Florida to Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Grand Canyon and back

How about this? Fly to SLC or another western airport, rent a car, and focus on either Yellowstone/GT or Grand Canyon along with Zion & Bryce. We've gone the opposite direction and flown into Raleigh/Durham with our tent and sleeping bags and done the coast down to GA, camping all along the way. With only 10 days, we didn't have the time to drive, but the camping was just as glorious and we had the time to do at least a little exploration along the way.

If you can take the full three weeks and still want to bring your rig, just do YNP and GTNP. Don't try to see much along the way, just beeline there and back. You might get 10 good days in the parks that way.

jefe 4x4 wrote:
I'm not going to pile on, but would recommend a much smaller scope trip in a two-to-three weeks window. Jeanie and I are move-right-along travelers and let the stops for the evening present themselves as we go. It has taken decades, nay, a whole lifetime to get to this place. We travel in the XTC, an off-road equipped, hard side truck camper that will fit in a normal parking place in the boondocks or the city. Tioga George, Sleepy, DJ, and Whazoo have been my mentors. Short of Armageddon, we are set up for traveling in any season and for long periods of time over any type of road surface, or no road. This is at the 9600 foot level in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, last week:

If you are pulling your 28 foot trailer you must build in lots of time to find an appropriate place to stay over night. It's just a more leisurely mode of travel with a trailer, which has a built-in propensity toward the sedentary. A TC has a built in propensity to keep moving.
I do approve of your want to see Yellowstone.....before it BLOWS!
I posted a question about how long it would take to do a circumnavigation of the lower 48, clockwise, all the international boundary states in 8 weeks, and the answers all came back, "too short a time frame." Most repliers reported, "12 to 16 weeks, minimum."
The trip has not materialized yet, but the comments were definitely taken under advisement.
Pick a closer venue and have a great trip. Your OP trip can wait till you have the time.
regards, jefe

That is a nice set up. I would have a TC if I could talk DW into it. She enjoys the space in our TT.

Dick_B wrote:
X2 on crazy. Adventure Caravans spends the entire month of September touring the Western Parks and that's AFTER you get to St. George UT.
Better to change your plans and do the eastern trip; New England, Boston, Phila, Williamsburg, etc.

DW would like to make the eastern trip. Any suggestions for that trip?

I know the original route is a lot of ground to cover but it looks like a nice trip on a map. We will have to split it into multiple trips. I would still like to have some ideas as to what places are best to camp.

X2 on crazy. Adventure Caravans spends the entire month of September touring the Western Parks and that's AFTER you get to St. George UT.
Better to change your plans and do the eastern trip; New England, Boston, Phila, Williamsburg, etc.

Don't shortchange yourself. The Yellowstone/Teton stay should be 6-7 days just to get the tip of the iceberg. A lot of people don't realize how HUGE Yellowstone National Park is. Grand Canyon doesn't take long to see in my opinion. I would choose one or the other. (I would definitely choose YNP/Teton). On Your way to Yellowstone you can spend a day or 2 @ Custer State Park, Badlands and Mt Rushmore in SD then head on over to Yellowstone for a few days. While you are there try to take the drive over Beartooth highway (not in RV). Then to Tetons for a couple of days. On your way home go south to Colorado to the Durango/Silverton/Ouray area and ride the train. Drive the "million dollar highway" (once again, not in RV). These stops will fill your 3 weeks very, very full. Have fun whatever you do. Enjoy!

IF you flew non-stop from the westernmost airport in Pensacola, FL to the airport in West Yellowstone, MT. that's a 1600 mile flight one way - if there's a direct flight, which there isn't. The shortest Interstate only drive is 2300 miles one way. At 500 miles a day, that's 10 long days out of your 14 to 21 days just driving, leaving you roughly 5 to 10 days to "see the sights". And it doesn't include visits to the Tetons or the Grand Canyon. The land area of YNP is larger than 3 of our smallest states. One lap around the grand loop in YNP is 140 miles, and its slow. As far as sights, the only thing you're going to see is Interstate signs, and when you get home, you'll need a vacation from your vacation.

I'm not going to pile on, but would recommend a much smaller scope trip in a two-to-three weeks window. Jeanie and I are move-right-along travelers and let the stops for the evening present themselves as we go. It has taken decades, nay, a whole lifetime to get to this place. We travel in the XTC, an off-road equipped, hard side truck camper that will fit in a normal parking place in the boondocks or the city. Tioga George, Sleepy, DJ, and Whazoo have been my mentors. Short of Armageddon, we are set up for traveling in any season and for long periods of time over any type of road surface, or no road. This is at the 9600 foot level in the Eastern Sierra Nevada, last week:

If you are pulling your 28 foot trailer you must build in lots of time to find an appropriate place to stay over night. It's just a more leisurely mode of travel with a trailer, which has a built-in propensity toward the sedentary. A TC has a built in propensity to keep moving.
I do approve of your want to see Yellowstone.....before it BLOWS!
I posted a question about how long it would take to do a circumnavigation of the lower 48, clockwise, all the international boundary states in 8 weeks, and the answers all came back, "too short a time frame." Most repliers reported, "12 to 16 weeks, minimum."
The trip has not materialized yet, but the comments were definitely taken under advisement.
Pick a closer venue and have a great trip. Your OP trip can wait till you have the time.
regards, jefe

I lived in South FL for most of my life. A trip as described is wearing me out just thinking about it. Skip the Grand Canyon part. Its still too much, but better.

Need to take a little time to stop and smell the roses.

Enjoy your trip.

ed

The thing is, one does not see Yellowstone in a day. You'll miss 90% of the highlights, not to mention the hidden gems, etc., that way. Unless you are into marathon driving and have 3 or 4 drivers who can rotate so you can stay on the road nonstop until you get there, I don't advise this time frame. We used to spend 3 weeks roundtrip to get just to Yellowstone & the Tetons from the Chicago area! And that of course did not include the Grand Canyon, or much in the way of sightseeing on the way there & back.

We just left FL in June and have already seen Yellowstone and Tetons. Here's the stops we made or you could make: Some you will want to stay more than one night. You would be on the move a lot!! You probably won't have time to see sights along the way.
1. Eagles Roost RV Park - Lake Park GA
2. Gunter Hill COE - Wetumpka AL
3. Maumelle COE - Little Rock AR
4. Twin Fountains RV Park - Oklahoma City OK
5. North Platte NE (don't go through Denver - construction!!)
6. KOA - Cheyenne WY
7. Yellowstone Inn RV Park - west of Cody WY - we drove into Cody and drove to Yellowstone. I would allow 2-3 days here.
8. Wind River RV Park - Riverton WY - we drove to the Tetons from there.
9. Salt Lake City or Provo UT
10. Williams AZ - Grand Canyon.
If you don't just have to see the Grand Canyon, I would recommend going into Montana and seeing Glacier National Park. Absolutely gorgeous!! We stayed at Glacier Meadow RV Park in Essex, MT and then moved to Columbia Falls RV Park in Columbia Falls but either park would work to see both sides of Glacier.