Southwest Van Trip, Part 1: A 7-Day Desert Loop from LA in an AWD Camper Van

Saturday, October 31 to Friday, November 6, 2026

Seven days, one rented all-wheel-drive camper van, and a loop from Los Angeles through southern Nevada, southern Utah and northern Arizona: the Valley of Fire, Zion, Bryce, Scenic Byway 12, Capitol Reef, Natural Bridges, the Moki Dugway, Valley of the Gods, Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon, Route 66 and Joshua Tree. It rained the first night and into the next day, the "mild" dirt roads weren't, and it was one of the best weeks I've had on the road.

This post is the overview and the route map, plus Day 1: picking up the van in Hawthorne and the first night on BLM land by the Valley of Fire. The rest of the trip follows in six posts, linked below as they go up.

Prefer to watch? The 10-minute film of the whole loop is at the end of the story.

The trip in numbers: 7 days · about 1,680 miles, LA and back · 4 states (California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona) · 6 nights: BLM land by the Valley of Fire, Watchman Campground in Zion, BLM land at Beas Lewis Flat near Capitol Reef, Goulding's in Monument Valley, Mather Campground at the Grand Canyon, Jumbo Rocks in Joshua Tree · 9 parks and monuments · 1 van: a Roadsurfer "Horizon Hopper," a Winnebago Revel 44E on a 2024 all-wheel-drive Mercedes Sprinter.

The whole loop: about 1,680 miles from the Roadsurfer station in Hawthorne and back, one color per day

The series

1. The overview and Day 1: Hawthorne (LA) to the Valley of Fire West (this post)
2. Valley of Fire to Zion: rain, waterfalls, the Narrows closed, and a bluebird morning at Canyon Overlook (coming soon)
3. Bryce to Capitol Reef on Scenic Byway 12 (coming soon)
4. Utah 95 to Natural Bridges, with a video of the two bridge walks (coming soon)
5. The Moki Dugway and Valley of the Gods, with the long-form video (coming soon)
6. Monument Valley and the Grand Canyon, with video (coming soon)
7. Route 66 to Joshua Tree, and home (coming soon)

Plus a separate review of the van itself: what six days in an all-wheel-drive Winnebago Revel taught me (coming soon).

Why rent a van when I have one?

I already have a van at home, the White Whale, and I love it. But I've wanted a proper RV, especially a Sprinter, for about fifteen years. Early in the pandemic I rented an Airstream Interstate and found it too big. Three weeks in the White Whale in the Pacific Northwest this summer were great, but they left me wanting two things.

One was a hot shower inside the van, for the nights with no campground shower. The other was four-wheel or all-wheel drive, after a harrowing, squirrely drive over Babyshoe Pass by Mount Adams. This trip was a chance to test both, and to think about whether owning one would make sense. On the other side of the ledger: diesel and all-terrain tires instead of the White Whale's hybrid mileage and smooth ride, $200 to $300 a month for parking (the HOA won't allow one in the driveway), and $150,000 to $200,000 for a new one.

Why Roadsurfer, and why this route

I'd seen Roadsurfer's compact vans all over Europe on the Tour du Mont Blanc this summer. The only all-wheel-drive van they had for my dates was out of LA, and the AWD and 4x4 vans on RVshare near home cost one and a half to two times as much.

The plan changed a few times before I left; earlier versions started in Las Vegas or Phoenix, or ran one way to Salt Lake. In the end it was a loop from LA, and my plan as I drove northeast was loose: the Valley of Fire the first night, then the southern Utah parks, then some mild dirt roads around Four Corners, "nothing that would get me stuck." Mesa Verde was out, since its cliff dwellings close for the season. Hold that thought about the dirt roads.

Day 1, Saturday Oct 31: packing in kits

Leaving home for Hawthorne

I left home around 10:30 and drove up I-5 toward Hawthorne. This time I'd packed in kits, so I could move out of the White Whale in two or three armloads:

• Bedding duffel: a pillow, a comforter with a duvet, sheets, my Ignik heated sleeping-bag liner and a towel, with the Starlink Mini packed in the middle for padding.
• Clothes duffel: my hiking gear and a hand-laundry kit with a clothesline and detergent.
• Pelican Vault: locked and cabled to the van, holding the drone, GoPro, laptop and iPad.
• Kitchen kit: mostly coffee. A hand grinder, a travel mug, an Oxo press, a V60 and my 450 ml multi-voltage kettle, plus a cutting board, a knife and an induction-ready skillet.

Roadsurfer rents bedding and kitchen kits, but since I was driving in, mine were free. The Revel has no microwave, so I brought my own, and a Jackery as a backup for the house batteries.

The pickup in Hawthorne

The Revel at the Roadsurfer station in Hawthorne

I got to the Roadsurfer station on Hawthorne Boulevard around 12:05. A friendly guy checked me in and walked around the van with me, testing the systems; the scratches and dings were already documented in the app. The station has no parking for your own car, so I left the White Whale at the Go Park VIP airport lot about half a mile up the street, booked through SpotHero for about $55 for the week, and walked back with a stop at McDonald's for lunch. I topped up the fresh water from a hose out back and was on the road by about 1:30, less than an hour after arriving. Halloween, and the van was mine for a week.

Pickup tips: book parking ahead (SpotHero worked well), bring your own bedding and kitchen kit if you're driving in, and fill the fresh-water tank before you leave.

East across the Mojave, and a first night at Valley of Fire West

Getting out of the LA basin took a while, but the Revel drove more smoothly than I expected. The Mercedes lane-keeping assist and adaptive cruise made it far less work than the Airstream had been. Then I-15 across the Mojave to Henderson for supplies, with a stop at REI and then the Walmart on Marks Street, which stays open until 11.

After dark I continued north on I-15 to exit 75 and took the Valley of Fire Highway east toward the park. About 4 miles short of the park entrance is a free BLM dispersed camping area that campers call Valley of Fire West: an old quarry site with graded pads and piles of rock, reached by a short gravel track off the highway. BLM's usual 14-day limit applies.

It was my first night camping on BLM land. I pulled in after 9 and still found a spot, though in the dark the ruts and rock piles took some care. On the way in I passed another car parked for the night, and knowing I wasn't the only one out there made me feel a lot more comfortable. It rained most of the night, with some wind, and I lay there a little worried about flooding. It didn't happen.

The first camp, at first light: the Revel at Valley of Fire West, the BLM area outside the park

If you go: arrive in daylight if you can, scout the side tracks before driving them, and skip it if heavy rain is forecast; the dirt roads here turn soft fast.

The whole trip in 10 minutes

[Video goes here once it's up on YouTube.]

Next → Valley of Fire to Zion: rain, waterfalls, the Narrows closed, and a bluebird morning at Canyon Overlook (coming soon)