Travel advice - quick cross country trip

[sabconsulting]

Hi everyone,

Next month Sally and I are making a quick (3 week) cross country journey from Tennessee to Washington State. I've worked out a route to see the things I am really interested in - will be moving fast the first few days until we get to SD.

We won't have time to add any big venues or detours onto the journey, but I'm interested to hear from those of you who have done parts of the route if there are little things that are worth dropping in to see for an hour or so on the route. I.e. rather than stop to stretch our legs for 30 minutes at a gas station, why not do the same at some interesting attraction (themed diner / Stone Henge made of cars / lake with a great look-out point, etc. I know we will be passing major destinations in themselves and don't have the time to visit their major attractions, but I would kick myself if later I learned I had driven past some beautiful gorge or amazing attraction a stones throw from our route we could have at least dropped into for a quick look.

Here is the currently planned itinerary:

I40 / I24 through Nashville, St. Louis.
I64 / I70 / I29 through Kansas City, St. Joseph, Omaha, Sioux City, Sioux Falls.
I90 to Badlands.
I90 through Rapid City and 16 to Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial.
16 and then 24 up to Devils Tower, then back to I90.
Back onto 16 at Buffalo, Ten Sleep Canyon then possibly 20 and 26 down to Riverton and 26 / 287 to Jackson Lake.
Tour Jackson / Yellowstone for a few days.
191 back up to I90, then 200 and 83 past Swan Lake to West Glacier.
A couple of days in Glacier.
South via Flathead Lake to I90 again.
Follow I90 through Coeur D'Alene and onto 2 after Spokane (just to get off I90 for a bit and maybe camp by Banks Lake)
Back to I90 before crossing the Columbia River.
South on I82 at Ellensburg and west on 12 maybe having a quick look at mt Ranier and ideally drive up to Johnston Ridge Observatory get a good view of Mt St. Helens.

Any suggestions of nice state parks or dispersed camp locations along the route would be great too.

Thanks for any ideas in advance - not expecting anyone to bust a gut trying to put together a list, just if you happen to have stayed or visited somewhere along the route and thought "hey, that motorcycle museum was amazing" or something similar, would appreciate a heads-up.

Steve.

[Eugarps]

Sabconsulting,

If you enjoy western art, the Charlie Russell museum in Great Falls, Montana is worth a stop. The Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, Wyoming is worth a stop as well but it's kind of out of the way for your itinerary. Enjoy my old stomping grounds of Montana and Wyoming.

Best,

Bill

[Hemi_Joel]

23 miles East of Ten Sleep, be sure to stop at the James T Saban lookout. You can see for many mile from there, it is free, and easy to get to, but never busy. The following park service link is good, but slow to open.

LOOKOUT

[Hemi_Joel]

Funny how tastes differ. I can't get thru Wall Drug without spending a couple hours. How can you not want to spend time with the friendly saloon girls or the 80' dinosaur? And you have to buy a stuffed Jackalope head for the wall in your camper! Rushmore, I would allow about an hour. It is awesome, but you can only look at it for so long. I think at sunset they had a light show or fireworks or something when we were there, that is the best time. Crazey horse was good, mostly for the story, and you can read that without being there. Since you are limited on time, I would recommend spending that time driving the Needles Highway, and touring that area.
At Dubois, Wyoming you can mount a giant stuffed Jackalope! I dig that kind of stuff. We spent about 3 hours hiking at Devils tower, I would have hung out longer but we had a schedule to keep.
You are going to have so much fun! Safe travels to you!

[67avion]

Jane and I traveled from Southern Illinois to North Dakota last Fall. We were interested in the huge protests on Indian Land against an oil pipeline. We camped at the protest site and got a pretty good idea of the issues. We also visited Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and Wounded Knee. We spent time at Custer State Park, which was spectacular, as well as Mount Rushmore.

[coolmom42]

I agree, the county museum in Thermopolis is well worth some time, as is Hot Springs State Park in Thermopolis.

Also, the Little Big Horn battlefield is amazing. Beautiful spot with a bloody history.

There is a Big Horn County Historical Museum just off I-90 at exit 497. They have moved buildings from all over the county to this location to recreate many typical scenes of early Montana. There is also a photo exhibit which is very impressive.

[languiduck]

I grew up in IL less than 2 hours from St Louis. If you haven't been there before then of course one should take the ride up to top of the arch at least once in your lifetime. Get some bbq beef ribs.
If you've been there then I 2nd the trip north and going to Moline. See the JD museum and tour the factory where they make combines.
The Minuteman site sounds pretty cool too.

[Freep]

Keep in mind that you can boondock for free on US public lands and BLM land. There are a couple of apps you can get for your phones that help you find the public lands.

