Trip to Yellowstone

Another voice saying 400 to 500 miles a day is too much. Maybe not the first day or two, but it doesn't take long for that kind of schedule to beat you down to the point that it isn't fun any more.

I am 73 and my wife 70. We plan on 275 to 325 miles a day, knowing that there will be some much longer ones and some a lot shorter to end up where we want; when we want. I start from a "primary" destination and work backward to a start date then finish planning forward from there.

Another hint for long trips (We will be going from Orlando to the Bay of Fundy and back, 5200 miles, over 6 weeks in July and August.) is that we never drive more than three days in a row. After the third day of driving (or sometimes just two), I insert a layover day as "down time". If there is something interesting to go see or do, we do it. Even if we are in a place that doesn't particularly interest us we rest, clean up the inside of the trailer, do laundry or grocery shopping, or just sit under the awning and watch the people go by. If you make 300 miles for three days and rest one, you are still averaging almost 250.

By the way, over the last nine years we have spent about thirteen weeks at Yellowstone/Grand Teton. We will probably take the grandson out there next summer. Stay at West Yellowstone or Gardnier and just take the truck into the park. The CGs inside are not really big trailer friendly, although it can be done. It is just not worth it.

A

You will find many RV parks along major highways. And most private RV parks will have sites long enough for you. National, state, and COE parks may not. And height will not be a problem along primary highways.

400 miles is a long day. 500 miles is a very long day. With stops and driving on a major highway you can plan on averaging around 50-55 miles per hour, no matter how fast you drive on the road.

Generally you will not need reservations at private RV parks along the way unless you happen to end the day in a popular "destination" area. If you want to stay in a national or state park with hookups then reservations are usually necessary. There are web sites such as rvparkreviws.com and smart phone apps to help find RV parks along the way. I try to plan ahead on about where I will be at the end of the day and at least call ahead about vacancy or go ahead and make a reservation. Last thing I want to do after a long day's drive is to pull in an RV park unannounced and find it already full. I don't do parking lots. We frequently stay at KOAs. They are sort of like Holiday Inns, fairly consistent, generally nothing special but generally fine for a place to stay.

I haven't been to Yellowstone for 30 years. But I would say to park your RV outside the park and just take day trips inside the park. I've had snow in September in Yellowstone twice. So just plan on it. Use the Trailer Life camping guide for RV parks. I'm thinking West Yellowstone for an RV park.

As others have said, a rig that size is not uncommon and is used all the time for fulltimers. Your TV can handle that FW. As for towing in the mountains, not a problem for your setup, but you are another question as that depends on your experience and capability, which you most likely have. As for traveling that distance being hard on the rig. No. But definitely make sure your tires are aired up correctly. Cold.
We have a Trucker's Guide to tell us the roads to travel and be wary of, overpasses, etc.
400 - 500 miles a day is a lot. We travel about 300, then stop. Even though our setup travels smoothly, it's still taxing and you need to rest. You've been given advice about Cracker Barrel parking lots. You can use Google Earth or Maps to check out parking areas in advance.
Take the generator because you never know when you will need it. One trip we took to Canada, we planned all full hookups. When we got to one of the Provincial Parks, the full hookup sites (no reservations - we took our chances, hence make a reservation, just in case) were taken so we took a dry site. No generator. Not a problem but it would've been much more comfortable to have the generator.
As for CG's fitting your rig, or your rig fitting in the CG's - not many we found in Yellowstone will fit big rigs unless you are VERY comfortable with tight CG's. We've either stayed outside the park in West Yellowstone at Grizzly, or 2 miles north at Baker's Hole, a FS CG with electricity at the sites and big rig friendly, or stayed at Colter Bay RV Park between Jackson and the Grand Tetons. One year we stayed off the Togwotee Pass between Moose Junction in the Tetons and DuBois Wyoming at Falls CG. It has an RV loop with electricity and is big rig friendly. Both Baker's Hole and Falls as a water faucet at the entrance to fill up before you pull in. Baker's Hole and Falls are first come, first served, but in September we've been ok. Baker's Hole is more popular since it's closer, so what we've done is to stay at Grizzly. Go over to Baker's Hole in the morning, find a site, put our name on it, pay for it, then back to Grizzly to get our rig.
Weather in September is great. That's when we prefer to go. Crowds are down but there are still plenty of people enough that some of the CG are still full, hence the technique previously mentioned on getting a spot at Baker's Hole. As for the time span you have, not sure that's enough time to see all without a lot of long days of driving. We took two weeks from Boise Idaho to Mt. Rushmore and only stopped overnight at Devil's Tower and the Little Bighorn Battlefield. What you're wanting to see is much, much more. But, it's doable if you overnight in the Mt. Rushmore area, drive through the Badlands, and save the rest of the time for Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.

