Our Southwest RV Spring Break: Las Vegas, Death Valley, Joshua Tree and Valley of Fire

For spring break in March 2026, we flew into Las Vegas, rented an RV and spent more than a week road-tripping through the Southwest as a family. Our route took us through Nevada, California and Arizona, with stops at Death Valley, Joshua Tree, Valley of Fire and Hoover Dam.

It was our first big RV trip and the perfect mix of national parks, desert scenery, campground life and a final night of comfort back in Las Vegas. Here’s the full route, where we stayed and what we learned along the way.

The Trip at a Glance

Our trip lasted from Thursday, March 12 through Friday, March 20.

We flew round-trip through Las Vegas and traveled in a Class C RV from Road Bear RV. We did not have a tow car, so we planned the route carefully and made sure our campgrounds and stops would be manageable with the RV.

Our route was:

Las Vegas (1 night) → Death Valley (2 nights) → Joshua Tree (3 nights) -> Valley of Fire (1 night) → Las Vegas (1 night)

The driving distances were long enough to make the scenery feel completely different at every stop, but short enough that we did not lose entire days to driving.

Starting in Las Vegas

We flew into Las Vegas on Thursday evening and landed a little after 9 p.m. Rather than trying to pick up the RV that night, we stayed in a hotel and started fresh the next morning.

That ended up being the right decision. Traveling with kids and luggage is already a lot, and adding an unfamiliar RV after a late flight would have made the first night much more stressful.

On Friday morning, we headed to Road Bear RV on Boulder Highway for our 9 a.m. pickup. We decided on a smaller Class C so we could drive and park it easier. Keep in mind, this was our car for the whole trip so we needed to be able to drive places and park without too much of a hassle.

Tip: We booked an extra day at the beginning of our trip so we could get the early pickup. Otherwise, you can’t pick up until 1 p.m..

After the walkthrough and paperwork, we drove to a nearby Walmart where I had scheduled a grocery pickup in advance. That made it much easier to stock the RV with everything we needed for the week without spending part of our first day shopping. Once the groceries were loaded and everything was organized, we began the drive toward Death Valley.

Death Valley National Park

Our first destination was Death Valley National Park, about two and a half hours from Las Vegas driving an RV.

Death Valley was the perfect place to begin because it immediately made the trip feel like an adventure. The landscape is enormous, open and unlike anywhere else we had traveled as a family.

We stayed at Furnace Creek Campground, Site 45, for two nights – and I wish we would have stayed another night. Because of how expansive the park is, you definitely want to stay inside the park to make it much easier to explore without adding a long drive at the beginning and end of each day. From Furnace Creek you can also walk to the Visitor Center and The Ranch at Death Valley.

Tip: You can purchase a pool pass from the reservation desk at The Ranch. There is also a popular ice cream shop and restaurants we enjoyed having so close to the campsite.

It also gave us time to settle into RV life because we were able to secure a site with full hookups. To get the site I had to be on top of my game! I downloaded the apps recreation.gov and Campflare so that as soon as a spot opened up I could book. And you have to be quick! The good spots go fast. I would book a spot and if a better one opened up I’d cancel it for a nominal fee. That was worth it to get the best site possible.

Hikes and spots we did – and recommend!

Sunrise at the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes (my favorite!)
Zabriskie Point (fairly quick stop on your way to/from Furnace Creek)
Dante’s View (a scenic overlook, we did this on our way into the park from Las Vegas)
Badwater Basin (there was water in it when we were there, water shoes are recommended)
Sunset drive through Artist’s Palette
Mosaic Canyon Trail (the longest hike we did, but loved it!)
Golden Canyon Trail (busier than Mosaic, we did this before we left on the last day)
Artists Palette (A one-way drive through, be sure to time sunset. You can do it on your way back from Badwater Basin)

There is a ton of content and blogs on which places to hike and see inside Death Valley. Be sure to research what you want to do and prioritize. Some things you can drive by or through and get out for pictures. While others are longer hikes. And almost everything you have to drive to get to. So map out your time in order to make the most of it.

