Has anyone here rented a motorhome and traveled to the national parks out west?

[Richard Cranium]

Thinking about doing that for a vacation sometime in the future and I’d like some opinions from anyone who has done something like that.

 

[chargervert]

Plan on bringing the car trailer too,you cannot go out west and not bring back a car!

 

[Sixpaksteve]

Sending a PM....

 

[BigFlo]

 

[JackR]

I’ve lived in the west for a long time. We still find new national parks that are just great to visit. Can’t go wrong with Az, Sierra Nevadas in Ca and even New Mexico.

The rental RV’s cost about the same as a hotel room so that is that. And don’t go too big on the rental as most NP’s have a length limit 32 foot is very common.

 

[1967coronet]

 

[davek]

@PlymCrazy

 

[Rebelrouser]

I have a slide-in camper for my truck that I take when racing and we do camping trips in it as well. Several years ago, we did Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and Arches National parks, super vacation. My main advice is plan ahead and reserve campsites especially in Yellowstone. I found that my slide-in camper really worked well because being smaller it gave us access to better campsites, many of the big motorhomes and trailers were just parked in open fields. I got a site in the woods overlooking Yellowstone Lake. I took the camper off and then had the truck free to drive around, parking at the attractions in the park gets pretty wild sometimes, especially for people that had bigger rigs. If you have never been to Yellowstone, I highly recommend you go, really a beautiful place. Plan your days in the park, hit the popular stops like Old Faithful early in the morning, and the park is huge, driving will take up more time than you think, people stop often to take pictures and about 45mph is speed limit. One reason we stayed at Bridge Bay Campground was that it is in the middle of the park, so we planned a four day stay splitting the park into four sections. Want to go back again someday.

 

[XS22J8R]

The rental RV’s cost about the same as a hotel room so that is that. And don’t go too big on the rental as most NP’s have a length limit 32 foot is very common.

I think they’re a lot more than a hotel room, unless you’re talking a hotel room in manhattan or London or the like.
I’ve never done it, but a pilot I knew rented one 7 or 8 years ago to take his family to the Oshkosh air show for a week.
He rented one from a big outfit for RV rentals. I don’t recall the name offhand, but see their RVs on the highway often. Their RVs are camper bodies on a Ford cutaway van chassis.
He said rental was $500 a day, must be more now.
At any rate, even if it sounds expensive, it’s probably a lot cheaper than owning an RV. Unless you’re one of those people like a lot of snowbirds here who have a nice RV they drive or tow to Florida or Texas and live in it full time for 3-4 months every winter!

 

[wahya]

Yeah, smaller is better unless you are towing something to get around in. I never rented a camper but have talked to people that have and observed. I’ve seen a lot of people from other countries, mainly from Europe, that have to pick up and leave the campsite for the day because they wanted to go see things. There are a lot of cool places that you just can’t go in a motorhome. I have not seen any fifth wheels or travel trailer rentals. Maybe some pop ups.are rentals.
Between our fifth wheels and our motorhome, we have visited 49 states (couldn’t drive to Hawaii) and think that for us, it’s the only way to go.

 

[Nutso]

I have taken my camper to several national parks in the southwest. It is amazing…Zion is a great spot for camping. Great Basin National Park is an under the radar park that is very cool. There are incredibly decorated caves there, the tour is phenomenal.

My buddy wrangling his sewer hose after a mishap…

 

[1 Wild R/T]

JMHO, I'd rather drive a car, burn a fraction of the amount of fuel & spend that savings on a hotel.... I've driven motorhomes enough to know it's stressful especially when in traffic, very few drivers will give you an opening, you begin to appreciate the crap truck drivers deal with...

Motorhomes are great to spend a few days at the lake, not to tour the country...

 

[dadsbee]

None of the renters in Canada will let you tow a car behind that I know of... check that out if it's part of the plan. I'd buy an older motorhome and resell it when you get back....

And make sure that Submit does the windshield for you..