we drove to Glacier and Yellowstone with three kids, 9, 7, and 5. I don't remember potty breaks being a problem and kids love to go pee on the side of the road. :lol:

We camped in a tent 10 nights (5 locations), with one hotel night on the way and another on the way home.

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LBarr2002 said:
That crossed my mind too. Tent for a few nights but hotels otherwise...
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I meant camp in a tent. Maybe spend a night or two in a hotel when it makes sense.

Also, buy an ARB Fridge. The gas money you save from not towing the camper will pay for it.
 
I was about to edit my post to add... we love the 12v fridge and it beats soggy food and muddy ice!

This past July/August we drove north and camped 9 nights in 6 locations, now with 4 kids (10, 8, 6, and 9 months)! Glad to answer any questions*!

*Except where the 4th came from, that's your mama's job...

:lol:
 
Personal opinion, skip Grand Canyon and go to Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Park. Wife and I did both places on our trip and we both enjoyed Kings Canyon/Sequoia alot more.

Rent a Jeep in Moab rather than the sxs. It's cheaper and the Jeep will be much more comfortable since it has AC.
 
shawn said:
I meant camp in a tent. Maybe spend a night or two in a hotel when it makes sense.

Also, buy an ARB Fridge. The gas money you save from not towing the camper will pay for it.
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I knew what you meant, but majority tent won't fly.

Yes the gas money would pay for the ARB fridge, or I could just tow my fridge/toilet/bed/AC... :laughing: I figure I'd be $500-$600 difference in fuel. ~9 mpg towing, ~14 empty, at $3/gal.

The biggest hangup for me with the camper is convenience of stops, roadside tourist traps, etc.
 
untchabl said:
Personal opinion, skip Grand Canyon and go to Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Park. Wife and I did both places on our trip and we both enjoyed Kings Canyon/Sequoia alot more.

Rent a Jeep in Moab rather than the sxs. It's cheaper and the Jeep will be much more comfortable since it has AC.
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That adds another 1,300 miles past GC. Honestly the GC was mainly because I've never been and it's within a day of Moab. I'd probably skip GC for a couple days in Colorado if that was the consensus.
 
LBarr2002 said:
at $3/gal.
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Gas is likely $4-5/gal by summer. Even at $3, double your distance estimates. We did about 7200 miles in 16 days IIRC going to Wyoming and back.
LBarr2002 said:
I'd probably skip GC for a couple days in Colorado if that was the consensus.
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That's my recommendation, but you've got to wait until late July/August to do Colorado, and the weather in Moab sucks then. The best time to do a CO/UT trip is in mid-September, but I'm guessing you can't pull the kids out of school for that. That's why I think you should go north.
 
This was my rough plan. We have family in Frisco that we might incorporate a visit.
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We did a long trip out west last summer. I’d either tow the camper and mix in tent camping and a hotel here and there as needed or tent camping with a night or two in a hotel as needed (maybe a long travel day to get to a destination). No way I’d do that trip with hotels as a primary place to crash.

I agree with Shawn. Go in August and go north. We were in Yellowstone last June/July and it was snowing and 31*.
As awe-inspiring as the Grand Canyon is, I think there are better stops that are more clustered and more family friendly. Glacier has a lot to offer as does Yellowstone and the Black Hills and especially Zion and Bryce and even Colorado.

Wherever you go, plan and reserve campground spots now especially if you bring the camper.

I know you mentioned access with the camper on the drive but IMO, I don’t think parking and access is much of a notable con. I was driving a 40’ pusher and we never were really inconvenienced with it and roadside stops, even fighting traffic and parking around Wall Drug.


How many places do you plan to stop and set up camp? How much of a hassle is the camper for those stops to set up? For a night or two, full setup of the camper may not be worth it and tent camping may be better, especially if weather is permitting. When we set up for a night or two it was minimal set up. There were many times where I wished we just took the tent out and went tent camping on the trip; hind sight is always 20/20.

Oh, bring bear spray. :D
 
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shawn said:
Gas is likely $4-5/gal by summer. Even at $3, double your distance estimates. We did about 7200 miles in 16 days IIRC going to Wyoming and back.

That's my recommendation, but you've got to wait until late July/August to do Colorado, and the weather in Moab sucks then. The best time to do a CO/UT trip is in mid-September, but I'm guessing you can't pull the kids out of school for that. That's why I think you should go north.
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Yeah, we went in September last year and the first day was 110+ then mid 90s second day, and almost chilly the rest of the trip. It was crazy. But yeah, with kids it has to be June - early August. I'll look at some northern routes.
 
Oh and think about drive time. Driving to the Grand Canyon (without doing it straight through non-stop) is going to take 3 days each way. On a 10 day trip, 60% of your time will be driving.

If you don’t take the camper you may be able to maximize by flying out with your gear (or shipping gear to destination) and just renting a suburban. Would greatly cut down on driving and maximize your trip to focus on activities instead of driving.
 
rockcity said:
Wherever you go, plan and reserve campground spots now especially if you bring the camper.


