NE Ohio to Glacier NP

[stew47]

Well I marked off vacation and was able to take 20 days beginning July 17. Would love to make our trip to glacier this year. I believe I'd like to stay on west side and spend little time around kalispel and flathead valley. I guess does anyone have suggestions for campground? Also thinking of taking northerly route over and little more southerly route coming back. Any attractions? Also I'd like to make daily drives not much more than 6 hours. That makes 5 days there and back. I'd like some campgrounds and some just parking. Any thoughts on places to stay?

[pulsar]

2chiefsRus wrote:

pulsar wrote:
Camping in the park will depend on the size of your rig or towed combination. Only Apgar, on the west side can handle up to 40 feet. Fish Creek, on the west side can handle 35 feet.

On the east side, St. Mary and Many Glacier can handle 35 feet.

Tom

We stayed in St Mary on the east side with our 40 foot motorhome and minivan in tow.

I should have prefaced my comment with: "Quoting from Enjoy Your Parks website

A look at the Recreation.gov site does show one non-reservable pull-thru site that accommodates 40 foot rigs, site C142. It show no other site that accommodates more that 35 feet.

Perhaps they are being conservative with their listings. How many sites did you see that would accommodate 40-foot rigs and a toad?

Tom

[2chiefsRus]

pulsar wrote:
Camping in the park will depend on the size of your rig or towed combination. Only Apgar, on the west side can handle up to 40 feet. Fish Creek, on the west side can handle 35 feet.

On the east side, St. Mary and Many Glacier can handle 35 feet.

Tom

We stayed in St Mary on the east side with our 40 foot motorhome and minivan in tow.

[pulsar]

Camping in the park will depend on the size of your rig or towed combination. Only Apgar, on the west side can handle up to 40 feet. Fish Creek, on the west side can handle 35 feet.

On the east side, St. Mary and Many Glacier can handle 35 feet.

Tom

[melandme]

We went to glacier this past summer. We stayed at Many Glaciers CG in the park for the hiking. Took I94 out and I90 back. Theodore Roosevelt N P and the Enchanted Highway were good stops in North Dakota on 94. Overnighted at the Cabela's in Billings MT and Mitchell SD. Spearfish City CG in Spearfish SD was a nice campground on the north side of the Black Hills and close to Devils Tower. We also went south on US 287 to Virginia City, Ennis, and West Yellowstone. Stayed about 15 minutes from West Yellowstone at Henrys Lake State Park just over in Idaho. Nice campground and less expensive than the ones near Yellowstone.

[Rangerman40]

Ohio to Custer can be done in 2 days if you plan it right. I made it from Dayton to Custer leaving at midnight on a Friday and arriving at Custer Sunday afternoon.... There are a few things to see between here and there if you have the time. The Bridges of Madison County, the village of Amana (yes the refrigerator people), The Corn Palace, Miniteman Missile Silo, the Badlands, Buffalo Gap National Grassland, and Wall Drug. It took us the better part of 5 days to explore the Black Hills area.

[stew47]

Thanks gryphonguy. We will be leaving from Dover.

[dodge_guy]

I stayed at the Jellystone in Sioux Falls as our first stop, then the black hills (Custer SD) for a few days for our second stop. We stayed around Butte MT leaving the black hills for glacier. I stayed in my cousins driveway in the foothills of Kalispell for 4 days, they have 10acres and plenty of moose, bear and other animals roaming around he area.

On the way back we stayed in Billings MT, then again in the black hills (Hill City) for 3 days. Then stayed at a KOA in Rochester MN. And then home. Obviously you will have to ad an extra day for the drive to and from, but it should be a good trip.

Best thing to do with Chicago is take 80 west to 355 north to 90 west. This will take you around all the craziness of the city. 355 never use to connect to 80 until about 7 years ago. Makes it a much more pleasant trip!

[Gryphonguy]

We did that trip in 2009. We left Friday evening and drove to South Bend, IN area and then got up early and breezed through Chicago Saturday morning. Frankly, there is not much between Ohio and the Badlands. We stopped at Wall Drug but found it to mostly be a tourist trap. The Badlands were beautiful for a drive through. We stayed one night in the Black Hills/ Mount Rushmore and wish we had planned more time. Devils Tower was a nice stop for lunch and a short hike. We stayed on the east side of Glacier in the KOA and had very high wind events two nights in a row. We also travelled up into the Canadian side and above to Banff. All in all a lot of driving but very well worth it.

