Planning for The Grand Teton/Yellowstone Trip

Glad you have the Reagan Missile site on your itinerary.
They are constructing a brand new visitor center for the N.D. Ballistic Missile site. It should be open for next season. The visitor center is just off the interstate, but the missile silo is several miles further west on the interstate (but again, just off the interstate). Be sure to schedule ahead for a guided tour of the silo, or else you may not get a slot on the limited tours. The new visitor center should be very good. The old one was pretty small and cheesy with very little on display.

RUSSELL5000 wrote:


The plan is roughly three weeks fro Yellowstone and two weeks for Grand Teton. This will be where most of the time will be spent.

That's awesome. I'm envious. Get yourself a day hike book or two for these areas. A lot of the best to see is easily accessible in back country trails. And if you're not used to hiking back country trails don't wear sneakers! Get some dedicated hiking shoes, your feet will thank you later.

Russell 5000. You have an awesome trip planned! And you have gotten some good advice here. FWIW, we have 16 years part time RVing and 97% or so in the 11 western states and provinces - but the 3% included the Black Hills / Badlands. Have been to all the places you mention and some many times.

That being said, I recognize people have different ideas about things but this is my 2¢ worth.

I think you are well prepared; maybe too much equipment. Depends on your comfort level on that.

We have Good Sam Emer Road Service and, unfortunately, have had to use it in the past. It has been excellent. As such you may not need all the heavy equipment.

We hike and I do photo work so we tend to hang out at places longer than some. But we are retired and we can do it; so why not?

Don't rush though and think you have the right idea on mileages; but we very rarely go over 300 miles - like you say, sometimes can't help it. But if we have 2 - 3 at most - long days in a row we find a place and stay two nights and then move on.

Forget the Corn Palace.

Places will be crowded and you best have reservations.

Places we have stayed and recommend -- KOA at Badlands, Rafter J at Mt. Rushmore area, Colter Bay at Grand Teton and Grizzly at Yellowstone.

Times at each depend on you. But Badlands is usually a couple of days and Black Hills / Devils Tower one day, Grand Teton 4-5 days, Yellowstone 5-7 days.

As mentioned, if you can include Glacier NP, it would be fantastic. One of our favorite places.

Just my humble opinion and I probably forgot some things!

But emphasize, it will be crowded so make reservations.

Be safe and enjoy.

We're planning a similar trip so I hope you don't mind if I tag on here with some questions too. I don't want to hijack your thread though.

We'll be in a 34' Super C towing a car, I've done much of the Rockies south of this area so am familiar with that kind of driving. Our plan is to enter Yellowstone from the east and stay at Fishing Bridge, then eventually exit out the south to the Tetons.

My question is how are the roads for that route? It looks decent in from the east, but can't really tell about the route out to the Tetons.

We'll be there in the middle or end of May. We don't do back country hiking, etc but mostly pull-off type sight seeing and short trails.

Thanks much to all. I have made reservations for everywhere we are staying. We are staying at Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone and Colter Bay Village in Grand Teton; other than that we are staying at a KOA (usually when travelling)or a park highly rated by Good Sam.

Here is the actual plan. My idea is to pretty much stick to the interstate where possible. If someone has been this way and is aware of a problem towing then please let me know. I know that one ants to avoid the Big Horn mountain range when towing. I think the route below is friendly for towing.

If someone has experience and can think of something we are clearly missing then please let me know.

The idea here is to allow plenty of time for simply walking and being outside.

Day 1: Leave northwestern Pennsylvania and head west on I-90/I-80 through Ohio and on into Indiana.

Day 2: Continue west across Indiana and Illinois on I-80 into Iowa.

Day 3: Continue west on I-80 across Iowa and then north on I-29 to South Dakota.

Day 4: Continue on west in South Dakota to see the Corn palace and rest for the night.

Day 5 through Day 7: Continue west across South Dakota on I-90 to badlands area, staying for three nights. See Wall Drug, MinuteMan Silo, Badlands National Park, Buffalo Gap National Grassland, and Wounded Knee.

