17-Nights USA Road Trip - California & the Southwest - 18-to-Thirtysomethings

California/Southwest USA

G Adventures

Moderate

Vacation Offer ID 1533177

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From $4,589

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Overview

G Adventures

USA Road Trip - California & the Southwest
The California coast, the desert of the American southwest, and six epic national parks are all on the menu for this 18-day adventure. Starting in Los Angeles, drive up the rugged coastline of Highway 1 and spend some time getting to know San Francisco, before travelling across the central valley to fall in love with Yosemite. Next up, get ready for days filled with surfing on the beach, glamping in a private canyon, eating pizza along the rim of the Grand Canyon, wandering amid the hoodoos of Bryce Canyon, and visiting a land of extremes in Death Valley National Park. Fast-paced with non-stop good times, this trip will have your head buzzing in the absolute best way.

Highlights
Hike through the dramatic scenery in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Enjoy the many wonders of Yosemite National Park, Catch a few waves with a surf lesson in southern California, Visit the strange rock formations in Joshua Tree National Park, Travel Route 66, Have pizza along the rim of the Grand Canyon, Hike through the hoodoos in Bryce National Park, Explore Zion, Travel to a land of extremes in Death Valley National Park.

Accommodation
Hotel (6 nts), glamping (2 nts), participation camping (9 nts).

Group Leader
1 CEO (Chief Experience Officer) throughout.

Group Size Notes
Max 13.

Meals Included
11 breakfasts, 9 lunches, 10 dinners

What's Included
Your Welcome Moment: Welcome Moment - Meet Your CEO and Group. Hike in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. San Francisco orientation tour. Yosemite National Park visit. Nevada and Vernal Fall hike. Tuolumne Grove of Giant Sequoias. Surf lesson. Visit to Joshua Tree National Park. Drive along Route 66. Hike in Grand Canyon National Park. Visit to Horseshoe Bend. Bryce Canyon National Park visit. Zion National Park visit. Free time in Las Vegas. Death Valley National Park visit. Entrance fees to all national parks and monuments with hiking and walking excursions. Self-inflating mattresses and dome tents. All transport between destinations and to/from included activities.

