San Francisco to Yellowstone park west
 

San Francisco to Yellowstone West entrance.

Ideas please for best route by car taking 2 days and stopping to see sights and route back 2 days. Trip planned for May 2020. Thanks.

>>Ideas please for best route by car taking 2 days and stopping to see sights and route back 2 days. <<

Two days is not long enough for the drive IF you plan on any sightseeing along the way. Taking the fastest route would require about 15 hours behind the wheel without any stops. So IRL two FULL days of driving without any stops other than fast food/gas/rest areas and definitely no detours.

If you want a more leisurely drive -- you'd need three days each way (at least)

I agree that 3 days would be the most enjoyable plan, was the time we took from the Bay Area. One utility overnight at the turn north off I-80 in Wells NV, 2nd night to enjoy the hot springs at Lava Hot Springs, then north through Jackson to enter Yellowstone from the south. You mention West Yellowstone but coming from the south allows a drive through the Tetons, quite beautiful even if you decide not to stop as we didn't.

With two days I'd take the fastest route and probably spend the night in Elko NV. How many days are you planning to spend in Yellowstone and how early in May? Here are the road opening dates for next spring https://www.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/parkroads.htm

If you are planning on renting a car anyway, you can take an Amtrak bus from Fisherman's Wharf early in the morning to Emeryville to get on the California Zephyr. The train arrives in Salt Lake City between 3-4 AM. Get a good breakfast in SLC (Denny's is 24 hr). Then take a taxi to the SLC airport to rent a car. I-15 goes right past the airport. Take I-15 north to Idaho Falls and take US 20 over the pass into West Yellowstone.

Take an early morning bus, then a train, arrive in the middle of the night, take a taxi, drive nearly 5 hours. The only way I'd even consider this idea is if I got a hotel room in Salt Lake City for a few hours to take a short nap, shower and have breakfast before driving to W. Yellowstone.

You could fly to Bozeman, Montana, and drive about 2 hours to W. Yellowstone.

Thank you for this advice
 

[QUOTE=janisj;16993509]>>Ideas please for best route by car taking 2 days and stopping to see sights and route back 2 days.

Thank you for this advice
 

[QUOTE=janisj;16993509]>>Ideas please for best route by car taking 2 days and stopping to see sights and route back 2 days

We plan on 2 or 3 days in Yellowstone. May 7th, 8th, 9th.

Do you live in the Bay area and do you plan to drive your own car? 4 days of driving to spend 3 days inside Yellowstone is not really worth it IMO.
In early May there may still be areas and roads closed by snow inside Yellowstone. Flying to SLC or one of the Montana airports mentioned will ensure you at least one more day in Yellowstone.
As for the Amtrak California Zephyr, DW and I have slept on the train between Elko NV and SLC. It is more comfortable in a Roomette than in coach seats.
A few years ago we left Sacramento after 11AM and got off at 3:30AM in SLC. We had a leisurely breakfast at Denny's and then got another taxi to the airport. We still had to wait for the car rental to open.
We were in Moab in time for lunch.

shazakz: Did you read / understand the answers you already received. 2 days is NOT enough time to drive from San Francisco to Yellowstone if you want to see any sites on the way.

And it is barely enough time to drive it at all, especially if you have children with you (you didn't mention a family but with the extra stops needed when traveling with kids -- you'd definitely need more time)

It looks like you only have 6 or 7 days total in early May. This is just not a practical plan. Unless you can fly from SF to Bozeman or somewhere and back, else you simply do not have enough time. And early May is awfully early to visit Yellowstone. There will still be a lot of snow.

You can't really do much sightseeing along the way, as you are talking about a 1,000 drive over 2 days.

I do have a suggestion, though, if you are a member of the Auto Club. They STILL have the old "triptik" -- now by email and download format, and they are still in the business of providing you with the most scenic or interesting routes. In short, to assist you with your question. We used it years ago to get from LA to Yellowstone by car, quite successfully!

I think from San Francisco, the route suggested in the link below would be ideal:

https://www.oars.com/blog/yellowston...san-francisco/

At that time of year you'll be limited in terms of which roads inside Yellowstone are open and can still run into snow. For example, the south entrance doesn't open until the 8th so you couldn't enter via Jackson on arrival. You could possibly depart via Jackson but that date is weather permitting. With the amount of time you have I would fly. If flights to closer airports are too expensive, you could look into flying to Salt Lake City and driving from there.

[
Thank you. We have decided to take your advice and do this trip some other time and take longer in maybe late June
Your advice is much appreciated.

QUOTE=janisj;16993943]shazakz: Did you read / understand the answers you already received. 2 days is NOT enough time to drive from San Francisco to Yellowstone if you want to see any sites on the way.

And it is barely enough time to drive it at all, especially if you have children with you (you didn't mention a family but with the extra stops needed when traveling with kids -- you'd definitely need more time)

It looks like you only have 6 or 7 days total in early May. This is just not a practical plan. Unless you can fly from SF to Bozeman or somewhere and back, else you simply do not have enough time. And early May is awfully early to visit Yellowstone. There will still be a lot of snow.[/QUOTE]