Denver Yellowstone Seattle Roadtrip
 

My husband and I are flying into Denver this July with a big group for the Rockies/Phillies game. After the weekend we plan on renting a car and driving from Denver to Yellowstone and then ultimately to Seattle and fly home from there Leaving Denver we will have 6-7 days to do this. Are there any routes or must see sights recommended on either from Denver to Yellowstone or Yellowstone to Seattle? All advice welcomed as we are both from Philadelphia and first timers on the west coast.

If you haven't booked accommodations in/near Yellowstone you may be out of luck at this late date.

Before worrying about a specific route or what to see/do -- nail down places to stay ASAP.

(Denver > Yellowstone > Seattle is about 24 hours car time w/o stops or time IN Yellowstone, so three full days/half of your time.)

Agree with janisj on this one. Find out where you can stay within your time frame in the Yellowstone area.
Have you checked on the one way drop fee between Denver and Seattle? You may get sticker shock.
You might be better off getting from Denver to SLC (fly or train) and going to Yellowstone with a rental car from there and returning it there and then flying SLC to SEA.
The Amtrak California Zephyr leaves Denver Union Station shortly after 8AM (sometimes late) and arrives in SLC very early in the morning the next day.
It has some of the best scenery of any Amtrak route through the Rockies (Glenwood Canyon and Ruby Canyon).

I think the hardest thing to realize about Yellowstone is how huge it is, so do some research and figure out what things you really want to see there and focus on those. For me, it's the thermal areas, which are truly unique in this U.S.

I just got back from Yellowstone, and if I could not get lodging in the park, I would try to stay in Gardiner, Montana, which is at the northwest entrance and only about five miles from Yellowstone's beautiful Mammoth Hot Springs area. Since you don't have a lot of time, you might consider taking one the the day tours offered by the park service. You could get out of the car and let someone shuttle you around to some of Yellowstone's highlights. Here's a link to more info: http://www.yellowstonenationalparklo...stone-in-a-day

You're going to be faced with a very high-speed visit for Yellowstone, but you probably guessed that already.

I just picked some days a week apart in July and checked rental car prices on Expedia. A one week rental from Denver to Seattle is around $1100 counting the one-way fee/rates. The same week with a car picked up in Bozeman Montana is $650. One-way plane tickets from DEN to BZN are $105 on Frontier, so you'd save both time and money (if there are two of you) by flying to Bozeman, renting the car there, visiting Yellowstone (an hour from BZN) and dropping the car in Seattle.

My suggestion -

Day 1 - Denver to Bozeman. Drive 20 min. west from the airport to the Land of Magic for the best steak dinner in the west. You'll thank me, just sayin'. Overnight somewhere around Bozeman. http://www.landofmagicsteakhouse.com/home.aspx http://gardyloo.us/xcountry%20160sm.JPG

Day 2 - Bozeman to Yellowstone. I'd look for accommodations in Gardiner MT rather than inside the park. Gardiner is very close to one of the park highlights, Mammoth Hot Springs. Spend the day exploring Yellowstone NP.

Day 3 - Same as above, more exploration. Stay in Gardiner again.

Day 4 - Travel south through Yellowstone to Jackson WY, so you can see the front range of the Grand Tetons. Spend the night in Jackson.

Day 5 - Jackson to Missoula MT. Missoula is a very pretty college town in a spectacular setting.

Day 6 - Missoula to Seattle.

Map - https://goo.gl/maps/8ep2SweK8ts

Alternatively, you could drop the car back at BZN, thereby saving another $300 or so on the rental (fewer days) and fly one way to Seattle for around $150 per person.

Wait a minute. If you are coming from Denver to Yellowstone you are not going to be anywhere near Bozeman. Bozeman is in Montana and the other side of Yellowstone. The Day 1 recommendation of driving to Bozeman would put you past Yellowstone. At 700 miles it more than day drive. Something is wrong with that recommendation.

The more or less normal route to Yellowstone from Denver. I-25N to Ft. Collin, take the 287 cut off to Laramie, I-80 to 191 near Rock Springs and north to Yellowstone. An option is I-25 to Casper and then through either Riverton or Cody to Yellowstone. I must be missing something because the Bozeman, MT, recommendation makes absolute no sense to me if you are coming from Denver.

fmpden: >>Wait a minute. If you are coming from Denver to Yellowstone you are not going to be anywhere near Bozeman. Bozeman is in Montana and the other side of Yellowstone. The Day 1 recommendation of driving to Bozeman would put you past Yellowstone. At 700 miles it more than day drive. Something is wrong with that recommendation.<<

Get w/ the program here ;)

The recommendation was NOT to <i>drive</i> to Bozeman, but to <u>fly</u> . . .

. . . which was a great idea BTW to cut a whole lot of car time and save $$ as well.