Joshua Tree National Park

On Sunday, we left Death Valley and made the long drive to Joshua Tree National Park.

This was one of our longer transition days, but the changing landscape made the drive part of the experience. We went from the wide-open views of Death Valley to Joshua Tree’s distinctive trees, rock formations and giant piles of boulders.

We stayed for three nights at Jumbo Rocks Campground, Site 81.

Jumbo Rocks was one of the campgrounds I was most excited about when planning the trip. Again I had to watch the alerts I set on recreation.gov and Campflare so we could get into this campground. And so glad we did. It was my favorite campground of the trip. However you should know there are no RV hookups. When we’d go out for the day we made it a point to stop at Black Rock or Cottonwood camp grounds which have dumping stations.

Hikes and spots we did – and recommend!

Barker Dam (Another fun easy hike, although the “dam” isn’t what I thought it would be – still great though)
Hidden Valley (Popular, but worth it. A short hike through quite literally a hidden valley)
Cholla Cactus Garden (This hike was actually closed when we were there, but we drove by and were able to see the cacti)
Arch Rock / Heart Rock (Right next to Jumbo Rocks Campground, we didn’t do the hike but just parked got out and saw it)

Joshua Tree also felt like the point in the trip when we had really adjusted to traveling in the RV. We had a better rhythm, knew how long it took to get ready in the morning and had learned that anything left loose would definitely move the second we started driving.

Our Side Trip to Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

We took one of our days and made the drive to Palm Springs to ride the Aerial Tramway, and I highly recommend it! I also recommend buying your tickets ahead of time. Otherwise, you’ll show up, wait in line to purchase your tickets, and then be assigned a time slot for your ride up.

We didn’t buy ours ahead of time, and because it was a busy day, we had to wait around for our time slot. It ended up working out fine because we found a spot to sit and eat lunch before heading up.

The tram ride itself is so fun! You go from the hot desert floor to the much cooler climate of Mt. San Jacinto State Park. The visitor center at the top, where the tram arrives and departs, is also really nice. There’s a restaurant there as well, but since we had already eaten lunch, we skipped it.

While we were there, we only did the roughly one-mile Discovery Trail loop, but the kids loved it. It was a great chance to cool off, and they had so much fun jumping across the rocks in the creek that runs through the area. There was even a little bit of snow still left on the ground!

Valley of Fire

On Wednesday, we left Joshua Tree and headed toward Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.

This again was another long day of travel. We stayed at Atlatl Rock Campground, Site 7, inside Valley of Fire State Park. Another super cool campground! I will warn, Valley of Fire is HOT. We did do the Fire Wave Trail which is really neat to see. But it was so hot that it was hard to enjoy it. If we would have arrived earlier in the day or waiting to do the hike until the evening it would have probably been okay.

With that said, Valley of Fire was a great final camping destination. The red sandstone landscape was completely different from both Death Valley and Joshua Tree, which made it feel like we had reached another distinct part of the trip even though we were already heading back toward Las Vegas.

It was also conveniently located about an hour from the city, making the final RV return much easier.

Instead of waking up several hours away and worrying about traffic or a late return, we were close enough to enjoy our last night of camping and still make our 11 a.m. drop-off time the following morning.

Finishing the Trip Back in Las Vegas

On Thursday morning, we drove from Valley of Fire back to Las Vegas and returned the RV to Road Bear by 11 a.m.

We spent our final night at Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa before flying home Friday afternoon.

Adding a hotel night at the end of the trip was one of the best choices we made. It gave us time to return the RV without also worrying about catching a flight, reorganize our luggage, take real showers and enjoy one final evening before heading home.

It also created a buffer in case anything went wrong with the drive or RV return.

After nearly a week of campgrounds and desert landscapes, a hotel room felt especially luxurious.