Day 8 through Day 13: Continue west on I-90 and then US 16 south to Black Hills. See Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer State Park, Black Hills National Forest, and Wind Cave National Park.

Day 14: Go north on US 16 and then west on I-90 and north on US 14 to Devil’s Tower, Wyoming; see Devil’s Tower and stay the night.

Day 15: Go south on US 14 back to I-90 west out of Wyoming and on in to Montana, staying on I-90 to avoid the Big Horn mountains.

Day 16: Continue west across Montana on I-90 and then south on US 191 to the West entrance to Yellowstone.

Day 17 through Day 22: Western half of Yellowstone from west entrance.

Day 23: Relocate to Fishing Bridge inside of Yellowstone.

Day 24 through Day 30: Eastern half of Yellowstone from Fishing Bridge and Cody, Wyoming.

Day 31: Relocate to Colter Bay Village in Grand Teton.

Day 32 through Day 44: Southern part of Yellowstone from Colter Bay Village, Grand Teton, Jackson, Wyoming, Snake River Canyon.

Day 45: Leave Grand Teton south on US 191 to connect with I-80 going east across Wyoming.

Day 46: Continue east across Wyoming and into Nebraska on I-80.

Day 47: Continue east across Nebraska and into Iowa on I-80.

Day 48: Continue east across Iowa and into Illinois on I-80.

Day 49: Continue east across Illinois and Indiana and into Ohio on I-80/I-90.

Day 50: Continue east across Ohio and return to home in Northwestern Pennsylvania on I-80/I-90.

Thanks!

Day 14: I'd suggest taking Hwy 14 west from Sundance to Devils Tower, then return from the tower on 14 to Moorcroft (and I-90). It'll save you a few miles, and it's a nice drive. The only thing you'd miss, and probably not something you'd stop for anyway, is a dig at a bison jump just east of Beulah. Refuel at the truck stop in Moorcroft. It's usually the cheapest fuel in the region, especially if you can pay with cash (and MAYBE debit cards).

Devils Tower is a nice place to stop for the night. We usually stay at the park service campground (Belle Fourche River Campground), but the KOA is nice too. We stay there if it's extra hot and we want electric hookups.

It sounds like a great trip!

I think you're planning too much for Yellowstone and the Tetons:

6 days for West Yellowstone
8 days for East Yellowstone
13 days for the Teton area and South Yellowstone

You could easily add more time as you're driving. You have a lot of one night stops which could get tiring. Just my opinion.

I think 2gypsies is right. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Yellowstone and Grand Teton. And I tend to spend more time at places than most because I have become a professional photographer in the last 6 years (only because my hobby became kinda known, I get images published and people want to buy from me!) so I hang out longer. Personally, I would cut some of that time off and head up to Glacier NP.

Then I had to look back at your original posting. You were not asking for suggestions on ways to go or places to see. You were asking about guide books, road service and equipment.

Although you were in "planning stages" you had already made your reservations.

I wouldn't fault him for making reservations already, I'm looking at being at Fishing Bridge the end of May into June and the 40' sites are already booked. I went ahead and made reservations for a 35' site just to be sure I had one, I can always cancel if something comes up.

Same with my projected stay in Cherry Creek in Denver, they are down to the last few sites that are suitable for my needs. People book them WAY out so it's better to be safe than sorry.

I'm interested in hearing how the road is from the east into Fishing Bridge and then taking it west before turning south to exit into the Tetons. I'll be in a motorhome towing a car, but DW is leery of steep descents and hairpin turns along scary cliffs. Any to speak of?

Coming from Cody into Fishing bridge is a good two lane road. Long down grade as you approach Fishing bridge, I would guess about 10-15 miles east of Fishing bridge. Fishing Bridge is right near the junction with south bound. Road from Fishing Bridge to junction near Grant' Village is very good.
Road out to the south toward Teton, is somewhat narrow. It is not bad based on the low speed limit.