East coast to Yellowstone

[philly_air]

We have a trip booked next summer to Yellowstone and will be making the long pull from the east coast ((Philadelphia area).

I’m looking for route advise and also recommendations for overnight stops (Walmart/Cabelas/etc).

This will be by far our longest AS trip and we’re really excited!

Thanks!

[Lily&Me]

You may get some specific recommendations here, but the AllStays app is an excellent resource for overnights such as WalMart, truck stops, etc., as well as campgrounds.

Depending on how you decide to route, how long you have for your trip and how far you wish to drive each day, where you decide to stop will be dependent on these factors.

One of the great advantages to non-campground overnites is that they require no reservations.

Sounds like a great adventure for you...enjoy!

Maggie

[Woosch]

We towed from the west coast to the Mothership last summer. One place I would try and avoid is I80 south of Chicago. It wasn't undoable but I swear to you I have NEVER seen so many semi trucks at one time! I70 until your clear of that would be my recommendation.

If it works for you, try and stop at the Black Hills in South Dakota. We stayed at the Rafter-J in Hill City and really enjoyed our time there. So many things to do. Also, Devils Tower and Little Big Horn are doable.

Have a great trip!

[HowieE]

All Stay works. You can filter on any one of 2 dozen options that cover camping to low bridges.

[gypsydad]

We like RVParky app and also we use the Don Wrights Guide to Free to Low Cost camping. We have stayed at several of the recommended sites without reservations...

[Wayne&Sam]

Heading west on 80, our first stop is PennWood Airstream Campground. Next we may stop at Jackson Center if we've made a service appointment.

From then on we just look up on Allstays when were ready to quit for the day.

[NCMEDIC]

AllStays is great. There is a full service campground with FHU at the Cabela's in Sidney, NE. We used several Cabela's locations for overnight stays enroute to Yellowstone.

[VT Wanderer]

We're from northern VT and travel west almost yearly, but this coming summer we are visiting relatives 1st in CT, so... I-84 west - I-81 south - I-80 west (that you will already be on from Philly area) - 1st day (600+ miles) stay in RV parking at Ohio Turnpike I-80 service center near Amherst OH - $20 you can hook-up electric for Air conditioning if hot - Day 2 = I-80/I-90 west - (stay as far south and west of Chicago as possible - crazy driving) - get on I-39/I-90 north - I-90 will bear west, north of Madison (take it) - continue on I-90 to La Crosse WIS - Walmart Super Store right off highway in Onalaska - (near Mississippi River) - FREE, but always check with store to say you're there and shop - end day 2 (600+ miles) - Day 3 stay on I-90 west to Wall, SD - Sleepy Hollow Camp Ground (cheap $30+-) - empty holding tanks - visit tourist town - end day 3 (500+ miles) (Badlands is a must in the area if you haven't done it) Day 4 - I-90 west (again) - exit Buffalo WY - Route 16 over Big Horn Mountains - use low gear and engine brakes if you have diesel - continue to Cody WY (some twists but RT 16 is your aiming point - Absoroka Bay Campground (cheap $30+-) If you haven't done it... Cody Museum is spectacular - also Rodeo Night is fun - end day 4 (500 ish miles) Day 5 - 2 hours to the East entrance of Yellowstone. If you don't have one, be sure to buy a senior lifetime pass to all the national parks. Be sure to visit Grand Tetons just south of YS. Make reservations for both YS and Tetons NOW. Any questions contact me at sgraner@aol.com

[Doc Foster]

I too would recommend that you steer clear of I80 any where around Chicago. Either take a scenic detour up I 75 through Mackinac Island and the UP, or head south and take I70. Though I70 through Ohio is only marginally better. When I travel West from Maryland, I always take I70 through MD, the I79 South around Morgantown down to Charleson, then head Est on I64. Thus has much less traffic and better roads. You could then pick up 70 at St. Louis.
head North at Kansas City on I29 and pick up I90 at Sioux Falls.
Definitely stop in the Black Hills - many campgrounds and sightseeing (Mt. Rushmore, Black Hills SP, etc.). I also second the recommendation staying a night in Cody, WY and check out the Buffalo Bill Museum. We stayed at the Walmart there this summer (along with ~30 other RV's). RESERVE NOW FOR YELLOWSTONE !!!

