Family road trip Seattle - Yellowstone - ? Back to Seattle. Too much to see!

Hi All

This is my first post on any forum so please be gentle.
We are looking to spend 3 weeks (21 nights) from 9th August this year travelling from Seattle.
We have had similar holidays twice in the past to other areas but are finding this one very difficult to plan.
Last big trip was to San Francisco- Monterey- Yosemite- Death Valley- Las Vegas- Zion - Bryce- Arches- Grand Canyon and Tucson.
This time we want to visit Seattle and Yellowstone. However there are so many other wonderful sounding places between the two that we are having a hard time working out a route. Our eldest is also studying history of American Mid West for GCSE and Battle of Little Bighorn is on the syllabus so we would like to try to fit in a visit. We could fly into Seattle and out of Denver but that would leave us with a huge one way drop off fee which we would like to avoid so we are thinking of a round trip.
There will be four of us, myself, my husband and our two boys (14 and 11). We love fantastic scenery, wildlife watching, history and walking, boat trips etc. I am not overly fit so could not do very strenuous hikes. We also prefer to be able to prepare simple meals or be near simple restaurants (often chains) as our youngest has very severe food allergies.
At present our list of places is huge. We would welcome some help in cutting this list down to be more manageable and any tips for routes etc.
We are looking at:
Seattle - San Juan Islands, Olympic NP, Mount Rainier NP
North Cascades NP and Lake Chelan
Mount St Helens
Glacier NP
Cape Perpetua
Oregon Dunes
Crater Lake NP
Yellowstone (5-6 days if possible, 2 locations preferably)
Grand Tetons NP (1-2days)
Little Bighorn
Cody for rodeo nite
Other places that look amazing are: Hells Canyon, Coeur D'Alene, Three Capes Scenic Route, Sawtooth, Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman and Beartooth Highway.

I appreciate that this is far too much and we could fill months with these places so any help / advice will be gratefully accepted.

Thank you all so much!

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

Like most trips, it's always tough trying to narrow things down and get the right balance between trying to make the most of your time and overstretching yourselves so that you are always rushing to the next place instead of enjoying where you are.

What I would do is look at your priorities, such as 5-6 days in Yellowstone and as an example 2 in Glacier NP and so on and work on your time scale and at a pace you are comfortable with. I would (gu)estimate that your loop is close to a weeks driving for a family holiday, so you can see that with a week in Yellowstone and Tetons, a couple of days 'somewhere else' you already have 16 of your 21 days accounted for and that's without time in Seattle and you don't say if the 3 weeks has to include the international flights ?

Only you know the pace that you are happy with, but with so many choices I think you have the makings of 2 seperate trips rolled into one. One trip that could start from Denver or Salt Lake City to visit Yellowstone, The Tetons, Glacier NP and Little Big Horn, with Custer State park, Mt Rushmore etc nearby and another trip from Seattle to include the Oregon coast, Crater Lake, Mt St Helens, Mt Ranier, Olympic National park etc. I know I often start out like this and end up cutting right back and splitting it the best way I can to make 2 different and viable loop trips, doing the most appealing first, that's not to say you can't do a mix of what you want in one trip, but it's certainly food for thought to avoid rushing through places you might want to visit.

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

As you feared and as Dave pointed out, your schedule is going to fill up pretty fast with just the driving, Yellowstone, and a small handful of other stops. So the trick is going to be to carefully choose what those 'other stops' are and how they will fit into the overall theme of the trip. Let's start with the places that you should probably cut from this trip. These are mostly the ones that will simply add miles of driving while 'only' adding a scenic wonder. Scenic wonders are great but there are far too many in the Northwest to include them all.

So, let's do the hard part first. Which are the stops that you've listed that I would jettison for now? Olympic Peninsula and National Park and North Cascades National Park (gorgeous, but in the wrong direction), Mounts Ranier and St. Helens (difficult and time consuming to get to), and Oregon Dunes and Crater Lake (too far south, you need to get inland sooner). Well, that's a bummer!

