16-Day Southwest US Roadtrip Itinerary

This road trip with a 16-day road trip from the Bay, down to the beaches of LA and across multiple state parks and national parks! You will get to watch the pine trees turn into palm trees and go from deserts to mountains with this road trip. The United States is filled with so many natural wonders and this road trip will allow you to see some of the best that the USA has to offer! This trip will take you through California, Arizona, Utah, and Nevada.

Quick Notes:

1. During this trip, we stayed in low-budget hotels, motels, or camped. 
2. I highly recommend getting the Annual US National Park Pass ($80 USD). You can buy this at any National Park visitors center and/or entrance. Normally the entrance fee for each park is around $35/each.  We also have the California Golden Poppy Pass ($125) which gives you access to California State Parks. 
3. A few of the roads and stops require 4 wheel drive cars. I highly recommend renting a vehicle with high clearance and 4 wheel drive for this trip! We drove our Honda CRV 4WD car with no issues. 
4. We did this trip with a 4-year-old, so all of the activities are kid-friendly! We took stretch breaks every hour so to keep her from going nuts. 

Day 1 and 2: Bay Area to Los Angeles

We left around 9 am from the Bay and got into LA around 5:30 pm. We took a scenic route which added 1 hour to our trip, if you want to shorten the drive, you can take I-5 all the way down! On the way down we stopped at Ocean Dunes State Park and had a quick picnic for lunch. You can drive right up onto the beach and set up just a few feet away from the water! 

We stayed in Venice Beach at a friend’s place. We ended up walking up and down Abbot Kinney Road that evening and checking out all the restaurants and shops. The next day we went down to Venice Beach and walked the boardwalk and visited some friends. 

Where to eat: Gjusta (I highly recommend the tomato confit sandwich!), Blue Star Donut, The Butcher’s Daughter, Gjelina, Salt and Straw, Portos, Cafe Gratitude 

If you have more time:

• Hike around Griffith Observatory.
• Visit the La Brea tar pits and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. This is a great day activity with kids! 

Day 3 and 4: Joshua Tree National Park

The drive from LA to Joshua Tree National Park is about 2 hours. We left early in the morning at 9 am. Be sure to stop by Hadley’s Fruit Orchard in Cabazon to try their famous date shakes and stretch your legs! We stayed in Twentynine Palms, at the north entrance of the park at the Motel 6 ($70-90/night). It’s clean, has a pool, and is super close to the park entrance.

Joshua Tree gets super hot during the days, so plan to do outdoor activities there early in the morning and evenings, when it’s cool. In addition, be sure to bring enough water with you on your trip, there is a water spigot at the restrooms at the entrance at the park if you need to refill your bottles.  On the first day in Joshua Tree, we drove the entirety of the park and drove to Keys View since we got in at 11 am and it was extremely hot. We also stopped at the Visitor’s Center and grabbed a Junior Ranger Activity book for Elara. At noon we took the Geological Tour drive, which you need a 4 wheel drive car to do, and looked at the view from our air-conditioned car. In the evening, we went to Jumbo Rocks and walked around there before heading back for dinner and some pool time at the motel!

Joshua Tree National Park is known for its skies at night, so be sure to set an alarm and drive into the park and stargaze at either Jumbo Rocks or Skull Rock area at night if the weather calls for clear skies. The next morning we drove to Skull Rock and did some scrambling (rock climbing/hiking) through the rocks for a couple of hours and then did a short hike for Barker Dam before heading out to Phoenix. 

In the afternoon we headed to Pioneer Town and Joshua Tree to check out the small towns. 

Where to eat:  The Kitchen in the Desert, Jelly Donut, La Copine, Joshua Tree Coffee Company

Day 5 and 6: Phoenix/Scottsdale

This is a 4.5-hour drive. We drove through Joshua Tree National Park, stopping at the Cholla Cactus Garden for a little walk. We stopped at the Salton Sea for a quick walk, if you have time head further south to Bombay Beach for some gorgeous views! We stayed at Springhill Suites in Scottsdale North ($80-120/night). 

The next day we went to the Desert Botanical Garden in the morning, while it was cool. It’s a gorgeous, well-manicured garden with tons of cacti, wildflowers, and greenhouses. For lunch, we drove up to and went to Zinc Bistro for lunch. I highly suggest getting their fries- they were hands down the best fries I’ve had in a long time! We snacked on a cheeseboard and fries before heading out to the Musical Instrument Museum. They have a fantastic setup where you can visit different stalls that showcase instruments from various countries and hear their music. They also have an Experience Hall where you can play the instruments! They had hand sanitizer stations set up throughout the museum to keep everyone safe. 

