Texas to NW US trip

SheltonsDX3 · 08-29-2021, 09:46 PM

Plannining an extended trip from Central Texas to Seattle by way of Rushmore and Glasier NP.
From Seattle down to Sacramento and Yosemite NP, back across to Denver. Then head back home.
Looking for recommendations and tips for a route, and must see places.
Will most likely will have a box trailer .

NavyLCDR · 08-29-2021, 09:50 PM

Go through Montana on the way to Seattle. There are some fantastic hot springs resorts there, such as Quinns.

Mooney 78865 · 08-30-2021, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SheltonsDX3

Plannining an extended trip from Central Texas to Seattle by way of Rushmore and Glasier NP.
From Seattle down to Sacramento and Yosemite NP, back across to Denver. Then head back home.
Looking for recommendations and tips for a route, and must see places.
Will most likely will have a box trailer .

If you can spend some time in Southern UT. Valley of the Gods, Arches and Canyonlands NPs.
Only real routing issue is Yosemite NP. Ff your planning on going through the park West to East, figure at LEAST 5-6 hours drive time minimum. Also any of the highways to the park will be a ton of fun as well. I would stay outside the park, drive in and visit, then take HWY 99 to 58, then I 40 to wherever. Also check for reservations to enter.
I live about an hour and a half from Yosemite and have gone through the park a number of times on a motorcycle. Couldn't pay me to drive the motorhome or pull a trailer through there.

debit · 08-31-2021, 12:02 AM

Coming west through Washington state, take state highway 20 across the north cascades and you will end up at I-5, which you can take south to Seattle (about 60 miles). There is great camping along Highway 20. There is also much to see at the west end of highway 20.
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Ram 2500 FR Surveyor 251rks

debit · 08-31-2021, 12:07 AM

p.s. You can also find a RV camp at the I-5/highway junction area and leave your box trailer and commute to Seattle.

jbflag21ds · 08-31-2021, 01:03 AM

Do you really want to go to Sac? Hesd to Bend, take 20 to 395 and head south on that side of the state. 395 is a much nicer prettier drive than I-5. The current fire situation may impact any route you take right now. 395 will put you on the east side of Yosemite but getting back to the park might be a little more difficult however.

Just another option.

The2002Wanderer · 08-31-2021, 01:44 PM

I did NW route in June and it was beautiful. While near Mt. Rushmore I recommend visits to Deadwood SD, Custer State Park (Wildlife Loop Drive), Crazy Horse Monument; we camped in beautiful Spearfish City park SD - take a day to drive the Spearfish Canyon. Glacier NP - has restricted entry and Road to the Sun connection from east to west side closed for repairs - check with park in advance. East side was cold and windy but west side (Apgar campground) was fantastic base for visiting - Apgar was full everyday but with large size and high turnover early arrivals could always find a site.

CALIFORNIA IS BURNING! So is much of Oregon and Washington. These largest-in-history wildfires will not be extinguished until winter snows bury them. Smoke is huge hazard to health (Check out http://purpleair.com for current air quality). ALL National Forests in Northern CA closed at this time due to fires. Portions of Hwy 395 closed as are portions of I-80 and US-50 across Sierras. Sad to say but now may not be the best time to include California in your travel plans. Today they just announce mandatory evacuations for South Lake Tahoe.

D W · 08-31-2021, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by debit

p.s. You can also find a RV camp at the I-5/highway junction area and leave your box trailer and commute to Seattle.

I wouldn't go into Seattle on a bet. Saw a report two weeks ago on our local channel 2 about Seattle. Court operations have been moved to nearby Bellevue because jurors were being harassed and assaulted by downtown factions. Additionally, the King County Sheriff has instructed her administrative employees to work from home as she can not guarantee their safety coming to work. Real nice place, I gather.

SheltonsDX3 · 08-31-2021, 06:59 PM

Thanks
We did Utah last year and loved it.

SheltonsDX3 · 08-31-2021, 07:03 PM

Dont think we will do Seatle proper, just wanted to do the west coast a little. Also we were looking at next year spring or late summer.

Tundra 2014 · 08-31-2021, 11:15 PM

I recommend a stop @ Little Big Horn- ( take the bus tour w/ the Indian), Custer State Park and Grand Teton National Park-largest variety of wildlife-very similar to YS w/ 25% of the visitor w/o geishers. In 2019 we spent a week in each of YS,Teton, Glacier, and Custer State park. All great, Teton and Glacier were our 2 favorites. We started from Dallas area 8/15, Little Big Horn was a surprise very interesting stop for a break driving and history lesson. 7th Calvary Camp Ground-they give you ice cream when you pull-in to stay there. Beware that many area activities around the campgrounds shut down after Labour Day. The camp sites in the older national parks are very small. In late September, we had lows of 16 degrees in Yellowstone w/ light snow.

Tundra 2014 · 08-31-2021, 11:31 PM

If you are going there, great area, plan as far in advance as possible to get a site in the national park. If not in the park, plan on at least a 45-1 hour of drive in or out of the park, For us ,we were there 10 years ago. Like Yellowstone, a lot of driving and traffic. We use an bluetooth app-Gypsy-$10 per park. It tracks your GPS location as you go through the park and tells you the history and the better places to stop along the route , It does not talk all the time, but alerts you as you come to attractions and suggests what to look for.

mnoland30 · 09-01-2021, 05:55 AM

If you're coming the southern route through NM, Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands might be worth a visit. Oliver Lee State park, south of Alamagordo is very nice. X3 on southern Utah parks. If you boondock, Ken's Lake is great. 10 miles from Moab, and close to Arches and Canyonlands. Spring is better for these parks because they are hot in the summer, but spring up north can have snow problems. My wife's favorite in Utah was Goblin Valley State Park. We boondocked on BLM land to be close, but there are very nice CGs in Green River.

There is not much between Albuquerque and Farmington, and I don't like to drive too much each day, so we stopped at Mesa Verde on our way. It was worth the stop. Navaho Lake State Park would be an option also.

Dirt Sifter · 09-01-2021, 09:16 AM

Since you've done UT, I agree with SD, WY and MT stops listed above. Any of the drives thru MT into ID are beautiful, but try to stop in Coeur d'Alene and take a lake tour for a good break. Moving west, a must stop is in Leavenworth on Hwy 2 out of Wenatchee, WA. Backtrack to Hwy 20 and go all the way to Oak Harbor. Look into taking a ferry across the Puget Sound, can be expensive w/ MH, but different, fun; you can just do a walk on round trip.

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