West Yellowstone Trip!

Hi All! Getting ready to leave on our 24 day trip soonnfrom Woodstock, NY. A couple of questions for you Wiley Vets here.

1. When I get to West Yellowstone I?m renting a car for the  week from Big Skye. This way I can give the rig the rest she deserves and spend five solid days touring the park and a rental car.. this way I can give the rig the rest she deserves and spend five solid days touring the park and a rental car.  I have my wife and two boys that are nine and 11.  I am torn between a midsize car and a midsize SUV. The Car is cheaper and will be better on gas, but if the SUV will serve me better then I would rather rent that despite the additional cost.

2. When we leave West Yellowstone we will pass through the Grand Tetons on the Way to Jax hole. Does anyone have any suggestions for some scenic camping on the Grand Tetons for a night?

Thanks everyone!

Mike

Once in a lifetime trip...go for the SUV.

What date are you leaving and what route? 

Do you have reservations? 

Have you informed your credit card company that you are travelling out of state?

Take the guided raft trip down the Snake River when at the Grand Tetons.  It's about a 45-minute to an hour ride down the river.  Zero rapids, just a guide effortlessly steering the raft down the river, while sharing stories about the surrounding nature.  Epic views.

The boat ride across Jenny lake is cool too.  Some easy hikes, waterfalls and good fun.


RENT the SUV.  New York to Yellowstone and back in an RV...  Renting and putting gas in a SUV for a week will make your wallet feel good !!

and remember... you're there to have fun !!

Arch Hoagland said:

Once in a lifetime trip...go for the SUV.

What date are you leaving and what route? 

Do you have reservations? 

Have you informed your credit card company that you are travelling out of state?

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I am leaving NY July 12th. Two Drivers... my wife and I. Please feel free to offer suggestions or call me INSANE!

Lots of stops before we get to West Yellowstone on 7/21. I was able to plan this taking our time. 24 day trip. I will bore you all and list the itinerary. I have never been to any of these places before except for Canton.

Leave NY 7/12. Drive to Ohio Rest stop. 600 miles. Stay overnight or rest a few hours.
staying at Indiana Dunes State park on lake Michigan 7/13-7/14. Taking train to Chicago on one of those days and take in a Cubs-Pirates game. Never been to Chicago.

Leave Indiana 7/15. Drive 4 hours, stopping at the Field of Dreams in Iowa. My two boys are baseball players and we are fans of the movie. Then its a long stretch. I am due to check in at Sleepy Hollow Campground in South Dakota near the badlands on 7/16. Will drive the badlands 7/16, Mt. Rushmore....

Deadwood Whistlers Gulch 7/17 & 7/18 ( I am a huge DEADWOOD FAN) Movie comes out Friday night on HBO!

Leave 7/19.... Drive to Devils tower for a pit stop. Checking in at Ponderosa Campground in Cody on 7/19. Staying 7/19  7/20. Plan to go to a rodeo.

Drive to West Yellowstone "Pony Express" RV park Sunday 7/21. Drive slowly through the park " please suggest any routes I should take" Will check in at Pony Express 7/21 in the evening. Drive to Big Skye 7/22. Rent Car/ SUV 7/22-7/25

Leave and Drop off car 7/26.

Reservations and Whitewater raft and guided raft tour  at KOA Jax Hole 7/26/7/27.

Leave Sunday Morning 7/28. Drive to Estes park Glacier Bay Campground in RM national park. Plan to drive all day... 475 Miles. Staying at Estes park until 7/31.

7/31. Make the 2 1/2 day drive to Canton Ohio. I have no reservations to stay any place on this 1,200 mile stretch other than walmarts or wherever.

Get to Canton KOA by 8/2. Taking Family to the Hall of Fame on 8/2

on 8/3 11 of my fellow Die Hard Jets Fans are coming to Canton as Kevin Mawae will be inducted into the Pro Football HOF on Saturday. Family will relax during this overgrown tailgate party. I'll get dropped off Sat night at the KOA. Wake up Sundar Morning August 4th. Drive about 8 hours home.

I did the drive home from Canton in an RV rental back in 2012 When Curtis martin was inducted, it was a cinch.


So, these are my reservations. It's a 24 day 5,500 mile journey. I can't tell you all how excited I am. I have good Sam Road Side Assistance. My RV is going to the shop tomorrow for a complete mechanical inspection. All I can do now is hope for the best and pray.

So... lay it on me. Am I nuts?

Sounds good to me. A lot of driving but splitting it between two people really helps. 

Like many others from the east.. I don't think you REALLY REALLY realize how large the west REALLY REALLY is...
  As an example,,all of Yellowstone is posted 45 miles per hour and you will not be able to achieve even that for long,, it's too easy to estimate driving speed for long distances and not consider conditions, obstacles and stopping times.. Consider as much flexability as possable,,,,you will need it!!>>>Dan

I can see no reason that an SUV will have any advantage over a midsize car. You will probably never have any cause to be off of pavement. Also, in some areas of the park, the midsize car will have an advantage, due to very tight parking conditions.

In the Tetons, Colter Bay is a nice campground. They even have some sites with electric hookups.

While you are there, DO NOT miss taking the drive across the Beartooth Highway from the NE park exit to Red Lodge and back. At just under 11,000 ft., Charles Kuralt called it the most spectacular drive in the country. Along the way, stopping for a few minutes at the Top of the World Store is worth the time. A Must Do is he side road up to the visitor center in an old fire tower is not paved, but well maintained. Another Must Stop it the large parking area at the Rock Creek overlook. On the way back, the Beartooth Cafe in Cooke City has very good food at reasonable prices. They also stock 50 varieties of craft beer.

