3 Week Denver-Moab-Idaho Falls-Yellowstone-Denver Loop : Advice Please?

Hi all,

Lengthy post, hopefully I've made it a worthwhile read enough to get some solid advice :)

My wife and I just concluded our first trip to the USA about 2 months ago. On that trip we toured Virginia, the Carolinas and Tennessee. We've decided we'd like to go back again next year, but visit a completely different part of the country.

Our current plan is to spend 3 days in Houston (closest direct flight, we stayed there on the way back last time and liked it), then fly to Denver and spend 3 weeks (appx) doing a road trip in a big loop. I've started working on a rough plan, which currently looks like this (route travelled clockwise) :

https://photos.smugmug.com/Forum-Pho...L/Trip0-XL.jpg

There are only a few things that are on our 'Must See' list on this trip - Moab, Yellowstone & Thermopolis. The rest, we are entirely flexible around, as long as we start and finish in Denver.

As a general rule, my wife and I are 'explorer' types, so we are happy to take back roads, staying in small towns, etc. Tourist hot spots and big crowds are definitely not our thing. However, it is likely that given the distance and cost, this may be the only time we will visit most of the stops, so if there are 'Must See's that aren't on our list, we'd love to know them.

For reference, general travel plan (very open to change) is as follows :

Day 1 - Arrive @ Denver, drive direct to Colorado Springs. Stay @ Colorado Springs
Day 2 - Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak.
Day 3 - Drive to & stay @ Glenwood Springs
Day 4 - Drive to & stay @ Moab, taking the Colorado River Scenic Byway.
Day 5 - Moab, Arches National Park.
Day 6 - Drive to & stay @ Salt Lake City
Day 7 - Salt Lake City & environs (maybe Park City).
Day 8 - Drive to & stay @ Idaho Falls
Day 9 - Idaho Falls & environs.
Day 10 - Drive to & stay @ Jackson WY
Day 11 - Drive to & stay @ Gardiner MT (via Grand Teton & western Yellowstone)
Day 12 - Drive to & stay @ Billings (via Yellowstone & the Beartooth Pass)
Day 13 - Billings & environs.
Day 14 - Billings & environs.
Day 15 - Drive to & stay @ Thermopolis (via Devils Canyon Overlook & Cody WY)
Day 16 - Thermopolis - hopefully spend the day soaking in the hot pools!
Day 17 - Drive to & stay @ Cheyenne.
Day 18 - Cheyenne & environs.
Day 19 - Drive to & stay @ Denver
Day 20 - Denver & environs.
Day 21 - Denver & environs.
Day 22 - Denver & environs.
Day 23 - Fly home.

With all that in mind, I'd like to ask some advice on specific sections from those wiser and more experienced than me :)


1) Denver to Glenwood Springs - I understand I70 is very pretty as it is - after we depart Colorado Springs is there any tangible advantage taking a longer more circuitous route through one of the back mountain roads (e.g. SH24 or SH50) vs just sticking to I70?
https://photos.smugmug.com/Forum-Pho...2/Trip1-X2.jpg


2) Moab to SLC - is the quickest road (through Price) a worthwhile trip, or would following I70 and then coming up through Nephi be more scenic?

3) Salt Lake City - I've had conflicting feedback on SLC. Some people say it's worth a visit, others say it's as interesting as watching paint dry. So I'm a bit torn here - if we stopped we'd want to stay two nights, so am I better doing so, staying somewhere nearby instead, or just making it a long day and gunning straight to Idaho Falls?

https://photos.smugmug.com/Forum-Pho...L/Trip2-XL.jpg


4) Billings - worth spending a few nights there? We want to visit Devil's Canyon Overlook and Billings is nearby, plus after a few days of long driving it might be nice to settle down for a few days. I've got no idea if Billings has much going for it though - thoughts? If we don't go there it would free up 3 nights, which we would probably split between either Cody WY or Red Lodge MT (as we'd have to stay at least one night after doing the Beartooth Pass) and an extra night somewhere else on the route.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Forum-Pho...L/Trip3-XL.jpg


5) Final 2-night stayover before Denver - have this pencilled in for Cheyenne, but Casper is more geographically convenient. Thoughts on Casper vs Cheyenne?

https://photos.smugmug.com/Forum-Pho...L/Trip4-XL.jpg


Thanks for taking the time to read this far, and again, any advice gratefully accepted :)

Daniel.