I think they're named something like
US public lands
Ultimate public campgrounds

I'd make other suggestions but I don't know what kind of things appeal to you.

[jmckelvy]

I've done all those areas you mention out West. A couple of suggestions:

Cross the river on I80 into Omaha. Just across the river on the right side is a nice park to stop, stretch and have lunch. The park has a Union Pacific Big Boy locomotive and a giant diesel electric locomotive. It was free when we were last there.

As suggested earlier take I80 up to Ranchester WY and pick up US 14. This will really let you see the Big Horn mountains. Continue on either 14 or 14A both are spectacular. The Medicine Wheel is on 14A and requires a good hike from the parking area.

Thermopolis has a neat dinosaur museum that is worth several hours as well as the hot springs park.

I would also recommend Cody for the museum. If you do go to Cody you can head to Yellowstone via the Chief Joseph highway (WY 296) northwest of Cody. But before getting to Yellowstone take US212 over Beartooth Pass to Red Lodge then return to enter Yellowstone via the Northeast entrance. Spectacular drive!

Bozeman Montana has a really world class dinosaur museum as part of Montana State University. Jack Horner, the curator has been on many shows on TLC and Discovery channels.

If you are coming anytime soon check the Wyoming road conditions as some of the mentioned roads are not yet open due to snow at the higher elevations.

Enjoy the trip.

[cewillis]

sabconsulting wrote:

though that would be seriously cool to take that around the US

(I'm in India this week

Yes -- bringing your TC to the USA would be great.
But Steve, one of these days you're going to go see some of the world --
(that's a joke, son)

[sabconsulting]

Thanks guys - this is really great feedback and exactly the sort of stuff I was looking for.

It is a one-way trip - we have a camper for 3 weeks (no, not our little Shadow Cruiser, though that would be seriously cool to take that around the US).

I'm off to bed now (I'm in India this week, so am many timezones behind you guys). I'll go through the suggestions in detail when I get off work tomorrow evening.

Cheers guys.

Steve.

[TexasShadow]

First off, you should compare the cost of a one year pass to national parks vs paying for each one because you will be visiting 5 or more of them. 🙂

You can tour the Badlands by driving through it on the loop road, exit I 90 on the east side, south and then west to the west side exit and Wall, SD.
There is a small but interesting museum at the east side exit on the north side of the highway..dedicated to the Early Warning Defense System (against missile attacks)Good place to stretch your legs 🙂
At Ten Sleep, WY, there is a small rv park on the west side of town, nothing fancy, but shady and full hookups.
At Riverton, there is a Walmart if you need to restock a bit before going into the national parks.
If you are going to visit Jackson WY, go south at Moran Junction and camp down on the south end of the park at Gros Ventre campground which is about 7 miles north of Jackson. It has water and dump station.
Then go north to Yellowstone on the park road (Moose, WY). Which might take all day if you go to Jenny Lake and take the ferry ride or hike a bit.
Lots of places for a picnic lunch along the way.

[Bedlam]

1. Is this a one way trip or round trip?
2. Is this with your camper or just a hired car?
3. Do plan to stay in tent, camper or hotel enroute?

TN: Country Music Venues
IN: RV Museum
MO: Blues, Barbecue, St Louis Arch
IA: Amana Colonies
SD: Mount Rushmore
WY: Devil's Tower, Rodeo
ID: Hell's Canyon
WA: Prosser Wineries, Pacific Seafood

[Bumpyroad]

coolmom42 wrote:
Don't spend more than 5 minutes in Wall Drug and 10 minutes in the Corn Palace, unless you like tourist junk.

I certainly agree on wall drug (in fact 5 minutes might be a stretch) but at the corn palace it depends on what is happening there. when we stopped by, they were having a big square dance doings and we found that sort of interesting.
but yes, just to see the building, 10 minutes works for me.
bumpy

[HandyRandy]

"Back onto 16 at Buffalo, Ten Sleep Canyon then possibly 20 and 26 down to Riverton and 26 / 287 to Jackson Lake.
Tour Jackson / Yellowstone for a few days.

This is a pretty drive, but the more northerly route over the Big Horns (Get off I90 at Ranchester. Take 14 to Burgess Junction then Alt 14 from Burgess Junction to Lovell) is spectacular. It is called the Medicine Wheel passage. It is a little steeper than Ten Sleep Canyon, but paved and smooth. Coming down the west side you feel like you are falling out of the sky.

The Buffalo Bill museum in Cody is really worth your time, but plan on most of a day.

Enjoy your trip.

[wyocowboy00]

You didn't say if you were driving the Ford Ranger with the Shadow Cruiser or something else. I think you have a good itinerary and it will take all of 3 weeks. The only other thing I can think of is the Custer Battlefield - just a little above the Montana line north of Buffalo/Sheridan, WY.