We have towed our trailers on all the previously-mentioned highways, so have a pretty good idea of what you will find. All of the suggested routes will get you plenty of scenery, but this time of the year the weather and snow may dictate your route. Spring in the mountains of Utah, Colorado, and western Wyoming is late May-June, not April. So, depending on your interests, I would recommend staying south for most of the remainder of April, then heading north.
While in Cortez, you can take day trips to Hovenweep National Monument, Canyons of the Ancients NM, Aztec NM, Lowry Pueblo, and the Anasazi Museum in Dolores. If you have never been there (we were there last October), I can highly recommend a very long day-trip to Chaco Culture NHP. But you need to go without the MH, definitely just the toad, because the entrance road is awful! And, in Cortez, I would even suggest changing campgrounds to the Juniper Campground at McPhee Reservoir (electric-only sites) if you need to reduce camping costs.
Have you been to Moab, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, and Dead Horse Point SP previously? If you have not been to them, then certainly take US 491/191 to the Moab area and see them all. Keep in mind that the Arches cg is closed, but the Dead Horse Point SP cg has electricity.
If you have been to the Moab area before, take CO 145 from Cortez/Dolores to Telluride and Naturita, then CO 141 through the Dolores River canyon, Gateway, and Unaweep Canyon to Whitewater. And don't miss the Gateway Auto Museum! Then take US 50 to Grand Junction and stay at the Colorado River State Park campground in Fruita (FHU sites). Visit Colorado National Monument in the toad, not the MH. If interested, there is also a dinosaur quarry and museum in Fruita that I can recommend. It will be too early for a raft trip on the Colorado through Ruby Canyon from Mack, but we can recommend that too. And, if you are young and athletic (or old, but still athletic!), there is always the northeast end of the Kokopelli Trail to explore on your mountain bike (see map
Here).
From GJ, do as others have suggested and go north to Rangely on CO 139. Those Douglas Pass hairpins are steep, but much of US 191 through the Uintas (to Flaming Gorge) is just as steep and has just as many hairpins. I too strongly recommend spending time at the Utah Field House museum in Vernal. And we have also stayed at Firemen's Memorial Campground (run by a concessionanire who charges for the dump separately from campsite fee), which has some great views.
Incidentally, if you happen to be anywhere near the Maybell, CO area on Sunday, May 7, DO NOT MISS the Great American Horse Drive on US 40 right through the middle of town. For more info, go
HERE. It's a once-a-year experience that you won't soon forget. And be sure to take lots of photos and videos so you can post links on RV.net for every RVer to see!
After Flaming Gorge, you have several choices, but again, the route depends on what you are interested in and what you may have seen before. If you haven't been to Jackson, definitely take US 191 through the "desert" to scenic Pinedale, with a stop at one of the USFS campgrounds south of Hoback Junction (we stayed at the Granite Creek cg, but it may still be closed when you are there). If you haven't camped at Colter Bay or Jenny Lake and awakened to sunrise on the Tetons, then you need to do that too. And, if you have never been to Cody and the Buffalo Bill Museum complex, you need to include that on your itinerary, either before or after you go to West Yellowstone.
If you have been to all those places on previous trips, then turn left at Hoback Junction and go down the Snake River canyon through Alpine to Rexburg, Island Park, and Henry's Lake, which is also scenic. Or you could take WY 22 from Jackson right through the Tetons to Victor and Driggs, ID, if you don't mind getting off major highways for a day (be sure to check the weather and WYDOT 511 before using it, however).
Unless you are planning to spend most of June in West Yellowstone, you will be much too early to take the Beartooth Highway (US 212) from Red Lodge, MT, to Cooke City. So, you will have to put that incredibly scenic day-trip on your must-see list for your next trip to Yellowstone.
Have a great trip!