How many places do you plan to stop and set up camp? How much of a hassle is the camper for those stops to set up? For a night or two, full setup of the camper may not be worth it and tent camping may be better, especially if weather is permitting. When we set up for a night or two it was minimal set up. There were many times where I wished we just took the tent out and went tent camping on the trip; hind sight is always 20/20.

Oh, bring bear spray. :D
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Yeah, that's why we were trying to nail down some details. It also concerns me about having a set schedule and having complications/breakdowns and missing those reservations. We were considering booking the Moab spot for a set schedule and being flexible on the drive. Briefly looked at harvest hosts but I don't know how well that would work, or HipCamps, or Cracker Barrels...

I was only thinking multiple nights in Moab and Colorado. Everything else would be just overnight stop. Camper is super easy to set up. If spot is remotely level I don't need to unhook. Can just drop the tongue jack and stabilizers and go to sleep. Can run everything but the AC and Microwave on battery power, and have solar that will recover during the day if clear, but I'd also have generator.
 
rockcity said:
I was driving a 40’ pusher and we never were really inconvenienced with it and roadside stops, even fighting traffic and parking around Wall Drug.
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It's a completely different trip, though. Can't bomb down a dirt road for miles and miles or camp at unimproved sites in the middle of the national forest, show up at a state park with no reservation, etc.
 
Fly out to SLC and rent a suburban or JLU. More time seeing things. Tent camp/hotel/whatever works. Not a bad drive to hooverdam/Vegas/Zion/Moab/silverton with plenty of stops on a big loop. Your 6 days of drive time reduction means 6 more days seeing and enjoying sights.

Could rent a dodge sprinter style RV conversion or class c instead of normal rig.

Enterprise truck rental is also half the price of a regular rental and you get full size 3/4 ton truck.
 
Mac5005 said:
Fly out to SLC and rent a suburban or JLU. More time seeing things. Tent camp/hotel/whatever works. Not a bad drive to hooverdam/Vegas/Zion/Moab/silverton with plenty of stops on a big loop. Your 6 days of drive time reduction means 6 more days seeing and enjoying sights.

Could rent a dodge sprinter style RV conversion or class c instead of normal rig.

Enterprise truck rental is also half the price of a regular rental and you get full size 3/4 ton truck.
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I need to price out that option as well...
 
Mac5005 said:
More time seeing things. ... Your 6 days of drive time reduction means 6 more days seeing and enjoying sights.
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That assumes there's nothing to see between here and Denver. Couldn't be further from the truth. If you want to go to Moab to drive the trails you've heard about, then fly out and rent a Jeep. If you want a road trip, take a road trip and enjoy everything along the way.

Also, get some inspiration here: Welcome to Roadtrippers
 
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First full day in Yellowstone, we came back to our campsite to see this big boy hanging out. The kids named him Patronus.

I don't think we'd have that memory if we'd been in a site with hookups.
 
You do you, but we definitely have some great memories from nights spent primitive camping and/or without a set plan. We wouldn't have known the difference, but none of these memories would've been made if we'd been towing...

Last summer we camped in Lewis & Clark NF, on the way to Glacier. We had at least 3 campgrounds to choose from on the scenic byway. The first one was pretty vacant and more than a little methy, so we decided to try for the next one up the road. The kids would've gladly slept in the suburban. :lol: We saw at least one elk and some mulies on the way to the non-methy campground. The site was great but it was already dark and cold when we pulled in! The kids helped set up the tent like champs and then brushed their teeth standing in the gravel driveway. They still talk about it.

On the way from Glacier to Yellowstone, we didn't have a set plan but figured on stopping somewhere in the Flathead Lake area or south of there. We were meeting friends at Yellowstone and realized we'd all be getting "close" around the same time, so went looking for somewhere to meet up and camp for the night. We struck out at the campgrounds bc it was a Friday night, but a friendly camp host told us about primitive sites along the Madison River, up the forest service road. We found a spot and I left @shawn and the kids to set up camp by the stream and start the fire while I drove far enough back out to get cell service and send our friends the GPS coordinates.

This summer, we left out of camp in PA and found a snowmobile trail on the map. It was a gravel road that went up and out along a ridge to a viewing spot. We saw our first rattler in the wild, sunning itself in the ruts of the road.

Also while in New England, we found a primitive campsite on a small lake in the north woods of Maine, off 15 miles of logging road. No human sounds, watched a moose cow eat grass in the water, heard what was most definitely a bull elk bugling, despite the fact that there are 'no elk in Maine,' and watched the loons swim in the morning.
 
We did over 6600 miles in august mostly in ID & MT pulling our 23’ travel trailer for 17 days. I didn’t mind towing it, the truck is nearly as long as the camper but I have over 100 gallons of fuel capacity. For the sake of your time think about how often you’ll be having fuel stops and how long they will take with 4 of you, realistically.

It’s just my opinion but of all the things to see and do out west the Grand Canyon doesn’t even make my list and yes, I’ve been to it. There are drives around Moab you can take to high ground and see just as big of a wasteland.
 
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