42 foot roundtrip from Denver to Yellowstone

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sophistroland

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My family and I are renting a 42 foot RV as early as possible on June 14th out of Denver, CO and we will be flying out of Denver late on June 26th. We were hoping to make it to Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, Grand Tetons, Arches, Dinosaur National Monument and the Moab Desert. For Yellowstone, I know we won't be able to stay in the park. We figured that would be our first destination and where we would spend the most time. We were thinking of staying at Yellowstone Grizzly RV park and renting a car for our 4 - 5 days at Yellowstone. We've got two adults in their 40's, two adults in their mid 20's, one 11 year old and one 3 year old. We're hoping to keep everyone entertained. Both children are good for long car rides. We are up for any suggestions (including eliminating anything not worthwhile), other than changing where we are flying in as that has already been booked.
 
There is a car rental place in West Yellowstone, Enterprise if I remember correctly, but make a reservation.  2 weeks, not much time, but you have a pretty good loop there.  Dinosaur would be an on the way or way back, drop down to Arches, then up to West Yell, rent car, do Yellowstone and Tetons from there.

Arches to Yellowstone, easy 2 day trip, or one real long drive.  Ogden is right around the 1/2 way mark using Rt 6 to skip a big corner.  I have driven it often.



 
Don't miss the huckleberry chocolate chip ice cream in West Yellowstone!

Actually, while I generally hate commercial campgrounds, I really like Grizzly RV park and am going back there this summer for a week of rest and relaxation.  Almost everything in that small town is within walking distance, other than Yellowstone itself, of course.  The kids will like the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center, down the road from the campground.  They have 9 adult rescue grizzly bears and hide food in their large pen under rocks and logs.  Then they let a few bears out to find the treats. They repeat this all day.  A couple of times a day, they let kids (ages 5-11) in to hide the food.  The kids love it when the bears find the food they personally hid.  Admission to this non-profit is for two days, so you can go back more than once.  http://www.grizzlydiscoveryctr.com/programs.php   Click on Keeper Kids for more info and pictures of kids hiding food.
 
@PancakeBill. I know it isn't much time, but I had trouble getting that much off consecutively. Any recommendations on roads to take? Neither of the two drivers have driven an RV before and we're concerned about getting into some places where we can't get back out of. How much ground do people typically look at covering each day in an RV? I've made 18 hour trips in a car non-stop, but I know there is a lot more to think about with such a large vehicle.

@JudyJB - thanks for the idea! The Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center sound like something both of the kids would really enjoy. I'm hoping to keep them entertained and off of their electronics as much as possible. That's especially difficult with the 11 year old.

Anyone else have any kid friendly ideas for these areas?
 
How much ground do people typically look at covering each day in an RV? I've made 18 hour trips in a car non-stop, but I know there is a lot more to think about with such a large vehicle.
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Most of us don't drive more than 300-400 miles a day.  Remember, this is not like driving a car.  Even if it is capable of going 70-75 miles an hour, that doesn't mean it's a good idea.  You're basically driving a house down the highway.  We once knew a family who drove from San Francisco to Florida in three days with all the adults driving almost around the clock.  When they got home they complained because many of the overhead cabinets had come loose!

The Wolf and Grizzly Discovery Center is wonderful. Bears are amazing creatures.  Don't miss the indoors museum section that tells you a lot about them.  Personally I loved seeing real live wolves.  Just before feeding time they're pretty active and take a nap afterwards.  By the way the staff tries to make it as natural as possible so the critters go inside their dens while the staff hides their food so they have to look for it as they would do in nature.

ArdraF
 
I like 180 miles in a day, but when attempting to get to a place will push the mile envelope.  I will post a suggestion, based on my own driving in these areas.

If you were to take 25 out of Denver and head north, then 80 to 84 to 15 20 20 to West Yellowstone, getting there via the interstates, more easily handled than the back roads with twists and turns.  Gets you there the quickest, then return trip would be south on 20, to I15 to Rt 6 in UT.  This will take yout to 7-0 and down to Moab.  This is a 1500 mile r/t.  Look at how this lays out.  I would suggest a first overnight in Cheyenne, there is a place with a bison ranch we have stayed at.  Keeps day 1 under 200 miles, get you used to driving.  Then a longer day to in or near UT, then easy run of 300 mile from Ogden to West Yellowstone.

Look at this on a map, let me know what you think. 

Joining Passport America is a good investment for a trip, will likely pay itself off in 2 nghts.  Ten use their website to plot your overnights.