Welcome to the RTA forum!

When will this trip take place?

My biggest observations of your plan world involve Yellowstone. It is a huge place, and I don't think you're planning nearly enough time there. Billings is a fine place but spending as much time there as you'll spend in Yellowstone doesn't make any sense to me.

That said, you also put this in the fall/winter section, and as winter comes very early to Yellowstone, the time if year may make some of this plan impossible due to traffic closures.

Thanks for the reply. Intended travel dates are from approx 25th August to approx 15th September :)

We’re not planning on doing much in the way of big hikes or the like, so what in Yellowstone do you recommend would occupy the extra days? We were mostly planning on just driving through for the scenery etc and staying a couple places along the way.

Yes, I-70 is very scenic. However, so is US-50. Take US-24 out of COS to US-285 to US-50, rejoining I-70 at Grand Junction.

US-6 from Green River to Spanish Fork is a good way to go. So is I-70, but keep in mind that there are no services or cell service between Green River and Salina.

Thanks for the reply. I’ll look a bit more into the US50 option.

I just edited my original post to correct some spelling and it vanished? Hope just temporary 😬

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Originally Posted by BlackrazorNZ

I just edited my original post to correct some spelling and it vanished? Hope just temporary ��

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Your edit sent the post back into moderation - after the fact edits sends up a "red alert" for our anti-spam software, especially when there are images like your maps in the post.

As far as Yellowstone, even without significant hikes, it takes 2.5-3 days just to see the highlights of the park - and Grand Teton also deserves a day or two. The park is basically laid out in a figure 8 - I'd give at least day for the lower loop, including Yellowstone Lake, Old Faithful, and surrounding thermal areas, another day for the upper loop, including Canyon and Mammoth Hot Springs, and then a day for the Lamar Valley and onto Beartooth.

I think you've got plenty of places where you can add a couple days to Yellowstone - You're planning 5 days to get from Moab to Jackson - even if you spent 3 days on that section, you'd still have quite a bit of time to explore both SLC and Idaho Falls. Similarly, a full day (2 nights) in Billings would be plenty for most people. If you're looking for a place to settle down for a couple of days, I'd certainly rather do that in the Greater Yellowstone area than Billings.

At SLC, there is the Great Salt Lake to see and behold, one of few salt lakes in the US. There is also much to see if you are interested in the history of the area, mostly the Mormons. Nearby is also Golden Spike National Historic Park, regarding the historical meeting of the railroads from the east and from the west back in the 1800s.

At Idaho Falls, you can go a bit west on US-20 to Craters of the Moon National Monument, where lava flows resemble the surface of the moon. As a matter of fact, the astronauts practiced there, in the 60s and 70s, to see what it might be like for them.

I agree with the statement about spending more time in Yellowstone. We did 3 days there a few years ago, and now want to go back. We missed quite a few things the last time, including an entire large geyser basin, and didn't spend enough time on other things.


Donna

Thanks again for the feedback.

Based on the above and a couple other bits of advice I've read, I've modified the plan a bit by taking out Billings and Salt Lake City (will just do a long drive from Moab to Idaho Falls instead) and sinking that time into extra nights in Jackson and Gardiner.

Plus I've tweaked the return leg to stay a couple nights in Cody and then Casper; Thermopolis was all about the hot pools and if i stay at Cody and Casper we'll have plenty of time on the drive down for a decent soak at Thermopolis.

One more quick question - 2 nights at Glenwood Springs vs 2 nights at Aspen??

https://photos.smugmug.com/Forum-Pho...L/Trip5-XL.jpg

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One more quick question - 2 nights at Glenwood Springs vs 2 nights at Aspen??

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It's a bit like asking whats best, Apples or Oranges ? ;-) I'd probably opt for Aspen when combined with the drive to either place. Having said that I would add a night at Moab so yyou could explore part of Canyonlands and Dead Horse point. It's always a personal choice so the decision is yours (of course) but another couple of suggestions would be>

Instead of going to Cheyenne and then spend days in Denver consider going to Estes park to 'chill out'. It's a lovely town with an opportunity to visit some of Rocky mountain National park which is quite stunning.

As SLC is no longer in your plans, have you considered heading north from Moab to wards Vernal and up through Rock Springs on US191 to Jackson WY. With an overnight on route you could visit Dinosaur NM and/or Flaming Gorge Res and it's a lovley drive.