What would I do instead? I'd take a ferry cross Puget Sound to start out on a unique note and head down the Washington coast to Astoria OR and Fort Clatsop, then drive up old US-30 through the Columbia River Gorge. Next I'd take I-84 to Southern Idaho and follow the Snake River Valley, checking out Bruneau Sand Dunes, and the Thousand Springs of the Lost River - all more or less right on my way. Switching over to US-20/US-26 would take me to Craters of the Moon, Idaho Falls and finally ID-31/ID-33/WY-22 into Jackson and the Grand Tetons.

On the way back to Seattle, after Cody and the Little Bighorn, I'd head north to Glacier National Park, being sure to take Going to the Sun Road. Finally, I'd be sure to check out some of the many scenic byways in northern Idaho, Coeur d'Alene, and the Palouse of western Washington.

So, not what you had in mind, but quite similar in feel, requiring fewer miles to drive and making the most of the ones you have to drive anyway.

AZBuck

Hi Southwest Dave and AZBuck

Thank you so much for your replies. They have given us much food for thought. As we haven't been to this area before it is great to get advice to help with narrowing our trip. I will be doing more planning today looking at your suggestions and then I am sure I will have more questions!

One question now, we have reserved a standard 5 seat SUV. A Jeep Grand Cherokee our similar.will that be suitable for the roads we will be taking?

Many thanks

Vickip

Yes the SUV will be suitable for the roads, although in all honesty a mid-size saloon [sedan] would have been perfectly suitable. You won't be able to go Off road without violating your rental contract even if you wanted to. [There is no need for your trip]

Hi

We have been thinking long and hard today and think now that it may be a better use of time to swallow the one way drop off fee and do a one way trip. Flights from the UK for us are more sensible time wise if we fly in to Seattle and out of Denver. We would be landing at about 11.30am on Saturday 9th August and leaving Denver at 20.45 on Saturday 30th August.
Hopefully this will enable us to have a slightly more relaxed pace and see more rather than rushing through.
We are now thinking:
Seattle with hopefully a little time on San Juan Island for whale watching (5 nights)
Glacier National Park(3 nights)
Yellowstone and Grand Tetons (8 nights)
Maybe Cody / Little Bighorn but maybe could be done as day trip from Yellowstone

Rest of nights could be spent travelling between these places.

The route described by AZBuck looks fantastic. Could we fit any of this in do you think with the above tentative plan?

We are basing the route in to Seattle and out of Denver as flights give us more ground time that way. Are there advantages to doing the trip the other way round?

Finally for now - Due to my sons food allergies, we often end up at fast food restaurants as the ingredients are more easily known. On previous trips this hasn't been an issue except in the national parks where he has lived on chips. For this trip, will we still be able to find burger chains along the route? I know this seems very limited but having experienced a full anaphylactic reaction with him whilst in Monterey I am always very apprehensive whenever travelling (hence holidays in the UK and USA where I can speak the language and read ingredients)

Many thanks

I feel for your son with food allergies, because I have some myself. When you get to a restaurant, let the wait staff know his bugaboos. In most states, if a customer states allergies to shellfish or nuts, the cooks know that they will have to cook separately. (I'm allergic to shellfish and we went to MAINE, where lobster, crab and clams were king. They had to cook my meat on a separate grill.)

Burger chains are prevalent all over the US. I think there are a few towns and cities that don't have a McDonald's yet, but not very many. I would think that the rest of you might need a break, though. I travel with a listing of the nutritional guidelines for the main fast food and sit-down chains, and you could probably do that too.


Donna

Good to see your plan coming together !

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Maybe Cody / Little Bighorn but maybe could be done as day trip from Yellowstone

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That wouldn't work. They look reasonably close on the map but the distances in the US are huge. A round 'day' trip like this would be about 550 miles, almost the equivalent of driving from London to Newcastle AND BACK ! It's not to say you can't go, but include it as part of your onward journey to Denver. It would also provide the perfect opportunity to drive the famous Beartooth Highway out of Yellowstone on route to Little Big Horn. This would by-pass Cody but that alone could be done as part of a day trip if you wanted to go. It would also be worth considering a couple of nights in Rocky Mountain NP just outside of Denver at the end of your trip if you felt you could make time.

