Boston to SF over Yellowstone in 3 weeks

Hi there

My girlfriend and I spent 4 weeks in the US last year, and 3 of those weeks took place in a car up and down the west coast of California, Oregon and Washington.

Now we are discussing coming back for a coast-to-coast trip. We've been to NYC before, so we plan to start in Boston and head west from there. Must-see destinations for us along the way include Niagara Falls - Chicago - Turtle River, MN (visiting friends) - Mount Rushmore - Yellowstone/Grand Teton. So far the route looks something like this

The massive distances compared to Europe make it a little difficult for us to judge if this is a viable 3 week trip if we also want to see stuff along the way. We're from Denmark, so anything above 200 miles is a mind-blowing distance for us. Also, we're a little unsure what to do after Yellowstone since we have no idea what to do in Idaho/Nevada. We could also go further south through Salt Lake City, but we're still not sure what to see between that and Reno.

Suggestions/comments/advice is more than welcome.

PS: We're also unsure if it is best to drive east-to-west or west-to-east. Its all the same to us, but is there anything we should be aware of for this decision (direction of the sun, seasonal events, etc)?

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

Your trip is certainly doable over 3 weeks and although you will be kept on the go, it shouldn't be too rushed. Yellowstone is huge and is best suited to a 3 or 4 day stay and if you spend a few days with your friends, you can see how time quickly gets eaten up. Driving in the USA is a lot easier and quicker than in a lot of Europe and it is possible to clock up 500 -600 miles on a transit day using Interstate and main routes, although there is a always plenty to see and on those transit days I prefer to keep it under 400 miles and off Interstate as much as possible.

Be sure to visit Mormon Row when near the Tetons and you could take a detour to Craters of the Moon NP between Idaho and Twin Falls. Near Twin Falls you will find Shoshone Fall [aka 'Niagara of the west and Twin Falls is quite a nice town to stop over with the Snake river canyon and Perrine Bridge to admire. From here you could head further south on US93 to Great Basin NP and take US50 west [aka The Lonliest road] towards Lake Tahoe. If you didn't see Yosemite NP on your last trip then I would definitely recommend heading further south and crossing the Sierra Nevada on Tioga Pass into the park, CA120.

If the 'coast to coast' thing isn't a big deal to you, have you considered heading south from Yellowstone towards Vegas to fly out from, as you have been to the west coast. If it's something you would consider you have some wonderful scenery and National parks in Southern Utah like Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce canyon and Zion. It would also offer an opportunity to visit the Grand canyon NP among others.

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

If the 'coast to coast' thing isn't a big deal to you, have you considered heading south from Yellowstone towards Vegas to fly out from, as you have been to the west coast.

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Definitely an option. The main problem is flight connections, since Copenhagen only has direct flights to and from DC, NYC, SF and Chicago. Las Vegas adds expenses, travel time and airport stops to a flight itinerary we would prefer keeping as direct as possible.

We might also be visiting friends in SF, so at the moment we're pretty set on that.