As has been said, Yellowstone is huge and the going is slow so consider more time there. If you don't plan to stay in the park then you could also look at West Yellowstone for a night to explore the nearby attractions, although you can get reasonably priced cabins in the park which is well worth it imo.

My gut reaction would be to reverse course to counter clockwise as some of the spots you which to travel are high elevation AND northern latitudes, such as Yellowstone and the Beartooth Highway (great choice!).

To or from Pike's Peak/Colorado Springs, the US 50 option is a great scenic drive although I might suggest staying on US 50 and see Black Canyon of the Gunnison, then turn south on US 550 at Montrose south through Ouray to Durango. From Durango, drive west on US 160 there visit Mesa Verde National Park to the west and then north on US 191 to Moab.

An alternative to US 50 would be going south from Colorado Springs to US 160 and west via Great Sand Dune NP, Durango, and Mesa Verde NP.

The Vernal, UT to Rocky Springs via the Flaming Gorge is a beautiful drive where you also reach some altitude 9,000 ft comes to mind, a route I just traveled this past October. Dinosaur National Monument is an easy visit that doesn't require a lot of hiking, just a few hours and an overnight in Vernal.

Yellowstone IS huge. Three full days are easy to spend there without even going on any hikes. One of the most diverse areas around.

Billings and Cheyenne might be good for overnights, but not much longer. I'd probably opt for Red Lodge over Billings.

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

It's a bit like asking whats best, Apples or Oranges ? ;-)

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We all know the answer is Oranges, right? :D

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

Having said that I would add a night at Moab so yyou could explore part of Canyonlands and Dead Horse point.

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Just googled both, they look awesome, added, thanks!

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

Instead of going to Cheyenne and then spend days in Denver consider going to Estes park to 'chill out'.

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Also googled, also looks nice, added :)

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

As SLC is no longer in your plans, have you considered heading north from Moab to wards Vernal and up through Rock Springs on US191 to Jackson WY. With an overnight on route you could visit Dinosaur NM and/or Flaming Gorge Res and it's a lovley drive.

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Looks nice but would add a lot more drive time - but I'll do some maths and see if putting Jackson before Idaho Falls would work.

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Originally Posted by Southwest Dave

As has been said, Yellowstone is huge and the going is slow so consider more time there. If you don't plan to stay in the park then you could also look at West Yellowstone for a night to explore the nearby attractions, although you can get reasonably priced cabins in the park which is well worth it imo.

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I've messed with the schedule to stay 2 nights in Gardiner - it's not long but hopefully enough for a taster.

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Originally Posted by landmariner

To or from Pike's Peak/Colorado Springs, the US 50 option is a great scenic drive although I might suggest staying on US 50 and see Black Canyon of the Gunnison, then turn south on US 550 at Montrose south through Ouray to Durango. From Durango, drive west on US 160 there visit Mesa Verde National Park to the west and then north on US 191 to Moab.

An alternative to US 50 would be going south from Colorado Springs to US 160 and west via Great Sand Dune NP, Durango, and Mesa Verde NP.

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We have a Scout group that does a 2 week loop out there every 5th year, and hits all of these areas.

They go from Denver to Pikes Peak, then to Great Sand Dunes, to Gunnison then via Durango and Ouray to Mesa Verde followed by Moab (Arches) and also Canyonlands.

From there they head back towards Denver via Colorado National Monument and Rocky Mountain National Park.

Note also that they tend to do a bit more hiking, and thus stay in each of the parks 2-3 nights, which fills in the remaining days.

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Originally Posted by landmariner

My gut reaction would be to reverse course to counter clockwise as some of the spots you which to travel are high elevation AND northern latitudes, such as Yellowstone and the Beartooth Highway (great choice!).

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Might sound odd, but I'm actually hoping for a bit of snow etc! I'm from the South Island of New Zealand so driving on narrow icy alpine roads is par-for-the-course :)

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Originally Posted by landmariner

To or from Pike's Peak/Colorado Springs, the US 50 option is a great scenic drive although I might suggest staying on US 50 and see Black Canyon of the Gunnison, then turn south on US 550 at Montrose south through Ouray to Durango. From Durango, drive west on US 160 there visit Mesa Verde National Park to the west and then north on US 191 to Moab.

