We are in process in the early stages of planning a month long rv trip from Florida to th Rockies with 4 grandchildren aged 6 to 13. We want to do it for both education and of course to create memories. Obvious stops for us are Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Tetons , and Mount Rushmore. Any ideas on other "must do" places or things to do. Also suggestions on amount of time we should plan for each location. We assumed we could experience a lot in a month.
thank you
The Hoppers
thor Vegas
Terry and Jo said
08:15 AM Dec 28, 2014
Depending on how much time you want to spend in each place, please allow me to comment on Yellowstone. Back in 2002, four of us chose to go there and then to Idaho to visit family on a two week vacation. I figured that by just spending a couple of days in Yellowstone, we could choose to go other places as well. Silly me.... I was informed that to really see Yellowstone, one needed to spend a lot more than just a couple of days. We spent 5 days in the park, primarily hitting the places easily reached by vehicle with very little hiking to see some waterfall or other feature. I've been told by the others that we pretty much saw almost all the major features, and maybe missed just one or two minor ones.
We managed to spend a fair bit of time in each place because I am a prolific photographer. That was the early days of digital photography, and I took just over 1400 pictures in that 5 days. Granted, that 5 days did include a few hours spent in the Grand Teton National Park.
If you are also making that circle to include the Grand Canyon, check out Utah's 5 national parks. Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands, Arches, and Capitol Reef. Check them in advance by looking for pictures online to see if any offer things you want to see. Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park is supposed to also be very good.
Good luck and have fun.
Terry
bjoyce said
09:03 AM Dec 28, 2014
Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and Mount Rushmore are not that far apart. Glacier National Park is also in the area. Grand Canyon is a long ways from Yellowstone, and further from the rest, and the roads between are not fast. I agree with Terry, the Utah parks are very worthwhile and relatively easy to add once you have been to Grand Canyon.
Some points. How bought in are the 4 grandchildren to this trip and how well do they get along in close spaces? Does each one have somewhere they want to go and something they want to do? Driving most days they are going to get bored and if they are not having fun, no one will have fun. Planning with kids is different than planning for yourselves.
NWescapee said
09:54 AM Dec 28, 2014
If you are planning to visit Mount Rushmore, I'd also add Custer State Park to your list of places to see in that area. We also enjoyed a visit to Badlands National Park.
I agree with Bill's suggestion to consider Glacier National Park as well if you are thinking about Yellowstone and Tetons. You won't be able to take your RV over the "Going to the Sun" Hwy in the park, so I'd suggest staying at least a couple of nights in East Glacier area and a couple of nights in West Glacier so you have time to visit different areas of the park.
Terry's comment on the size of Yellowstone is spot on, a very large park to see in a short amount of time. We broke our visit up into 2 different 4 night stays in 2 different areas of the park and then another 4 nights in Teton National Park. We left there looking forward to another visit, there's a lot to see and do in that park.
Craters of the Moon park in Idaho would be a fun stop for kids if you are heading south from Yellowstone to Utah or AZ, a very "other world" kind of experience.
Have fun planning.
pkhalin said
02:55 PM Dec 28, 2014
Some other points of interest if you have the time, and depending on your priorities: If you're near Mt Rushmore, you're also not far from Crazy Horse monument. There's the Royal Gorge near Canon City, CO, and there is Trail Ridge Road (Rocky Mountain National Park), highest continuous paved road in U.S., going from Estes Park CO to Grand Lake. Where you can drive an RV over it, it's not my favorite thing to do. I think Dale & Ruth had to do that when they were evacuated 2 Septembers ago. I did it probably a day or two later when I was able to retrieve my 5th wheel. BUT, it is an absolutely beautiful drive with some places to stop along the way. And there are camping areas on both ends.
pkhalin said
02:59 PM Dec 28, 2014
And the DW just reminded me of Devil's Tower in Wyoming (think Close Encounter of the 3rd Kind).
hoppers said
04:06 PM Dec 28, 2014
Wow...I am so impressed with all your suggestions. We appreciate each and every comment. We can see there is fully enough to do and visit. Keep those thoughts coming please! Again thank you
Terry and Jo said
08:51 PM Dec 28, 2014
Terry,
There is so much to see in the west that I'm pretty sure we aren't giving you all of the things to go see and do. If you were to go through Colorado and Colorado Springs, for natural wonders, Garden of the Gods is a primo location to go. One can take the cog railway up to the summit of Pike's Peak. (If you had a regular vehicle, you could also drive up to the summit. West of Colorado Springs on Highway 24 is a small town called Flourissant where there are huge petrified stumps. If they aren't actually Redwoods, they are near the size of Redwood stumps.
