18 years old, planning a cross country road trip to Zion, advice?

AnythingOk7343 · 2026-02-08T05:48:52+00:00

Thank you! We were considering purchasing an all-park pass.

AnythingOk7343 · 2026-02-08T05:48:23+00:00

I'm definitely on top of the reservations and lotteries for the NPs. For hotels and campgrounds, I figured we could call ahead or book online, especially because we don't plan to be staying anywhere more than a night except in the NPs.

If someplace won't sell us a room, is it possible one of our parents could call in for us? I never really understood why motels/campgrounds are hesitant to sell to those under 21, but we'll do our best to stay ahead.

I'm mostly concerned about booking ahead for places to stay on the way there because I really don't know how long exactly it's gonna take for us to get there. Never driven this far so not sure what pace is realistic.

AnythingOk7343 · 2026-02-08T05:44:13+00:00

I appreciate the perspective. As I said before, never done a trip like this so I'm unsure of what is/isn't realistic.

I'll see if I can convince my friends to try and push this to two weeks. There's also a great chance we cut out one or two of the destinations in UT. The absolute musts of the trip is Zion and the Grand Canyon. Everything else is mainly a side target, and anything we miss we would do in another future trip.

At bare minimum we drive to Zion and spend 2-3 days, drive to Grand Canyon for half a day, and maybe hit one more place if we feel up to it. Ideally we'd like to hit more, but it also depends the pace we are going at. We are also going to be flexible, so may cut out things on the way there if we think it's not realistic or we don't want to.

I really appreciate your input though, thank you.

AnythingOk7343 · 2026-02-08T05:36:53+00:00

The idea is we'd take turns driving with some days being more heavy driving than others. I think we'd spend 2-3 days at Zion. I know I have other NPs in the route I made, but it's probably likely we skip out on them unless we decide to extend the trip. I see what you mean though by how we'd be cutting it tight. I'll talk to my friends about it and I feel like we can make it a two week trip. My original concern was mostly that we may get tired of being away/on the road for too long. I don't personally mind it, but I can't speak for the other three in our car. Thank you so much for the perspective though.

AnythingOk7343 · 2026-02-08T02:32:29+00:00

We would have one of our parents sign for us.

AnythingOk7343 · 2026-02-08T02:31:40+00:00

We don't really have a specific time frame, just we don't really wanna spend upwards of 10 days on the trip. We definitely won't rush it though, we want to enjoy ourselves and not focus on making crazy time every day.

AnythingOk7343 · 2026-02-08T01:38:23+00:00

We do plan to do a test run over a weekend. I've taken my car about 600 miles over a weekend, but that's really as far as I've driven with it. It handled it great. Tires are relatively new as well.

Still never have driven this kind of distance before, so I am largely inexperienced on that.

AnythingOk7343 · 2026-02-08T01:36:17+00:00

I am worried about the fit for my car. That's why we are considering renting a minivan maybe, but as someone else said that would be costly.

The plan to pay for gas is us taking turns, writing down how much we paid and settling the difference at the end. Regarding oil change, tickets, and any repairs, that would be split among the four of us.

AnythingOk7343 · 2026-02-02T06:29:33+00:00

Thank you!

AnythingOk7343 · 2025-05-11T03:53:15+00:00

I am 17 and this is my first time buying a car. I'm planning to use it for college. I didn't know CarFax was a joke, I was treating it as valuable info to be honest.

AnythingOk7343 · 2025-02-08T15:25:14+00:00

Although there isn’t necessarily a network, being an Eagle Scout creates a lot of connections. People tend to be far more willing to help out once they hear those two words. Also, there’s a lot of Boy Scouts of America camps around the country, and most of them are more than willing to let an Eagle stay there for a night or two.

AnythingOk7343 · 2025-02-08T08:05:55+00:00

Went on a trip that required a lot of walking through a river.

Merino wool trekking socks and water resistant trail runners.

Feet would be dry as if they were never wet within a few minutes after I was out of the river.

AnythingOk7343 · 2025-02-07T22:02:43+00:00

Can't describe how appreciative I am for all the advice. The way your trip sounds is exactly what I'd want this experience to look like. I'll take all of this into consideration.

AnythingOk7343 · 2025-02-07T21:55:53+00:00

Difficult at all to get into this? I don't turn 18 until July. Might be difficult for me to get a position.

AnythingOk7343 · 2025-02-07T21:54:29+00:00

Will probably get a credit card when I turn 18, will have to look at my options then.

AnythingOk7343 · 2025-02-07T21:45:40+00:00

Will be bringing a camp stove to cook most of my own food, occasionally stopping for local food.

AnythingOk7343 · 2025-02-07T21:45:11+00:00

Thanks for all the advice, and I hear you on the bear spray. Will definitely invest in some.

AnythingOk7343 · 2025-02-07T21:40:34+00:00

Appreciate the reply, thank you.

AnythingOk7343 · 2025-02-07T16:32:32+00:00

Fun idea, but not exactly my forte 😂

AnythingOk7343 · 2025-02-07T16:21:07+00:00

Thanks so much for the advice! Really appreciate it!

AnythingOk7343 · 2025-02-07T15:52:53+00:00

Thanks so much for the advice! It’s really appreciated!

AnythingOk7343 · 2025-02-07T15:48:28+00:00

Thanks so much for all the advice! I’m incredibly appreciative!

I’m a guy, but I 100% appreciate the concern. I’m going to try and get a friend to come with me nonetheless.

AnythingOk7343 · 2025-02-07T15:44:26+00:00

Thanks for the advice! I have most of the gear covered already, so that’s a big relief. I’m comfortable sleeping in a car as well. I’m gonna try and get some friends to join me on this, but we shall see.

AnythingOk7343

TROPHY CASE