Family road trip Seattle - Yellowstone - ? Back to Seattle. Too much to see!

[Southwest Dave]

I agree that you have to spend the time travelling the Beartooth, but you could spend your last night in Yellowstone at [or near to ] Tower, Roosevelt Lodge I think is one option, or you could even make your way to Silver Gate/ Cooke City and start your journey from there. You really need to book Yellowstone lodgings asap as it's possible it could already be too late for August, but if they are booked keep checking back for cancellations. As Yellowstone is so big it is better to book lodgings in different areas in my opinion, say a couple of nights in Grant village and a couple at Canyon and then maybe the last as mentioned above.

[Eris]

Seattle. A good route to see part of the Olympic NP from Seattle is to take the ferry, regular hour times, from Edmonds to Kingston (just north of Seattle). You just turn up and drive onto the ferry – reasonable prices. And then ride out to Port Angles. Hurricane Ridge Road goes high and is scenic.

San Juan Island. Don’t think there is a need to go to San Juan Island for whale watching. There are trips from Anacortes, a ferry port where ferries go to Friday Harbor at San Juan Island. The ferry to Friday Habor takes a good hour and is very scenic. When we did the trip I left the car at the ferry port and went for the day as a foot passenger. It was a great trip. You can of course take a car on the ferry. The road trip from Seattle to Anacortes, north up Route 5, is about 90 minutes.

Route to Chelan from Anacortes. Thoroughly recommend the Scenic North Cascade Hwy – route 20 – via Diablo Lake to Winthrop. About 100 miles from Route 5. The road closes in winter but in summer it is an absolute scenic delight. Winthrop is a wonderful scenic place set out like a cowboy town with wooden footways.

Winthrop is a good spot to stay a night. Thinking of your two boys, just 5 miles down the road is a Smokejumber Base which in summer is open between 10am and 5pm., with admission free. When we visited the hospitality was super and we were even shown on board an aircraft they used for firefighting. A very memorable visit.

Chelan. Not far from Winthrop, about 60 miles, but make sure to take a ride along the road alongside the beautiful lake at Chelan.

Yellowstone NP. Now to throw a spanner in the works. Yellowstone is a wonderful place but it is horses for courses. For a first time visit I would recommend 2/3 nights to see if is your cup of tea. That is what I would recommend to my family and if the place flicks a switch put back on your wish list. That part of the world is so full of interesting places to see so any extra time saved can be well spent especially on a road trip.

You are in for a treat - have a good trip.

[Vickip]

Hi

Have been planning for much of the day. I am back at work on Monday so would really like to try to pin down the stopovers as soon as I can so that I can start booking.

Having read everyone's kind replies and researched as much as I can I think I have the first part of the trip sorted. However from Glacier onwards I am really have trouble getting my head round things. My husband really wants to spend about a week in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. I think we could drop Little Big Horn if necessary. We would still really want to see a rodeo.

The current plan is:
9th August Seattle
10th Seattle
11th Seattle
12th Olympic NP
13th Olympic NP
14th. Chelan via North Cascades Highway
15th. Coeur D'Alene
16th. Glacier NP
17th Glacier NP
18th. Glacier NP

This is where it gets really difficult so any suggestion gratefully received. No idea how to organise this portion to make best use of time, drive most sensible distance and see what we would like to. If possible Beartooth Highway, Cody (just for rodeo) and Little Bighorn

19th Yellowstone NP (not sure where would be best)
20th. Yellowstone NP (as above)
21st. Yellowstone NP (as above)
22nd. Yellowstone NP (as above)
23rd. Yellowstone NP (as above)
24th. Grand Tetons NP
25th. Grand Tetons NP
26th. Billings
27th Casper (travelling from Billings via Little Bighorn)
28th. Rocky Mountains NP
29th. Rocky Mountains NP
30th. Drive to Denver and fly home

Many thanks

Vicki

[Southwest Dave]

Your trip is taking shape quite nicely. There would be several options in how to organise your second part of the trip. One would be to stop in the northern half of Yellowstone after your drive from Glacier, perhaps canyon, and then go down to the Tetons and back into Yellowstone and stay near Old Faithful or Grant village to see other areas of the park. If you exited on the Beartooth Highway to Red Lodge [possibly staying around Tower on your last Yellowstone night] and drove down to Cody for the night you could then make your way to the 'Horn' and stop stop in Sheridan.