Thank you. Spookily we were just looking at the Rocky Mountain NP as your post came up.

We now have the following plan:
Seattle - 5 nights (to try to include a couple of nights in Olympic National Park and if possible a trip to San Juan Island for whale watching)

Chelan - 1 night

Coeur D'Alene - 1 night

Glacier NP - 3 nights

Bozeman - 1 night (for museum of the Rockies)

Yellowstone - 5 nights

Grand Tetons - 2 nights

Sheridan -1 night (for driving Beartooth Highway and visit to Little Bighorn)

Casper - 1 night

Rocky Mountains - 1 night

Does this sound feasible? I am relatively comfortable with the route up until Glacier NP but less so after this. We don't mind a couple of long drives. We love American roads and the boys have their iPods!

The boys want to go to Rodeo Nite in Cody or see a Rodeo somewhere at least. I would rather spend 2 nights in Rocky Mountains but not sure how to do that. Would rather see scenery / wildlife than cities.

Any suggestions for amending trip between Glacier NP and flying out of Denver? There would be 11 nights and we fly from Denver in the evening.

Many thanks for all your help. We can't wait to fly out!

Vicki

Be aware that, as spectacular as it is, and I would never suggest you skip it, the 68 miles from Cooke City to Red Lodge is a three hour drive. Longer if you stop to admire the views along the way, as well as on the pass. Then there is the remotely sited Top of The World Store. Sheridan may be a little ambitious. It can take quite a time to get out of Yellowstone. All it needs is wildlife on the road, which gets right-of-way.

Lifey

I agree that you have to spend the time travelling the Beartooth, but you could spend your last night in Yellowstone at [or near to ] Tower, Roosevelt Lodge I think is one option, or you could even make your way to Silver Gate/ Cooke City and start your journey from there. You really need to book Yellowstone lodgings asap as it's possible it could already be too late for August, but if they are booked keep checking back for cancellations. As Yellowstone is so big it is better to book lodgings in different areas in my opinion, say a couple of nights in Grant village and a couple at Canyon and then maybe the last as mentioned above.

Seattle. A good route to see part of the Olympic NP from Seattle is to take the ferry, regular hour times, from Edmonds to Kingston (just north of Seattle). You just turn up and drive onto the ferry – reasonable prices. And then ride out to Port Angles. Hurricane Ridge Road goes high and is scenic.

San Juan Island. Don’t think there is a need to go to San Juan Island for whale watching. There are trips from Anacortes, a ferry port where ferries go to Friday Harbor at San Juan Island. The ferry to Friday Habor takes a good hour and is very scenic. When we did the trip I left the car at the ferry port and went for the day as a foot passenger. It was a great trip. You can of course take a car on the ferry. The road trip from Seattle to Anacortes, north up Route 5, is about 90 minutes.

Route to Chelan from Anacortes. Thoroughly recommend the Scenic North Cascade Hwy – route 20 – via Diablo Lake to Winthrop. About 100 miles from Route 5. The road closes in winter but in summer it is an absolute scenic delight. Winthrop is a wonderful scenic place set out like a cowboy town with wooden footways.

Winthrop is a good spot to stay a night. Thinking of your two boys, just 5 miles down the road is a Smokejumber Base which in summer is open between 10am and 5pm., with admission free. When we visited the hospitality was super and we were even shown on board an aircraft they used for firefighting. A very memorable visit.

Chelan. Not far from Winthrop, about 60 miles, but make sure to take a ride along the road alongside the beautiful lake at Chelan.

Yellowstone NP. Now to throw a spanner in the works. Yellowstone is a wonderful place but it is horses for courses. For a first time visit I would recommend 2/3 nights to see if is your cup of tea. That is what I would recommend to my family and if the place flicks a switch put back on your wish list. That part of the world is so full of interesting places to see so any extra time saved can be well spent especially on a road trip.

