alines

Dear Fodorites,

We're in the very early stages of planning a trip to Yellowstone and surrounding National Park's in 2008.

We will be travelling with our 19 month old and two grandparents and at this stage have set aside 19 days for our trip (excluding travel time)

Given we are travelling with a toddler we were thinking of hiring an RV, so we could pull over at any time of the day in relative comfort. Also, we thought this would provide us with a bit more flexibility with our itinerary in not having to book accommodation in advance (albeit I recognise that on Weekends in the popular parks we may still need to do this with an RV).

We are currently thinking of travelling in the last week of May/first two weeks of June. The other option would be to travel in the three weeks after labor day - ideally we want to avoid school holiday crowds. Can anyone please advise which would be their preferable time to travel to Yellowstone and surrounding NP's?

In terms of our proposed itinerary, we are thinking of the following:

Day 1: Fly into Denver and pick up RV;

Day 2: Drive to Rocky Mountain National Park (short drive to get accustomed to RV) and spend night there;

Days 3-6: Drive to Custer State Park and explore surrounds (i.e Wind Cave NP, Badlands NP, Mt Rushmore etc);

Days 7 & 8: Drive to Cody via Devils Tower (go to Rodeo/ Buffalo Bill Historic Centre etc);

Day 9: Cody to RedLodge;

Days 10-13: Redlodge to Yellowstone NP via route 212;

Days 14-16: Grand Teton NP;

Days 17-19: We are currently undecided what to do on these days and were wondering whether or not we'd have time to loop in Glacier NP and return the RV to Jackson (i.e a one way drop off at a cost of $500), or whether we should spend these days travelling back to Denver (if so, what would you recommend seeing on the way back given we have seen most of the Utah NP's on a previous trip)

Obviously the above itinerary is very high level at this stage, but I would appreciate any views / suggestions / comments people have on it so I can refine the big picture before focussing on the more micro planning details of the trip.

many thanks in advance

alines

gail

I like your itinerary, but I would think seriously about if you want to spend 3 weeks in the closed quarters of an RV with 3 generations, even in the most loving of families. But since you have done UT NP, perhaps you have already successfully done this.

While RV travel is a different way of life in travel with many pluses and some minuses, this means you are all totally together 24 hours/day for the entire trip - no one can take the car to run to the store, go for an early AM hike, just take a break, without either leaving the other 3 on the side of the road or all going along.

You could still do the trip with flexibility by booking refundable/cancellable hotel rooms.

albertraley

Several things come to mind. First, the cost of gas. What size RV do you want to rent? One of the biggest problems with first time RV drivers is that you don't get special training on how to handle that monster. Consider a minivan and staying at inexpensive motels. Pick an itinerary that includes minimal backtracking. Consider the one-way drop off. When I did this trip, I started in the East and did Devil's Tower/Badlands then to Yellowstone then worked my way South through Grand Tetons into Utah. If you need more help, go to my web site at www.albertraley.blogspot.com

BWBlakely

I'm in the RV Rental business and would like to throw out a couple of ideas.

One, check out your plane fares and see what deals you can get going into either Salt Lake City or Billings. There is an excellent RV Rental company in SLC, Access RV Rentals www.accessrv.com and in Billings it's Pierce RV's www.piercerv.com . Access would let you enter Yellowstone on the west side, Pierce would let you enter on the east side of the park. I base my recommendations on the quality of the vehicle offered, never on price. What a lot of people usually call a great price, usually means cheap...cheap on renting an RV usually means older and not very well equipped vehicles.

Depending on how you like your weather, late spring to eary fall is the best time to go. But is you go during late fall/winter, make sure you check with the park www.nps.gov/yell to make sure the parts you want to see are open. Also, you will need to make your reservations to stay there asap. They have cutback on visitors due to the "wear & tear" on the park's environment.

