USA August 2024 (1 Viewer)

[ghummer]

Hi everyone,
we are an Italian family of 2 adults and two girls aged 11 and 14 who will come from August 4th to 24th to take an OnTheRoad tour in the western USA.
We will land at LAX and we will always leave from LAX and we would like to rent a semi-camperized 4x4 or one large enough to be able to travel around the national parks and, in case we can't find a motel, to be able to sleep inside the off-road vehicle or possibly place a tent on the ground.
We usually travel in Europe and North Africa with an HDJ100 with a roof tent or with an old camperized Iveco Daily 4x4.
Do you have any advice for rental and/or unmissable visits in addition to the classic ones?thanks in advance, bye everyone
Matteo Malnati
+393356035125

 

[Workhorse]

Where are you planning to take your family? Which areas are the classic trails/places and what states are you planning to visit? The San Juan’s of southwest Colorado have lots of history and beauty, as do many of the national parks of Utah and Colorado. There are many great places to visit. Moab Utah is also a scenic place to consider visiting.

As for rentals, you might consider renting a Mercedes 4X4 Sprinter camping van. I can’t recommend where to rent one from as I haven’t ever done so.

 

[GerLC100]

Rentals:
Companies: Escape Vans, Indie Vans, Juicy Rentals --> all not really 4x4, but good enough to see NPs
Outdoorsy is an alternative where private people rent out their vehicles. You'll find all kind of vehicles.

Alternative/ price question:
You could also rent a regular truck at Enterprise or whatever, bring some gear from Italy and just buy some stuff here locally to scrap afterwards. Or rent some stuff at Sports Basement. They offer some sets for car camping and you can choose single items:

2-Person Deluxe Car Camping Package

When maximal comfort is a priority our Deluxe camping Package has you covered. Perfect for 2 people, this package includes: One 4-Person Tent 2 Sleeping Bags 2 Therm-a-Rest Dreamtime Sleeping Pads 2 Camping Cots 2 TravelChair Camp Chairs 2 Therm-a-Rest Hammocks 2 Rechargeable Black Diamond...

shop.sportsbasement.com

Locations (beside the big parks):
Anza Borrego/ Galleta Meadows
Joshua Tree (try to get a first come first serve at Hidden Valley)
Valley for Fire 1h north of Las Vegas
Area around Alabama Hills, Kennedy Meadows

Download offline maps! you'll not have reception in a lot of areas.

For more precise tips I think a basic route layout would be good to know.
And my very personal advice: skip half of the big spots everybody talks about and instead spend more time at the other half! I met a lot of people and they were just overwhelmed and had no idea where they saw what after a 3 week roadtrip...

 

[matzell]

Post up a list of Parks or areas that you are planning to visit. That way we can let you know what is nearby or along the way. Lot to see along the West coast. Yosemite, Lake Tahoe up north, Yellowstone, the Tetons in WY. Arches in Utah, Drop down to the San Juans like mentioned. You have 19 days roughly it looks like. I would try to do a large loop.

 

[ghummer]

Hi everyone, thanks for the valuable information.

The loop we should do is the "classic" one seen in the image:

We don't understand if it is really necessary to have a 4x4 vehicle as at the moment it could only be used in Monument Valley, unless you give further advice.

It is probably more advantageous to rent a van and camping equipment so that the nights for which we can't manage to find a place in motels we can still be independent.

Our idea is to book the first night in Los Angeles, one or two nights in Las Vegas, two nights in San Francisco and finally the last two or three nights in Los Angeles again before flying back to Italy and therefore leaving the other nights for free.

Thanks in advance for the advice, bye
Matteo

 

[GerLC100]

The track helps already, going around the clock:
Pappy + Harriet's in Pioneertown on your way from LA to Joshua Tree. Sign up at the entrance and use the wait time to explore the western city in the back.
Schnelby Hill Road and Sedona on the way to Flagstaff.
Dinosaur Tracks north of Flagstaff: 36.1008257, -111.3229187)
Valley of the Gods, Sand Island or Goosenecks Campground and Muley Point around Monument Valley
Goblin Valley State Park
Factory Butte
Kodachrome Basin State Park

And for the stuff aorund Bryce and Zion watch some video of Matts Offroad Recovery and Fab Rats so see some areas

 

[ghummer]

Thanks, now I'm studying all your advice carefully , we will loop counterclockwise.
The most urgent thing we should decide is whether to rent a 4x4 or 2x4 vehicle; What would you recommend?
We decided not to take it already camperized but to get the spartan equipment for camping/sleeping in the car when we land in LA. thanks,
Ciao

 

[GerLC100]

To be honest: most of the people from Europe do this kind of trip with an RV... So I'd get a truck or SUV as rental and go from there.