RV Trip Throughout the Northern U.S.

[pnichols]

Hello folks,

In years past we've taken a couple of extended RV trips throughout the Southern and Central U.S. and are planning another this year to explore the north-central and northern part of this great country of ours.

Our trip will start in California and hopefully extend all the way to Maine and back, trying to stay in the northern third of the country most of the way. The time frame we are hoping for would be from around the middle of August to the middle/end of October. We can use drycamp or hookup campsites along the way - national, state, county, city, and commercial camping spots are all OK, depending upon convenience wherever we are at the time. We don't have solar, but do carry along a very quiet small Honda generator for battery charging.

We consider the collective personal travel knowledge on these forums as far more vast than literature and Internet searchs are providing and sure would appreciate all the help any of you can provide!

Here's some general areas where we are needing a lot of help on:

- Will our desired 8-10 weeks be enough?

- If not, about how many weeks should we plan on?

- What are the things we should watch out for?

- What things might make the trip easier?

- What are the must-see sites along the way?

- What are the best routes to take?

- It will be the myself, the DW, and a small dog in the RV.

We are interested in a broad spectrum of sights and things to do when we travel - blue grass/ethnic music, general picture taking, museums, rockhounding for free or for pay, U.S. historical sites, Statue of Liberty, Niagara Falls, Native America areas, etc.. We don't want to miss anymore than we have to!

We will be in our small (24 foot) Class C motorhome and won't be towing. However the motorhome is about 11'5" tall and is a full "widebody" model (101 inches wide) ... and has no slides. Our navigator system will have a bridge/overpass height database in it, with automatic warnings that can be set by height.

Thanks much in advance for any ideas you can provide. 🙂

P.S. Should I also post this somewhere else in the RV.net forums?

[BillMFl]

In the more northern parts of the NE many RV facilities start closing after labor day and most close by Oct so I would suggest you focus on the more northern regions on your way east and then loop south on your way back. For example, the region from Boston, NYC thru Philadelphia and then West or further south are balmy days and cool nights in Oct with foliage colors at their peak. Sept is similar in the northern tier. August can be really hot almost anywhere. I've seen 100 degree days in Billings, Mt Rushmore and all across the Midwest in August, which is peak of the "dog days" when even night time temps stay high. After labor day things cool down and families with kids are gone so campgrounds and national parks, etc are much less crowded and even many of the most popular areas are easier to access. So my personal preference would be go north in Sept on your way east and loop further south in Oct on your gradual return. The northern regions tend to be cool, sunny and dry in Sept and that pleasant fall weather gradually sinks south in Oct.

[doxiemom11]

You didn't ask, but want you to be aware that you may start running into night time temps down to freezing in the northern areas in October. This year we left IL, about 90 miles south of Chicago on Oct 3 and it was going to be down to freezing that night. Just in case you want to stay out of the cold.

[pnichols]

Thanks for all your great inputs so far. Please keep them coming!

We're saving them all and will definitely by using them in the planning.

[GordonThree]

I often overlook it since it's only 40 miles from my house, but the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is another of Michigan's gems. It is part of the National Park system, if you have a Golden Eagle, you can take the scenic dune drive for free and I think camp for half-off at the federal campground that is part of the park.

If you like fly fishing, the Manistee and Pine rivers have been rumored to rival streams out west for quality fishing.

[Islandman]

Here's a few places:
Idaho - US 12 Lochsa and Clearwater Rivers (Lewis & Clark Route), Hells Canyon of the Snake River at Lewiston, Lake Pend Oreille
Washington - North Cascades NP, Grand Coulee Dam, WA 14 - Columbia River Gorge, Mount Rainier, Olymic NP, Mount St. Helens,
Montana - Three Forks (Headwaters of Missouri River), Little Bighorn Battlefield, Glacier NP, Beartooth Highway, Yellowstone NP, Helena and Fort Benton areas, Fort Union (near MT/ND border)
North Dakota - Teddy Roosevelt NP, Mandan Encampment (Lewis & Clark)
Minnesota - Bemidji (Paul Bunyan)
Oregon - Pacific Coast, Sea Lion Caves, I-84 - Columbia Gorge

[grandma_lynn]

Go on line for each state you plan to travel in and request their tourist info and what to do and see in each state. I have gotten awesome info from the states I have contacted. Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, MT, Trail of the dinosaurs, Mt. Take time to hunt for moss agates, jasper and petrified wood in and along the Yellowstone River. I had better luck rock hounding along the river east of Billings, Mt. Have fun and if you have ?"s about the rock hounding in Idaho, Oregon and Montana you can PM me and I will drag out my books and be more specific about the rock hounding opportunities. LOL

[DrewE]

Many campgrounds, at least in New England, close around the middle of October once leaf season is done. I don't know if the same is true further west, but it may be an important consideration.