Go to my website www.lightninrv.com and then go to Rentals. Once there, check out our "Special Events Calender"...while I'm in Atlanta, you'll see we have events listed all over the country...and look at it for the entire year, not just the time period you're thinking of going as the locations listed are great just about any time of year. Then go to "Travel Links" which has a lot of fun links like "The Wackiest Tourist Attractions in America" and "The World's Largest Roadside Attractions", but also a lot of very helpful links, anywhere in the U.S. Also, on our "Campgrounds" link you'll be able to check out info on every campground in the U.S. and Canada.

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make on their vacations, is that they try to do/see too much...spend more time driving to the next place, then actually sitting back and enjoying where they're at. If you have any questions on RV-ing, you can reach me off our FAQ link and I'll be happy to help.

RVing is the greatest way to travel in the world, and you'll see & feel the difference...just taking a car on your next trip will never be the same.

RedRock

RV traveling can be a good experience if you know how to drive a large wide vehicle on narrow crooked winding mountain roads.. One thing, it will not be easy to find a parking spot just anywhere any time of day. Another, RMNP is not the best place for learning how to drive a vehicle of that size. With a large RV the Red Lodge Cooke City leg via US212 will take you over the Beartooth Highway, a road not for the faint of heart or brakes. Few in RV's even make the trip... There are other roads in the area that do not accommodate an RV well either.. There is only one RV park in Yellowstone that has full hooks for the RV. That would be Fishing Bridge. Reservations would be almost a necessity.

If you do manage to work in Glacier NP in your travels you will find RV's are allowed to travel all the way across on the Going To The Sun Road. Also be cautious on many of the roads in the Black Hills some are unfit for RV travel.

The BT Highway normally does not open until the Memorial Day weekend...

http://www.mdt.mt.gov/travinfo/image...oth_182_lg.jpg

http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/06jul/03.htm

RedRock

A note on Glacier NP, RV are NOT allowed to travel all the way across the Going To The Sun Road.

wtm003

Although I have no RV experience, when I first saw your itinerary, my thoughts were the same as RedRock that RMNP is not the best drive for learning how to drive an RV. At least for me, driving through Estes Park would be nerve-racking.

I would head directly to Custer State Park from Denver. We have taken I-76 out of Denver and then headed north on Hwy 71 near Brush, CO to Custer State Park. It was a relaxing drive through the National Grasslands with very little traffic. It seems like it would be an easy drive to gain a little practice and confidence. It is about a 6 hour drive from Denver.

RedRock

I'll second route 71/2 to Hot Springs and the Black Hills. At least this route will allow you get familiar with the RV on two lane roads before you get into the mountainous part of your journey further to the west... For a diversion stop at Fort Robinson just west of Crawford on US20 or to the east the Museum of the Fur Trade near Chadron.

Pegontheroad

We had the same idea about avoiding crowds of school children, so we scheduled our Montana trip for the latter part of May--about the 18th-- through the first week of June. Our time was flexible, since we're retired, but we wanted to do this trip before school let out.

We'd been warned about late snows, but we were optimistic. We wanted to see some of Northern Montana, so we went to Libby and around Flathead Lake. All went well at first. The weather was beautiful.

Libby was...Libby...kind of funky, with a frontier feeling and lots of little casinos. Kalispell was nice, especially the three streets with wonderful old homes, many on the historic register, and Missoula was very pleasant. Weather was nice until we got to a little town that is on the National Register of Historic Places, Phillipsburg. Very pretty, but it started to hail as we left town.

The hail turned to snow. Lots of snow. We learned the next day that Phillipsburg had had 19 inches of snow that day--May 21. We drove on to Butte, but when we saw the snow on the railing outside our window the next morning, we decided to give it up. We figured that the weather would be worse at Yellowstone. We went back home.

Think about the weather, and check when Yellowstone closes for the winter.

alines

Wow - thanks everyone so much for their feedback.

