Trip From Alabama To Yellowstone

[lebjdixon]

Any ideas of the best routes and campgrounds on a road trip with a 37 ft. diesel pusher pulling a toad from Alabama to Yellowstone, is their a best way to get around Yellowstone to visit the sights, and are there campgrounds that are easy to maneuver in, and what are the best and safest Highways to travel.

Thanks

Brenda

[wolfe10]

Brenda,

What time of year?

How long do your have?

What are your/your family's special interests?

Brett

[lebjdixon]

Its just two of us, and we will have alot of time since husband will be retiring at that time, and we want to go when there is no snow and ice of course, we want to stay on highways that are safe to drive, and our interests are just mainly seeing sights that we have never seen, neither one of us have been any further than Dallas,Texas to the West, and a trip to SC, in the motorhome. We are anxious to sightsee, and especially see Yellowstone, but want to be safe. We may even go as far as we can in the motorhome on flat land, then unhook the toad and travel in the mountainous areas.

Not retiring until June 2012-- just planning ahead.

Thanks for any information.

[tiger1959]

We drove from Auburn AL towing our car several years ago, leaving home in early June. Our route took us to Nashville, St. Louis, Denver, Cheyenne, WY then west on I-80 to Rock Springs, WY. From there we went NW to Jackson Hole, WY. From here you can tour the Tetons, Then go a bit further north into Yellowstone. If you go this route there is no need to disconnect your toad until you are in a campground.

While at Yellowstone, we stayed at Fishing Village Campground, a full service RV park. As I recall there are a number of US Forest Service campgrounds too. Most don't have electricity, but probably have a source for drinking water.

If you go in late June or even July, you can experience some very cool nights. We were in Fishing Bridge on July 4, and there was a light frost that morning!!! We left the motorhome at the CG and toured around all of Yellowstone for several days.

[DavidWhite]

My wife and I live in NW FL and we traveled basically the same route as Tiger1959 a couple of years ago. I agree with his choice of route. We saw the campground he mentioned in Yellowstone but were unable to stay because we waited too late to make reservations. Reserve now!!!

We had to stay outside Yellowstone because of our waiting to book a spot. The campground he mentioned looked wonderful! We entered Yellowstone from the SOUTH gate, Jackson Hole, and toured that "side" for a day.

Before entering Yellowstone we toured the Tetons....LOVED the Tetons! We spent 3 days inside Yellowstone and would have spent MORE, if we had the time. We used our Toad to tour.

We suggest exiting the park from the EAST gate and agree with Teddy Roosevelt, who said, "The 30 miles between there and Cody, WY are the most scenic and beautiful of all locations in the world!"

We also suggest spending a day in Cody and making a stop at their "world class" western museum, the Bill Cody Museum. You could spend two days alone inside it! An amazing museum for such a small town! Food at Irma's Hotel was wonderful! Breathtaking trip, to say the least!

Enjoy!

[tbutler]

OK so it is June 2012 and you are retired. You have plenty of time. You are not full timers but since you have plenty of time, lets quit thinking about vacation travel. Your destination is Yellowstone but you haven't traveled much so everything in between is more than just interstate highways. There are lots of things you could see on your way west. In fact, when you return you should take a different route home to see more sights! Don't plan just a few days in Yellowstone. Give this spectacular park the respect it deserves. Take time to hike around some of the features to see more than just a cursory view. I'll use a trip we made to Yellowstone NP in 2004 as an example.

In April of 2004 we started a journey that led to Yellowstone and beyond. We decided the focus of our trip would be the journey of Lewis and Clark as they explored the western US along the route of the Missouri River. After wintering in south Texas, we spent several days in Natchez, Mississippi enjoying their spring house tours. We then drove the Natchez Trace Parkway (I highly recommend this trip to all RV'ers) to its end near Louisville, KY. Along the way we were surprised to find the tomb of Meriwether Lewis. In Louisville, Kentucky we began our journey in earnest. On the riverfront at the Ohio River you will find a statue of York, Clark's slave who made the entire trip with Clark. Across the river in Clarksville, IN is the Lewis and Clark Visitors Center and not far away is the cabin of William Clark. At the Lewis and Clark Visitors Center we picked up a guide book which included excerpts from the journals of Lewis and Clark as well as a guide to the entire trip. Louise would frequently read a selection from Lewis' journal that would describe the part of their journey that related to our days travel. The guide book we used, Along the Trail with Lewis and Clark was a real asset for our trip. We would have missed so many aspects of the trip without it. The trip was an amazing journey through American history and geography.

