Denver to Yellowstone and back Late May

Hi,

We are starting to plan for a trip to Yellowstone in late May. We would like to hire a small camper van in Jackson for about ten days. The problem is how do we get there and back? Ideally, we would like to hire a car, drive to Moab and then up to Jackson, returning via a different route. However, the drop off charges would make this ridiculously expensive. We coud fly there and back, but that looks pretty dear also and we would be missing the fun of the journey.

We are flying in from London for a three week stay. Any suggestions?

Hi, welcome back.

Is this a specialist 'small camper van' that couldn't be hired from Denver ? As you want to head to Moab and onwards, I would simply hire the camper van and do a complete loop trip out of Denver.

I'd very much agree, renting a camper for just one portion of your trip isn't going to make any financial sense. Even if you have to rent a larger RV in Denver, it would almost certainly be cheaper than any option where you are either flying, or renting 2 separate cars, or renting one car and letting it sit in Jackson while you use the camper van.

Cruise America do a compact 19ft RV and they have an office in Denver and we were happy with the service they provided when we used them. It's worth shopping around for deals, but if you click on the 'Hot deals' link on that page there are various offers. At the moment they have one that offers a 50% discount on all nights after the first 8 nights and up to 34 nights taken before June 16 2012. That could work out well for a 3 week trip at the end of May.

Thank you for this. The Jackson Hole company offered a much smaller van, which we could manage for a week. However, the idea of a 19 footer for three weeks never occurred to us. I have to balance my conservative love of hotels against my wife's more adventurous spirit.

This whole trip seems to cry out for a more flexible approach than car/hotel can offer. For this reason, I could be persuaded to rough it more than I am usually prepared to do.

I think that we are sold on ten days in Yellowstone, with 11 days to get there and back. I would like to visit Arches, but any other ideas would be welcome.

It really comes down to personal taste and lifestyle choice, I love RV travel but know that it's not for everyone. Although there is nothing to say you can't stop at a hotel 'here and there' when you are travelling in an RV, which could still save you money compared to multiple rentals and/or flights.

Some suggestions of other places to visit would be Rocky mountain NP, Colorado NM, Canyonlands [near Arches], Grand Teton, and then the Black hills, Custer state park, Mount Rushmore and Crazy horse memorial on the way back. There are many more options to explore [you could go further north to Glacier NP or east to Badlands NP] so keep researching and when you have some dots on the map and decisions made, let us know and we can help fill in the blanks.

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Originally Posted by colonelhall

For this reason, I could be persuaded to rough it more than I am usually prepared to do.

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You might be surprised. Even a 19' RV can be full of luxury and very comfortable.

Lifey

Here in England, Airmiles are changing and to get full value we need to book our flights now! We have spent all morning trying to cost this trip and it is beginning to look like three weeks in a camper van is the best deal. Our original idea of getting a small van in Jackson Hole has proved to be the least economical. The van seemed to be twice the price of the one recommended.

How does this sound:

4 nights around Moab exploring Arches and Canyonlands.

2 nights en-route to Grand Teton

10 nights G.T. and Yellowstone.

5 nights back to Denver, maybe spending time in Boulder.

I guess that once we have secured the flights and the vehicle, we should have a great deal of flexibility.

Dates are 20th May until 10th June.

I suppose that the main issues would be a) cost of hook-ups b) weather c) roads.

Thanks for the help so fare.

The Colonel

I'm glad the rental worked out OK for you. Once you have the flight and dates sorted you have plenty of time to organise your trip, or at least research your options if you want to keep flexible.

Hopefully the weather will be kind and by early June, Yellowstone will be fully open. It can be a wonderful time to travel before the main crowds of summer season. I would certainly 'aim' that camper van towards Rocky mountain NP near Denver at one end of your trip or the other. The Morraine park campground is nicely located not far from the town of Estes park and the Trailheads along the Bear lake road. The first part of our last trip might give you some ideas between Denver and Moab, if you want to break your time up in between.

The roads shouldn't be an issue for you in a 19ft RV [generally speaking] other than keeping up to date with weather and road conditions, which is unpredictable. Hooks up are not that expensive, you should have no problem finding sites for around $45 in private resort type campgrounds. In the National parks you can camp for $20 a night, but not all have electric. Some have dump stations, fresh water and shower blocks and you have your push button, on-board generator to fire up when using a lot of power. There are 'silent hours' to observe, but generally you can get by without hook ups and the wonderful surroundings in natures finest makes it worthwhile.

