Help with planning summer trip

[momo]

Hi. I am in the beginning stages of planning a summer trip. Last year went to Israel for August, and we had an amazing time. This year looking to go on a road trip in the US. Would like to hit up a few of the National parks, ie, Bryce, Teton, Yellowstone, glacier, etc.. as well as Las Vegas (yes i know its extremely hot) grand canyon, as well as some time in the Rockies. Would also like to possibly knock off N, and S Dakotas, as i haven't yet visited those states. Plan on leaving end of july, thru end of August. Looking for suggestions on best route, which national parks to hit, how long in each etc.. Shabbos with Minyan is highly preferred, and tisha baav minyan is a must. I understand that there will be a lot of driving involved. Flying into and out of different airports is the plan. Any help on route planning, must sees, places to stay, minyanim along the way, ideas tips etc, are welcome.

[yfr bachur]

Hatzlacha.
I'd love to have the time and money to do something like that...

Whats the budget? 
Just curious how much things like this cost...

[momo]

Hatzlacha.
I'd love to have the time and money to do something like that...

Whats the budget? 
Just curious how much things like this cost...

Thank you. Don't have a firm budget in place, but will try and keep things as reasonable as possible .  I'm going to try and use miles and points wherever possible. I have tons of them. I can do my job from anywhere, although seems like internet and phone service may be an issue in some of these places.

To the Mods, maybe should be moved to Trip Planning thread. My apologies.

[Sam 77]

Thank you. Don't have a firm budget in place, but will try and keep things as reasonable as possible .  I'm going to try and use miles and points wherever possible. I have tons of them. I can do my job from anywhere, although seems like internet and phone service may be an issue in some of these places.

To the Mods, maybe should be moved to Trip Planning thread. My apologies.

You can use starlink for internet

[~King Lake~]

You can use starlink for internet

That’s a pretty expensive option for choppy internet…

[David61]

Hi. I am in the beginning stages of planning a summer trip. Last year went to Israel for August, and we had an amazing time. This year looking to go on a road trip in the US. Would like to hit up a few of the National parks, ie, Bryce, Teton, Yellowstone, glacier, etc.. as well as Las Vegas (yes i know its extremely hot) grand canyon, as well as some time in the Rockies. Would also like to possibly knock off N, and S Dakotas, as i haven't yet visited those states. Plan on leaving end of july, thru end of August. Looking for suggestions on best route, which national parks to hit, how long in each etc.. Shabbos with Minyan is highly preferred, and tisha baav minyan is a must. I understand that there will be a lot of driving involved. Flying into and out of different airports is the plan. Any help on route planning, must sees, places to stay, minyanim along the way, ideas tips etc, are welcome.

Check out the master threads (and wikis) for Utah, Montana, Arizona, and Colorado, for info. You can also try ChatGPT.

I've done many of these and have learned to avoid anything longer than 2 weeks (for a full time vacation) especially with kids. At that point it's like triples of dessert, it loses a lot of the excitement.

Many decisions are personal depending on your willingness to change hotels frequently (its time consuming and a pain to pack/unpack each time), amount of time willing to invest in planning, budget considerations, interests of the travelers, and need for some variety aside from hiking/national parks.

[AsherO]

That’s quite a lot you’re hoping to do/see, how long do you plan for this trip to be? I guess flying would make things quicker at times, but that’s less of a road trip.

[JMHO]

That’s quite a lot you’re hoping to do/see, how long do you plan for this trip to be? I guess flying would make things quicker at times, but that’s less of a road trip.

Hi. I am in the beginning stages of planning a summer trip. Last year went to Israel for August, and we had an amazing time. This year looking to go on a road trip in the US. Would like to hit up a few of the National parks, ie, Bryce, Teton, Yellowstone, glacier, etc.. as well as Las Vegas (yes i know its extremely hot) grand canyon, as well as some time in the Rockies. Would also like to possibly knock off N, and S Dakotas, as i haven't yet visited those states. Plan on leaving end of july, thru end of August. Looking for suggestions on best route, which national parks to hit, how long in each etc.. Shabbos with Minyan is highly preferred, and tisha baav minyan is a must. I understand that there will be a lot of driving involved. Flying into and out of different airports is the plan. Any help on route planning, must sees, places to stay, minyanim along the way, ideas tips etc, are welcome.

[momo]

I have planned out the following route, obviously still extremely fluid. Flying into BZN, spending a few days doing Outdoor activities NOT national parksy, ie, rodeo, horseback, atv, water based activities, then hit Yellowstone for a few, Grand teton/jackson for a few, then drive down and spend roughly a week in the rockies, then bryce canyon, grand canyon, then vegas area. I am entertaining doing the first part of the trip in an RV, as 1 looks like it will be a fun experience, 2 hotels are sooo expensive there that i may actually come out ahead by rving, vs car and hotel prices. Thoughts?

[SSLPhD]

Sun, 7/28: fly to Bismarck, ND, drive 2 hours to Dickinson
Mon, 7/29: spend the day exploring Theodore Roosevelt NP (South Unit)
Tue, 7/30: leave early, drive 5 hours to Wind Cave NP, do ranger-led cave tour at about 3pm, drive to Mount Rushmore, spend night in Rapid City
Wed, 7/31: Badlands NP, night in Rapid City
Thu, 8/1: drive 6 hours to Denver.  Spend a week and a half in the area doing all the things, including Rocky Mountain NP.  If you want to do a really long day trip, include Great Sand Dunes, NP, but for 7.5 hours of round trip driving, it's not *that* much reward.
Tue, 8/13: Tisha B'Av
Wed, 8/14: Drive 5 hours to Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP.  Spend maybe 2 hours there?  Spend the night in the area, or on the way to the next NP.
Thurs, 8/15: Drive up to 5 hours to Mesa Verde NP, spend a few hours in the NP, continue on 3 more hours to Gallup, NM for the night
Fri, 8/16: early start. drive an hour to Petrified Forest NP, spend an hour or two, drive another 2 hours to Flagstaff for Shabbos.
Sun, 8/18: drive an hour and a half to Grand Canyon NP (can drive motzaei Shabbos), spend night (or 2) Grand Canyon Village
Mon, 8/19: Grand Canyon NP, head to Page, AZ for the night, 2.5 hours away
Tue, 8/20: drive 2:15 to Zion NP (probably skip Antelope Canyon), spend the day, night in Springdale?
Wed, 8/21: drive 2 hours to Bryce Canyon NP, spend day, then drive 2:30 to Capitol Reef NP, spend night there
Thu, 8/22: early day, Capitol Reef NP for a 3(?) hours, drive 2 hours to Canyonlands NP, see that, night in Moab
Fri, 8/23: EARLY sunrise at Delicate Arch in Arches NP, another hour in Arches, then 4 hours to Salt Lake City for Shabbos
Sun, 8/24: 5 hours to Grand Teton NP, spend night nearby
Mon, 8/25: Yellowstone NP, 2 more nights
Wed, 8/26: 10 hours to Glacier NP
Thu, 8/27: Glacier NP
Fri, 8/28: fly home from Glacier Park Airport

17 National Parks, Shabbos and 9 Av with minyan.

Highly recommend RV/tent for at least part of it.  Your previous comment makes way more sense.   

[momo]

Wow! Kinda hoping that there was sarcasm involved in that post. Thats a bit much. Looks like a killer trip though. Please post a trip report when you are done.