From Louisville to St. Louis and then St. Charles where Lewis and Clark linked up in 1804 and set out, upstream on the Missouri, River. There is the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, AKA the Gateway Arch which will provide an excellent overview of the remainder of your trip. The view from the Arch gives another kind of overview if you are so inclined to take the ride to the top. There is a Lewis and Clark Visitors Center in Illinois near the site where Clark and the company of soldiers spent the 1803-1804 winter waiting for the arrival of Lewis. In St. Charles, MO near where the full expeditionary force set out there is an excellent statue of Lewis, Clark and Seaman, their Newfoundland dog. You will find a variety of restaurants along the riverfront in St. Charles, the old state capital of Missouri. You can walk or bicycle part of the KATY Trail, an old railroad route that follows the Missouri River up stream from St. Charles.

Follow the Missouri River to Kansas City, MO where you can find some excellent BBQ. In Sioux City, Iowa is another Lewis and Clark Visitors Center. The only member of the expedition to die was buried in what is now Sioux City. There is a nice memorial on a cliff overlooking the river. Each one of these visitors centers gives local information and usually specializes in a specific aspect of the exploration. Travel on north into the Dakotas where you will find more visitors centers and interesting roads to travel, places to explore and things to see. Explore Ft. Mandan in North Dakota and learn how they survived the winter. On to the west in Montana you will find the Fort Peck Reservoir, a large earthen dam on the Missouri River and a Corps of Engineers campground near the dam site. Travel on to Great Falls, Montana and explore the falls along the river. A visitors center describes how they managed to portage their boats and gear up above the falls. The stories are gripping and inspiring. This was no pleasure trip for the men of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

From there we went to Three Forks, Montana to see where three rivers, the Madison, Gallatin and Jefferson, join to form the Missouri River. From Three Forks, you are just north of West Yellowstone, Montana. We found this an excellent location for exploring the park. There are multiple private RV parks just outside the National Park. You have the stores and restaurants of a good size town and the park is just a few minutes drive away. RV Park Reviews lists 14 RV parks in West Yellowstone, MT.

The Lewis and Clark trail continues on through the mountains of Montana and Idaho and into Washington, Oregon. We followed Lewis and Clark down the Columbia River and on to Ft. Clatsup. This was a spectacular trip. For us it was an exciting and interesting exploration, not at all what Lewis and Clark faced only 200 years before. To see the countryside tamed in just 200 years was truly awe inspiring. Here we were, traveling in a modern motor home, communicating with cell phones, linking to the internet, shopping at grocery stores, getting fuel at a variety of fuel stations, looking at modern dams, passing fields of crops, and visiting towns and cities that didn't exist at all only 200 years ago. Reading excerpts from Lewis and Clark as we traveled brought the reality of all this home. We traveled in comfort and luxury where they struggled to survive every day.

I notice that you feel you will need to disconnect your toad to travel in the mountains. We have never done this. When you encounter mountain driving, stick to the major highways at least until you feel comfortable with tackling more demanding driving. There are things to know about driving your motor home in the mountains, how to use the exhaust or engine brake, how to best use service brakes, how to handle climbing mountain grades, etc. There are posts on this forum that give advice on those techniques. Use the search box on the menu line at the top of this page to search for articles on mountain driving. Your motor home is capable of handling your toad up and down mountain grades. We really didn't face any severe mountain driving in our trip across country. We did bypass some of the most direct routes in the mountains after driving and exploring the area with the toad. You will find RV parking at all the visitors centers. It may not be labeled for RV's but the parking lots are all large and you should have no problem finding an empty place to park (sort of like finding a spot on a Wal-Mart parking lot).

On the return trip you might explore a little of southern Oregon and northern California. You could stop to visit volcanoes, Crater Lake NP, the spectacular redwoods, gold mining country around Sacramento and then pick up I-80 east which is the easiest fast route through the Rocky Mountains. The Great Salt Lake and Salt Lake City, Utah could be interesting stops. Along that route you will pass the salt flats in eastern Utah that are where the land speed trials are held. You'll go back into Wyoming and pass the southern route into Grand Teton National Park and then Yellowstone.

You could head south from Sacramento to Las Vegas, NV which has RV parks at several of the casinos. Visit the spectacular Hoover Dam, see the Grand Canyon. There are numerous national parks in southern Utah and more to be seen in southern Colorado. The possibilities are endless!

If you aren't interested in the Lewis and Clark trip, take any other special interest you have and construct a trip based on that. There are people who want to visit every baseball park as they travel, people who follow the NASCAR race circuit, visit museums of any and all kinds, visit factories or any other places that are of interest to you.

[golfgirl13]

This is wonderful information, especially for new RV'rs. Any suggestions for a trip from Central FL to Santa FE, NM?