If you go to SW Colorado, there is Mesa Verde if you are interested in ancient Indian culture and their habitat in the cliff dwellings. Cortez, Colorado is about 115 miles from Moab, Utah, where the Arches National Park is located, and Canyonlands isn't that far from Moab.
Like I said, there is so much to see that you may wish you had 2 months.
Terry
hoppers said
09:27 PM Dec 28, 2014
Thanks terry...this is for the grand kids...following year hopefully is just the two of us and explore west and alaska
Barbaraok said
09:51 PM Dec 28, 2014
North of Rawlins, Wyoming, on Highway 220 towards Casper is Indepence Rock Historical Site, where Oregon Trail pioneers stopped to get water and a lot of them carved their names and date of passage into the rock.
Barb
pkhalin said
10:36 PM Dec 28, 2014
I know this is a bit far fetched for these purposes, but if you EVER have the opportunity to do a house boat on Lake Powell, that's a must. Hole In The Rock, Rainbow Bridge, Hopi Steps, Anasazi ruins, instant waterfalls (when you get a sudden rain), secluded coves, beautiful water, boating, water skiing, and on and on. One thing though - in the Summer it gets REAL, REAL hot, as in the 100s.
Neil and Connie said
08:23 AM Dec 29, 2014
Way too much to do in a month. I would pick an area and concentrate on it. It's at least 5 days travel each way so that only leaves 20 days to explore. Yellowstone/Tetons/Rushmore/Devils Tower would be one option. Another would be the parks in Utah. Third option Colorado/Grand Canyon. Try to do too much and you'll only skim the surface and spend too much time traveling to and fro. If it was me I would do Utah again and we've been most of the places mentioned so far.
The Junkman said
09:06 AM Dec 29, 2014
Different perspective..
Off roading in moab
Las vegas.. lots of stuff..
LA.. Lots of stuff
New orleans?
Memphis?
Someday said
12:17 PM Dec 29, 2014
Depending what time of the year you are headed into Glacier National Park (Waterton borders Glacier = National Peace Parks), there is a shuttle bus that can take you on the going to the sun road with stop offs, this is far more relaxing and enjoyable to view than white knuckling it even in a car for some as many reviews mention.
Flathead Lake (we camp here a couple of nights), Whitefish, Kalispell are some of our favourite stop offs for an hour or two here and there.
Garden of the Gods Colorado our party of 7 loved the horse riding in = maybe a surprise for your grandchildren???
hoppers said
05:32 PM Dec 29, 2014
Every post has been very beneficial and will be very valuable to our planning..I also appreciate spending too much time traveling and spreading ourselves to thin reducing our month to more travel versus seeing different sites. Every post thus far will be part of our planning process. Keep the thoughts, ideas, and suggestions coming. Thank you all
We are in process in the early stages of planning a month long rv trip from Florida to th Rockies with 4 grandchildren aged 6 to 13. We want to do it for both education and of course to create memories. Obvious stops for us are Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Tetons , and Mount Rushmore. Any ideas on other "must do" places or things to do. Also suggestions on amount of time we should plan for each location. We assumed we could experience a lot in a month.
thank you
The Hoppers
thor Vegas
Depending on how much time you want to spend in each place, please allow me to comment on Yellowstone. Back in 2002, four of us chose to go there and then to Idaho to visit family on a two week vacation. I figured that by just spending a couple of days in Yellowstone, we could choose to go other places as well. Silly me.... I was informed that to really see Yellowstone, one needed to spend a lot more than just a couple of days. We spent 5 days in the park, primarily hitting the places easily reached by vehicle with very little hiking to see some waterfall or other feature. I've been told by the others that we pretty much saw almost all the major features, and maybe missed just one or two minor ones.