[Wayne&Sam]

VT Wandwerer- I was going to mention the Ohio Turnpike rest stops, but we use them on the way back, not going out.

Depending on what route you take, also consider Cabellas.

[Silverbee]

Hi,
Here are a couple of options near Cody/East Entrance to Yellowstone:

Near the East entrance to Yellowstone, Buffalo Bill State Park.
http://travel.wyo-park.com/campgroun...-park/Overview
It is just beautiful. It has reservable and first come first serve campsites. You overlook the Buffalo Bill Cody Reservoir with water and electric hookups. It is located between Cody and Yellowstone (about 9 miles from Cody and then about 20 more miles to Yellowstone). It is a Wyoming State Park. The Buffalo Bill Dam and museum is close by and well worth a stop.

A nice place for an overnight is the town of Powell, Wyoming in the City Park at the Pioneer Museum. They are okay with campers overnighting for one night. It is free, has a dump station and picnic tables and grills. They also have restrooms in the museum which they leave open overnight.

Also in between Cody and Powell is The Heart Mountain War Relocation Center, named after nearby Heart Mountain. It was one of ten internment camps for Japanese Americans evicted from the West Coast Exclusion Zone during World War II.

An area we enjoyed that doesn't get a lot of mention and it is only about 80 miles from Cody is the town of Thermopolis and the Hot Springs State Park.
http://wyoparks.state.wy.us/index.ph...go/hot-springs.
When you leave Themopolis a must drive is down the Wind River Scenic Byway to the town of Shoshoni. It is about a 40 minute drive and has been voted one of the top 10 scenic byways in the U.S.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

A lot of this depends on how much time you have. If this is a "pack it into 3 weeks" sort of trip, you will be doing a lot of days with 5+ hours of driving. If you have two or three times that much, you can do a lot of things on the way out and on the way back.

Some math:

Round trip according to Mr Google is 4,400 miles.

Assume you average 55 MHP on driving days, including time for breaks.

6 hours x 55 = 330 miles a day

4,400 / 330 = 13.3 days of driving (so 2 weeks, a week out and a week back).

Can you drive 15 hours a day - sure. Can you average 65 MPH over 15 hours ... doubtful. At some point it stops being a vacation and gets into the death match category

I would not try to do Yellowstone its self in anything under a week. I would also include Grand Teton as part of any "Yellowstone" trip. The longer you can stay the better. There is a lot to see and a it's spread out. Pretty much any time you will be there, traffic on the park area roads isn't moving very fast ....

I would do the driving as something like 2 days driving and 2 days out camping / sightseeing. That gets you to 4 weeks of travel. If you spend two to four weeks there, it's a total trip of 6 to 8 weeks.

Lots of options.

Bob

[slowmover]

50-mph with breaks is more reasonable. Engine run time average mph will be 55-mph if travel speed is 67-mph. And it's not easy to maintain that.

FWIW, truck drivers are limited to eleven hours of driving in a fourteen hour day. That's easy enough first two days. But not after that.

Recommend fewer hours. It's fatiguing.

Miles are easier once past Chicago. Plan with that in mind. Traffic volume is the problem.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by slowmover

50-mph with breaks is more reasonable. Engine run time average mph will be 55-mph if travel speed is 67-mph. And it's not easy to maintain that.

FWIW, truck drivers are limited to eleven hours of driving in a fourteen hour day. That's easy enough first two days. But not after that.

Recommend fewer hours. It's fatiguing.

