Please comment on my Denver - Yellowstone loop road trip

Hi guys,

I'm from the UK and I'm planning my first ever shortish road trip for September this year. In fact, it's already booked :) I'm just looking for people who know the area or even live in the area to give me tips on what to miss and what not to miss if you can. Here is my itinerary (I only have 14 nights :( ):

8th of Sept - fly to Denver and spend the first night there.
9th - drive to Cheyenne and spend the day and night there.
10th - Drive to Casper stopping at anything worthwhile on the way. Stay the night there.
11th - Drive to Cody stopping at anything worthwhile on the way. Stay the night there.
12th - Drive to Yellowstone (hopefully the highlight of the trip). Stay at yellowstone for 4 nights (Any ideas on the best things to see and do here would be much appreciated. Can you go horse back riding and rafting here??)
16th - Drive through Grand Teton and Jackson to Idaho falls. Wanted to stay in Jackson but the motel prices just doubled for some reason, so we're staying in Idaho Falls.
17th - Drive to Salt Lake City. Stay for 2 nights.
19th - Decided to take the longer route back to Denver through the Dinosaur National Monument, Craig and the Rocky Mountian National Park staying somewhere on the way back.
20th - final drive back to Denver and spend last 2 nights there before flying back on the 22nd.

Does this sound like a good plan? As I said, any suggestions on things to see/do are greatly appreciated.

Also, has anyone done a similar trip in September, what was the weather like?

thanks alot for reading

Anthony

Welcome to the RTA forum!

It looks like you've got a wonderful trip planned where you will have plenty of time for exploration. It looks like you are only planning to drive a couple hundred miles a day, which will give you lots of time to stop and explore along your route.

The weather in September should be cool, but still very comfortable. September and October are probably my favorite months to travel because the weather is still comfortable, yet its not as hot and there are far fewer other travelers than in the peak summer months of July and August.

Hi Michael, thanks for your reply and welcome.

It's good to know it's a good choice in trip. Having plenty of time to stop and explore when we feel like it instead of having to drive for hours and hours was our aim so if anyone has any ideas of places of the beaten track on this route worth seeing please let me know.

Its also good to know the weather should be okay in September. Really looking forward to it now :)

thanks

Anthony

Would you believe it - I just posted the question on the viability of a very similar trip on another thread! I would be very interested to hear more about your plans and, when you get back, your thoughts on your trip. Maybe you can post a field report?

Hi Craig, saw your thread. I'll be taking plenty of photos, and maybe some video if I can so you can see what it was like. I'll take a journal too so I can write a field report when I get back (not that there's much chance of me forgetting this hol:D)

Still waiting for people who know the areas or who have been to the areas to offer tips on what to see and do on my way round please, just so I make sure this is the best trip ever :)

O and we're staying in Jackson now instead of Idaho Falls so we can visit the million dollar cowboy bar :)

thanks

Anthony

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lsals

O and we're staying in Jackson now instead of Idaho Falls

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I really like Idaho Falls -- those turbines are a real mystery and the brew pub is pretty darn convenient!

Mark

Hi Anthony,

Your itinerary is almost exactly like the first week of our upcoming three-week road trip! You have a great plan that I'm positive you'll enjoy. Since you're going to be in Denver, you might want to take a side trip to Colorado Springs and explore the Pikes Peak region, or see the Royal Gorge Bridge. Yellowstone and Grand Teton are also in our itinerary; two days in each park. We were going to stay longer in Yellowstone but a friend highly recommended Glacier national park and after doing some research, we are now most excited about visiting Glacier. So, something you might want to look into if you can squeeze it in and still have the energy. Hope you have lots of fun on your trip! ~N

Hi Mark, thanks for your reply. Yea, I really like the look of Idaho Falls. My friend really wants to stay in Jackson and go to the Million dollar cowboy bar tho :) We'll still be passing through Idaho Falls so we can see those crazy turbines.

Hi Sydtow, thanks for your suggestions, we're deff going to look into Colorado Springs, looks special. I've heard a bit about the glacier national park too. I wanted to do that but I think it's a bit far for our schedule. We're deffinately going to have come back again next year I think - far too much to see :)

cheers

Anthony

Rocky Mountain National Park is wonderful, you'll enjoy it. When you make your trip in early-mid September the weather at the higher altitudes will be cooler (come to think of it even in July the weather up there is fairly cool). If you plan on spending some time outside of your vehicle or hiking above the tree-line be sure to take warm clothing.

One stop you may want to add if you have time is Mount Evans. It's touted as the highest paved road in America and sits off I-70 near Idaho Springs. The road winds it's way up to just over 14,000 feet. Once you're up there you can hike the final 1/4 mile or so to the summit. The view up there is breathtaking. The wildlife is abundant. Mountain goat's, big horn sheep, marmots, are all abundant.

Good luck and have fun on your trip.

Hi Willy,

thanks alot for your comments and suggestions. I've been confused as to what the climate will be like there and what clothes to bring, so thanks for clearing that up, I'll make sure we take warm clothes.

Thanks alot for sugegsting Mnt Evans. Looks amazing, will def have to make a stop there as its too close to where we're going to miss it. I just hope our automatic car will make it up :)

thanks

Ant

We are also thinking of checking out Mt. Evans but we're not quite sure if our tiny little 103-horsepower engine will make it up there! We were originally going to drive up Pikes Peak but we just learned that not all 19 miles is paved road :-)