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dzain · Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 2659 Location: The Netherlands

Hi everybody (and specialy those who live or have travel experience in southwest USA)

For next year (may) I'm planning a trip for my parents and me in southwest USA.
We want to drive by rental car and sleep in cabins or motels in nature parks.
Length of the trip approximately 25 days.

The trip I have in mind so far is:
Flying to Las Vegas
Bryce Canyon
Arches NP
Monument Valley
Vermillion Cliffs
Grand Canyon
Vegas (and go to Bobby Deal for my won workshop with him ;-)
Death Valley
Sequoia
Bodie (ghosttown)
Yosemite
San Francisco (and fly back home)

Did I miss photographic highlights along the way? Is this possible in about 3,5 weeks? I don't want to hurry to much because travelling with my senior parents and ofcourse because of enough time everywhere to catch the best light for photographing.
Is the 17 mile drive an option from SF?

And can someone recomment cabins or motels in these areas? We don't need luxury, only a single room and a double room with good beds and toilet/shower in the rooms.

Hope for lots of good tips!
Thanx!

Photoshow · Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 3:24 am

Somewhere in there you should find a couple days on the coast of Southern California. Laguna Beach to Los Angeles, if you come all this way it really should be part of the trip even if all you do is go to the beach and to Disneyland for a day.

dzain · Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 2659 Location: The Netherlands

My parents are not that into beaches. When it was allong the route, it would be included in the trip, but when we have to rush through the NP's to get a few beachdays, I don't think it's worth it.
And it will always be an option for me to come back another year and visit the LA area (incl. Yoshua Tree NP) in combination with a trip to Hawaii for instance! :)

dzain · Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 2659 Location: The Netherlands

Hmmm, after googling Joshua Tree NP I think maybe it's more interesting to fly to LA, have a sightseeing trip in LA/Hollywood and then start driving to Joshua and after that drive to the other NP's on my list. Maybe skipp Bryce in favor of Joshua Tree to see more different kinds of nature.

Hope you Americans have more usefull tips to see the most beautifull highlights of that area in about 25 days.

yaromir · Joined: 11 May 2006 Posts: 1117 Location: Chicago

Flying to Las Vegas - that's OK but don't stay there longer than one day
Bryce Canyon - absolutely a must, you would need few hours.
Arches NP - amazing, you may need the whole day.
Monument Valley- fantastic definitely the whole day
Vermillion Cliffs - never been here.
Grand Canyon - amazing but definitely NORTH RIM!!! skip the south!!!
Death Valley absolutely gorgeous, day or two.
Sequoia- fantastic, day or two.
Bodie (ghosttown) -never been here.
Yosemite - I would say it's nice but slightly overrated for me.
San Francisco it's a MUST, day or two.

You mention also Joshua Tree - if you don't have time you may skip it, not that fabulous but I would add to your list Zion and my personal favorite for this area Lake Powell!

About hotels/motels, in this area there is a motel on every corner don't even worry about it as long as it's not any national holiday you will get a room anytime, anywhere.

hhltdave5 · Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 7:52 am

I think you can also add Zion NP into the trip. It isn't that far from Bryce (about an hour and a half).

I have been to Bodie and it is a nice place but you can get the shots you need in a short amount of time. A couple of hours there should do it.

When you are in the area of Yosemite make sure that you check if the roads along the passes are open, especially Tioga pass road in the northern part of Yosemite. It usually doesn't open until about the 3rd week in May due to the snow.

That is a good time to visit Yosemite because the waterfalls will be really powerful then. In the spring they are something to see because of all the water caused by the melting snow.

You can see a good portion of the park in two days if you stay in the Valley portion of the park. More time if you want to go along the Tioga pass where there are many great hidden areas and alpine meadows.

On the east side of the Tioga pass is the town of Lee Vinning. That is the area where Mono lake is which is an interesting place to shoot especially early morning and late evening. Also near there is the restaurant run by Ansel Adam's granddaughter. Pretty good food and lots of Adam's photographs and equipment.