Where to eat: Tropical Sno, Zinc Bistro, Sweet Republic, Thai House on Shea

Day 7: Sedona

We drove from Phoenix to Williams, passing through Sedona along the way, which takes about 4 hours total. We drove to Red Rocks State Park and hiked the House of Apache trail which took about 40 minutes. It was super hot this day, so we grabbed umbrellas to give us some shade.

Almost all the trails here are less than a mile round trip. We then headed to Tlaquepaque Arts & Shopping Village where The Chai Spot is located. It’s such a cute European-style shopping area, you could easily spend a couple of hours here walking around and getting lost. 

We camped out in Williams in an airstream we found on Airbnb ($100/night). We stopped by a Walmart along the way to grab firewood, ingredients for S’mores, and a lighter. The airstream has a firepit right outside, where we roasted marshmallows and stargazed. This place was hands-down the most perfect spot for astrophotography!  

Day 8: Grand Canyon National Park

If you want to rent bikes in the park, I highly suggest getting up early and get to the park by 8:30 am. We waited on line for over an hour to get bikes, but usually, they are all gone by 10:30 am. You can reserve them ahead of time as well, but it is difficult to do so. The bike rental place is located next to the visitors center at Mather Point. For Elara, Rhut got a tag-along bike, where she could sit in the back and pedal. We biked 13 miles from visitor’s point to Hermit’s Rest and then took the shuttle bus system back. This took us about 5 hours to do and it was a strenuous ride. If you want to keep it low-key, you can rent it for 2 hours and bike the red or orange trails which are shorter and easier. At any point, if you get tired you can hop on the shuttles if you get tired, however, the tag-along bikes can not go on the shuttle. 

We stayed at Marble Canyon Lodge ($80-$90/night) overnight, which is located at the north end of the Grand Canyon. It’s located next to the Navajo Interpretive Bridge, which I highly suggest checking out as it has a spectacular view of the Colorado River. 

Day 9: Horse Shoe Bend, Coral Pink Sands State Park, and Bryce Canyon National Park

From Marble Canyon Lodge we drove up 40 minutes to Horseshoe Bend. It’s a 1-mile walk before you get to the viewpoint. Again, please bring water with you and go in the early morning or evening hours to stay cool. If you have little ones with you, keep an eye on them as portions of the viewpoint do not have guard rails on them.

We spent about 2 hours here and then headed to Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Kanab, UT. You can rent sleds and snowboards at the visitors center to do some sand sledding in the park! 

We then drove into Bryce Canyon National Park and stopped at all the viewpoints and did a short hike through the hoodoos. before heading to our hotel, The Best Western Ruby’s Inn ($120-$160/night), where we stayed for 2 nights. They have a laundromat on-site, where we did some quick laundry at night since we packed light. 

Day 10: Peekaboo Slot Canyon Hike

Antelope Canyon is on reservation land and requires permits, so we opted for the less-visited Peekaboo Slot Canyon and Spooky Slot Canyon hike in Kanab. It is a hard 5 hours round trip hike which requires scrambling, rock climbing, squeezing through tight spaces, and a rope section. That being said I saw a lot of families with young children and even babies with them on the hike. Bring at least 2 liters of a water person for this hike, wear good hiking shoes or rock climbing shoes, and clothing that won’t snag on rocks. Check the weather before hiking to make sure it hasn’t rained anywhere near the canyons as flash floods can happen during the rainy season.  I recommend starting at the Peekaboo Slot canyon, which starts with a 12-foot climb up and then exiting through Spooky Canyon. This way you are going down the ropes section, which is much easier than trying to climb up. If the climb up seems scary, enter through Spooky and then return the same way. 

Head over to this blog post by Earthtrekkers for more details on hiking Peekaboo Canyon! 

In the evening we went to Bryce Canyon to watch the sunset and head back to the hotel. 

Day 11: Zion National Park

The drive from Bryce to Zion is only 1.5 hours. For Zion, you need to reserve shuttle passes the day before you visit. They go on sale ($1/each) the day before at 5 pm. Make sure to create an account and have your cart ready to go prior to 5 pm so that you can grab them quickly. If you do miss out on the tickets, check the comments on AllTrails to see if anyone is selling passes for your date of visit. If that fails, they open up 200 shuttle tickets at 2 pm every day at the visitors center. You can do the Watchman’s trail, which is accessible without the shuttles, in the morning and then get in line for tickets to see the rest of the park. Also, be sure to get to the park early so that you can get parking in the park, otherwise, you’ll have to park outside and walk 2 miles in.

