Zion/Bryce Canyon/Yellowstone/Bozeman

[Groundhog66]

Hello all, planning a trip for early Oct, hoping to get some opinions and assistance.

Leaving from Bay Area, CA heading over to Zion, we will stop over somewhere after Bakersfield for the night, plan to stay in the South Campground for a few days (no availability in Watchman). I know there are BLM/Dispersed options, but not sure how secure this would be if we plan to be gone most of the day? Also, wondering if Bryce Canyon is worth a day trip, or there will be enough to see in Zion?

Then up to West Yellowstone for a few days, we were hoping to stay inside the park, but nothing available to reserve, and I'm not sure I was to gamble with the first come options. Any lesser known "must see's" in the park that you are aware of?

After YNP, we plan to head up to the Bozeman area for a few days, but this is not carved in stone. I am contemplating other options earlier in the trip, and nix MT all together, any thoughts?

Home through ID, where we plan to stop off to see some friends who relocated, then a stopover at some point on the way back to CA.

 

[pnoetzel]

Hello all, planning a trip for early Oct, hoping to get some opinions and assistance.

Leaving from Bay Area, CA heading over to Zion, we will stop over somewhere after Bakersfield for the night, plan to stay in the South Campground for a few days (no availability in Watchman). I know there are BLM/Dispersed options, but not sure how secure this would be if we plan to be gone most of the day? Also, wondering if Bryce Canyon is worth a day trip, or there will be enough to see in Zion?

Then up to West Yellowstone for a few days, we were hoping to stay inside the park, but nothing available to reserve, and I'm not sure I was to gamble with the first come options. Any lesser known "must see's" in the park that you are aware of?

After YNP, we plan to head up to the Bozeman area for a few days, but this is not carved in stone. I am contemplating other options earlier in the trip, and nix MT all together, any thoughts?

Home through ID, where we plan to stop off to see some friends who relocated, then a stopover at some point on the way back to CA.

One of our favorite stops on 58 is Mountain View RV park near tehachapi ca.
Nice park on private air strip.
Near Zion is sand hollow state park, hurricane Ut not far from Zion.
On a lake and tiered RV sites.
I would go to Bryce, and beyond Bryce Canyon, go to Kodachrome state park
13 miles east of Bryce Canyon turn off. One of the best state parks setting in the country.
Have fun

 

[Groundhog66]

One of our favorite stops on 58 is Mountain View RV park near tehachapi ca.
Nice park on private air strip.
Near Zion is sand hollow state park, hurricane Ut not far from Zion.
On a lake and tiered RV sites.
I would go to Bryce, and beyond Bryce Canyon, go to Kodachrome state park
13 miles east of Bryce Canyon turn off. One of the best state parks setting in the country.
Have fun

I appreciate that feedback, time to do a bit of research, thank you.

 

[JM0397]

First, so jealous! We were supposed to do that loop this year, but kicked the can down to next year.

Second, word of warning for October in Bozeman area. We were not in a rig, but vacationed in Livingston, MT 2 years ago, flew into/out of Bozeman. On the day we left, driving the Bozeman pass between the two cities, in mid-October, it was a near white-out blizzard. It was white-knuckle enough in an AWD SUV, can't imagine getting stuck in that in our rig!
Keep an eye on the forecasts!

 

[Groundhog66]

First, so jealous! We were supposed to do that loop this year, but kicked the can down to next year.

Second, word of warning for October in Bozeman area. We were not in a rig, but vacationed in Livingston, MT 2 years ago, flew into/out of Bozeman. On the day we left, driving the Bozeman pass between the two cities, in mid-October, it was a near white-out blizzard. It was white-knuckle enough in an AWD SUV, can't imagine getting stuck in that in our rig!
Keep an eye on the forecasts!

Good advice, we will keep an eye out for sure.

 

[DougW9876]

Definitely watch the weather. We got caught in a nasty snow/sleet storm between Bryce and Zion in mid September several years ago. It wouldn’t have been too bad except we were on the motorcycle. I was SO glad I had put the Trike kit on that year because there was no place to get off the road so I just kept the front tire in the tire track of the cars ahead of me and kept going slow until we ran out of it a few miles later. We also planned to go through Durango and over Wolf Creek Pass that trip but when we were headed that direction there was 13 inches of snow on the pass so we went around and took that left turn in Albuquerque.

 

[BobLandry]

Laurent Martres is a photographer who has written a series of books aimed at different sections of the Western states. He covers all of the National Parks, most of the state parks, and a lot of county parks, many gems that you would never know about.
These books are what landscape photographers dream of.

 

[orbiker]

Zion is nice, but Bryce Canyon area is a bit nicer in my opinion.
Going North could be a bit late in Oct. Sometimes winter comes in Sept.