You are in for a treat - have a good trip.

Hi

Have been planning for much of the day. I am back at work on Monday so would really like to try to pin down the stopovers as soon as I can so that I can start booking.

Having read everyone's kind replies and researched as much as I can I think I have the first part of the trip sorted. However from Glacier onwards I am really have trouble getting my head round things. My husband really wants to spend about a week in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. I think we could drop Little Big Horn if necessary. We would still really want to see a rodeo.

The current plan is:
9th August Seattle
10th Seattle
11th Seattle
12th Olympic NP
13th Olympic NP
14th. Chelan via North Cascades Highway
15th. Coeur D'Alene
16th. Glacier NP
17th Glacier NP
18th. Glacier NP

This is where it gets really difficult so any suggestion gratefully received. No idea how to organise this portion to make best use of time, drive most sensible distance and see what we would like to. If possible Beartooth Highway, Cody (just for rodeo) and Little Bighorn

19th Yellowstone NP (not sure where would be best)
20th. Yellowstone NP (as above)
21st. Yellowstone NP (as above)
22nd. Yellowstone NP (as above)
23rd. Yellowstone NP (as above)
24th. Grand Tetons NP
25th. Grand Tetons NP
26th. Billings
27th Casper (travelling from Billings via Little Bighorn)
28th. Rocky Mountains NP
29th. Rocky Mountains NP
30th. Drive to Denver and fly home

Many thanks

Vicki

Your trip is taking shape quite nicely. There would be several options in how to organise your second part of the trip. One would be to stop in the northern half of Yellowstone after your drive from Glacier, perhaps canyon, and then go down to the Tetons and back into Yellowstone and stay near Old Faithful or Grant village to see other areas of the park. If you exited on the Beartooth Highway to Red Lodge [possibly staying around Tower on your last Yellowstone night] and drove down to Cody for the night you could then make your way to the 'Horn' and stop stop in Sheridan.

You could also consider going from Glacier to Billings, to Cody [via the 'Horn'] and then into Yellowstone on the Beartooth and out south through the Tetons and continue to RMNP. [Estes park] Lot's of other options, it's just how it suits you.

Thank you to everyone for your help. We have taken all advice on board. We have decided not to take on the additional distance of visiting Little Bighorn site. Stroppy teenager does not want to go there (although it is for him) so we will be able to spend more time in other places. We are almost settled on the following itinerary but it will of course depend on vacancies.

Our route looks like this now:

9th August. Seattle
10. Seattle
11. Seattle
12 Olympic NP
13. Olympic NP
14. Chelan via North Cascades Highway
15 Coeur D'Alene
16. Glacier NP
17. Glacier NP
18. Glacier NP
19. Missoula or Bozeman (could we do the drive to Yellowstone in one hit or should we break our journey!)
20. Yellowstone (north / east)
21. Yellowstone (north / east) we may drive part of the Beartooth Highway
22. Yellowstone (west / old faithful / lake yellowstone)
23 Yellowstone (as above) probably day trip to Cody
24 Yellowstone
25. Grand Tetons
26. Grand Tetons
27 Casper
28. Rocky Mountains NP
29. Rocky Mountains NP
30. Depart Denver in the evening

How is this looking?

Many thanks

Vicki

You could drive to Yellowstone in a day if that suited you, although Missoula would be a bit out of the way, especially if you plan to split your lodgings in Glacier NP either side of the Going to the Sun road to visit Many Glacier area and leave from the east side of the park. With an overnight stop you could plan to drive the Beartooth Highway into Yellowstone via Red lodge as some of the best scenery is not far from that end of the road.

Thanks everyone.

Back to work this week plus hit by news that eldest son's school is being closed down in July so have had to scale back planning. However have managed to spend some time and speak with travel agent.

Our almost final itinerary is:
Seattle 3 nights

Olympic NP 2 nights. Rooms available at Lake Quinault Lodge

Chelan 1 night. May have to book this myself as travel agent can only offer Wenatchee (but on looking Wenatchee may be more cost effective than Chelan?)