You could also consider going from Glacier to Billings, to Cody [via the 'Horn'] and then into Yellowstone on the Beartooth and out south through the Tetons and continue to RMNP. [Estes park] Lot's of other options, it's just how it suits you.

[Vickip]

Thank you to everyone for your help. We have taken all advice on board. We have decided not to take on the additional distance of visiting Little Bighorn site. Stroppy teenager does not want to go there (although it is for him) so we will be able to spend more time in other places. We are almost settled on the following itinerary but it will of course depend on vacancies.

Our route looks like this now:

9th August. Seattle
10. Seattle
11. Seattle
12 Olympic NP
13. Olympic NP
14. Chelan via North Cascades Highway
15 Coeur D'Alene
16. Glacier NP
17. Glacier NP
18. Glacier NP
19. Missoula or Bozeman (could we do the drive to Yellowstone in one hit or should we break our journey!)
20. Yellowstone (north / east)
21. Yellowstone (north / east) we may drive part of the Beartooth Highway
22. Yellowstone (west / old faithful / lake yellowstone)
23 Yellowstone (as above) probably day trip to Cody
24 Yellowstone
25. Grand Tetons
26. Grand Tetons
27 Casper
28. Rocky Mountains NP
29. Rocky Mountains NP
30. Depart Denver in the evening

How is this looking?

Many thanks

Vicki

[Southwest Dave]

You could drive to Yellowstone in a day if that suited you, although Missoula would be a bit out of the way, especially if you plan to split your lodgings in Glacier NP either side of the Going to the Sun road to visit Many Glacier area and leave from the east side of the park. With an overnight stop you could plan to drive the Beartooth Highway into Yellowstone via Red lodge as some of the best scenery is not far from that end of the road.

[Vickip]

Thanks everyone.

Back to work this week plus hit by news that eldest son's school is being closed down in July so have had to scale back planning. However have managed to spend some time and speak with travel agent.

Our almost final itinerary is:
Seattle 3 nights

Olympic NP 2 nights. Rooms available at Lake Quinault Lodge

Chelan 1 night. May have to book this myself as travel agent can only offer Wenatchee (but on looking Wenatchee may be more cost effective than Chelan?)

Coeur D'Alene. 1 night

Glacier NP. 3 nights. Have been offered Grouse Mountain Lodge near Whitefish but I would have preferred inside the park (my fault for leaving it so late)

Bozeman. 1 night

Yellowstone NP. 5 nights. We have 2 nights at Mammoth Springs and 3 nights at Lakke Yellowstone reserved. These are in Frontier cabins. Does anyone have any experience of these?

Jackson Hole. 2 nights for Grand Tetons. Would it be better to try to be in the park? I wonder if bring in a city would give the boys a bit more variety?

Rock Springs. 1 night. The route from Jackson Hole to Rocky Mountains looked easier via Rock Springs and I believe there are some amazing sand dunes in the vicinity?

Rocky Mountains NP 2 nights. Rocky Mountain inn

Then have a whole day to get to Denver for the evening flight back to Heathrow.

Any feedback on this gratefully received!

Thanks

Vicki

[Southwest Dave]

Good to hear you managed to get your Yellowstone lodgings sorted ! We stayed in one of the cabins at Canyon [which I think was a 'Frontier'] and we were happy enough. You just have to remember they are NP lodgings and not a hotel with all the luxuries, but they are clean and cosy. With no cooking allowed in, or outside of the building, you are somewhat limited to the NP diners and shops which can be both busy and expensive with mixed quality of food and service. It would be worth considering booking a table for evening meals if it's possible where you are staying as lodging guests. I would stock up on snacks and drinks before getting to the park as that can expensive real quick for a family.

Jackson is a busy vibrant place but have you considered one night in the park and one in Jackson. Mormon Row is worth a little detour as well from Glacier.