The Kangamangus Highway in New Hampshire is a neat road with some great views. Franconia notch is another wonderful area of New Hampshire, and access could hardly be easier—it's literally on I-93 (or vice-versa, depending on your point of view).

The Fairbanks Museum, in St Johnsbury, VT, is a neat old natural history and random stuff museum. Part of what makes it neat, in my opinion, is that it's kind of become a museum museum—you get a sense of what a typical museum may have been like the better part of a century ago. Nearby is the St. Johnsbury Athenaum (i.e. public library) which has a fantastic smallish art gallery.

The Corning glass museum in Corning, NY is well worth seeing.

Boston has much to see, but do so via public transportation if at all possible. The freedom trail (including old ironsides), the science museum, the aquarium, and quincy marketplace, among many others, are worthy of consideration for visits.

If you're into hiking, there are a whole bunch of great hikes around the northeast. I'm partial to climbing Camel's Hump, in Vermont, partly because it's quite close to my house, partly because the view from the top is fantastic on a clear day, and partly because it's just a nice (moderately strenuous) day hike.

[sdianel_-acct_c]

8-10 weeks should be enough.
I wouldn't miss: The Tetons, Yellowstone, Cody WY museum. Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse monuments. Shipwreck Museum in Whitefish Point, Paradise Michigan. Soo Locks at Sault St Marie, Mackinaw Island and Bridge. Detroit - Ford Museum and tour Ford Truck Factory. Niagara Falls - we stayed at Branches of Niagara RV Park. NYC - we stayed at KOA Newburgh NY and took their tour bus into the city. In West Virginia - Harpers Ferry. There is a KOA nearby. Pennsylvania, Gettysburg. Vermont: Cabot Cheese Factory and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream factory. Quechee Gorge and state park. We stayed at the KOA. In Maine we stayed at The Narrows Too RV Park. The free shuttle stops at the RV park and takes you into Acadia National Park.

[Tiger4x4RV]

Must-see suggestions:

Maine - Acadia NP - include Schoodic area and other less-visited parts. take a nature cruise (I have been to Isle au Haut, the Cranberries, Monhegan and a couple of others and enjoyed all in spite of my lifelong motion sickness issues). The Farnsworth Museum in Camden/Rockwell area, including the Olson House if you like Wyeth.

North Dakota - theodore Roosevelt NP.

Lewis & Clarke route

[GordonThree]

Lots of land to cover and many great things to see. US-2 is the Northern most federal highway you can drive, pretty much coast to coast. Interstate 90 replaces it, but also skips past a lot of interesting things.

You might want to break your question down into regions and ask about them separately, as they are entire trips in of themselves, like the Pacific Northwest, and the New England states.

Get one of those big spiral bound road atlas and scour the maps for interesting things.

US-2 in Montana has Glacier National Park, a day south from there in South Dakota is the Black Hills, Custer State Park, Badlands, nuclear missile silos and a world famous drug store.

US-2 through Minnesota and Michigan is spectacular. Duluth, Marquette and Munising are a few highlights. Take M-28 out of Marquette towards Newberry and then M-123 North to Tahquamenon Falls State Park, which I believe are the second largest falls East of the Mississippi

[the_bear_II]

Good questions

8-10 weeks is enough if you stick to a schedule. I hate to have a schedule. Here's one of the reasons...We stopped for the night at the Waffle Farm Campground in Coldwater MI. It's in the center lower Michigan area. Unfortunately we had to be in Flint the next day to visit relatives. Waffle Farm is one of the best RV Campgrounds I've ever seen. http://www.wafflefarm.com/
It is on our list of go back to places. I would have like to spend a few days there.

Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, Mt Rushmore, Devils Tower, Columbia Gorge river & dam, and more.....