sdianel wrote:
I think you may need to stop between San Jose and Portland. That will be a long trip. We like Seven Feathers RV Resort in Canyonville OR. They have the cheapest fuel in the area at the travel stop there. You can drive to Crater Lake from there. (about an hour to an hour and a half).
For Portland, we stayed at Columbia Riverfront RV Park in Woodland WA. We drove up to Mt St Helens from there. Also drive to Tillamook Cheese and Ice Cream factory in Tillamook WA. Great cafe there for lunch!
To see Banff and Lake Louise, we stayed at Mount Kidd RV Park in Kananaskis, AB. Be sure to make reservations!
For Glacier National Park, we love Glacier Meadow RV Park in Essex, MT. I would take CA 4 south to I-15 then west on US2 to Essex. Short drive to east entrance and about 35 minutes to west entrance. Be sure to visit the Isaak Walton Inn in Essex. We also toured the Hungry Horse Dam while we were in the area.
We stopped half way between Essex and Cody WY at Columbus MT at the Mountain Range RV Park. Nothing fancy, but convenient and reasonable rate. There is a Pilot Flying J Town Pump truck stop on the other side of the freeway.
For Yellowstone, we stayed at Yellowstone Valley Inn and RV Park west of Cody WY, or you can find some parks in Cody but it's a longer drive to Yellowstone.
For Crazy Horse (guess you mean near Mt Rushmore?) Custer's Gulch Campgrond is 8 miles away and gets good results. We stayed at the Mt Rushmore KOA and took their shuttle to Mt Rushmore. After that, can't help much with places to stay. If you have time, drive the Enchanted Loop in NM.
once we got our route established I searched on this forum for more info for each leg to find out about any steep grades.
Indeed we will be stopping between San Jose and Portland - we have determined that wrassling the RV for more than 300 miles in a day just takes all the fun out of the trip. We are going to ride Sallie (her name is Sallie Forth) into the ground, while figuring out how to afford an upgraded RV (probably diesel!) for the next phase of our travels. I finally drove her for 60 miles down a mild section of 101 on a weekday, and I needed a chiropractor to unclench my shoulders after that!
The details you provided here will be MOST helpful - I am just starting to make plans. We are planning to approach Yellowstone from the west after dropping down from Glacier (though I'm going to try to figure out how mountainous that trip will be first), and leaving through the east side.
Still looking around Crazy Horse/Rushmore - the KOA looks good though.
Thank you for the detailed advice - this forum seems very helpful, friendly - and USEFUL!