Utah and Grand Canyon might be a better idea. KEN

 

[Canyonlight]

[MENTION=21318]Groundhog66[/MENTION] - in addition to what has been shared, conducting s search using Bryce or Zion or Yellowstone will yield several threads and posts shared over the years with much good information and advice.

We have been to all three with going to Bryce and Zion twice most recently in May of 2019. Our daughter and SIL along with young grandson are avid hikers. We hiked most of the trails and doing so will take more than a day depending on several factors of course.

Pay attention to and be prepared for the weather. Enjoy these spectacular parks and share pictures after you return !

Dan

 

[dryfly]

Also, wondering if Bryce Canyon is worth a day trip, or there will be enough to see in Zion?

Then up to West Yellowstone for a few days, we were hoping to stay inside the park, but nothing available to reserve, and I'm not sure I was to gamble with the first come options. Any lesser known "must see's" in the park that you are aware of?

.

Bryce is definitely worth the trip. To me it's just different than Zion, and while I enjoyed both, if I had to recommend between the two it would be Bryce. We stayed 4 days at Bryce and 2 days at Zion, but length of stay obviously depends on what activities you want to do.

Was in Yellowstone in June and it was already packed for the summer. First come first serve sites are at a premium. Some of the private cg's in West Yellowstone said they did have occasional openings, but they were full when I drove through.

 

[Jim_Aileen925]

We were in Utah in 2017 and had the ability to spend 2 weeks in Moab and 2 weeks in Kanab. It was the best trip and the parks were busy but wonderful. We enjoyed all the parks and I could not say which was the best since they were all wonderful. Whichever you choose I am sure you will enjoy

 

[TLMSJM]

YNP is a great vacation. In late Sep. and early Oct. many of the camp sites are shut down for the season. West Yellowstone has some great RV parks, and should have openings during that time. Keep an eye out for bad weather.

 

[orbiker]

THIS WEB SITE is a great place to keep an eye on the weather.
Scroll down the weather column with the map set on weekly will show the motion of the storms. You can change the size of the area too.

KEN

 

[droundtree]

You have other options besides West Yellowstone. There is a nice RV park on the Rockefeller pkwy between Grand Teton NP. Used to be called Flagg Ranch but looks like it is called Headwaters now. There is also a KOA near Moran Junction where hwy 26 meets 191. There is also the Virginia City RV park in Jackson Wy. I have stayed in all of them and they are nice. However as others have said be ready fir cold weather, I have been snowed on up there in mid September


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[Groundhog66]

All great info, thank you!

We do have a spot reserved in West Yellowstone @ Grizzly, not what I was hoping for, but it'll work.

 

[Gary325]

Hello all, planning a trip for early Oct, hoping to get some opinions and assistance.

Leaving from Bay Area, CA heading over to Zion, we will stop over somewhere after Bakersfield for the night, plan to stay in the South Campground for a few days (no availability in Watchman). I know there are BLM/Dispersed options, but not sure how secure this would be if we plan to be gone most of the day? Also, wondering if Bryce Canyon is worth a day trip, or there will be enough to see in Zion?
Then up to West Yellowstone for a few days, we were hoping to stay inside the park, but nothing available to reserve, and I'm not sure I was to gamble with the first come options. Any lesser known "must see's" in the park that you are aware of?
After YNP, we plan to head up to the Bozeman area for a few days, but this is not carved in stone. I am contemplating other options earlier in the trip, and nix MT all together, any thoughts?
Home through ID, where we plan to stop off to see some friends who relocated, then a stopover at some point on the way back to CA.

What's your rig size? Many NPs have length limitations.

 

[Groundhog66]

What's your rig size? Many NPs have length limitations.

We are 33', that is the first thing I check, as I know many are like 24'.

 

[John612]

Orange Cove RV park east of town is a great spot, out in the country a bit, not far from the highway 58 freeway,
you'll have your own orange tree as well.

Bakersfield RV Resort is very nice, but you'll have to navigate a few city streets to get there.

 

[Buckskin]

Just completed slide show of Bryce, Zion and Grand Canyon from several trips over the years; love that part of country. Unfortunately when you live on east coast it's much cheaper to fly and rent vehicle. We also like Banff and Jasper National Parks in Canada if you ever get chance to go to these great parks.

 

[ElSimon]

Native Utahn here - Bryce will be cooler in October but if you watch the temps and snow you should be good. Snow adds a beauty to Bryce that can't be matched. We do Zion (Watchman's) for Thanksgiving and often we see snow. We actually had snow at Snowbird (East of Salt Lake) this week. We have a saying here in Utah, "If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes". Keep that in mind. You may need to change plans multiple time to see all that you want to.

We welcome you to our state and hope you enjoy your stay!