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We would appreciate any advice on planning our 2 week crosscountry adventure. We are novices at planning anything of this type in the US. And to keep our sanity, have a 13 year old horse-loving, bug-hating daughter we would like to keep engaged along the way as well. Is this plan scheduled well for a family that's never travelled together? Please feel free to comment with any suggestions.
Here's what we have planned so far:
Day 1 (25th Sat):12 hr trip to Rapid city
Hotel in Rapid City HoJo
Day 2(26th Sun): Spend day around Black hills
Mt Rushmore
Black hills
Horse Sanctuary
Day 3(27th Mon): 8 hr trip to Yellowstone
Day 4,5,6,7 (28th, 29th 30th, 31st, Tues Wed Thur Fri)
Spend days in Yellowstone and Grand Teton
Including a raft trip on snake river
Day 8 (Sat 1st): Drive 5 hours to Flaming Gorge Lodge in UT
Spend rest of day hiking/on water there
Day 9 (Sun 2nd):
Drive 2 hrs to Dinosaur National Monument, spend 4-6 hours here
Drive 3 hours to Grand Junction CO
Day 10 (Mon 3rd): Spend day in and around Grand Junction
Colorado National Monument
Day 11 (Tues 4th)
Drive 3.5 hours to Buena Vista, stopping somewhere like Vail or Aspen to look around
Spend 3-4 hours visiting with a friend in Buena Vista
Spend 1.5 hours traveling to Vail CO
Day 12 (Wed 5th)
Spend day somewhere around Vail (top of the Rockies)
Drive 2 hours to Denver/Boulder to sleep
Day 13 (Thur 6th)
Spend day in Rocky Mountain National Park (1.5 hr trip one way)
spend night in Denver or Boulder
Day 14 (Fri 7th): Drive 15 hours home from Denver
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Help!!!Novices planning a trip to SD,YNP, GTetons,Utah, CO w/ 13 year girl
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Hi TriptakerJen - thanks for making this clearer!
I'm not sure I (a Brit!) can comment too much on your Colorado parts, but I have been to most of these places, so I do have a couple of comments.
Firstly, it's a pity you can't stay longer in the Black Hills. We stayed there for 3 nights, last year - and that wasn't nearly enough time, as there's loads of interest in the area. If you have time for nothing else, please try to drive around Custer State Park - it's beautiful and there are huge herds (?) of buffalo, as well as burros, prairie dogs (so cute), elk etc - your daughter will love it!
You haven't said from which direction you'll be driving, but, if from the east, do stop at Badlands NP on your way, if you can.
You will all love Yellowstone! If you have time, have a look at Cody (to the east of the park) - lots of western stuff!
If you don't have any other reason to stay in either Denver or Boulder, when you visit RMNP, there is a very nice town (Loveland) near the entrance to the park, with lots of (what looked like) nice hotels.
Tell your daughter not to worry about bugs! I also hate them, but she won't see many, if any!
Have a great trip!
There are lots of opportunities for horseback riding along your route--if you can make the time.
Thanks so much for the tips Wildblueyonder! We are coming from the east and making a big loop around. We originally wanted to fit Salt Lake City in for a couple of days , but decided that would be pushing it.We'll be sure to try to fit in Custer State Park as that seems to be a big recommendation on a lot of the forums!
Thanks again!
8 hr trip to Yellowstone
5 hours to Flaming Gorge Lodge in UT
2 hrs to Dinosaur National Monument
3 hours to Grand Junction CO
I think you need to plan about 1/2 to an hour longer for actual driving times for these legs of the trip. You also have to add in pit stops, gas stops and eating stops. Traffic, slower curvey roads and getting stuck behind a motorhome on two lane roads.
Utahtea
I would take a day away from Yellowstone and spend more time in the Black Hills. I was really impressed with how beautiful it is. Definitely drive the Needles Highway there.
You have very beautiful & scenic places on your itinerary, but you are spending most of your vacation in your car. The first day of 12 hours & a last day of 15, are not going to be fun. I know with our trips to Yellowstone & Colorado our daughters wanted out of the car after 8 hours.
Mountain driving, and your itinerary has a lot of it, takes much longer than you (or google/mapquest) have estimated, especially when you are not on the interstate highways. You will find road construction, because summer is when work on the mountain roads can be accomplished. I know there is construction along I90 in SD that will slow you for some miles.
A couple suggestions:
On Day 2 you can easily combine Custer State Park & Mt. Rushmore. If the Wild Horse Sanctuary is important to you, you could start the day by driving there and then driving back through part of Custer State park and ending at Mount Rushmore.
Day 12 rather than drive east to Denver to sleep & next day driving northwest to Rocky MNP, you could drive northeast from Vail. And since you aren't planning on sightseeing in Denver, avoid some of the traffic and travel to either I25/I80 or I76 from Loveland on Day 14.
Here's a link to some planning information we put together for Yellowstone. It might help you get oriented there. If you haven't been there before, the place is huge.
http://www.alandsuejohnson.com/yellowstone_planning_a_trip.htm
There's other info there too under the Yellowstone link on the left.
I'm going to disagree with BarbaraS. With only 4 days slated for Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, you will need all of that time and more to really see these parks. I wouldn't take away any of that time.
Utahtea
I tend to agree with utahtea on both the driving estimates and the amount of time in GTNP and Yellowstone. We've spent up to 2 weeks just in those 2 parks and there is SO much to enjoy and do. I definitely wouldn't take a day away from them.
Otherwise, I think your schedule is pretty good. Yes, a lot of driving, but very doable is you want to cover that much ground.
Oh Thanks so much for all your comments LHS, AIJ (alot of info with the link
, Dfr4848 and Utahtea for helping put this all in better perspective.
We are trying to combine the YNP trip with a good mix to include Colorado and that might be too adventurous especially the driving part. Generally we've taken trips in Europe and were only able to "taste" a bit of each region. We always plan to go back to get more indepth as we discover what areas interest us more. This applies here as well.
We were also hoping to stay in one place and do more day tripping to avoid more packing and unpacking. I am very concerned on the amount of driving, however. Guess that's why I love Europe and the ease of use of train system.
Your suggestions are very much appreciated.