Once again, you have been more than helpful. I have spent a good part of the afternoon reading your report and admiring the photos. It could be that we shall be thinking of following your trail to Moab.

Back again.
Following the advice that we have received, we have booked our flights and R.V. It is now looking like this:

Day 2 Denver - Estes Park
Day 3 Estes - Leadville
Day 4 Leadville - Moab
Days 5,6,7 Moab
Day 8 Moab - Vernal
Day 9 Vernal - Jackson
Days 10,11,12,13,14,15,16 Yellowstone
Day 18 Yellowstone - Cody
Day 19 Cody - Casper
Day 20 Casper - Boulder
Day 21 Boulder - Denver

What do you think?

Hi, good to see you back !

Your trip is set at a good pace and the important thing is that you are happy with it as it is.

The only things I will mention is that by stopping around Estes park for only one night will limit your time in RMNP. By the time you pick up the RV and do the paperwork etc and get supplies settle down and get familiar with your new 'home,' a lot of the day will pass you by. Getting to Leadville next day is a comfortable drive, but it won't leave you a whole lot of time before hitting the road to explore the park, especially if the Trail Ridge road is open and you fancy this spectacular drive over the mountains. I guess an option would be to stop here at the end of your trip and head to Estes from Casper and spend a couple of nights rather than staying in Boulder.[?] The Morraine park campground in RMNP is nice and only a short drive into town.

The other would be to consider an overnight between Leadville and Moab to see some of the wonderful spots in between, but again if you are happy that's all that matters.

Are you renting from Cruise America ? I called the Denver office and asked to arrange an earlier pick up time and they were only to pleased to help and at no extra charge. They also arranged a car to transport us from our Hotel to the depot and back to the airport for what I thought was a reasonable rate that was a very good service. [No groans from the driver when we arrived back late due to bad weather.]

Can't wait to here how it all turns out so please drop by with a report when you return. In the meantime feel free to ask any questions that might crop up in between

Once again, many thanks. We are going with Cruise America. I would certainly like to pick up the vehicle early, but I thought that you had to pay some enormous extra charge for that.

Two destinations and 21 days, you would have thought that would be enough, but the more you look at it the tighter it becomes.

Were completely new to the concept of campervanning. With Memorial day in the middle of our trip, it looks like people are already booking places in the camp sites. We have started to book our places, but Friday in Moab looks dodgy. Sites do not appear to be answering the phone and do not have facility to book on line. We have three days booked outside Moab, but are worried that as they have no hook-ups we could be in trouble.
We are now considering the last night further out of Moab and on the way to Jackson Hole.
Does anybody have suggestions of stop-offs along the way?

Does, where you have already booked, have a shower/loo block and/or a Dump/fill station ? Water will be your main issue, especially as the small units can only hold a smallish amount compared to the larger RV units. The generator can be used when using a lot of power [observing silent hours] and using the RV during the day will recharge the batteries and shouldn't be an issue.

You can search for free dump stations in Moab area and if no luck, a lot of the other RV sites will let non paying guests use theirs for a fee.

Thanks Dave. More good advice. The more we study this, the more we realise that careful planning is of the essence. We were planning to follow in your footsteps for some of our journey, but see that the road that we wanted to take is not open until June. We are still keen to see Leadville and so will plan another route through that town.

We thought that it could be a good idea to have a mobile phone with us. Can one buy cheap cell phones on a pay as you go basis. According to "The Wire" the drug dealers buy them and then chuck them away after one use, so they can't be too expensive.

You can get a cheap prepaid cell phone for $10-20, and then you'll spend another $20-30 on your minutes, depending upon how much you plan to use it and which company you go with. I've been pretty happy with Tracfone when it comes to barebones service, just make sure you get a "double minutes" phone (most of them are, and say so clearly on the package).

Yes....prepaid phones are available in many places, including some convenience stores, department stores like Wal-Mart and Target, and of course in phone-stores. My daughters started on Trac-Phones, to help them learn to manage good cell use. (Of course, that was "back in the day" where unlimited plans were sky high.) Today, almost all of the big carriers have prepaid phone plans!



Donna

Many thanks. We are counting the days!

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We were planning to follow in your footsteps for some of our journey, but see that the road that we wanted to take is not open until June. We are still keen to see Leadville and so will plan another route through that town.

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They usually aim to open Trail Ridge road by Memorial day weekend, which I believe would be Friday 25th May. Ultimately it will be Mother nature who decides when it will actually happen.