We did the 1-mile Riverside walk to the Narrows. The water had dangerous bacterial growth in it due to the lack of rainfall in the last year, so we did not go in the water. Afterward, we took the shuttle to the Lodge, where we had lunch and then did a short hike to Lower Emerald Falls. Our legs were still jelly from the Peekaboo Canyon Hike so we kept it low-key. Both these trails are stroller/wheelchair friendly. 

We stayed at the KOA Hurricane/St. George ($100-$120/ night) where we opted for a lodge versus camping. The lodge is a trailer with a full bath and 2 beds and a full kitchen! 

Where to eat: River Roasting Coffee Company, seriously- do not skip this place! It has a beautiful patio overlooking the mountains and the food is super delicious! 

Day 12: Las Vegas and Hoover Dam

We drove to Las Vegas from Zion which took 2 hours. We drove to Hoover Dam and walked over the dam before heading into the city to the hotel. We stayed at the Sahara ($45-$90/night). In the evening we walked along the strip to show Elara the Bellagio water show and all the lights. Due to COVID, the monorails are closed, so many of the casinos are offering free self-parking available right now. 

Where to eat: NoButcher, Nacho Daddy, Tiger Sugar

Day 13: Death Valley National Park and June Lakes

We drove 2 hours to Death Valley National Park. We drove towards Badwater and stopped at the Devil’s Gold Course before attempting to walk the 1-mile path to Badwater where the salt flats are. Elara ended up melting in the heat (99°F) and we turned around. Instead, we took Artist’s drive, which has a few stop off including Artist’s Pallete.

We drove through the park up towards June Lake (3 hours) where we stayed at Whispering Pines ($120/night) for one night. 

Day 14: June Lakes to South Lake Tahoe

In the morning we drove around June Lakes and heading up towards South Lake Tahoe (2 hours). We drove 40 minutes south to Hot Creek Geological Site, where we took a quick 20 minutes to hike down to see the hot pools. The water is scalding hot, so they do not allow swimming. The road to Hot Creek Geological Site is not paved and is a rough gravel road that requires high clearance and 4WD! From here we headed to the natural hot springs, which you can bathe in! We stopped at each one until we found an empty one we could go in.

Try your luck at Shepherd Hot Spring, Crab Cooker Hot Spring, or Rock Tub Hot Spring. All of these springs are along a rough unpaved road. Do not attempt this drive unless you have high clearance and 4 wheel drive. Your call WILL get stuck! There are no bathrooms in these areas either, so you’ll have to change in your cars and bring your own towels. 

Another hot spring you can stop at is Travertine Hot Springs in Bridgeport. This hot spring is in the mountains, and there are multiple pools in the area as well as a restroom. The hot spring tub near the parking lot is the hottest of the pools, a short walk away behind the hill, there are multiple cooler hot springs that you can bath in. We loved this spot because it was snowing, and the hot spring felt amazing! Keep in mind these are natural hot springs are have moss in them, the water is not filtered! 

After relaxing we headed to Bodie State Park, an old mining ghost town. The road is unpaved, but you do not need 4WD to make it there as it’s a pretty smooth road. It’s an unreal place to walk around and see the abandoned homes that look almost as if people just up and left mid-day decades ago. You can find a walking guide book in the park across from the church in a box. 

We got to our hotel and South Lake Tahoe, 3 Peaks Resort ($60-$90/night), where we stayed for 2 nights. They have a massive hot tub which Elara loves splashing around in and it’s just a 5 min walk from Lake Tahoe! 

Day 15: South Lake Tahoe

We actually come to SLT quite a lot so we decided to drive around the entire lake stopping at various state parks like Emerald Bay State Park and Sugar Pine Point State Park and did a little bit of hiking. If you have time, take the Heavenly Ski Resort Gondolas up if they are running. 

Where to eat: South of North Brewing Co, Red Hut Cafe

Day 16: Drive back to San Francisco

We drove back to the Bay, which took us 4 hours, with a stop at the Livermore Outlets! We took Route 88, which took us through a super scenic drive where we drove on remote windy roads through the mountains down to Stockton. I can not recommend this drive enough!