Featured Destinations

Ridgecrest
Las Vegas Las Vegas Las Vegas is one of the nation's hot spots. There are nightly shows, great dining, and world famous live entertainment to thrill and dazzle every visitor walking down the strip. Las Vegas is the largest city in the nation for gambling and entertainment. Casinos continuously amaze with their shows, attractions, and non stop gaming. Las Vegas has many local attractions and entertainment. World famous shows such as, Tom Jones, David Copperfield, Siegfried & Roy, and Steve and Eddie are here. Casinos offer live entertainment, fine dining, and all types of gambling to fit everyone's desire. Las Vegas also has great shopping, museums, and some of the nations best golf. Although Las Vegas is primarily known for gambling, everything else is worth offering here as well.	Destination Guide
Joshua Tree Joshua Tree Joshua Tree National Park is located just south of the town of Joshua Tree and 140 mi/225 km east of Los Angeles. With trees that look like they jumped from the pages of a Dr. Seuss children's book, the beautiful park is also a rock climbers' oasis—with desert, mountains and wilderness. After a quick visit to the Oasis Visitor's Center at Twentynine Palms or the Visitor's Center at Joshua Tree, drive to Jumbo Rocks to view the various rock formations and Skull Rock. Or meander through Cholla Cactus Garden and the thorny Ocotillo Patch. On clear days, which are pretty common, the panorama from Keys View extends beyond Salton Sea to Mexico. There are 12 self-guided nature walks in the park and ranger-guided tours are offered by reservation, including to Key's Ranch, a historic homestead. Permits are available for backcountry camping. The park is busiest in the winter, most notably with rock climbers. Summer in the park can be challenging during the day because of the extreme temperatures. There are no restaurants, hotels, gas stations or stores in the park, so prepare before you go. There are nine rudimentary campgrounds in the park, but only two of them (Black Rock and Cottonwood) have running water and flush toilets. There are no showers or other modern amenities in any of the campsites. Wildflower season is late February, and spring is a great time for bird-watching. http://www.nps.gov/jotr/index.htm.	Destination Guide
Hermosa Beach
Santa Cruz, CA Santa Cruz, CA Located 65 mi/105 km south of San Francisco, Santa Cruz is in many ways the quintessential California town, combining a laid-back counterculture atmosphere with plenty of shore activities and, of course, surfing. The historic boardwalk contains one of the oldest amusement-park areas on the West Coast. One of its roller coasters is a National Historic Landmark, but the park also includes a state-of-the-art coaster and an amusement area with special effects and robotics. The prominence of surfing in Santa Cruz can be judged by the statue the city erected to celebrate the sport. There are several places along the coast to shoot the curls (or watch others do it). Steamer's Lane, off Lighthouse Field State Beach, is the town's most famous spot, and Cowell Beach and Manresa State Beach are also popular. Whether you can hang 10 or not, you'll enjoy the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum, contained in a lighthouse off West Cliff Drive, near Lighthouse Field State Beach. It covers the sport from its infancy in the 1930s, explaining changes in board technology and chronicling the stars of the surfing world. Phone 831-420-6289. http://www.santacruzsurfingmuseum.org. Of course, the town's numerous beaches can be used for activities aside from surfing. You could, for instance, hang out on the beach. There are also fishing and swimming for those who want to be active, and sailboat cruises for viewing the beach from the bay. There's a lot of shoreline to choose from in the Santa Cruz area, so you should be able to find a beach to fit your activities and temperament. We like Natural Bridges State Beach for the monarch butterflies that congregate there October-March. For a more upscale beach-town experience, you can drive 6 mi/9 km to enjoy Capitola's beaches and shops. This delightful resort village has some exceptional bed-and-breakfast inns and shorefront fine-dining restaurants. The University of California at Santa Cruz campus is located in the hills overlooking the town and bay. The campus' modern architecture blends impressively with the redwood-forest surroundings. http://www.ucsc.edu. If you're in Santa Cruz between December and March, don't miss the chance to see the elephant seals bellow, snort and frolic during breeding season at Ano Nuevo State Reserve in Pescadero, about 20 mi/32 km north of the city. Guided walks along the dunes area of the reserve are available by reservation only—make your plans at least a month in advance because the walking tours are very popular. The reserve is one of only two mainland seal-breeding colonies in the world. Because the state began limiting access to the area in the 1970s, the seal population has grown from only 35 to more than 3,000 animals. Phone 650-879-2025. http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=523. Another must-see near Santa Cruz is one of the area's redwood parks—most notably Big Basin Redwood State Park, a hiker's park about 25 mi/40 km up-canyon from Santa Cruz. (It was California's first state park.) Another good spot for inspirational hiking is nearby Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. A historic narrow-gauge railway, the Roaring Camp and Big Trees Railroad, carries sightseers from Felton to the beach in Santa Cruz through Roaring Camp. Their Redwood Forest Steam Train goes from Roaring Camp to Bear Mountain and back. http://www.roaringcamp.com.	Destination Guide
Santa Margarita
Zion National Park Zion National Park Zion is an ancient Hebrew word meaning a place of refuge or sanctuary. Protected within the park's 229 square miles is a dramatic landscape of sculptured canyons and soaring cliffs. Zion is located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin and Mojave Desert provinces. This unique geography and the variety of life zones within the park make Zion significant as a place of unusual plant and animal diversity.	Destination Guide
Bryce Canyon National Park Bryce Canyon National Park At Bryce Canyon National Park, erosion has shaped colorful Claron limestones, sandstones, and mudstones into thousands of spires, fins, pinnacles, and mazes. Collectively called "hoodoos," these colorful and whimsical formations stand in horseshoe-shaped amphitheaters along the eastern edge of the Paunsaugunt Plateau in Southern Utah.	Destination Guide
Grand Canyon National Park Grand Canyon National Park Located entirely in northern Arizona, the park encompasses 277 miles of the Colorado River and adjacent uplands. One of the most spectacular examples of erosion anywhere in the world, Grand Canyon is unmatched in the incomparable vistas it offers to visitors on the rim. Grand Canyon National Park is a World Heritage Site.	Destination Guide
Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park embraces a spectacular tract of mountain-and-valley scenery in the Sierra Nevada, which was set aside as a national park in 1890. The park harbors a grand collection of waterfalls, meadows, and forests that include groves of giant sequoias, the world's largest living things. Highlights of the park include Yosemite Valley, and its high cliffs and waterfalls; Wawona's history center and historic hotel; the Mariposa Grove, which contains hundreds of ancient giant sequoias; Glacier Point's (summer-fall) spectacular view of Yosemite Valley and the high country; Tuolumne Meadows (summer-fall), a large subalpine meadow surrounded by mountain peaks; and Hetch Hetchy, a reservoir in a valley considered a twin of Yosemite Valley.	Destination Guide
San Francisco San Francisco Blessed with a viable fog-cooled and sun-kissed climate and a dramatic landscape, the San Francisco Bay Area is a visual feast where neither water nor hills are ever too far away. Add to this the cultural medley: Within every neighborhood, from Santa Cruz to Oakland to Mill Valley, a diversity of tastes and interest is thriving. See it in the cuisine, the bookstores, the arts, and the recreational opportunities. To embrace all San Francisco has to offer get out and explore. Walk the streets, drive across the Bay Bridge, go south down the peninsula to Silicon Valley and cruise along the San Mateo coast. Find great sights, museums, art, culture, and family fun attractions. There is a plethora of attractions and activities to satisfy the desires of every one who visits.	Destination Guide
Los Angeles Los Angeles Much of Los Angeles lies in a fairly flat basin, surrounded by mountains and ocean. Although the Santa Monica Mountains, one of the most unheralded of the city’s remaining natural treasures, splits LA between the familiar sights of La-La Land to the south and the charmless suburbs to the north, the metropolis is easily traversed. Places for visitors to explore include Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire, the central strip of Wilshire Boulevard with faded Art Deco "Miracle Mile" zone and good museums, and the beach towns of Santa Monica and Venice, where visitors can stroll along the former’s remodeled pier and Third Street Promenade outdoor mall, or visit the latter’s famed Muscle Beach and oceanside Boardwalk. Lengthier trips to LA may include the old-fashioned charm of Old Pasadena, home of ever-popular Rose Parade and Bowl, Downtown, site of much city heritage and setting for what skyscrapers the area does have, the South Bay, the place to find the region’s second biggest city of Long Beach, and Malibu, where visitors can try to get a glimpse of movie stars and assorted celebrities.	Destination Guide

