Western US/National Parks

My first thought was to rent an RV and hit the open road. It oddly never occurred to me that there would be such a thing. Growing up in the west, it's all about road trips to the National Parks. However, I think Road Scholars probably has lots of tour options that would be what you have in mind.

Take a look at Odysseys Unlimited. They offer a tour that covers some of the parks you’ve mentioned. They are similar in many ways to Rick Steves with 12-24 guests, etc. They do take care of luggage and list the hotels upfront. We’ve only traveled with them once in Spain, so I don’t know if they ever change the hotels listed.

I always wanted to visit Utah, and in October I finally visited all 5 National Parks with Southwest Adventure tours. It was a small group of 14 max and a driver that doubled as the tour guide. He was from Utah and knew the parks very well. I was extremely happy with this tour. They also will set up "you drive" tours and private tours. You can spend some time looking at their website and see if any thing catches your eye- https://www.southwestadventuretours.com/

Although being a West Coast person, we usually just drive. That said we know that we can't drop into the National Parks and expect accommodations without reservations. That makes it a good idea to go on a tour so you can be prebooked and if necessary, cancel. We used to take day trips to Mt. Baker and Mt Rainier on a whim, but now Rainier has timed entry in the Summertime. The big Parks can be very crowded at times, and the Canyon Lands can be very HOT even in the Fall. Yellowstone and Glacier are closed part of the Winter, and both have had to have recent road repairs. Missoula is a good place to stop because of modern conveniences such as motels, restaurants and supermarkets. You can go to Butte with the historic mining hole and a great genealogy center. And of course Salt Lake has a huge genealogy center. P.S. I forgot to mention the National Park Senior Pass, it covers entry, not including accommodations.

Like Kathleen, I live in the West and always drive to Yellowstone for my yearly trips. Yes, Road Scholar does have trips to all these places but not one trip that covers all. To me you have 2 separate trips at a minimum, maybe 3! Any company that fovers all your choices is probably moving faster than I recommend to allow you to experience the parks.

Here’s how I would group trips:
-Sedona , Grand Canyon and the other Northern AZ sites
-Utah Big 5 - Zion, Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef (along with some state parks and other federal properties)
-Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and Glacier Is there something in particular you want to see in Missoula? To me if your time is limited, I’d skip towns and focus on parks.

I am most familiar with Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. The Trip Advisor forum for Wyoming is excellent (yes, I’m a Destination Expert for Yellowstone but good folks for both areas) and can help you design or own itinerary or I’m happy to help you here.

If you decide to visit NPs independently then check out the National Park passes (Senior lifetime pass is still a great deal but there are other annual and single/park group passes available).
Not exactly Rick Steves style but if you’re active adventurers then check out Backroads, REI Vacations, or similar.

Great insight. Thank you all!

I live in Utah and like others drive to the national parks and am very familiar with them all. I can see that taking a tour for someone not familiar with the area can make sense. I would strongly recommend a company that arranges for stays inside the parks. This is especially true of the northern national parks, Yellowstone, Teton, and Glacier. It enhances the experience immensely. Be sure to look at the itineraries carefully before you sign up.

I agree with others to split the trip up between the north and southern parks. For the southern parks the accommodations just out side the parks are more than adequate and the towns are fun to stay in with the exception of the Grand Canyon, there inside the park is a must.

It is likely more expensive to stay inside the parks mentioned, but it may be a once in a lifetime experience and you will want the best time you can have.

We did our own driving trip of the southwestern National Parks- we have a senior pass.

When were staying at the Kachina Lodge at Grand Canyon, a Tauck tour bus pulled up and unloaded.
We later saw the same bus at the same hotel we stayed at at Bryce Canyon.

Never been on Tauck tour, but it's high end. I don't know how long they stay at each park.

Here's their link

https://www.tauck.com/SEM/national-parks?WT_mc_id=PPC_NATPARKS_2024ACOQ&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAClbD20MhQRwndd_gdSGjmyP2FnIf

I did this RoadScholar tour last month:
https://www.roadscholar.org/find-an-adventure/13480/On-the-Road-Saguaro-Joshua-Tree-Death-Valley-National-Parks

I've also done 3 Odysseys Unlimited tours that involved NPs.

As mentioned by others, western parks are too spread out for a particular tour to cover more than 3-4. Both of these companies do small group tours, but with RoadScholar you need to read the info for a specific tour because they aren't always small.

Just this past November, I took a Road Scholar tour (my first!) to Southern New Mexico, where we visited two national parks, White Sands National Park and Carlsbad Caverns. We also visited Roswell, the New Mexico Space History Museum, the Bosque Del Apache Wildlife Preserve, and the Very Large Array among a few other little gems in the region. Talk about "back door travel." It was a phenomenal tour and my tour mates were just like the independent, well-traveled folks who take Rick Steves Tours (I have taken 10 Rick Steves tours). The two national parks we visited are much less crowded than the big ones up in Utah/Arizona, but also small and can be done in one day. I will say that the tour wasn't as active as a typical Rick Steves tour is, which I found disappointing. We also had almost no free time.

I also took an Odysseys Unlimited tour of the Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion, etc. a few years ago. I enjoyed that trip as well thanks to an amazing tour guide, brilliant weather, and nonexistent crowds in late October/early November. But the not the same clientele as Rick's tours in terms of needing much more hand-holding (I really disliked the bag portering service and opted out!). That said, the hotels and meals were nicer than Road Scholar's.

Thanks to all of you for your thoughtful and very helpful input!

Just got my frequent brochure from Road Scholar in the mail;

They have a best of Utah Grand Circle of Parks and monuments.
Check their website for further info