early stages in planning our first "big" road trip ...
greenhorn said
10:08 AM Oct 30, 2011
Janet and I will be bringing our 2 youngest daughters with us , Mckenna and Summer our two eldest daughters will be flying out to meet up with us in Salt Lake City. We are giving ourselves 3 weeks (4 if needed) to travel from our home in Southern Ontario out to Salt Lake where my brother is located. From there , we wanted to see many things lol .. not sure how much we can squeeze in. Our initial plan was to travel I-80 out west , stay a couple days in Salt Lake where we'll meet up and then convoy north to visit Yellowstone and area. Here's my delema .. from Yellowstone we still wanted to visit General Custer's battlefield , Kicking Horse , Mount Rushmore and Banff then come home ..
Has anyone travelled these particular parts and can offer any suggestions on proper routing or if its even possible to get this much in on one trip ?? lol .. im sure its not but we have done Yellowstone prior .. Banff is a must and so is Salt Lake ..
thanks all !!
Aurie and Janet
Terry and Jo said
07:21 PM Oct 30, 2011
I can't help you much with the routing, or even with a lot of places to stay or see. However, Utah has at least 5 national parks, plus some state parks I imagine. Because of our experience in 2002, I would venture that you might be a bit busy to see a lot.
We took a 2-week vacation that year and went to Yellowstone, then over to Idaho to visit relatives, and then back to Oklahoma by going south through Utah and SW Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. In our case we spent 5 days in Yellowstone National Park and that was barely enough for us, with me taking a lot of photos, to see almost all of the "tourist accessible" spots in Yellowstone.
Going to Idaho, we stopped at a place called Craters of the Moon, which is an area of lava fields. It was rather austere and desolate but still beautiful in its own way. Then heading home, we stopped for only a few hours at Arches National Park near Moab, Utah. Arches needed a heck of a lot more time to see what is there.
Good luck with the trip and may your travels all be blessed.
Terry
igotjam said
07:57 AM Oct 31, 2011
Hope you are waiting til summer and not going now? It would be real cold now. In any event we are Albertans and have seen a few things on your route. Make sure you go through South Dakota and stop at Mitchell (to see the corn palace) and Wall (to see the drug store) Both visits will be only an hour or so, so you don't neccesarily need to overnight there. Do Mount Rushmore and the area for sure. It is impressive and I would budget a few days there. Calgary campgrounds are crap...stay in Cochrane. Stay in Tunnel Mountain campground in Banff (get a reservation there). If you go to the world's biggest mall in Edmonton, stay in Stoney Plain (if that's too expensive try Glowing Embers in Acheson). Have fun but don't go this time of year.
Janet and I will be bringing our 2 youngest daughters with us , Mckenna and Summer our two eldest daughters will be flying out to meet up with us in Salt Lake City. We are giving ourselves 3 weeks (4 if needed) to travel from our home in Southern Ontario out to Salt Lake where my brother is located. From there , we wanted to see many things lol .. not sure how much we can squeeze in. Our initial plan was to travel I-80 out west , stay a couple days in Salt Lake where we'll meet up and then convoy north to visit Yellowstone and area. Here's my delema .. from Yellowstone we still wanted to visit General Custer's battlefield , Kicking Horse , Mount Rushmore and Banff then come home ..
Has anyone travelled these particular parts and can offer any suggestions on proper routing or if its even possible to get this much in on one trip ?? lol .. im sure its not but we have done Yellowstone prior .. Banff is a must and so is Salt Lake ..
thanks all !!
Aurie and Janet
I can't help you much with the routing, or even with a lot of places to stay or see. However, Utah has at least 5 national parks, plus some state parks I imagine. Because of our experience in 2002, I would venture that you might be a bit busy to see a lot.
We took a 2-week vacation that year and went to Yellowstone, then over to Idaho to visit relatives, and then back to Oklahoma by going south through Utah and SW Colorado, New Mexico and Texas. In our case we spent 5 days in Yellowstone National Park and that was barely enough for us, with me taking a lot of photos, to see almost all of the "tourist accessible" spots in Yellowstone.
Going to Idaho, we stopped at a place called Craters of the Moon, which is an area of lava fields. It was rather austere and desolate but still beautiful in its own way. Then heading home, we stopped for only a few hours at Arches National Park near Moab, Utah. Arches needed a heck of a lot more time to see what is there.
Good luck with the trip and may your travels all be blessed.
Terry