I'm sure you will have an amazing time and hope you come back and share your experiences with us. [We have a roadtrip fierld report section for just that. ;-)

Dave.

[Vickip]

Thank you. I will certainly report on the trip. Trying to make sure some of our lodgings have internet access. I think trying to post while we are travelling will add to the trip too!

[momma2knd]

Welcome to the Big Sky Country!! I am glad to see that your trip is coming together for you, but I am a little bummed that you won't be heading past my house on the trip. ;) Born & raised in Billings, I totally understand having to give up the farmlands near Billings/Little Big Horn to enjoy the mountains of the western half of our beautiful state, but honestly my favorite part of heading to Yellowstone is hanging out in Red Lodge on the NE end of the Beartooth Pass and driving the Beartooth Pass! Although the Pass is a long drive, it is absolutely worth it and Red Lodge is a very cool little mountain town!

One option to make sure you don't miss out on Red Lodge and the Pass is to take I-90 from Bozeman to either Columbus or Laurel and backtrack a bit to get back to Red Lodge. (Laurel is a bit farther in milage but you would be on I-90 and then on a well traveled straight 2 lane highway back to Red Lodge. If you get off I-90 at Columbus, it is a shorter drive, but it zigzags through the smaller backroads.) The drive to Red Lodge would be about 2.5-3 hours from Bozeman and you could spend the afternoon in Red Lodge then hop on the Beartooth Highway to head into the park. You would enter the park on the NE corner near Cooke City and can take the north road of "the loop" through the park to Mammoth for the night. Starting that day from Bozeman rather than from inside the park would save you a bunch of driving time and you would be able to see the best parts of that area (the Pass). We love Red Lodge and it has always been a family favorite day trip from Billings. (Although it is a very small town, so you don't need a ton of time. ) As far as driving part of the Beartooth Pass, the NE end of the Pass nearest Red Lodge is by FAR the most beautiful!! I would hate for you to drive only part of the Pass coming out of the park and miss this end of it!! The views from the switchbacks on the Montana/Red Lodge end of the Pass are some of the most beautiful sites you will ever see. If you have to give up a little time in the NE corner of the park to be able to see the other end of the Pass, you would not regret it!

As far as food in Montana... the only chain restaurant that I can think of in Red Lodge is Subway. But they do have some great food at the Red Lodge Pizza Company and Bogarts and several others. (Small cafes in all of the small towns in Montana tend to have pretty simple food, so you could probably find something that would work for your son at most of the cafes/diners.) Montana is a VERY large state and sometimes it is a long ways between towns that have chain restaurants (sometimes a couple hours of driving). I would recommend buying a small cooler (you can even get disposable styrofoam ones at most grocery stores) and fill it with sandwich supplies so that if you don't see a place that you are comfortable with eating, you can pull off at a picnic area/rest stop and make sandwiches. You can even fix an entire bag full of sandwiches at your hotel before you leave and you wouldn't have the mess when you decide to stop. You will have a very hard time finding chain restaurants as you start getting closer to Yellowstone Park. (I don't believe that there are ANY chain restaurants within the park.) You would probably need to leave the park and eat in one of the "border towns" such as Gardiner or West Yellowstone. If I remember correctly Gardiner has a Subway and West Yellowstone has Subway, McDonalds, KFC, Arby's, and Dairy Queen. I am not sure if Cooke City has any chain restaurants in it. Grab groceries before you leave Bozeman. Border towns will have grocery stores but they will be smaller and more expensive.

Other recommendations... staying in Whitefish to explore Glacier shouldn't be a problem. It is right on the edge of the park and the main road through the park starts right at Whitefish.

On your way from Whitefish to Bozeman, make sure you take a short detour to the Lewis & Clark Caverns between Whitehall and Three Forks!! Soooo cool!!! The hike up to the entrance is a bit tiring, but you can take your time and they have many benches along the way, so even those of us that are not in great shape can do it. It is an amazing tour and your boys would love it!! Well worth the detour. The actual tour through the caverns takes apprx 2 hours. I would also recommend lunch/dinner at Wheat Montana just off of I-90 west of Three Forks. They grow their own wheat in the surrounding fields and bake their bread right there also. Yum!!