Route tip ??

Frank & Eve · 01-09-2014, 08:57 AM

From the experienced RVers....advice needed for a month long trip in June. Plan are to travel out west for the entire month of June. Wondering which route would be best. Plans are to leave from Arkansas head toward Yellowstone then on to Oregon down the Coastline hwy into Ca. Then on to Albuquerque then back home. Or if doing it in reverse would be better? Wondering about bad weather in early June in the north country ?

Great Horned Owl · 01-09-2014, 09:21 AM

that is a very ambitious trip to to do in one month. I would want at least six to eight weeks to cover that much of the country.

Frank & Eve · 01-09-2014, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Great Horned Owl

that is a very ambitious trip to to do in one month. I would want at least six to eight weeks to cover that much of the country.

The longest we are planning in one location is 4 or 5 days at Yellowstone the rest of the time will be one or two nights. First time out for more than a long weekend so we shall see. Might be ready to kill each other after a couple weeks

Oakman · 01-09-2014, 10:04 AM

If you're planning to stay at one of the campgrounds within Yellowstone make your reservations right now.

Frank & Eve · 01-09-2014, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oakman

If you're planning to stay at one of the campgrounds within Yellowstone make your reservations right now.

Thought I saw that all those campgrounds were first come bases? We have reservation at a campground just outside of the east entrance with full hookups. Understand all those in the park have no hookups ??

Oakman · 01-09-2014, 10:28 AM

Fishing Bridge has full hookup sites and you have to make reservations there. Fishing Bridge is the only campground within the park that has hookups. Reservations can also be made at Bridge Bay, Canyon, Madison, and the Grant Village campgrounds.

Frank & Eve · 01-09-2014, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oakman

Fishing Bridge has full hookup sites and you have to make reservations there. Fishing Bridge is the only campground within the park that has hookups. Reservations can also be made at Bridge Bay, Canyon, Madison, and the Grant Village campgrounds.

Tks for the info !!

bobcrowder · 01-09-2014, 12:00 PM

Are you staying at Yellowstone Valley Inn by any chance?

Frank & Eve · 01-09-2014, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobcrowder

Are you staying at Yellowstone Valley Inn by any chance?

No they were already full...We will be at Green Creek Inn and Campground. It's past Yellowstone Valley about 4 miles I think.

**bikendan** · 01-09-2014, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oakman

If you're planning to stay at one of the campgrounds within Yellowstone make your reservations right now.

same thing goes for California.
if you are expecting to camp in California, in June, you better start making reservations!

you'll be lucky to get anything in the California state parks system. coastal sites may already be gone.

bobcrowder · 01-09-2014, 12:40 PM

You might consider Fishing bridge like Oakman said. We stayed at YVI and we liked it, but you spend so much time backtracking getting back inside the park. We spent some time in Cody, so we stayed there to be in the middle. We'll be at Fishing bridge next time. I think it will be more relaxing. When everyone else was relaxing for the evening. We had another hour + of driving ahead of us just to backtrack over the same road in the morning.

1A Camper · 01-09-2014, 01:16 PM

You are planning a trip of 5000 plus miles in 30 days? 4 days at Yellowstone and 6 days other places. That means that you will be doing 250 miles behind the wheel for 20 days. We are doing a month trip to Death Valley from Denver, doing the southern route and still not being able to see all that we would like to. and then a month later we are planing to do a month trip to the Pacific NW by way of YS again not able to see all that we want too. For some 300 miles a day would be OK other like to plan a trip only doing 150 or less miles a day.
The information you have gotten here on YS is right on. We did 4 day last Sept and going back for 6 days this year, It is a big park.

Frank & Eve · 01-09-2014, 01:27 PM

This is our first trip out so all will be a learning experience. We have not made reservations any where other than Yellowstone because we don't know exactly where we will be at any given time going to play it by ear.

BamaBob · 01-09-2014, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blevinseve

From the experienced RVers....advice needed for a month long trip in June. Plan are to travel out west for the entire month of June. Wondering which route would be best. Plans are to leave from Arkansas head toward Yellowstone then on to Oregon down the Coastline hwy into Ca. Then on to Albuquerque then back home. Or if doing it in reverse would be better? Wondering about bad weather in early June in the north country ?

In a month? you do realize that a conservative estimate of this trip is @ 5,300+ miles? (More like 5,700 with detours and so forth)

(Yellowstone->OR->CA Coastline is what get you here)

I plotted a Little Rock->Yellowstone->Eugene->CA Coastline to LA->AZ->NM->Little Rock route here to illustrate:

http://goo.gl/maps/KQPKK

Might I suggest direct to Yellowstone, then down to visit Bryce canyon, Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater AZ, Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings CO, Santa Fe & on to Albquerque then home? (Save the west coast for a completely different trip)

You can absolutely occupy a month on the above itinerary - AND still feel like you were rushed! (While in Albquerque, don't forget to go down to bosque Del Apache Bird Sanctuary - although it is more amazing in the Winter it is still pretty cool in June!)

Santa Fe & ALBQ can occupy 3-5 days each (I know I lived in NM for 10+ years

N NM & S CO are beautiful...you can easily get sucked into several days there! and Mesa Verde is AMAZING!

Driving across AZ is BRUTAL (again experience talking and I was pulling a popup at the time...)

Oh, and driving across TX to get home is MO BRUTAL (again experience speaking

Just some food for thought

Oakman · 01-09-2014, 02:45 PM

I always recommend to folks who plan to visit Yellowstone to be sure to take at least one day and visit Grand Teton National Park. GTNP is just 5 miles from the south entrance of Yellowstone and the fee you pay to enter Yellowstone is good for GTNP too.

1ACamper is right, Yellowstone is a big park. It is larger than the states of Delaware and Rhode Island combined.

Mtelkman · 01-09-2014, 04:24 PM

That is a considerable area of the country to cover in a month. Wow. I feel rushed getting down the OR coast, upper CA and back through Crater Lake in a month. I feel like I miss a bunch even then. You can easily spend weeks just seeing Yellowstone and Teton.

**Terier** · 01-09-2014, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bikendan

same thing goes for California.
if you are expecting to camp in California, in June, you better start making reservations!

you'll be lucky to get anything in the California state parks system. coastal sites may already be gone.

So true! It can be hard to find a day available during peak season. Reservation window opens 7 months in advance and within 5 minutes some of the more popular parks are 100% sold out.

The county parks and private are usually busy too but you might have better luck with them. You can set up notifications with ReserveAmerica if a site opens up due to cancellation.

From what I read about the mileage I can see the value in the suggestion to save the West Coast for another trip. June & July are super busy here in California because school is out.

**bikendan** · 01-09-2014, 05:49 PM

IMHO, you're biting off a huge mouthful of a trip!
i agree that you should scale back your expectations, especially since this is your first trip.
otherwise, you'll be pushing yourself just to get to the next stop, making it a stressful experience.

often, people from the Midwest and East, have NO idea how big the West is and how long it takes to drive.

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