 
The one good thing about Yellowstone is that there are lots of places for the kids to run and play.

Please do be careful with them, however, especially the youngest one.  Most of the walkways do not have railings, and there have been some horrible accidents in the past with kids falling in.  It scares me to just watch kids in such places, even when I am alone.
 
Sophistroland,

Welcome to the forum!!

The route to the locations you list will be 1500+ miles. In my experience averaging more than 50-55 miles per hour when figuring rest stops, etc. is very difficult. So, you are likely looking at 27-30 hours of travel time.

Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone is convenient to town and very popular. There are a couple of other RV parks right in town and others a little further West outside of town. Colter Bay Village in Grand Teton can probably accommodate a 42' RV. In Jackson, the KOA is pretty tight. The Virginian is pretty much just a parking lot, but it is close enough to walk to downtown Jackson if you don't want to rent a car.

The Park Service campground at Dinosaur is very nice, but no hookups. Not sure about the size of sites available. There are two RV parks in Vernal. The KOA is probably more kid friendly. The other is on the outskirts of town across from Smith's an McDonalds. If you have the time, I think the kids would enjoy the Utah Field House Museum in Vernal.

Lots of RV parks in Moab. You may want to rent a car there also as there is a lot to see that you will not be able to get a 42' motorhome to.
Moab area attractions:
Kane Creek Road, Potash Lower Colorado Byway, Upper Colorado River UT-128 Scenic Byway, Sago Canyon, Dead Horse Point State Park, Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, and Needles District.

Hope you have a Great Trip!!
 
Here's where we're at.

June 14th: pick up RV in Denver, drive to Cheyenne via I-25 (101 miles), stay at Terry Bison Ranch RV park
June 15th: drive from Cheyenne to Jackson (~433 miles), stay at Colter Bay Village RV park
June 16th: Stay in Jackson and explore the Grand Tetons (thinking Jenny Lake boat ride, hike to Hidden Falls, stop at Craig Thomas Discovery Center)
June 17th: Drive to West Yellowstone (127 miles), stay at Grizzly RV park
June 18th - 20th: Explore Yellowstone
June 21st: Leave by 1 pm to drive to Ogden (286 miles), stay at Century RV Park
June 22nd: Drive to Moab (279 miles), stay at OK RV Park
June 23rd: Explore Moab
June 24th: Drive to Dinosaur (295 miles), stay at Dinosaur KOA
June 25th: Leave by 2pm to head back to Denver
June 26th: Return RV

Does this route sound too ambitious? We do have two drivers, but we're covering a lot of ground. Any suggestions?
 
I think you are trying to put 10 pounds of poop in a five pound bag here. Your plans are way too ambitious. You will spend way too much time driving and not enough time sightseeing. I would suggest forgetting about Moab and Dinosaur this trip. It will be much too hot there anyway. It will be over 100 on most days. I suggest spending more time at Grand Tetons and Jackson. One day is just not enough for the two of them.
 
One thing you have to consider is high wind. I am assuming you do no have much experience at driving a motorhome type unit. The condition can lead to white knuckle conditions for the driver. With two driver you can trade often to reduce stress but will slow your trip and wear you out. Leave yourself time to enjoy. I drove with single driver from Moline Ill to Yellowstone in 2 days but took me 2 weeks to recover.
 
If we just cut out Moab, it saves 200 miles of driving and still has us go through Dinosaur (it only adds 30 miles to the trip). If we cut out Moab, Ogden and Dinosaur, it would have us return on the same route we got there by, but would cut off another 200 miles of driving. Should we drive the same roads twice to cut off the 200 miles, or is it worth keeping that to go through a different route and hit Ogden and Dinosaur? We don't plan to spend more than an hour or two in either location, but I thought it might be nice to get a change of scenery.

What other suggestions do you have that are good things to do in Jackson and the Grand Tetons?
 
sophistroland said:
What other suggestions do you have that are good things to do in Jackson and the Grand Tetons?
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The Travel Channel produced a program called "The Top Ten National Parks in North America". In the number one position was the Grand Tetons. So you might want to go see some critters.  Every evening around sunset Oxbow Bend turns into a zoo without bars. A wide selection of wildlife shows up for their evening drink of water. The hike around Jenny Lake is spectacular as is the Swan Lake hike. The trip up Signal Mountain is a real treat.

Fortunately the Jackson Lake campground never fills up, even in the middle of summer so reservations are not required.
 
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