A road winding past towering red sandstone cliffs under a blue sky, a small RV on the road

Day-by-day itineraries

Day-by-day RV itineraries

Each plan: a map, where to sleep every night, drive times, and the campgrounds to book first. Rules checked 2026-10-27 and 2026-10-28.

Photo: Pond5 · credits

Pick a fly-in airport and a length. Every itinerary starts and ends at the same airport, has a schematic route map, a night-by-night campground plan with booking windows, and links to the matching cost breakdown. Not sure when to book? Read how Recreation.gov windows and lotteries work first.

All five routes on one map

All five fly-in routes on one mapSchematic map of the US Southwest and Rockies. Las Vegas loop to Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon; Phoenix to Sedona and the Grand Canyon; Salt Lake City to Arches and Canyonlands; Salt Lake City or Bozeman to Grand Teton and Yellowstone; Denver to Rocky Mountain National Park.NEVADAUTAHARIZONACOLORADOWYOMINGNEW MEXICOMONTANAIDAHOLas Vegas loop, 10 daysPhoenix, Sedona & Grand Canyon, 7 daysArches & Canyonlands, 7 daysYellowstone & Grand Teton, 10 daysRocky Mountain, 6 daysZionBryceGrand CanyonSedonaArchesCanyonlandsCapitol ReefYellowstoneGrand TetonRocky MtnLASPHXSLCDENBZNN≈ 100 mi

Tap a route

  1. Las Vegas loop · 10 days
  2. Phoenix, Sedona & Grand Canyon · 7 days
  3. Arches & Canyonlands · 7 days
  4. Yellowstone & Grand Teton · 10 days
  5. Rocky Mountain · 6 days

Square = airport · triangle = park. Dashed line: the Bozeman (BZN) alternative for Yellowstone. Schematic, not for navigation; positions and state lines approximate [A].

Which route fits me?

Chosen one? See what to book when, with dates →

Start with the time you have and the month you can travel. Then pick the scenery.

First RV trip, want the classic red-rock parksLas Vegas loop · 10 daysZion, Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon in one loop. Best in April–May and October. One week, and you'd rather hike than driveArches & Canyonlands · 7 daysFour nights in one base near Moab, parks as day trips. Best in April–May and October. Summer trip, geysers and wildlifeYellowstone & Grand Teton · 10 daysFive nights inside Yellowstone. Best in June and September; roads close at the end of October. Short on time, or want cool mountain airRocky Mountain · 6 daysThe shortest drive on the site, about 350–450 miles. Trail Ridge Road is open roughly late May to mid-October. Grand Canyon first, or travelling in spring, autumn or winterPhoenix, Sedona & Grand Canyon · 7 daysThree nights on the South Rim. Best in April–May and October; workable in winter with care at the rim.
RouteDays / nightsDistance [A]Best monthsAll-in, 2 people, US residents [A]
Las Vegas → Zion, Bryce & Grand Canyon10 / 9~900–1,050 miApr–May, Oct$2,000–5,800 · Class C $2,800–7,300
Your own numbers →
Salt Lake City → Arches & Canyonlands7 / 6~750–850 miApr–May, Oct$1,400–4,500 · Class C $1,900–5,600
Your own numbers →
Yellowstone & Grand Teton10 / 9~1,100–1,300 miJun, Sep$2,200–6,700 · Class C $2,900–8,300
Your own numbers →
Denver → Rocky Mountain6 / 5~350–450 miSep (Jun–Aug good)$1,200–3,600 · Class C $1,600–4,500
Your own numbers →
Phoenix → Sedona & Grand Canyon7 / 6~550–700 miApr–May, Oct$1,400–4,200 · Class C $1,900–5,200
Your own numbers →

Distances come from each day-by-day plan, best months from the best time to go, and costs are the all-in ranges from each cost page (campervan · Class C, US residents, rounded outward to the nearest $100; visitors from outside the US add the park fee shown there). The cost calculator starts from the same numbers and narrows them to your season, vehicle and group. All are estimates [A]; the cost pages list every line.

First RV trip? Each classic plan ends with “Alternatives and the buffer day”: where to add a spare day for a late flight, a closed road or a missed campground (for example on the Las Vegas loop).

Find a trip: airport and length

The five day-by-day plans

Class C motorhome driving a desert highway toward red sandstone formationsLAS · 10 days

Las Vegas → Zion, Bryce & Grand Canyon

Watchman, North Campground, Mather; Zion vehicle limits.

Read day by day →Mesa Arch at sunrise, Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National ParkSLC · 7 days

Salt Lake City → Arches, Canyonlands & Capitol Reef

Moab base, Devils Garden, Fiery Furnace, Fruita.

Read day by day →Mount Moran at sunrise above Oxbow Bend, Grand Teton National ParkSLC / BZN · 10 days

Yellowstone & Grand Teton

Five Yellowstone nights, 2026 seasons, Bozeman variant.

Read day by day →Trail Ridge Road crossing alpine tundra, Rocky Mountain National ParkDEN · 6 days

Denver → Rocky Mountain & Trail Ridge Road

Bear Lake by shuttle, timed entry, Timber Creek.

Read day by day →Desert View Watchtower on the Grand Canyon South RimPHX · 7 days

Phoenix → Sedona & the Grand Canyon

Mather dry camping, Hermit Road shuttle, Desert View.

Read day by day →

Unusual road trips

Fewer famous views, more roadside stories. We tell legends as legends, and rate every stop for RV access.

Ruins of the Cook Bank building in the Rhyolite ghost town, NevadaLAS · 5 days

Las Vegas → the Extraterrestrial Highway, Tonopah & Rhyolite

Rachel, open-range cattle, a car forest, a ghost town. RV access per stop.

Read day by day →Aerial view of Meteor Crater, a deep round bowl in a flat Arizona plainPHX · 5 days

Phoenix → Lost Dutchman, Jerome, Sedona & Meteor Crater

A gold-mine legend, a sliding mining town, vortex culture without the hype, a real impact crater. RV access per stop.

Read day by day →Sharp sand dune ridges in late-afternoon light at Great Sand Dunes, ColoradoDEN · 4 days

Denver → Bishop Castle, UFO Watchtower & Great Sand Dunes

A one-man castle, a roadside UFO platform, a 1967 horse legend checked against the facts, North America's tallest dunes. RV access per stop.

Read day by day →A paved trail across black lava past a dark spatter cone at Craters of the Moon, IdahoBZN · 5 days

Bozeman → Virginia City, Bannack, EBR-I & Craters of the Moon

Gold-rush towns and a ghost town, the reactor that lit four bulbs in 1951, the lava fields where Apollo crews trained. Summer only, RV access per stop.

Read day by day →A lone Joshua tree in front of a pile of granite boulders under a blue sky in Joshua Tree National ParkLAS · 6 days

Las Vegas → Integratron, Joshua Tree, Salton Sea & Slab City

A Venusian legend and a sound-bath dome, cholla and palm oases, an accidental sea, Salvation Mountain and the London Bridge in Arizona. October to April, RV access per stop.

Read day by day →White radio telescope dishes of the Very Large Array on a plain in New Mexico under a cloudy blue skyPHX · 8 days

Phoenix → the Very Large Array, White Sands & Roswell

The radio telescopes from Contact, young lava, white gypsum dunes next to a missile range, the Roswell story told straight, and the nuclear museum. Long haul: about 1,500 miles.

Read day by day →

Not sure when to go? Read the best time to go, month by month, for all five routes.