Florida to Yellowstone 2017

[Gambit80]

My wife and I are starting to plan our 20th wedding anniversary trip for next year. We are planning to go from Jacksonville, Florida to Yellowstone, leaving on August 19th and traveling for two weeks.

We know this is a tight timetable, but it is the trip we want to do. What I am interested in is any information/input on routing. There are few stops we would like to hit, however, we aren't tied to any besides Yellowstone.

We would like to hit:

St. Louis Arch
Mount Rushmore
Yellowstone

The route back is still being decided, but we are trying to get an idea on all of this as we have never been out there before. Thanks for any advice!

[Dick_B]

For our 50th we drove from Chicago to New Orleans. It would be much closer to you than Yellowstone and be more fitting for such an anniversary IMHO. There are some presidential museums close by and at least one battlefield from the Civil War (War between the States).

[accsys]

We have made the trip West for the last two years and you could pay me to make your trip in two weeks but it would not be cheap!!! I really hope that Dodge Ram has the most comfortable seats in the world since you will be sitting in them for 10-12 hours a day the whole trip, including the time in Yellowstone.

[agesilaus]

The trip according to googlemaps is 2200 miles. We could (and have) do that in 4 days of getting up at 7 and being on the road until 8PM or so. Tiring yes, but our philosophy was to drive hard thru country that we weren't that interested in and then slowing down when you get to your target. The was before I retired, we take our time now. If you count the weekend on both ends of the two week block you actually have 16 days total.

As for St Louis, we will do our best to avoid the place. We drive right thru Atlanta and Houston but St Louis has horrible roads, potholed, patches on top of patches. And awful traffic. We were rear ended by a semi last time we drove thru.
I route us around St Louis by taking surface roads that go just to the east of the Mississippi up to Keokuk IA and cross the river there. As for the arch it's not worth the trouble when you are on a tight timetable.

Rushmore is similar, the approach roads are two lane winding roads and it will kill most of a day getting there and then getting back to the interstate. Trust me you will be surprised on how small Rushmore will look when you get there. Hold your hand out at arm's length palm towards your face. The palm of that hand would cover the carvings completely.

7 or 8 days in Yellowstone will just give you time to see most of the major areas. YNP is huge--3500 sq miles. Duval county is 900 sq miles for comparison. You will be doing a lot of driving and almost all of it will be in slow traffic. Every time someone spots a chipmunk they stop in the middle of the highway and block it for 20 minutes or so. Plus the park service is perpetually rebuilding the roads, Devote one day to the Tetons which is south of YNP and be sure to take the ferry across the lake there.

[Gambit80]

And thanks for the information, again. My idea was straight to Yellowstone, her ideas is a little more. So we booked Yellowstone and now am planning the trip there and back.

Using information provided, it *might* be possible to convince that the Arch/Rushmore aren't feasible on this trip.

I was thinking the Arch might be more of a drive-by thing, as well. Leanign towards that idea.

[Gambit80]

Thanks, Two hands...I did forget to mention. Yellowstone was booked this weekend. We did book Fishing Bridge RV, as well.

[Two_Hands]

The Arch and Mt Rushmore are definitely worth the trip, just not when you have such a limited amount of time. Just go straight to Yellowstone. Grand Tetons National Park is right next door so I would consider visiting there during the trip. If you want to stay in Yellowstone you should make campground reservations right now.

[Acampingwewillg]

The "arch" is worthy of seeing but in my opinion, it can be done as a drive-by. Sure you can take the elevator up into it but it didn't do much for me. Standing in the Park next to the Arch was Great for Pic taking. If time is limited and your wife wants to go....you'll still have a ball. Oh....Mount Rushmore, may I suggest seeing it both in daylight and at the Lighting Ceremony.

[Gambit80]

Would any of your folks be of the opinion that the Arch isn't worth a trip to?

[Gambit80]

I understand folks, I know it is tight. Only giving us 4-5 days days in Yellowstone, but it is the trip my wife wants to do.

I appreciate the input on flying/renting, but not what we want to do. I don't anticipate being able to do Yellowstone "properly", but I have to work with what I have.

[TexasRangerRzR]

I'll second the fly & rent plan.

[TexasRangerRzR]

Going to be at least 5 days driving each way, so that is 10 of your 16 (I'll assume) days. Yellowstone is B-I-G, and everything in Yellowstone is so far apart, speed limit in the park is low, and traffic is pretty bad during peak season.

Not what you asked, and not what you want to hear I am sure.

We took 4 weeks from PA to Yellowstone, with multi-night stops in Sioux Falls and Rapid City SD and time in Big Horn Mtn WY. Still wasn't enough time to do Yellowstone properly.

[Ivylog]

Assuming 500 miles/day that's 9-10 days of just traveling. Does not leave much time for anything else assuming you have the energy to do anything else. If it's just the two of you I'd fly to maybe SLC and rent a class C for ten days.