[stew47]

I like the idea of traveling 36.... I grew up in newcomerstown Ohio right on us36.

[RGar974417]

I would agree to stay away from Chicago. Depending on which way you go, I would suggest a few stops and a few campgrounds. Custer State Park is very nice. You can stay right in the Park.They have several campgrounds some with electric hookups. Check out the visitor centers and do the Wildlife Loop and Iron Mountain Highway.Mt Rushmore is close by. If you happen to come back via I-80 and I-70,about 10 miles south of I-80 in Nebraska is the town of Minden. If you like history,old cars,tracks,motorcycles,snowmobiles,tractors etc,you'll love this place. They have a campground there,but it's not the greatest.So if you don't want to stay in the campground,there is plenty of parking on the street for RVs. Waubonsie State Park is about 10 miles east of Nebraska City off I-29.$16 a night for electric hookups. Nice bath houses and dump station. As someone else mentioned, Missouri Rt 36 is a great alternative to I-70 across Missouri. 4 lane 65mph.There are 2 Missouri State Parks along that Route. We stayed at Pershing. $19 a night for electric hookups. Nice bath houses and dump station. The other one is Long Branch State park.

[Busskipper]

stew47 wrote:
Well I marked off vacation and was able to take 20 days beginning July 17. Would love to make our trip to glacier this year. I believe I'd like to stay on west side and spend little time around kalispel and flathead valley. I guess does anyone have suggestions for campground? Also thinking of taking northerly route over and little more southerly route coming back. Any attractions? Also I'd like to make daily drives not much more than 6 hours. That makes 5 days there and back. I'd like some campgrounds and some just parking. Any thoughts on places to stay?

Couple of things come to mind - #1 Avoid Chicago - #2 Try to leave right after work to start the trip - this "Extra Day" will pay off big later in the trip. #3 Custer/Mt Rushmore will be a good stop/drive through on the way out #4 Enjoy Glacier #5 Head South possibly Flaming Gorge/Dino NM #6 Maybe a little drive through Colorado to see things for the next trip #7 Home on Rt 36 above the I-70 madness #8 Take two pictures every time you think one will do, the memories are in the Pictures. #9 Good Boots - Good Rain Gear - Good Camera = Good Trip

Long trip - Lot's of Miles - Great Mountains/Rock's/Lakes - Might require a few longer days in the saddle - You will never forget it - You will be Back! - Once you hit the Rockies IMHO there are no wrong roads.

Between Ohio and Custer there are a lot of long driving days.

Sorry I did not answer the CG question, but we seldom head to a CG - more of a get me to the National Park or Monument.


Best of Luck,

:h

:B

[2chiefsRus]

Tom/Barb wrote:

rv2go wrote:
Each to their own, but I enjoy the East side better. We always stay inside the Park at the St. Mary's CG. If you need hookups, there are CG's in the town of St. Marys.
Do all the entrances to the Park on the East side.
The Going to the Sun road should be open by the time of your visit.
Bring your passports and do a day trip to the Canadian side of the Park.
Take a boat ride.

yep X2

X3 = just what I was going to say. We spent a couple nights outside the park in town until a site inside the park at St. Mary's opened up. Depends upon whether you want hook-ups or not.

On the way out, I would suggest at least a drive through Badlands National Park.

[Bionic_Man]

We did a 2 week trip to Glacier back in 2004. Had a good time, but I prefer Yellowstone.

Anyway, when we were there, the West side of the park was better (less wind). We drove up to Waterton Peace Park (actually towed my boat up there). Very nice, but too much wind to use the boat. Actually it was so windy that I didn't launch the boat our entire trip to Glacier.

On the way home, we spent the better part of a week at Flathead Reservoir, between Misoula and Kalispel. I liked that part of the trip better personally.

[Tom_Barb]

rv2go wrote:
Each to their own, but I enjoy the East side better. We always stay inside the Park at the St. Mary's CG. If you need hookups, there are CG's in the town of St. Marys.
Do all the entrances to the Park on the East side.
The Going to the Sun road should be open by the time of your visit.
Bring your passports and do a day trip to the Canadian side of the Park.
Take a boat ride.

yep X2

[rexlion]

I enjoyed the scenery along US-93 and Hwy 35 from Missoula to W. Glacier. I stayed at the Glacier RV CG just a mile from the west entrance gate. The Apgar area is very pleasant and picturesque. They rent canoes at the dock if you're interested in getting onto the lake. That whole area is nice.