Coeur D'Alene. 1 night

Glacier NP. 3 nights. Have been offered Grouse Mountain Lodge near Whitefish but I would have preferred inside the park (my fault for leaving it so late)

Bozeman. 1 night

Yellowstone NP. 5 nights. We have 2 nights at Mammoth Springs and 3 nights at Lakke Yellowstone reserved. These are in Frontier cabins. Does anyone have any experience of these?

Jackson Hole. 2 nights for Grand Tetons. Would it be better to try to be in the park? I wonder if bring in a city would give the boys a bit more variety?

Rock Springs. 1 night. The route from Jackson Hole to Rocky Mountains looked easier via Rock Springs and I believe there are some amazing sand dunes in the vicinity?

Rocky Mountains NP 2 nights. Rocky Mountain inn

Then have a whole day to get to Denver for the evening flight back to Heathrow.

Any feedback on this gratefully received!

Thanks

Vicki

Good to hear you managed to get your Yellowstone lodgings sorted ! We stayed in one of the cabins at Canyon [which I think was a 'Frontier'] and we were happy enough. You just have to remember they are NP lodgings and not a hotel with all the luxuries, but they are clean and cosy. With no cooking allowed in, or outside of the building, you are somewhat limited to the NP diners and shops which can be both busy and expensive with mixed quality of food and service. It would be worth considering booking a table for evening meals if it's possible where you are staying as lodging guests. I would stock up on snacks and drinks before getting to the park as that can expensive real quick for a family.

Jackson is a busy vibrant place but have you considered one night in the park and one in Jackson. Mormon Row is worth a little detour as well from Glacier.

I'm sure you will have an amazing time and hope you come back and share your experiences with us. [We have a roadtrip fierld report section for just that. ;-)

Dave.

Thank you. I will certainly report on the trip. Trying to make sure some of our lodgings have internet access. I think trying to post while we are travelling will add to the trip too!

Welcome to the Big Sky Country!! I am glad to see that your trip is coming together for you, but I am a little bummed that you won't be heading past my house on the trip. ;) Born & raised in Billings, I totally understand having to give up the farmlands near Billings/Little Big Horn to enjoy the mountains of the western half of our beautiful state, but honestly my favorite part of heading to Yellowstone is hanging out in Red Lodge on the NE end of the Beartooth Pass and driving the Beartooth Pass! Although the Pass is a long drive, it is absolutely worth it and Red Lodge is a very cool little mountain town!

One option to make sure you don't miss out on Red Lodge and the Pass is to take I-90 from Bozeman to either Columbus or Laurel and backtrack a bit to get back to Red Lodge. (Laurel is a bit farther in milage but you would be on I-90 and then on a well traveled straight 2 lane highway back to Red Lodge. If you get off I-90 at Columbus, it is a shorter drive, but it zigzags through the smaller backroads.) The drive to Red Lodge would be about 2.5-3 hours from Bozeman and you could spend the afternoon in Red Lodge then hop on the Beartooth Highway to head into the park. You would enter the park on the NE corner near Cooke City and can take the north road of "the loop" through the park to Mammoth for the night. Starting that day from Bozeman rather than from inside the park would save you a bunch of driving time and you would be able to see the best parts of that area (the Pass). We love Red Lodge and it has always been a family favorite day trip from Billings. (Although it is a very small town, so you don't need a ton of time. ) As far as driving part of the Beartooth Pass, the NE end of the Pass nearest Red Lodge is by FAR the most beautiful!! I would hate for you to drive only part of the Pass coming out of the park and miss this end of it!! The views from the switchbacks on the Montana/Red Lodge end of the Pass are some of the most beautiful sites you will ever see. If you have to give up a little time in the NE corner of the park to be able to see the other end of the Pass, you would not regret it!