Miles are easier once past Chicago. Plan with that in mind. Traffic volume is the problem.

Hi

If you have three dogs (we'll blame them ... I don't *think* they read the forum .... ) that need to stop every 2 hours, your break time will add up. If you are one of those "we stop for 15 minutes for lunch, why stop any other time?" travelers .... they don't add up quite so much

An added part of the process - how long does it take on each end to get to the "campsite" after you are off the interstate? If it's a rest area on the Ohio Turnpike, the answer is "how fast can I brake?" . If you are headed to Pennwoods or someplace equally nice, the off route drive there likely adds a bit of time.

For us, a 250 mile day is pretty typical, even with the dogs. A 300 mile day is do-able. Depending on how much of a lead foot drive it is, our "time to get gas" range is around 280 to 330 miles. Adding another stop to the day stretches things out a bit ....The dogs *have* to get out at any stop

Bob

[slowmover]

I was trying to make the point that planning above a 50-mph average is unreasonable. And that back to back long days are far harder than they may seem.

So, in that vein, one might wish to log the departure and arrival times. Weeks worth of info. To come up with ones own average. Time, not just distance.

[polarlyse]

We drove west last year from NJ. Not to Yellowstone but into Wyoming then north to Alaska. Check out Corps of Engineer CG's. They have a website or get the book from Amazon ( Camping w the COE). If you are old enough to have the Nat Park pass the COE's accept that for 1/2 off camping. Best deal in the house. Try and route yourself along the way and walmart it in between. We found one in SE Ohio there are several in Illinois along the Mississippi R. Others in SD, ND, Montana. A great resource.

[Piggy Bank]

We live in Kansas City and have gone to Yellowstone the last 2 summers with our airstream.

Here are some places we have stayed and can recommend for an overnight stay en route.

I-80 in Nebraska, central-eastern part. Kearney RV park. Private RV park, flat, pull through, great for an overnight stop. Reservations accepted.

I-80 in Nebraska, western part. Cabellas in Sydney NE. First come, first served. We were traveling Fourth of July weekend and arrived at about 5 pm to fine the place about ¾ full. By dark they were full, and at dawn they had boondockers parked as well.

Dubios WY KOA. If you take the route across i-80 and then north west through the Wind River Range, you end up in Dubois. Cute little town with a cowboy feel. Reservations accepted.

Coming back, if you go through Denver, for the love of all that is good, take the turnpike around the metro. They use cameras to capture your license plate and mail you a bill.

Limon Colorado KOA is nice for an overnight if you are on I-70.

Cottonwoods RV park in Columbia MO is also great for an overnight on I-70.

If you are traveling any time after June 1 you will want electric so you can run your air conditioning. It is HUMID in Nebraska and Kansas and Missouri. You could be OK with open windows in WY or CO as that climate is desert and less humid, temps are comfortable for sleeping once the sun sets.

[Free bird]

We took I 90 across to Yellowstone. Stop for at least a day a Custer State Park in South Dakota. You'll see all the wild animals roaming free.
Enjoy.

[StrmyWeather]

You don't mention what your timeframe is so I'll just offer up our experience. We were in a hurry. Our last real camping/vacation stop this past Spring was Yellowstone. We left Livingston late Sunday afternoon and drove straight through (with a stop at Mt Rushmore) to Jackson Center to the Airstream plant using the interstate because we had reservations for work to be done that Thursday. We got there Wednesday mid-day in time for the tour (which was fantastic). We drive about 60mph when we tow. We drove a southern route (I believe using 90, 380, 80,74,70) and stayed all 3 nights at rest stops along the way. They were very good. We started to pull into the truck/trailer areas the first two nights, but, because there was so much empty space on the car parking areas and because they were also well lit, we ended up parking all 3 nights in the car sections rather than taking up a space from a trucker. No problems. I hope you get to take more time for your trip than we had in getting to the factory. Yellowstone is a great park. Safe Travels.