Monument Valley is where we have one of our workshops each year and you can get the main photo ops in one day. It is a magical place during the prime shooting times especially at sundown. The best place to be then is going up the road toward the park exit. Just before you get to the top there is a pull off and you look back into the park and you will see this

http://www.shutterstock.com/results.mhtml#photo_id=11637433

If you do go there I would make sure you have an SUV at least. The road through the park is not paved and can be pretty rough. A regular car stands a good chance of doing a lot of bottoming out.

Death Valley is another great place but just be careful of the heat. It shouldn't be too bad when you are there (average is about 100 degrees in May). If you go up to the northern end of Death Valley it is a totally different place and you can stand on top of and look down into a volcano.

Shoot the dunes outside of Stovepipe wells at sundown. Get there a bit early and you can have time to walk out onto the dunes for some amazing shots. Again don't mess with the heat and have lots of water.

You can get a great deal of information on the national parks by going to their web site

http://www.nps.gov/

If you have any specific questions just let me know and I will try to help.

dzain · Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 2659 Location: The Netherlands

Arrggghhhh!!! I need lots more vacation time hihi :-)

I love your photo of Monument Valley, it's definately a dream location for me!

And Mono Lake is on my wishlist too! Is it in or near Yosemite?

Thanks for the tip of choosing an SUV.

What about the motels/cabins? Is it better to make reservations in advance or is it very easy to find accommodation every evening on every location in the NP's?

What (not expensive) hotel can you recommend for Vegas, San Francisco and LA?

vanhart · Joined: 21 Jul 2006 Posts: 1306 Location: Houston

Do not underestimate travel time. When you come from Europe. Even when you are in a NP, say Arches, you will travel and walk for hours. To breath it in you would want to walk.

The places you listed are great, with the addition of Zion etc. as mentioned above. We did a similar trip when we had our little one, and enjoyed it all the way. You probably have to adjust based on places to stay and weather.

hhltdave5 · Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 9:30 am

phatfield · Joined: 02 Jun 2008 Posts: 118

I recommend

TripAdvisor for places to stay:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/

ChowHound for places to eat:
http://chowhound.chow.com/

and, a National Park Annual Pass:
http://www.nps.gov/fees_passes.htm

It sounds like a great trip!

vanhart · Joined: 21 Jul 2006 Posts: 1306 Location: Houston

First do the workshop with Bobby. You will feel so sorry for yourself having wasted shots if you travel around and then have the workshop. Just a thought.

nicolasmccom · Joined: 15 Sep 2008 Posts: 30

Don't miss the Canyon de Chelly. Fabulous place, you won't regret going.

hackett · Joined: 19 Jun 2008 Posts: 5

I now would not go to their states at all, at нах the pork flu rages, give all to us at us well.

cvanwagoner · Joined: 10 Aug 2005 Posts: 1229 Location: Fallbrook, CA

Nice list...now cut that in 1/2 or 1/3 and pick parks and places that you can drive to and make a circle around the midwest (or oblong, square, whatever). Remember one thing about traveling - everything takes longer than you think and someone almost always misses something they really want to see. Pictures are a hurry up there and wait for the right light experience. The one thing about trips/vacations that most people forget - YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO RELAX AND ENJOY YOURSELF - not take it all in at warp speed.

I"m in So Cal, (san diego county) and if you come this way - e-mail me and we'll go do the coast.

Carla

dzain · Joined: 21 Jan 2007 Posts: 2659 Location: The Netherlands

Haha, I definately won't have time enough to squeese everything in you all sugested :-)

I asked this question also on a dutch forum (no photography forum) and someone mentioned that you have to do a lottery to get an entree for Vermillion Cliffs - The Wave. Someone of you familiar with that? When you look up some photo's of that area (here on SS) it's soooooo beautiful, I really want to go there. Is there a more easy way to get those tickets for sure? Would SS redcarpet program help with something like this?