miles driven per day?

[zippyphil]

So I have been making my "itinerary" with google maps for a while now, I have been breaking up my overall trip into 300 mile legs. This would only be driving time, not including any stops along the way. This trip will start in Florida and go to fairbanks, AK. I am planning on visiting National Parks along the way.

1st major stop Mount Rushmore National Memorial 3-4 days
- Denver, CO 2-3 days
2nd major stop East Entrance - Yellowstone National Park, N Fork Hwy, Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190 5-7 days
3rd major stop Glacier National Park, West Glacier, Mt 3-4 days
-Banff
-Jasper
Following the Alaskan highway into Fairbanks,AK.

So I guess My question is really about 300 miles a day. Do you think that would be pushing it too hard in on day? Should I only factor 150 miles? I am not under any time restraints and this would only be a guide to follow.

I have not crossed the borders since the 80's in Maine. What should I expect crossing the border going from Glacier to Calgary?

-Zippy

[vermilye]

How far per day depends on lots of things. I'm retired, so time is not as important to me as it is to many others. I prefer the secondary roads to interstates, so that tends to slow things down. I like to stop in the early afternoon so I have time to set up & explore the area, particularly if I'm only going to be there for a day or two. My best miles per gallon happens at 57MPH.

With all that in mind, I prefer to do around 150 miles per day, will do as much as 250 if necessary, but have often done as little as 60 - 75.

[A_hitch_and_hop]

On our trip this past summer, we drove over 9500 miles and were out 96 days. Our route took us from Florida to Atlanta, Birmingham, Memphis, Oklahoma, Texas, NM, Az, Cal., Or., Wa., Idaho, Mon., Wy.,SD., Ia., Il.,Ky., Tn., Ga., and back to Fl. We always tried to stop at the Visitors center as we came into a state to get information on local points of interest. Most interesting sights will not be seen from the interstate. We spent 12 days on an Alaska cruise / tour, which was 3 nights on ship and 9 nights on trains, busses and airplane. This was on Holland America and originated in Seattle. The land portion that went from Skagway to Dawson City in the Yukon was by train and bus, from Dawson City to Fairbanks by air, and then bus and domed train to Anchorage where we then flew back to Seattle. This left the Alaska driving to be done by a skilled driver and allowed me to watch the scenery instead of the road. It also eliminated the fuel costs and rock damage to the RV. If you still want to experience camping in Alaska, you can rent an RV in Anchorage before you fly back to the lower 48. Since you have the time, don't worry about the miles you drive each day, look at the sights you plan to see along the way. Many small town museums are hidden gems just waiting to be explored. An example would be the drive along the Oregon trail or following the Lewis and Clark trail. Also take the time to attend any Ranger talk or walk that are available in the National Monuments. Last item, If you haven't yet done it, get a Golden Age pass at the national Parks. I think it is called something else now, but it gets you free entrance into all the National Parks and Monuments and 50% savings at Corps of Engineer CG.

[GKU]

We also are planning a trip Alaska from Florida. Leaving in May 2015, entering Canada in ND, then when finished coming back to the US through Washington.

I found going 400-500 miles per day in the US on interstate roads is no problem. It looks like going through Canada and the Alaska highway will be much slower 200-250pd. But, on a trip like this we are going to take our time.

[kalynzoo]

Wow, my dream trip. Anyway, I try to limit myself to a max of 250 miles a day. That said, the first leg is usually Las Vegas, 280 miles, or Sacramento going North, 380miles. That 380 mile trip really kills me but breaking it up when I have driven it so many times seems wasteful. On our last trip some of the days were only about 150 miles, but there was so much to see.
Happy Trails.

[sdianel_-acct_c]

We go about 250 miles per day or about 4 hours. We usually make 2 stops about 15 minutes each. So on the road about 4.5 hours. We plan our arrival about 3pm so we have time to relax and recharge.

[doxiemom11]

We take our time and travel 120 - 250 miles per day. We like to enjoy the trip. We make a couple of 10-15 minute breaks and a stop for lunch of 30-60 minutes. This works for us. We leave around 10 am and drive until 3-4pm. We like to get set up with time to relax a little before dinner and dark.