As far as food in Montana... the only chain restaurant that I can think of in Red Lodge is Subway. But they do have some great food at the Red Lodge Pizza Company and Bogarts and several others. (Small cafes in all of the small towns in Montana tend to have pretty simple food, so you could probably find something that would work for your son at most of the cafes/diners.) Montana is a VERY large state and sometimes it is a long ways between towns that have chain restaurants (sometimes a couple hours of driving). I would recommend buying a small cooler (you can even get disposable styrofoam ones at most grocery stores) and fill it with sandwich supplies so that if you don't see a place that you are comfortable with eating, you can pull off at a picnic area/rest stop and make sandwiches. You can even fix an entire bag full of sandwiches at your hotel before you leave and you wouldn't have the mess when you decide to stop. You will have a very hard time finding chain restaurants as you start getting closer to Yellowstone Park. (I don't believe that there are ANY chain restaurants within the park.) You would probably need to leave the park and eat in one of the "border towns" such as Gardiner or West Yellowstone. If I remember correctly Gardiner has a Subway and West Yellowstone has Subway, McDonalds, KFC, Arby's, and Dairy Queen. I am not sure if Cooke City has any chain restaurants in it. Grab groceries before you leave Bozeman. Border towns will have grocery stores but they will be smaller and more expensive.

Other recommendations... staying in Whitefish to explore Glacier shouldn't be a problem. It is right on the edge of the park and the main road through the park starts right at Whitefish.

On your way from Whitefish to Bozeman, make sure you take a short detour to the Lewis & Clark Caverns between Whitehall and Three Forks!! Soooo cool!!! The hike up to the entrance is a bit tiring, but you can take your time and they have many benches along the way, so even those of us that are not in great shape can do it. It is an amazing tour and your boys would love it!! Well worth the detour. The actual tour through the caverns takes apprx 2 hours. I would also recommend lunch/dinner at Wheat Montana just off of I-90 west of Three Forks. They grow their own wheat in the surrounding fields and bake their bread right there also. Yum!!

Hmmm... just realized that we will be in Bozeman just about the same time you are heading through. My daughter will be starting college there in the fall, so we will be moving her into the dorms within a day or so of when your family will be traveling through the town. So just a heads up... Bozeman will be a very busy town that week with all of the students returning to school for the fall semester and their families in town to get them settled in. (Bozeman & Missoula are two of the biggest "college towns" in Montana so both will be busy that week with students returning after their summer breaks.) Just thought I would warn you since I noticed our over-lapping dates travel dates. ;) Have fun on your trip.

Oh wait, I forgot... you could probably take a day trip to Cody while you are staying near Yellowstone Lake. If you take the east entrance in/out of the park, you should be able to do it pretty easily.

I also think you should keep the SUV for your rental car. Although a sedan would be fine, an SUV would be a better option. Most of the roads you would be on would be paved, but there are often gravel roads on many of the scenic detours across Montana. There is also ALWAYS a possibility of snow when you come to Montana. In that case you would probably be more comfortable in the SUV with 4 wheel drive as an option. Even the main roads and common routes have a possibility of needing the SUV. We took a trip to Glacier in late August in 2006 and while we were inside the visitor's center at the top of the Going To the Sun Road, it started snowing on us!! (Not an uncommon occurance at our high elevations.) You will also see snow at the top of the Beartooth Pass. That road is typically only open from about late May until September/early October because of the snow. However, we have already had record snowfall in Montana this year, so there will likely be even more snow than normal at the top of the Beartooth Pass. The roads should be clear, but snow is often found just a few steps from the side of the road and you are better safe than sorry.

lol, sorry I keep forgetting ideas that I had when I first read your posts. Since you are staying at Yellowstone Lake... you can rent a boat to take out on the Lake. We have done that a few times while traveling through the park and the kids always love it. It's a big lake, so there is lots of space to explore.

Hi momma2knd, and Welcome to the Great American Roadtrip Forum.

Thanks for jumping in there to help a traveller with your local knowledge. It is always appreciated. In fact, I have noted quite a bit of your information for my upcoming trip, which I hope will include Montana. Just love the big sky country.