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Pricing is per person, land only, in US dollars and based on double occupancy. For specific validity dates, discount amount and tour information, please return to the promotion in question. Promotion valid on G Adventures small group tours excluding Independent, MS Expedition or National Geographic Journeys, unless otherwise stated. Promotion applicable to new bookings only and cannot be combined with any other discount or promotion. Does not apply to airfare (unless otherwise stated), pre-/post-accommodation, 'My Own Room' or 'My Own Tent', transfers, theme packs, insurance, polar kayaking & camping excursions or other in-country services. G Adventures reserves the right to withdraw this offer from sale at any time. Itinerary and map subject to change. Please click here for a description of the travel style options provided by G Adventures.

Dossier Disclaimer
The information in this trip details document has been compiled with care and is provided in good faith. However it is subject to change, and does not form part of the contract between the client and the operator. The itinerary featured is correct at time of printing. It may differ slightly to the one in the brochure. Occasionally our itineraries change as we make improvements that stem from past travellers, comments and our own research. Sometimes it can be a small change like adding an extra meal along the itinerary. Sometimes the change may result in us altering the tour for the coming year. Ultimately, our goal is to provide you with the most rewarding experience. Please note that our brochure is usually released in November each year. If you have booked from the previous brochure you may find there have been some changes to the itinerary. VERY IMPORTANT: Please ensure that you print a final copy of your Trip Details to review a couple of days prior to travel, in case there have been changes that affect your plans.

Itinerary Disclaimer
While it is our intention to adhere to the route described below, there is a certain amount of flexibility built into the itinerary and on occasion it may be necessary, or desirable to make alterations. The itinerary is brief, as we never know exactly where our journey will take us. Due to our style of travel and the regions we visit, travel can be unpredictable. The Trip Details document is a general guide to the tour and region and any mention of specific destinations or wildlife is by no means a guarantee that they will be visited or encountered. Aboard expedition trips visits to research stations depend on final permission. Additionally, any travel times listed are approximations only and subject to vary due to local circumstances.

All fares are quoted in US Dollars.