gnggng

My husband will be retiring next spring and we are planning a long road trip out west.

We did the Utah parks a couple of years ago as a fly drive and enjoyed it immensly, but figured since we have the time we would just take our time and drive out this time.

I have come up with a rough outline of the trip. We decided we did not want to do long days of driving from one place to the other, so I have spaced out our stops so as to enable us to enjoy the journery as well as destinations. I also planned so as to use Hilton points whenever possible although the hotels do not have bookings available this far in advance. Here is the proposed itinerary...

Itinerary edited 07/09/2012
1.Louisville Ky to Racine for a family visit.
2.Rochester MN (overnight)
3.Sioux Falls SD (overnight)
4.Rapid City SD (overnight) with a detour through Badlands.
5.Custer (overnight) with sightseeing of Custer State Pk and surrounding areas.
6.Custer second night
7.Buffalo WY (overnight) with more sightseeing before leaving the Black Hills area and a stop at Devils Tower.
8.Cody MT (overnight)
9.Cody MT (overnight)with round trip drive to Red Lodge and Beartooth Hwy returning via Chief Joseph Hwy.
10.Canyon Lodge Yellowstone
11.Gardiner Mt
12.Old Faithful Snow Lodge (overnight)
13.Old Faithful Snow Lodge (overnight)
14.West Yellowstone hotel. (overnight)
15.West Yellowstone hotel. (overnight)
16.Jackson Hole (overnight) Tetons
17.Jackson Hole (overnight) Tetons
18.Jackson Hole (overnight) Tetons
19.Jackson Hole (overnight) Tetons
20.Rawlins WY (overnight)
21.Ft Collins Hotel CO (overnight) with some touring of RMNP
22. Estes Park CO hotel (overnight)RMNP
23. Estes Park CO hotel (overnight)RMNP
24.Gunnison CO hotel (overnight)
26.Down 550 to Durango hotel (overnight)
27.Durango (overnight) with visit to Mesa Verde
28. Alamosa CO(overnight) with visit to Great Sand Dunes St Pk
29.Taos NM (overnight)
30.Santa Fe NM (overnight)
31.Santa Fe NM (overnight)
32.Santa Fe NM (overnight)
33.Santa Fe NM (overnight)
34.Amarillo Tx some touring Rte 66
35.Oklahoma City OK (overnight) some touring Rte 66
36. Springfield MO (overnight)
37. Ofallon Il (overnight)
38. Back to square one in Louisville Ky

Would love any not to miss sights along the way.

cblaisd

Very, very envious!

In Durango, we love the river-side rooms at the Doubletree. And Ken and Sue's restaurant is a do-not-miss.

Alamosa has a brand new Hampton Inn, and a restaurant, Cavillo's, that has the best New Mexican-style Mexican food I've ever eaten.

Some of the most interesting old route 66 sections are in southwest Missouri.

Mesa Verde is a pretty good hike from Durango, and leaving, as your itinerary suggests, for it in the morning and then backtracking/driving all the way to Alamosa might make for a very long day.

sonofzeus

An invaluable tool for minimizing your gas expenses:

http://gasbuddy.com/Trip_Calculator.aspx

gnggng

We are planning to spend two nights in Durango so we will be returning there after Mesa Verde before heading on to Alamosa. Is this a doable plan?

KoKoBuddy

I don't think you need 4 nights in Santa Fe.

You're leaving out the best part of Montana...the western 1/3 of the state including Glacier NP, Missoula, Flathead area.

cblaisd

Yes

amanuensis

Some South Dakota suggestions:

I'd recommend staying in Deadwood, SD instead of Rapid City. Deadwood is a much more interesting tourist town. (My wife is from there.) There is a Hampton Inn there located in a casino. But of course Rapid City is more conveniently located to Mount Rushmore if that is to be your focus for that day.

Don't overlook Wind Cave National Park and/or Jewel Cave National Monument.

Take the scenic drive through Spearfish Canyon and stop to look at the waterfalls and do some short hikes.

Regarding Cody, it is in Wyoming, not Montana. Be sure to allow time to tour the Buffalo Bill Cody historical center there.

gnggng

KoKoBuddy...I do know we are leaving out lots of interesting places in Montana, but we are planning to visit Glacier on another trip which will include the Canadian Rockies. Where would you suggest adding on if we cut out one of the nights in Santa Fe?

sonofzeus...thanks for the gas tool. Should be very useful.

amanuensis...I had considered Deadwood for an overnight, but we are planning to tour the Mt Rushmore area from Rapid City. We are also including Custer St Park and the Caves. I do know that Cody is in Wyoming and not Montana, just a mistake in posting. The Buffalo Bill museum sounds very interesting.

Thanks for all the input.

JPat

I don't think four nights in Santa Fe is too much. Plenty to see and eat in this town. Also a couple of side trips that I like: Los Alamos & Bandelier National Monument, very underrated IMHO. The High Road from Taos to Santa Fe, great views and a cute little town or two. The High Bridge over the Rio Grande just NE of Taos is quite a sight. Chaco Canyon is fascinating as well.

Think about spending a night up @ Mesa Verde. Sunrise there is sublime. Durango has grown quite a bit and is quite touristy these days. My opinion of Ken & Sue's restaurant is far lower that an earlier poster to this thread. Also in Colorado: The Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP is extraordinary and I wouldn't miss it.

Two other really interesting mountain towns in CO are Telluride and Breckenbridge. I think they are worth considering.

Also; my wife is a big fan of Red Lodge and has been trying to get me there for years. Might want to consider a longer stop.

If interested in Santa Fe tips send a PM and I can provide some other ideas there.

jneugeba

I would personally decrease your time in Santa Fe and increase your time in the Black Hills. One thing to remember about the Black Hills is that even though things are only say 10 miles apart it may take more than an hour to get from point A to point B. This could also be the case in Yellowstone, RMNP, etc.

gnggng

Looks like their are differing opinions here and I guess that's what makes the world go round.

I will have to investigate the Black Hills area further and see if I need to add another day. Our timeline is flexible, so I could add here and there without having to drop anywhere else.

Thanks for all the input on this trip.

Travel K

I think you would need to cut more than one day to go to Glacier. It is a bit far from Yellowstone and Glacier has a lot to see.

You will love driving from Red Lodge to Cooke City. It is quite the trip!! We did it last summer with our pickup and enclosed trailer...we now understand why rigs over 40' are not allowed!! The highest point is 11,000 ft. It is slow driving, just heads up.

gnggng

Is Montrose Co a good alternative to staying in Gunnison overnight? We will be coming from Breckenridge and want to explore the Black Canyon area and then on to Durango.

KoKoBuddy

Separate trip to Glacier, etc, makes sense. I know Yellowstone gets the big PR. But personally between Yellowstone and Glacier, Glacier wins hands down as the better park. Maybe it's the crowds at YS, just horrendous in the summer. You didn't say when you're planning this trip - time of year. If you go in the summer, YS park will be wall to wall people and awful traffic. Aim to be there either in spring or fall.

One piece of advice I'd give if you make this trip in the summer is book ahead, especially in the smaller towns/cities. There are long stretches of highway without any hotels/motels out west. So the few that are there get filled up fast - and cost a lot - during the summer rush. Don't be surprised to pay $125 a night for a run down Days Inn.

gnggng

This trip will begin the last few days of August 2012 and should be arriving Yellowstone just after the Labor Day Weekend. We are hoping for smaller crowds by then. I already have reservations for Yellowstone, but most other hotels don't have their reservations open that far in advance. Seems most are about 10 months out, so I will keep checking back for availability. I am also hoping to use Hilton points everywhere we can.

Thanks for the tips.