Lifey

Glad I could be of assistance!! lol I actually came on here to get help planning my first cross country drive (MT to PA) with my kids (age 11 months, 9 years, and 17 years) and mom to visit friends this summer. I got completely sidetracked with ideas for this trip instead! lol I love Montana and there are some amazing places to explore, but you definitely need a lot of time to do it.

If I didn't love Red Lodge & the Pass so much, I would have said to spend a little more time in the Bozeman area and maybe enter the park through the N entrance at Gardiner. Bozeman is a beautiful city and any outdoorsy person could find LOTS to do there. Because it is a college town, they have hundreds of miles worth of walking/biking trails. They even have a trail that starts right in town and takes you straight into the mountains!

The road into the park through Gardiner from Livingston is known as Paradise Valley for a good reason and always offers a great place to stop for a swim at Chico Hot Springs! It is a beautiful drive, but I still love the Beartooth Pass much more. Really any route into the park from Montana has something special to offer. ;)

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Most of the roads you would be on would be paved, but there are often gravel roads on many of the scenic detours across Montana.

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Even if you have a SUV, you will most likely be violating the terms of your rental contract if you take it off paved roads. You need to specifically check on this.

Vicki who is your rental car reserved with? I have read that some contracts say you can drive on paved roads and others say "regularly maintained" roads. Half the roads in Montana would be considered "regularly maintained" but are not necessarily "paved". If regularly maintained dirt/gravel is not acceptable with your rental company, I would suggest looking for a different rental company. Even the short roads leading into the picnic/camping areas of many of the state/national parks in Montana would be off limits if you can't drive on non-paved but regularly maintained roads. It would even rule out many of the small towns that only pave their main street. :( Hmmm... good luck.

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Originally Posted by momma2knd

Even the short roads leading into the picnic/camping areas of many of the state/national parks in Montana would be off limits if you can't drive on non-paved but regularly maintained roads. It would even rule out many of the small towns that only pave their main street.

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Entering a State Park for the purposes of camping would not really be regarded as 'driving on unsealed roads'.

In which region are you situated, momma? I have driven a lot through northern and western MT, as well as the areas around Yellowstone, Glacier and Big Horn, but I do not recall much in the way of unmade roads. Of course, you will have travelled much more extensively. However, I make a point of routing through small town America. On the Bison Range all the roads were gravel and dirt (and humps and potholes). Also coming down from Lemi Pass, there was a good stretch of dirt road. But I don't think those areas are in Vicki's plan.

[Am hoping this year to cover some of the area between Bozeman and Malta.]

Lifey

Rental terms, when shove comes to push, comes down the exact words used in the agreement. Say what a court would or would not accept as scrutinized by lawyers.

For example, take the wording from a Hertz rental agreement. Prohibited uses of car includes quote “use off paved roads or on roads that are not regularly maintained”

As I read this it means prohibits:

(a) use off paved roads. (simply all unpaved roads)

OR

(b) on roads that are not regularly maintained. (i.e. paved roads say full of pot holes and not regularly repaired).

Each rental car company will have different worded agreements but usually coming down to near the same thing. If you use outside the agreement you could, if it comes to light, be liable.

To be sure read the agreement for the car rented.

I really don't think you need to overthink the "off-road" aspect of a rental car.

A very simple rule of thumb is this: Even if you are renting an SUV or other 4 wheel drive vehicle, If you're taking the vehicle some place you couldn't easily travel in a regular sedan, you are almost certainly breaking the terms of your rental contract. If you drive on a well maintained gravel highway - which are fairly common in some rural area - you are unlikely to have any problems no matter what you rent or who you rent it from. If you try to take it down a logging road, or some other barely maintained path, then you could be in for a lot of trouble. Of course, contract language is going to override everything, but a little bit of common sense goes a long way.

Ultimately, that's a huge reason why a 4 wheel drive rental vehicle is really never a "need." Of course, plenty of people buy into the well marketed myth that 4 wheel drive is essential for travel in snow or other bad weather, and the rental will gladly rent you one, for what is usually a significant upcharge in price, but unless you really need the space, a sedan is typically a vastly better value, that will get you to the exact same places, with more comfort.