Hope this helps.

We've been from Ohio to Yellowstone, FL to WA, and a lot more. We always do reservations well in advance (months) and follow the plan with no thought to if we can get a campsite. If you are retired, slow down and travel 200 to 300 miles/day and stay more than one night. That's how we do it. If you are on a restricted time line, get your plan down on paper and make reservations to relieve/avoid stress caused by that getting a site feeling.

Research, research, research. I can't speak to the roads, since it's been 40 years since I was there, but there are resources to give you the info you're looking for. With a rig that size, you will be limited to where you can stay, or even get in to, so reservations will be a must. CGs that can fit you are likely to have full hook ups, though you might want a small generator in case you find yourself having to dry camp. These trailers are meant to be used, so don't worry too much about the wheel bearings. Check your brakes and make sure they're adjusted. Remember that the trailer is supposed to stop itself in normal use; if you feel it pushing you, step up the gain on your brake controller. You also want to have good brakes traveling in the mountains. If you don't have an exhaust brake, OEM or aftermarket, you might want to think about adding one. Makes life a =lot= more enjoyable. When driving in the mountains, watch your temps (water, oil, turbo) and use them to dictate how hard you drive. Don't be afraid to pull up a grade at a speed to keep your temps safe; let the rest of the traffic deal with you as they would a semi. Doesn't mean that you don't need to be courteous and pull over, or off, if you get a load of cars behind you and you can safely do so.

Mountain weather can be highly unpredictable, so be prepared for everything to unseasonable heat, torrential rain and wind to snow. I was in Silverton CO in late July and got snowed on, so have plans in place. Again, this is where preparation is key. That is =big= country up there and there's not always resources when you need them. Personally, even if I never planned on camping outside full hook up CGs, I'd =still= have 2 6v golf cart batteries, just in case. Don't be afraid to hole up for a few hours, or even a day, if the weather turns bad.

Sounds like an awesome trip, but it will take lots of planning for it to go smoothly.

Lyle

Take your time. Cut the daily miles to under 300 and enjoy yourself a bit.

If you want to see something... stay two+ nights in an RV park on the way. Forget the overnights in a parking lot unless you really want to make it into a marathon.

I have a question for you Why did you buy a rig that big? You can do it if you plan your moves in advance. Good luck.

We've traveled from Ohio to Maine, and we did our overnights on the way at a Cracker Barrel and a Cabeles. If you can find a Cabelas along your route, they are set up pretty nice for RVers. Nice long parking spots, and a dump station if you need it. At Cracker Barrel, I called ahead and made sure it was OK, and then ate there to thank them. They were great about it.

We want to make the trip your going to make sometime soon, I'd love to get together with you when your back and talk about it with you.

Mark

People haul large 5th wheels all over the country, up to Alaska for that matter. I assume that F350 is a diesel dually.

Just about all 5th wheels and Class A's are between 13' and 13' 6" high. So that is not an issue so long as you stick to highways and especially Interstates. All the overpasses are higher than that and thousands of semis (13'6" plus or minus) use them every day. Keep your speed down to 60-62 mph. Get the Mountain West directory if you are worried about it:

MWD

or the Trucker's Atlas:

TA

2-3 Weeks starting from the east isn't that much time. If you try for 500 mile days you won't have time to stop and look around on the way. At 62 mph you probably won't average more that 50 miles/hr after you subtract fuel, food and rest stops. So that's 10 hrs on the road. I have done 600+ miles a day starting at dawn and driving until 8PM. It will wear you out but you can cover more territory. Maybe push hard the first couple of days until you get past the Mississippi. I'd figure 4 days to Yellowstone and 4 back of course. That would leave a few days in the Badlands/Black Hills.

A week in Yellowstone will be just enough to see most of the major attractions plus a daytrip to the Tetons. Search this forum for Yellowstone there were over 2500 messages about last time I looked.

As for Walmarts or other overnight stops, you just have to look at the location and decide yourself if it is secure. I'd say most but not all Walmarts are safe. The more urban it is the less desirable IMO.