[Roy_Lynne]

We are in the 200 to 250 a day group, but ours is the journey not the destination.

[loggenrock]

Zip - what time of year are you doing your trip? The Going-to-the-sun road in Glacier usually doesn't even opun until the 1st of July - so better to time your plans accordingly. Going up thru Banff, Jasper on Icefields Parkway in early June we still encountered much snow and ice-covered lakes in 2008 - just something else to factor in! That said - like many others - we'll throw down some serious daily mileage thru areas we have already travelled, to maximize our time in new destinations. No matter what the speedometer reads, over the years we have figured out that our average speed is always pretty close to 50 mph. So - to cover 500 miles is 10 hours, etc. works for us. ST

[TyroneandGladys]

Lauren wrote:
First of all - God bless ya; what a great venture!

Driving? Depends on the roads and whether two lane or interstate. We generally figure about 250 miles or so per day if interstate and 200 or so if two lane - depends on the road. And we stop every couple of hours to stretch out backs, hit our self attached porta pottie and walk the dog.

Another thing we do is if we do two single night overnights then the third one we stay two nights even if nothing is really there; just to relax. We try to plan that one for someplace we kinda would like to see just a little - maybe never been there before or need to do a grocery run, etc.
Lauren

X2 However we do figure 300 on Interstates

[zippyphil]

I have really been looking at this floorplan. I think this is the right link. I would be also towing my 2013 civic.

http://www.forestriverinc.com/ClassCMotorhomes/Sunseeker/default.aspx?model=sunl&page=floorplandetails&floorplanid=356&RVType=CLC.

The dealer has one used 2010 13K miles and a 2014 0 miles. I am having such a hard time deciding about new or used.

[Lauren]

Ken, you are funny! 🙂

It is harder to hide my self attached porta potties now that I lost almost 20 pounds - was shooting for 15 and now going to take it down a total of 25.

Let me re-phrase. Porta pottie in the rig behind the TV! 🙂

Life is too short not to laugh when we can; and particularly at ourselves.

Be safe, all.

Lauren

[kgarrett9999]

I usually plan 400-500 miles per day, though I have done over 700 miles in a day but that was in my SUV without a travel trailer.
I use Microsoft Streets and Trips to plan my trips and I've found that if I set the driving speeds settings to slightly above average and schedule a 15 minute stop every 3 hours. This pretty closely parallels my actual driving, so I try to plan a stop +/- an hour of where it suggests stopping for the night.
I usually only make reservations for the major destinations that I plan on and I use MSS&T to plan the dates that I expect to arrive.
Works well for me.

[Matt_Colie]

Well Zippy,

As we don't know what you will be driving, there is no way we can guess how long you will last. We can easily do a 600+ mile day, but one good museum can shorten the day by a lot. But, if the ride is not comfortable, there is no way you will last that long and if you are the only driver, that shortens things even more.

I suggest you buy or borrow a copy of Street Atlas and learn to use it. Then, carry it with you and keep it up to date. If you load it with your real length of day and fuel numbers, it will tell you where to look for someplace to sleep and the same fuel. We even load the times we expect at the stops like monuments and museums. (These are always wrong, but they are close.) That and GasBuddy make travel much less stressful.

Learn to work the new stuff. It is easier than working.

Matt

[4runnerguy]

OK, now to Zippy's question. I think the amount of mileage a day depends on a number of factors already listed. On interstates across states like IA and NE, one can make pretty respectable time (maybe 400 miles per day). Get on secondary roads in mountainous terrain and you definitely need more time (sometimes 200 miles can take five or six hours). Many will say they do these kind of trips w/o reservations, but we've found that the best campsites get booked early. Take Yellowstone for example. If you don't get a reservation in the park, you spend a lot of time commuting every day. Glacier is a different matter as many of the cg's there are first come, first served. Do check on cg's in Banff and Jasper as they also tend to fill certain times of the year.

[4runnerguy]

Lauren wrote:
And we stop every couple of hours to stretch out backs, hit our self attached porta pottie and walk the dog.

You know Lauren, I've looked at the pictures of you and Barbara and I must say you hide that "self attached porta pottie" under your clothes pretty well! 😉