If Trail Ridge is Off limits then you could use CO7/CO72 [Peak to Peak Highway] and CO119 to I70.

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

They usually aim to open Trail Ridge road by Memorial day weekend, which I believe would be Friday 25th May. Ultimately it will be Mother nature who decides when it will actually happen.

If Trail Ridge is Off limits then you could use CO7/CO72 [Peak to Peak Highway] and CO119 to I70.

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The Trail Ridge Road is not guaranteed open at any time. I have found it closed by weather, in August, July, and September. In fact, it was not until my fifth attempt, in 2009, that I finally got to drive it. At those extreme altitudes, no one can guarantee when it will be open.

In 2001 the NP staff advised me to take CO7 to I-70. And I have to say, it was a magnificent trip. Nothing like the Trail Ridge Road, but full of its own attractions.

Lifey

Getting really excited here in England. Just 18 days to go. Having a few last minute panics. I have just been reading some poor reviews of Cruise America, although they seem to have got the thumbs up on this thread.

I notice in their documents, that they do not have an aux socket for my iPod. This is a great disappointment because I have made about 15 hours of playlists. It appears that the player can play mp3s burnt to a cd. I have just burnt a number of CD-Rs full of Mp3s. Has anybody had any experience of playing music in this format on a car player?

I have just got back from Ireland, where we had some beautiful weather. I took the opportunity of practising with my camera and tripod. I think that I have managed to grasp some aspects of night photography. Hopefully we shall get some clear skys and good snaps of the stars.

I am now going to explore this site to see if I can upload an on-the-road report from my iPad. Thanks for all the help so far.

Moderator Note: Please don't create multiple threads about the same trip

How about buying a small set of speakers for your iPod ($15 - 75)? They'll take up about as much space in your suitcase as a bunch of CD's. BTW, when I burn from iPod/iTunes, they are usually in .m4a format and I have NO problems playing them on my car CD players.

Another possibility is to get an FM transmitter for your iPod. They run around $50-75. If you get the kind that plugs directly into a 12-volt socket, there's your power source. Your RV will probably have a radio in it. You'd just have to be careful about how much you use the battery power of the RV.

I wouldn't be too concerned about reviews. We've learned something over the years, and that is that people are MORE likely to report when they've had a bad experience with a business than they are a good experience. My one exception to ignoring reviews is if a motel is reported to have bed bugs. We won't even try the place.


Donna

I think the FM Transmitter would be your best bet. I use one on my Satellite Radio when I'm not in my main vehicle (which has the very useful cassette deck!) and it works pretty well.

You can find them for well under $50 - I've never paid more than $20-30, and even found them online for less. You can also get ones that are powered by AA batteries, although I can't imagine that you could ever draw enough power to drain a car battery by using the 12V adapter for a very low drain device like an FM transmitter.

Once again, thanks for the replies. I used to have a transmitter, but found it hard to find blank airwaves, although where I am going it shouldn't be a problem. I've got a set of those little speakers, which are quite good, so that is my fall-back. I have just burnt 8 CDs worth of mp3s. If the stereo works for me, we should be all set.

I know what you mean on finding a blank airwave. In some areas, mostly the cities, that's a problem. I do find that MOST of the time, 106.9 works well.

The AA transmitters don't work very well. I've owned two of them. Yuck.

I'm glad that the FM transmitters have gone down in price. It's been awhile since I priced them.


Donna

Well the trip is finished and a big thank you to all concerned. My worries about the camper van option are well and truly buried. I am now a complete convert to camper vans, in fact we have decided that one day we shall own our own. This will be for European trips only, although who knows, once we are both retired maybe the old hippie trail is a possibility!

My "on the road" blog can be found here:

I am also in the process of uploading a selection of the photos that I took along the way.

It turned out that the newer models in the Cruise America range have an aux import, so I need not have worried about playing music on the road. The journey was so exciting that we only played music on the main highways. The rest of the time, we just marvelled at what was around us.

Pleased it worked out so well and that you are now a 'Happy camper !'

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I am now a complete convert to camper vans, in fact we have decided that one day we shall own our own.

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I have often thought of purchasing an American RV for our travels in Europe, mainly, because of the equipment and room that comes with them. However, the thought of spending six english pounds [plus] to travel no more than 10 miles is a great big spanner in the works. [That's a dollar a mile, as near as dam it !!]

When the time comes, I guess it will be a Euro camper for us as well. Until then, the Trailer tent is doing a fine job.

Dave.