Gail :-I agree 3 wks in an RV could become a bit claustrophobic. However I found when we did our Grand Circle trip (Zion, Bryce, CR, Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley, GC - Sth Rim), booking motels in advance reduced our flexibility and there seemed to be a significant premium for booking refundable rooms. I suspect at some point when we stop in places for more than one night we may look to have a break from the RV and book a couple of rooms if we can get in somewhere.

albertraley:- yes the price of gas is going to be the trade off, but given we are travelling with the grandparents I figure it is probably the same or a bit less than having to book two motel rooms each night + the cost of hiring a large 4WD. The mini-van could be a good idea and I will investigate this option. I guess my real concern is whether I'd then have to book accommodation in advance, which would reduce the flexibility in our itinerary. It sounds like apart from us starting in Denver (only because there is limited RV hire in SD) our itinerary will be very similar to what you have done in the past. Do you have a trip report on that trip??

BWBlakely :- Looking at your website, it looks like you're an expert in the RV field. Thanks for the offer to contact you via your FAQ tab. We could possibly fly into SLC and do the reverse itinerary, however I thought flying into Denver might be better as (i) it will allow us to get use to driving the RV on our way to Custer (a relatively easy drive I understand), and (ii) hopefully we will be saving the best until last (i.e Yellowstone & Grand Teton's)?? We'll also definitely adopt your second to last point and not try to drive non-stop. I think our itinerary does allow for this.

Redrock & wtm003 :- Thanks for the tip on RMNP. I hadn't really looked at the micro detail of this NP. Just saw it was close to Denver on the map and therefore thought it might be a good short drive to get use to the RV. Given your comments it looks as though 71/2 is the way to go. Do you know if it's sealed between Ardomore and Hot Springs? Also, would you recommend any specific place to stay on this route between Denver and Hot Springs??

Peggontheroad :- It sounds like we could be at the hands of the weather if we go in the last week of May/ first two weeks of June or the three weeks after Labor day. I was hoping if we go in May / June, at least by the time we get to Yellowstone / Grand Teton's we will be into early June and hopefully there is a better chance of the weather being more favorable then.

RedRock

alines -- >>Do you know if it's sealed between Ardomore and Hot Springs?<<

They paved(sealed) the road about five or six years ago. For some reason they were working on it again summer before last when we last drove it, putting down more gravel and grading. The road still shows as gravel on some maps. We did see a couple of large RV's on it.

There is a Wild Horse Sanctuary about 20 south of Hot Springs. Its worth an hour or two if you have the time.

http://www.wildmustangs.com/tours.html

Dayle

Alines,

As far as trip timing goes, you could actually start your visit the week before Labor Day. Most Yellowstone visitors travel a long distance to vist, and by the week before Labor Day they are long since home getting the kids really for school.

Cold weather and snow is much more likely in late May/early June than in early Sept.

Digbydog

I would save Glacier for another trip. It will take you a long day to get from Grand Teton to Glacier. So you will spend 2 days in the RV to have 1 day in the park. I would add a few days at Yellowstone. The park is huge, and each area is very different.

horizon

Your itinerary sounds good. I agree with the writer who suggested a minivan and motels. My son and I traveled the area a few years ago and while the motels weren't fabulous, they were fine. We did do one night at the Old Faithful Inn with a view of Old Faithful and a night in Jackson Hole at a good hotel. I don't think I'd want to be in that region in an RV. You are less nimble. I think both your proposed dates are good. We were mid July and the caravans of traffic of awful in the park. In fact, the day we headed out to jackson hole we got up early and did the drive at 7am, solely to miss all the sluggy traffic. The backups can be amazing ... and usually it's an RV blocking the flow.
It's a great part of the world. A wonderful experience.

Bobmrg

We had to park our 28' RV at St. Mary, MT because they wouldn't let us take it into the park. Turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because taking the tour bus lets you look at the scenery...if you try to drive and look at the same time you will either kill yourself or miss some amazing sights.

maj

I would also forgo Glacier for another time and spend more time in Yellowstone. We were in Yellowstone/GTNP this past August 28 -- September 7 and it was a great time to be there as far as crowds went. You can definitely go there the week before Labor Day. Not sure about the Colorado/Mt.Rushmore area.

There is always something to worry about when planning a trip to that area -- we were worried about fires. Just have a flexible plan (which is hard to do when you have to make reservations so far ahead of time) and go to plan b or c if the weather doesn't cooperate.