Advice On Trip From Santa Fe To Yellowstone

[GoSicklers]

Hi, we are planning to travel to Yellowstone this summer, leaving July 3rd. We are planning on just driving as much as we can every day until we get to the Santa Fe area, as this is scenery our kids have never experienced. My thoughts are to Stay at or near Bandelier for 2 days and use this as a home base to the part of the high road to Taos (or as much as we can get in a day) then move on to Colorado for some whitewater rafting near Canon and then to Pike's Peak to do the train up to the top. From there, we have 4 days to make it to Yellowstone. I'm struggling with the route to take. We would like to come up through the Grand Tetons and maybe get a half day or a day to check those out, if possible. We can add a day at the front end to make this happen if we need to. Or if I'm missing anything on that trip that you can recommend, I'm all game. I would love recommendations on campgrounds near: Bandelier (although they have no hook up camping we could get if we had to), Colorado Springs, Canon, CO and any place up to Yellowstone along the way. We are driving a 37' Jayco Seneca Super C, Diesel and towing a Jeep Wrangler.

[jrwitt]

For Colorado Springs, I recommend Cheyenne Mountain State Park. It is a beautiful new state park built on the side of Cheyenne Mountain which is where the old NORAD facility was located. Many of the campsites have an incredible view of the city lights at night. While visiting the Colorado Springs area, don't miss Garden of the Gods (beautiful city park with giant red rock formations), the US Olympic Training Center, the US Air Force Academy visitor's center and the interesting shops in old-town Manitou Springs. The Pikes Peak Cog Railway leaves from Manitou Springs. And if you like deep dish pizza, Bambino's the best I have ever eaten. It is at the SE corner of Circle and Platt. The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (on the same mountain as the campground) is great and has an old restored carousel. The low-stakes gambling town of Cripple Creek is in the mountains west of Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs & Manitou Springs are very tourist oriented. You could visit there for a week and not see everything. Stop at the Chamber of Commerce to pick up brochures about sites in the area.