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We are planning on driving from Ca to Glacier Nat'l Park and then taking the train to No. Dak. We will leave car at station so will return to pick up. Ideas on routes, hotels, sights are welcome. We would like to go and return on different routes. A family reunion in No. Dak. Otherwise have two weeks.
Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!
We'd like to help you, but there's simply no way of offering any meaningful or useful advice without knowing where in California you're starting/ending. It's simply too big a 'target'.
AZBuck
We can start our trip from Reno Nevada and end with the train in Grand Forks, N.Dak. We woud like to take our time and end up spending time in Glacier Park before the train. We live in No. Calif two hours from Reno.
Thank you.
Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!
There are a couple of great routes between Reno and Glacier, so just describing them clockwise: Take I-80 to Elko and then NV-225/ID-51 north up through Duck Valley to Bruneau. If you're looking for some scenic adventure, try Bruneau Canyon and/or Bruneau Sand Dunes. From there, I-64 west to Boise and ID-55, the Payette River Scenic Byway, north to US-95 and Coeur d'Alene. I-90 east to Exit 33 and then a series of state highways - ID-135/ID-200/ID-28/US-93/ID-82/ID-35/ID-206 will take you north through Hot Springs, Elmo and Bigfork to US-2 on the west side of Glacier National Park. Take that, which becomes the incredible Going to the Sun Road through the park, and exit to the east for the train to Grand Forks and back.
Return home by heading south along the east side of the Rockies on US-89/US-287. Use I-15 from Wolf Creek down to Boulder and then MT-69 to rejoin US-287 at Whitehall, and follow that to the entrance to the National Park at West Yellowstone, MT. Enjoy Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons and then use US-189/US-89 down to Salt Lake City, returning home on I-80 or US-50 across northern Nevada.
Those two routes would make for a great scenic round trip. You would need about 3 solid days of driving each way, but if you take it a fairly relaxed pace then it can be quite enjoyable.
AZBuck