We managed to spend a fair bit of time in each place because I am a prolific photographer. That was the early days of digital photography, and I took just over 1400 pictures in that 5 days. Granted, that 5 days did include a few hours spent in the Grand Teton National Park.
If you are also making that circle to include the Grand Canyon, check out Utah's 5 national parks. Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands, Arches, and Capitol Reef. Check them in advance by looking for pictures online to see if any offer things you want to see. Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park is supposed to also be very good.
Good luck and have fun.
Terry
Some points. How bought in are the 4 grandchildren to this trip and how well do they get along in close spaces? Does each one have somewhere they want to go and something they want to do? Driving most days they are going to get bored and if they are not having fun, no one will have fun. Planning with kids is different than planning for yourselves.
I agree with Bill's suggestion to consider Glacier National Park as well if you are thinking about Yellowstone and Tetons. You won't be able to take your RV over the "Going to the Sun" Hwy in the park, so I'd suggest staying at least a couple of nights in East Glacier area and a couple of nights in West Glacier so you have time to visit different areas of the park.
Terry's comment on the size of Yellowstone is spot on, a very large park to see in a short amount of time. We broke our visit up into 2 different 4 night stays in 2 different areas of the park and then another 4 nights in Teton National Park. We left there looking forward to another visit, there's a lot to see and do in that park.
Craters of the Moon park in Idaho would be a fun stop for kids if you are heading south from Yellowstone to Utah or AZ, a very "other world" kind of experience.
Have fun planning.
And the DW just reminded me of Devil's Tower in Wyoming (think Close Encounter of the 3rd Kind).
Terry,
There is so much to see in the west that I'm pretty sure we aren't giving you all of the things to go see and do. If you were to go through Colorado and Colorado Springs, for natural wonders, Garden of the Gods is a primo location to go. One can take the cog railway up to the summit of Pike's Peak. (If you had a regular vehicle, you could also drive up to the summit. West of Colorado Springs on Highway 24 is a small town called Flourissant where there are huge petrified stumps. If they aren't actually Redwoods, they are near the size of Redwood stumps.
If you go to SW Colorado, there is Mesa Verde if you are interested in ancient Indian culture and their habitat in the cliff dwellings. Cortez, Colorado is about 115 miles from Moab, Utah, where the Arches National Park is located, and Canyonlands isn't that far from Moab.
Like I said, there is so much to see that you may wish you had 2 months.
Terry
Thanks terry...this is for the grand kids...following year hopefully is just the two of us and explore west and alaska
Barb
I know this is a bit far fetched for these purposes, but if you EVER have the opportunity to do a house boat on Lake Powell, that's a must. Hole In The Rock, Rainbow Bridge, Hopi Steps, Anasazi ruins, instant waterfalls (when you get a sudden rain), secluded coves, beautiful water, boating, water skiing, and on and on. One thing though - in the Summer it gets REAL, REAL hot, as in the 100s.
Way too much to do in a month. I would pick an area and concentrate on it. It's at least 5 days travel each way so that only leaves 20 days to explore. Yellowstone/Tetons/Rushmore/Devils Tower would be one option. Another would be the parks in Utah. Third option Colorado/Grand Canyon. Try to do too much and you'll only skim the surface and spend too much time traveling to and fro. If it was me I would do Utah again and we've been most of the places mentioned so far.
Off roading in moab
Las vegas.. lots of stuff..
LA.. Lots of stuff
New orleans?
Memphis?
Flathead Lake (we camp here a couple of nights), Whitefish, Kalispell are some of our favourite stop offs for an hour or two here and there.
Garden of the Gods Colorado our party of 7 loved the horse riding in = maybe a surprise for your grandchildren???
Every post has been very beneficial and will be very valuable to our planning..I also appreciate spending too much time traveling and spreading ourselves to thin reducing our month to more travel versus seeing different sites. Every post thus far will be part of our planning process. Keep the thoughts, ideas, and suggestions coming. Thank you all