Every "cost of a Grand Circle road trip" article stops at "budget around $X a day." None of them tell you what a family of five actually paid when the bill came. So here is ours: nine days, one rented RV, three kids — including the money we lost to our own mistakes.
What Trailhead is: primary-source expense receipts and raw itineraries from 12 years and 69 independent road trips across US national and state parks. Not polished brochure travelogues — the receipts down to the cent, and the operational failures, so you don't repeat them. This is the first record published in full. Nothing is for sale. Every trip starts at a trailhead.
Two adults and three kids (ages 7, 4 and 1), one RV picked up and dropped off in Las Vegas, a loop around the Grand Circle. Nothing has been rounded down to look good. To prove that, this ledger is split into what I have a receipt for and what I am reconstructing from memory — because those are not the same kind of number.
| ① Receipted — accurate to the cent | What we paid |
|---|---|
| RV rental, 9 days (including final charges) | $2,093.35 |
| Campgrounds, 3 paid nights with receipts | $250.49 |
| Lower Antelope Canyon tour (the 1-year-old was free) | $291.20 |
| Zion e-bike rental (1 day, 2 adults + tow trailer) | $248.52 |
| Receipted total | $2,883.56 |
| ② No receipt — reconstructed from records and memory | Amount |
|---|---|
| Food (cooked in the RV + eating out) | ~$900 |
| Gas | ~$400 |
| Campground, 1 night (Moab — I can't find the receipt) | ~$80 |
| America the Beautiful annual pass (covers every park) | $80 |
| Zion: RVs pay an escort fee for the tunnel | $15 |
| Estimated subtotal | ~$1,475 |
| ① + ② Total spent on the ground | ~$4,360 |
|---|
Note: we slept seven nights, three of them free (paid four). For Moab I've used $80 because the other campgrounds on this same trip ran $36–$115, so I split the difference rather than pretend I know.
We were living in New York in November 2024 and flew JFK ↔ Las Vegas (LAS). So the ~$4,360 above is the on-the-ground operating cost — RV rental plus everything we spent while out there. It does not include getting to Las Vegas.
So what did the flights cost? Here's the honest answer.
| Round trip JFK ↔ LAS, 2 adults + 3 kids | What we actually paid |
|---|---|
| Delta award tickets | 130,400 miles |
| Cash portion (September 11th Security Fee) | $11.20 × 2 confirmed |
※ The flights are the one thing I can't give you a dollar figure for. They were booked on miles, so no cash total exists. The infant's receipt printed its total as "$NaN USD", and the receipts for the remaining two passengers aren't in my inbox. So I'm not going to invent a dollar value and add it to the total. What this trip actually cost was ~$4,360 in cash plus 130,400 miles. Nothing more, nothing less.
The figures above are November — off-season. Roughly half the on-the-ground cost ($2,093.35) is the RV rental, and that plus the paid campgrounds is what climbs in high season.
But we didn't travel in high season, so I'm not going to publish a multiplier or a number for it. The moment I put a made-up figure on this page, every real figure on it becomes worth less. The only total I can stand behind is the $4,360 we actually paid in November.
All I'll claim is the direction: if you can move your dates, that's the biggest saving available on this trip. If school calendars pin you down, you can still pick the cheapest week inside the window you've got.
All figures are actual November 2024 spend. RV rentals bill by the mile. Ours included 100 miles/day, we pre-bought another 800 miles for $280 — and still went 126 miles over, for another $49.14. Mileage estimates run optimistic. Your route changes the total.
The cost breakdown stays free and open on this page. The hour-by-hour itinerary is the one thing I ask for an email address for.
Everything I could find online was a range, an average, or a "typical" day rate. Nothing told me what it costs when five people actually finish the trip. So I wrote down mine.
"We should take the kids to the Southwest." Then the research sprawls, nothing is decided, and it slides another year.
"From $X a night." "Average." "Typical." Nobody writes down what the whole thing came to for a specific family on specific dates.
Can a 1-year-old go into a slot canyon? How far will a 4-year-old actually walk? Some of what you've written off is genuinely doable.
Retirement is too late for this particular trip. While they're small and you can still hike all day is the whole point.
RV, gas, campgrounds, food, park pass, activities — itemized, with receipted and estimated figures kept visibly separate. All of it free on this page, no email required.
What time we woke, what time we arrived, where we slept. Including recorded temperatures and the exact point each kid stopped walking. With the RV company and every campground we booked.
The gear we had to pay to replace, the campground we overpaid for, the night hike we missed by ten minutes. I'm not interested in publishing only the parts that went well.