Joel

I too have concerns about your number of miles per day, though having 2 drivers can definitely help.

Bib Sky is about 50+ miles away, I assume you found a much better price for renting than on West Yellowstone.  I know it can be expensive here.  The little airport actuallyhad the best rental prices when I had to rent last year.  Trying to think of where Pony Express is!  We are living in our motorhome in West Yellowstone, so when you get here, you can find me in the local hardware store, out work camping job for the summer.

If you do the Beartooth, be sure to STOP THER CAR at Stop the car ice cream and ask for Eilish, a friend of men, she is there for the summer. 

I have spent 10 summers and 7 winters in the park interior, this is our first summer outside the park.  Walking distance to groceries is kind of nice.

Definitely know that driving through park will be slow in July, lots of cases and lots of wildlife to see.  to everyone understands the use the pullout rule, so it can be a crawl at times. 

For dining out, and with kids I assume you will do more cooking in, but some nice options as well as numerous ice cream shops.

Enjoy!

Bill & Jolene

Pancake Bill,
Just how friendly to men is this Eilish?

Some info on this post and a link further down to another with plenty of info. If you want a boondocking spot in the Tetons let me know and I can suggest a couple that I know of.

http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,112258.msg1013394.html#msg1013394

If you are not taking a load of stuff with you,  then the car is fine. After all you can see out of the windows and stop at the parking areas and hike. Use the extra money to do something nice.

You can book a float trip with Barker Ewing in Dornan's gift shop  I recommend the sunset one as you have a good chance of seeing wildlife.  If you have binoculars make sure you take them everywhere.

Dont forget bear spray!

Great Horned Owl said:

I can see no reason that an SUV will have any advantage over a midsize car. You will probably never have any cause to be off of pavement. Also, in some areas of the park, the midsize car will have an advantage, due to very tight parking conditions.

In the Tetons, Colter Bay is a nice campground. They even have some sites with electric hookups.

While you are there, DO NOT miss taking the drive across the Beartooth Highway from the NE park exit to Red Lodge and back. At just under 11,000 ft., Charles Kuralt called it the most spectacular drive in the country. Along the way, stopping for a few minutes at the Top of the World Store is worth the time. A Must Do is he side road up to the visitor center in an old fire tower is not paved, but well maintained. Another Must Stop it the large parking area at the Rock Creek overlook. On the way back, the Beartooth Cafe in Cooke City has very good food at reasonable prices. They also stock 50 varieties of craft beer.

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Can I drive the Bear tooth Highway with the motorhome? 31 Foot Class C? I would leave Ponderosa Campground in Cody early in the morning, drive north and jump on the highway. Is this doable? Thank you!

jackiemac said:

  If you have binoculars make sure you take them everywhere.

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And also a decent spotting scope. On the northeast entrance road you could set one up and charge $1 a look and have it paid for in an hour or so. (;

ChasA
Behave or your ice cream will be down your shirt.  She is a great lady and photographer. 

ditsjets7 said:

Can I drive the Bear tooth Highway with the motorhome? 31 Foot Class C? I would leave Ponderosa Campground in Cody early in the morning, drive north and jump on the highway. Is this doable? Thank you!

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Depends on how brave you are. I'm sure there is a length recommendation on the road but could not find it online. People do drive it so if you are confident and capable you probably could. Others will jump in with their opinions I'm sure. Check Google maps satellite view ad there are sharp turns.

Remember that you need to concentrate so may not be able to do much sightseeing.

I have driven the Beartooth highway many times over the years and have seen all kinds of RVs on it from the class C rentals to long trucks and 5ers so it is doable but that said I would not do it as I would have to concentrate on the driving and not the scenery.  The scenery is what makes the drive worthwhile.  You can drive the highway from Cody and to Red lodge and back via a different route or back over the pass in a day so do that instead.
Just my thoughts,

Thanks! I think since we are renting a car for our 5 night stay in west Yellowstone we will make that drive up and back one day on the rental car. I?d like to enjoy the scenery. Thanks again.

You have planned a 600 mile run on day one. That is a LONG day! If you can AVERAGE 60 mph (which you won?t) that?s 10 hours. I would bet that this will be at least a 12-hour day and could be as much as 14 hours.

I typically like to cover a lot of miles per day, but 600 miles in a single day is really pushing the limit.

ditsjets7 said:

Thanks! I think since we are renting a car for our 5 night stay in west Yellowstone we will make that drive up and back one day on the rental car. I?d like to enjoy the scenery. Thanks again.

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Look at the mileage from West Yellowstone and I think you may want to rethink the drive.  I was thinking of the drive from either Red Lodge or Cody.  West adds a whole new perspective in that you will have over 100 miles additional and through the park which is slow or to go around is even longer and MT/WY roads are not the greatest for making time.
It is doable from west going to the lower road of the upper loop and then out the east entrance to the road to either Cody or Red Lodge and then complete the loop and back to the east entrance of WP and back to WY.  This way you would not go all the way to Cody if you go to Red Lodge first or you could go to the junction of Wy 296 and go to RL on 120 and then up the mountain from RL and back to WY via the east entrance. 
This would cut the driving and get most of the great scenery.

Just a suggestion--get a new serpentine belt on the RV if it's not recent! We did the same trip in our v10 class c and blew the serpentine belt in Minnesota-- I should've replaced it before the trip.