Must admit on my many travels to the USA I have, on many occasions driven “on a well maintained gravel highway”. I have used the reasoning, would I drive my own car on the road. If so I went ahead well aware of the risk.

On my travels I have seen many car renters use the vehicle on unpaved roads. Some in ignorance and some aware of the risk.

But, and a big but, I have always been aware that if an incident occurred, say someone bumped me, a breakdown or some other accident – nearly once hit a deer – where the matter came to the notice of the rental company I would be penalised. I know it is a percentage thing but these things happen. You could have an unlucky day.

The rental company would no conscience in enforcing the rules and making you pay if you came unstuck.

Also, if the rental company wanted to be a jerk about it, they know where you have been. They have GPS trackers in the cars.

Hi All

Wow! I haven't been able to log on as trying to sort out a school place for my son and I have been overwhelmed with amazing tips and advice. We will read these properly over the next couple of days. The ideas sound amazing and I wish we had time to do everything.

We are renting the car via Alamo.

Will pits again tomorrow when I have had time to read through properly.

Thanks to everyone who has replied. Reading the advice and thinking about the trip is really helping us through a difficult time. Roll on 9th August!

Vicki

On your way from Yellowstone NP /Grand Tetons towards Denver some places you may find of interest.

Continental Divide. Depending which road you take you will cross the continental divide. Sure it will be shown on your map and may interest your boys if they into geography.

The Wyoming Frontier Prison at Rawlins. We found it well worth a couple of hours looking around, and include guided tours. Certainly takes you back to days gone by.

Terry Bison Ranch just south of Cheyenne. A few years since we were there but you can get up close to bison. Horse and pony rides and other activities.

Hi

We have been working on our overnight stops to ensure that all our accommodation is available and booked.

Our final route looks like this:

Seattle for 3 nights (hotel booked)
Port Angeles for 2 nights (hotel booked)
Wenatchee for 1 night (hotel booked)
Coeur D'Alene for 1 night (trying to decide between holiday inn and holiday inn express and to find out which rooms are larger, both have availability)
Whitefish for 3 nights (no lodging yet but hopefully booking later today, Grouse Mountain Lodge has rooms)
Bozeman for 1 night (deciding on hotel as per Coeur D'Alene)
Yellowstone - Mammoth Hot Springs for 2 nights (frontier cabin booked)
Yellowstone - Lake Yellowstone for 3 nights (frontier cabin booked)
Grand Tetons - Signal Mountain (cabin booked for 2 nights)
Rock Springs for 1 night (hotel as per Coeur D'Alene and Bozeman)
Rocky Mountain National Park for 2 nights (cannot decide on lodging there and having a real problem with this)

Once hotels booked we can start to look at the exact route we will take and start planning all the stops. You have given us loads of ideas and we want to fit in as many as possible.

Vicki

The easiest place to look for lodging for RMNP is in Estes Park, there's a wide selection. There is no lodging inside the park, just campgrounds.

I would agree that Estes Park is a good choice for RMNP.

I would first look to see if you can get lodgings to the east of Glacier NP before booking 3 nights in Whitefish. If you spent two nights in Whitefish to explore areas of the park you could then drive the Going to the Sun road and look at the Many Glacier area of the park. You could check the NP site again to see if any lodgings have become available at Rising Sun cabins near St Mary's lake or at Swiftcurrent motor Inn, if not I believe there are a few options in Browning MT including a Holiday Inn.

There are also a couple of lodging options in East Glacier Park. The drive from St. Mary to East Glacier Park via US-89 and MT-49 is very pretty. It also takes you by the Cut Bank and Two Medicine park entrances, and the Many Glacier entrance is only a few miles north of St. Mary.

On the west side, also look in Columbia Falls, it's closer to the park than Whitefish.

You certainly have a great trip taking shape.

Memories – takes me back to a visit we made to Glacier National Park and a trip in one of the famous red buses.

These pictures will give you a good idea of the scenery.