Taking the kids out west for a 16 day RV trip

I would like to show my children the west and we are thinking of doing a loop in August that starts in reno, goes down to yosemite, up the california coast to oregon, over to sun valley idaho and back to reno. Any ideas on what to see would be much appreciated especially the trek across Oregon. Thank you all for your help.

Big Chucky

Taking the kids out west for a 16 day RV trip

I%26#39;ll just brainstorm a bit.

I would definitely want to see Crater Lake and just north is a great fishing/family lake at Diamond Lake. Diamond Lake would be a great place to camp.

Then head north toward Bend. Drive the Century Drive west of Bend with lots of beautiful lakes and campgrounds. Just south of Bend is an excellent natural history museum, and a cinder cone to be explored.

Head east on Hwy. 20 toward Burns. There is camping at Chickahominy Reservoir, the FrenchGlen area south of Burns and Crystal Crane Hot Springs southeast of town. We loved going to Crystal Crane, though you might need to be certain it is still open.

The French Glen area would be a good place to explore. It was a huge cattle ranch and there are wild horses around, though I%26#39;ve not seen them.

Baker City has an amazing Oregon Trail visitor center and some of the old ruts, but that would be quite a bit out of the way on this route.

Are there specifics you are looking for?

Taking the kids out west for a 16 day RV trip

Hello and welcome to TripAdvisor. Without figuring up the miles, it sounds like a *lot* of driving to me, in a MH. (I%26#39;ve been RV%26#39;ing for years.) Anything over about 4-5 hours a day gets very tiring, in my opinion. You cannot average the same speed as driving a car, of course.

About how many miles is your proposed route?

Be aware that you will probably not get a camping spot inside Yosemite as they book up a year ahead of time. There are some campgrounds that are non-reservation, but what size MH are you planning to rent? There are size limitations there.

August will be quite hot in the eastern Oregon desert.

Thanks for your response. We have rented a 31%26#39; MH. The RT mileage is about 2000 miles. We have reserved a spot @ Crane Flat in Yosemite (You must book 5 months out) for 2 nights. It was not my first choice, but it was such a frenzy in the booking process. I have also booked a night @ Caspar Beach and another @ Jedediah Smith Redwoods. Any suggestions on what to see and do from SF going up the CA coast to Oregon. Thanks so much!

Thanks for your response. It is just the information we are looking for. Do you recommend making a reservation @ Diamond Lake for camping? Can you also recommend some good restaurants in Bend? If we decide not stay in the RV can you recommend a place to stay for a night or two. Thank you for all of your suggestions!

You will so love Yosemite - be sure to climb from the campground in the valley to the viewpoint at the top of the lower falls. One of the most gorgeous spots on earth.

Yes, I would contact Diamond Lake about reservations.

I don%26#39;t know enough about lodging or restaurants in Bend - I%26#39;d repost that with that specific questions.

Same with Northern California - you might post there.

Are you going to get to San Francisco at all - riding the cable cars, going to Alcatraz and the views are great. That%26#39;s where I%26#39;d spend a night in a hotel.

From Caspar Beach to Redwoods will be a long drive - you might want to stay 2 nights in the redwoods if you can - it will be beautiful and your last cool spot before you hit the heat of southern and eastern Oregon.

Is Sun Valley some place very special for you? You are doing a lot of driving in very hot weather through desolate country to get from Bend to Sun Valley and then all the way across Nevada back to Reno. That is a long ways.

If Sun Valley is not crucial for some reason I%26#39;d recommend exploring around Burns for a day or so and then backtracking 30 miles to take the direct route to Reno down Hwy 395. It%26#39;s going to be hot and brown and mile after mile otherwise.

That way you could slow your trip down a bit and stay longer at a few places and maybe drive up the Oregon coast a bit farther.

My sister lives in Sun Valley and we have not been there in ages. I have done the drive across Nevada from Jackson Hole years ago and remember the drive well. Thanks again for all the tips.

Of course, you must visit your family. It all makes perfect sense now.

Another poster was just discussing raft rides out of Grants Pass. You might want to read that post for something exciting to do, if your children happen to be the right age.

Oh, I don%26#39;t know. I am going to revaluate.........

Diamond Lake is very popular in the summer. There is a full hookup RV park there with lake views; it%26#39;s called Diamond Lake Resort. It%26#39;s a ';resort'; in name only, but it is a pleasant place. The other campgrounds have no hookups.

You no doubt know that Yosemite has no hookups of any kind.

Bend is really skinny on RV parks/campgrounds. There is a very deluxe resort there, Crown Villa, which is really nice. But they do not have a pool and are not too child-oriented.

Grants Pass will be fiercely hot in August - probably over 100潞. There are also jet boat rides out of Gold Beach (the original Mail Boat %26amp; Jerry%26#39;s), where the weather is much more comfortable! There is also a good RV park there out on the south jetty next to the ocean - Oceanside RV Park.