The first record published in full is nine days around the Grand Circle in a rented RV with three kids. Behind it sit 12 years and 69 independent road trips, and I'm working through them at the same level of detail. If I ever start selling something, it will say so on this page.
I'm a parent who took my wife and our three children (then 7, 4 and 1) to Las Vegas in November 2024, rented an RV, and drove the Grand Circle over nine days. I'm not a travel professional. There was just so much I wanted to know before we left and couldn't find, that I logged the entire trip minute by minute, door to door.
I still have those records, so I'm publishing them as they are. The door that came open and broke our gear is in there. So is the night hike we missed by ten minutes. Leave those out and the numbers stop meaning anything.
This isn't a suggested route. It's the order we actually did it in, round trip from Las Vegas, and where the RV was parked each night. November (off-season), two adults and three kids (7, 4, 1).
The full 9-day itinerary, every booking we made, and a packing checklist for three kids. It opens the moment you submit.
Get the itinerary| Typical cost articles | This page | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the number comes from | Averages, ranges, calculators | What we actually paid |
| Party size | Two adults | 2 adults + 3 kids (7, 4, 1) |
| Dates | Usually unstated | November 2024 (peak figures shown too) |
| Money lost to mistakes | Never mentioned | All six, published |
| Itinerary | A list of landmarks | Times, arrivals, where we slept |
| Cold | "Mornings can be chilly" | 1°C (34°F) at sunrise, 9°C (48°F) midday — measured |
You've already got the entire cost breakdown above, free. There's one more thing sitting on my hard drive.
Three things, specifically
① The as-driven 9-day log — timestamped from wake-up to lights-out, with trail durations, measured temperatures, and the point each kid stopped walking.
② Every booking we made — the RV company, the four campgrounds we paid for, the three places we stayed free, the tour operator, the bike rental.
③ A packing checklist for three kids — built from what we were glad we brought and what we wished we had.
Submit and this page turns into the itinerary. No confirmation email to wait for. Read it, print it, save it as a PDF. Close the tab when you're done and that's the end of it.
If you feel like it, tell me what you're stuck on (optional).
Turn "someday" into this year. There's a window for this kind of trip, and it closes.
Our on-the-ground cost in November 2024 (off-season) was about $4,360. Of that, $2,883.56 is receipted to the cent — RV $2,093.35, three paid campground nights $250.49, the Antelope Canyon tour $291.20, Zion e-bikes $248.52. The rest is reconstructed: roughly $900 food, $400 gas, ~$80 for the Moab campground, $80 for the annual park pass, $15 for the Zion RV tunnel escort. We were living in the US at the time, so no airfare is in that number.
I can't give you a dollar figure, and I won't invent one. We were living in New York and flew JFK ↔ Las Vegas on Delta award tickets — 130,400 miles. The only cash was the September 11th Security Fee: $11.20 each for the two passengers whose receipts I still have. The infant's receipt printed its total as "$NaN USD", and the other two receipts aren't in my inbox. So no cash total exists. What this trip actually cost was ~$4,360 in cash plus 130,400 miles.
It moves. About half the on-the-ground cost — $2,093.35 — is the RV rental, and that plus the paid campgrounds is what rises in high season. But we didn't travel in high season, so I'm not publishing a multiplier or a number for it. Put a made-up figure on this page and every real figure on it is worth less. The only total I stand behind is the ~$4,360 we actually paid in November. The one claim I'll make is directional: if you can move your dates, that's the largest saving available on this trip.
Three of the seven nights were free. A Walmart lot in Las Vegas, Panorama Point near Capitol Reef, and Poverty Flats. The four paid nights came to roughly $330: Trailer Village at the Grand Canyon $99.25, Goulding's at Monument Valley $36.48, Zion Canyon Campground $114.76, and Sun Outdoors Moab at about $80 (no receipt). Walmart overnight policy varies store to store — check the Walmart Locator rather than assuming. Paid sites under $40 a night do exist.
Yes. Measured: 1°C (34°F) at sunrise at Horseshoe Bend, 4°C (39°F) at midnight in Monument Valley, 5°C (41°F) overnight in Moab, 6°C (43°F) morning at Zion, 9°C (48°F) at midday. The off-season saves thousands, but proper layers aren't optional — and build the time it takes to dress small children into your schedule, because we didn't.
In some places, yes; in others, no. On the Lower Antelope Canyon tour — off-season, so quieter — we were able to set him down and let him walk the back half (the published guidance is to use a carrier and keep both hands free). Canyoneering was a hard no on age limits and we rebuilt the day around it. Age minimums are published in advance; that one was on me.
Not right now. The full cost breakdown is free on this page. The itinerary and packing list are free too — I ask for an email address and hand them over on the spot. If that ever changes, it will be written on this page.