skynewbel

Flying into Denver next week and decided to do a road trip. After a week of Denver/Colorado Springs, I am thinking of going to Salida CO for a night so as to drive around Monarch Pass scenery and possibly check out the springs, then an itinerary as follows:

1-Fairplay for South Park City Museum
2-Glenwood Springs (what is an alternative, if any, for an overnight around this point in the trip?)
3-Loma
4-Rangely (what do you recommend on this leg)
5-Dinosaur
6-Naples UT (what's there?)
7-Vernal UT (for "funny dinosaurs"-- where are those?)
8-Rock Springs WY
9-Jackson
10-Yellowstone/Old Faithful
11-?
12-Rawlins
13-Laramie
14-Ft Collins
15-Denver
I add to my questions the following:
a) Salida or Glenwood for springs?
b) How long does it take to go from Rock Springs to Jackson, due to travel inside national park?
c) How long from Jackson to Old Faithful? I know it's 95 miles, but the ride is how long?
d) How much time from Old Faithful to Rawlins?
e) Where to sleep (best/safest/scenic town/logical distance stop) between Yellowstone and Denver-- and should I stop twice, say Rock Springs and Rawlins or Laramie?

FYI: We love natural beauty, quirky local flavor, history and science, and comfort –that is, we are not campers, extreme hikers, or extreme-adventurers, not that we can afford luxury. I like having everything figured out beforehand. I prefer not to drive more than 2-4 hours at a time and like the idea of staying more than one night where it's worth it. I am hoping to do the above trip in 5-8 days.

Also, anyone know the real scoop on where to stay in Yellowstone and Jackson, esp with me not having booked yet for mid-August?

tgbwc

Rawlins and Rock springs are small towns, but they don't have a lot going on. I mean nothing like Jackson. Laramie is a little better, I think. Laramie has a new HOliday Inn that is nice and easy to get to.

Most roads in WY can be two lane, so be prepared. If you want to do an alternative route, do one way through Cheyenne, Casper and Thermopolis. Cheyenne and Casper has some very interesting museums, like the Historial Trails Center in Casper and Ft. Caspar, too. It's about 5 to 6 hours from Jackson or Yellowstone from Casper, from Rawlins it would be more like 4-5.

Fort Collins is a neat place to visit.

I don't know much about the places in Utah. One thing you need to be warned about is that towns in Wyoming can be pretty far apart, so keep your gas tank full and have lots of water and snacks with you.

Should be a fun trip! Enjoy!

tgbwc

I apologize, the time from Rock Springs to Jackson is only 2-3 hours.

What was I thinking? LOL

Have a fantastic trip!!!

skynewbel

Thank you! I have changed my overambitious itinerary.

I am going in to YS thus:

Fort Collins to see New Belgium Brewery (anything else?)
Laramie
stay overnight in either:
Rawlins
Landers
Above I understand takes about 5 hours driving plus sightseeing.
Then, stop in Grand Teton Park, up through south entrance of Yellowstone, and after a couple of nights, out East entrance to Cody, overnight in Thermopolis, because I understand it could take 2 hours just to get out of YS park due to summer traffic and lower speed limits plus the 1.5 hours to "T-mop" after leaving Cody. Does that sound smart?

Then maybe an overnight stop in Casper or thereabouts before heading to Colorado Springs. That way I could tour the places tgbwc suggested. Or plod on?

THANKS!!

tgbwc

Fort Collins also has the Budweiser Brewery that is always interesting to see. I would stay in Lander on my way up to Yellowstone if time permits. It's a little more scenic and the Wind River Canyon is really pretty. Be warned, it's a boring drive from Rawlins to there though and cell phone service is sporadic in certain areas in Wyoming.

If you leave and come through Cody it's a gorgeous drive. You will be pretty high up there in the mountains for sure! If you like swimming in hot thermal pools, Thermopolis is definetely an overnight stay. The Holiday Inn is right by the park and they have a fantastic bar that has all kinds of animals on display. Driving to Casper, be sure to stop at Yellowstone Drug in Shoshoni for a milkshake, they are really good!!!

If you stay in Thermopolis, you can probably get to Casper in 2 hours and do a few museums and make it to Fort Collins (4 hours) or Cheyenne (3 hours) by dinnertime. It all depends on what you want to see and how much time you want to spend at each place. But if you want to get back earlier to Colorado, I would drive as far as Cheyenne and maybe stay overnight there, then head to CS the next day. CS has a lot to offer a tourist, and it's beautiful there!!!

You have a great trip planned.

Gretchen

Thermopolis has a big dinosaur exhibit. We haven't been there but considered it as a destination last year for a "dinosaur expedition" we did with our grands. It is an 8 hour drive to Denver, we calculated.