Yellowstone to Medford

My husband and I are planning a three week road trip in September. We're from South Africa and really want to pack in as much as possible without being too rushed. We're starting in Vegas, up to Salt Lake and then onto Yellowstone. We would then like to explore the West Coast starting in Medford (Redwood forests) and head down the coast to San Francisco.

Our dilemma at the moment is around the best way to get from West Yellowstone to Medford. Is it worth driving across country? or would it be better to fly and, if so, from where?

We both love scenic drives and exploring.

Any help you can give us would be great! We're so excited to visit!

Thanks,
Ash

Welcome to RTA!

Of course you should drive. Otherwise you will have airfares and two car rentals, both with one way dropoff fees.

It's a 2 day drive, you would be going right by Crater Lake which would be well worth adding a 3rd day for.

Understand that the name of this forum is RoadTrip America and that we might be a tad prejudiced, but still I don't see where flying between West Yellowstone and Medford gains you much over driving and it would certainly cost you a lot in terms of both money, hassles, and lost opportunities. The expenses, as glc points out, include the airfares (around $150-200 each depending on where/when you fly from/to) as well as the extra cost of the (now two) car rentals. But in addition to the money, there is the 'cost' in time. You actually wouldn't save that much time by flying, since by the time you drove to Helena MT (your best option for the flight to Medford), made the connection through Seattle (again, your best option), and got on the road again in Medford, you'd have chewed up by far the better part of a day. And it would only take a day and a half for the direct drive from West Yellowstone to Medford.

Then there's the cost of what you would miss by flying. Yes, it would cost more in time to also make stops along the way, but if you added another day and a half to the drive, or two days more than flying, you could see some of the sights on the way including Craters of the Moon National Monument, the Thousand Springs of the Snake River, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Bruneau Sand Dunes, Bruneau Canyon, Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, and Crater Lake National Park.

AZBuck