Mega trip to the US Rockies
 

We're planning a trip next summer to a mixture of Colorado and Wyoming - with visits to RMNP and Yellowstone a must. ANy recommendations on other must sees or routes welcome.

Mark.

To give us a little background, how long will you have? Are you wanting to do any hiking, backpacking, or camping? Are you flying in or driving? If driving, from where?

Sure. 3 weeks or just over. There are 5 of us - 3 youngish kids, but all used to travelling. We normally pre-book accommodation and don't mind longish car journeys.

Mark

And we'll be flying in (from the UK) - but have a choice of where at the moment - could be Denver, Las Vegas, or to Salt Lake etc via LA.

Make sure you spend 2-3 days in Grand Teton National Park, just south of Yellowstone. Also, the town of Jackson, also in the area is worth 1-2 days.

You might consider flying into one city and out of another, depending on how much rental car drop-off would cost. If you heve to choose only one city to fly in and out of, then Denver makes the most sense. Las Vegas is too far from everything. As I recall, Denver and SLC are both around an 8 hour drive from Yellowstone. SW Colorado is 7 hours from Denver and 4 from Albuquerque.

I'd definitely recommend the spots you've already mentioned, as well as the San Juan Mountains, in SW Colorado. You might want to spend a week in and around Durango, then 3 or 4 days near RMNP, finishing off with a week in the Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Cody, Wyoming, areas. You'll notice that that leaves you with a couple of extra days for driving.

If you want this to be a "driving a lot and seeing everything" kind of trip, with no more than a couple of days in each place, here's a plan:

You might start in Denver, drive south to Colorado Springs, then west on Hwy 160 to Great Sand Dunes NM, then over Wolf Creek Pass to enjoy Pagosa Hot Springs.

From there, it's an hour or so to Durango, worth a few days, including a side trip to Mesa Verde, also rafting and a cowboy show, maybe the Narrow Gauge Train.

From Durango, take the Million Dollar Hwy north to Silverton and Ouray. Take a jeep tour in Ouray, then visit Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP near Montrose. There is a llama farm/B&B nearby in Cedaredge. You may want to visit Grand mesa from there. Then Grand Junction to visit Colorado National Monument.

Drive up to Aspen, and maybe take Independence Pass over the mountains to Leadville. Then drive up to Grand Lake, on the western edge of RMNP, or Estes Park to the east. Make sure that you drive Trail Ridge Road across the park.

In Wyoming, consider stopping by the Wind River Range. Make sure you visit Grand Teton NP, in addition to Yellowstone. Take a float and/or white water raft trip on the Snake River. Don't miss the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody. On your way back to Denver, try to visit the Snowy Mountain range, and soak for a while in the hobo (hot spring) pool in Centennial.

I have this tour starting in the south, then working northward to catch the best of the weather.

P.S. Moon Publishing's Colorado and Wyoming Handbooks could be extremely helpful in making your plans.

Many thanks - I was thinking of something similar in terms of itinerary, probably trying to minimise the change in overnights with the kids.

I agree with minimizing the overnights. You could do the complicated itenerary with 3-5 day stays in Durango, Estes Park, Yellowstone and Grand Teton.