Yellowstone or bust

I don't know about the rest of US30 but from IN49 near Valparaiso to I65 last September it was horrible. Between road repairs and too numerous stoplights it beat me up badly.

Sorry had brain freeze. Gillette not Cody. Southern route as in I70, i 74, i 80? I'll take a look thanks!

Hope you have reservations already at Fishing Bridge, if not need to go to Plan B. If you can get by without power, would strongly recommend Bridge Bay. Same area but the RV sites are more spaced out and wildlife in the campground is just about a guarantee at least one of you days.

It will take most of the morning just to move from Colter Bay to Fishing Bridge. Not very far, but if you average 25mph between the two consider yourself lucky.

Think you left out a stop after Chamberlin as there is no way you are going to drive from Chamberlin SD to Cody WY. 600 miles plus going over the Bighorns and then a lot of 2 lane roads. We left Bridge Bay early to be at the East Entrance at 8am. Without much sight seeing, it was 5pm by the time we pulled in the Buffalo KOA.

The other days seem okay.

If you are going to Cotler Bay first, why don't you take the southern route across I80 coming up through Jackson Hole? You could even go through Indianapolis to avoid Chicago. If you are taking the northern route to see the Badlands, catch that on the way back.

Thanks guys I was just copying Google. I tend to stop frequently when traveling....I bet the 50 mph average will work well. It's looking like 5 days to get there due to a short travel days to see things.
1 Dover to Chicago
2 Chicago to Rochester mn
3 Rochester to chamberlin sd
4 chamberlin to Cody wy
5 Cody to colter bay
6,7,8 colter bay then
9,10,11,12,13 at fishing bridge

Still working on things!

For trips, figure 50mph average. Doesn't matter if it's a 200 mile trip or west coast and back, that figure has held up well for the last 20 years of my traveling. I've tried to maintain a 60mph average to make a lot of miles and find it just isn't worth the strain. Even running 70mph in my car for 220 miles from in-laws to home, we only averaged 63 mph and that was with only one quick stop for a Bo Jangles biscuit.

mleekamp has a nice two week trip planned. Good compromise seeing what they want to see in a compact time. I'm looking at 3 weeks for Yellowstone and don't think I have enough time to make it a relaxing trip.

I think that 390 miles in under 7 hours is optimistic. I see you have a motor home from your profile. We figure on 50 miles made good per hour of travel time. But perhaps your average will be faster.

Agree with soricobob. We are heading to Grand Teton's, Yellowstone in July 2015 as well. We booked in Oct 2014 and many sites were taken already. You need to book NOW.

As said, book the major NP's first, then plan the rest of the route. Otherwise, you will have reservations at stops along the way and no national park!

We are leaving, by the way, on July 4 from Peoria, IL. Here are our stops:
1st nite: Henderson, NE; Prairie Oasis Campgroud; 517 miles
2nd: Rawlins KOA in Rawlins, WY; 530 miles
3 nites: Coulter Bay RV park
5 nites: Fishing bridge RV park in Yellowstone
2 nites: Ponderosa campground, Cody WY
2 nites: Devils Tower KOA, Devils Tower WY
overnite on way home: Sioux Falls KOA, Sioux Falls, SD (446 miles)
Home.

Note: this is how we typically do long trips. a few longer days up front, then slowly circling the wagon back towards home.

Hope this helps.

What you do before you reach your final destination is important, but more important than that is to have your reservation at Colter Bay. Make that, then work the rest of your trip (including Yellowstone) around that. Just sayin'.