An alternative to US 50 would be going south from Colorado Springs to US 160 and west via Great Sand Dune NP, Durango, and Mesa Verde NP.

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Will investigate further. I know my wife loves alpine resorts so tempting her away from Aspen etc may not be easy, but I'll see what case I can build :)

Ouray is an Alpine resort and has hot springs, mountains on three sides. Check it out!

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Originally Posted by BlackrazorNZ

Looks nice but would add a lot more drive time - but I'll do some maths and see if putting Jackson before Idaho Falls would work.

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I think Dave was suggesting going to dinosaur or flaming gorge instead of Idaho falls.

If Idaho falls is a must stop for you, then this idea probably doesn't make sense.

Michael is correct, it was an alternative route that would not include Idaho Falls so you would be changing the overnight destination.

Haha OK, i didn't realise to that - never mind, I found a way to make it all work that includes 2 nights in both Jackson and Gardiner (Yellowstone) :) There is a lot of small-town stops on this trip, so Idaho Falls, being a medium sized city, at least keeps my wife happy for somewhere to do a bit of shopping en-route! :)

Thanks for all the feedback - have discussed with my wife and I think we're reasonably settled on the below now :)

https://photos.smugmug.com/Forum-Pho...L/Trip7-XL.jpg

Day 1 - Arrive @ Denver, drive direct to Colorado Springs. Stay @ Colorado Springs
Day 2 - Colorado Springs + Pikes Peak.
Day 3 - Glenwood Springs (via US24 and CO-82)
Day 4 - Moab (via I70 & Colorado River Scenic Byway)
Day 5 - Moab + Arches National Park.
Day 6 - Moab + Dead Horse Point & Canyonlands
Day 7 - Vernal (via CO-139 and Dinosaur)
Day 8 - Jackson (via US191 and Rock Springs)
Day 9 - Jackson + Grand Tetons (Jenny Lake)
Day 10 - Idaho Falls (via US26)
Day 11 - Idaho Falls (chilling out and shopping)
Day 12 - Idaho Falls (chilling out and shopping)
Day 13 - Gardiner + Old Faithful/Grand Prismatic Spring (via US20)
Day 14 - Gardiner + Mammoth Springs/Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Day 15 - Thermopolis (via Beartooth Highway/Red Lodge/Cody)
Day 16 - Thermoplis + Hot Pools!
Day 17 - Estes Park (via Casper/Cheyenne, long day's driving, appx 7.5 hrs)
Day 18 - Estes Park (chilling)
Day 19 - Denver
Day 20 - Denver
Day 21 - Denver
Day 22 - Denver
Day 23 - Fly home.

I've got to tell you, I think you're still shortchanging Yellowstone with your current plans, and I don't think you're yet appreciating the size of Yellowstone, nor the slow nature of travel there.

While you're spending 4 full days in Denver and nearly 3 full days in Idaho Falls, you're still basically only spending a day and a half in Yellowstone - which strikes me as strange when you marked Yellowstone as a "must see" for this trip.

Idaho Falls to Gardiner, by itself is a 4 hour drive, so that only leaves you half a day to see the lower half of the park. I'm sure you'll enjoy it if that's all you can do, but it means there's a ton you won't have time to see.

I'll also say that Gardiner to Thermopolis via Beartooth and Cody could easily be an 8-10 hour day on the road. It's certainly longer than your "long day" of driving to Estes Park (not only is the distance longer, but the roads are much slower.

I'll stand by my previous recommendation that if Idaho Falls is a "must stop," then I'd go there directly from Moab, rather than going to Jackson, out to ID Falls, and doubling back to Yellowstone. That's adding quite a few miles to add in a mid-sized city.

I don't factor shopping into my planning, so perhaps there is something really special about the shopping in ID falls, but if it's just an average small/mid-size city with the chain stores you'd expect to find at most every regional shopping mall in the country, then I'd actually think Salt Lake City would be a better place to stop to "shop and chill." I'll also point out that Jackson itself is a resort town, much like Aspen and Estes Park, with lots of shopping options, albeit generally more high-end shopping than an average American mall.

If shopping in a good size town is needed, there’s plenty of shopping, including high end shopping, in Denver. Right now I’m thinking of Park Meadows that even has a Tesla dealer. https://www.parkmeadows.com/en.html

There are so many good places for shopping on your list already, and as just pointed out, Denver is one of the best ones. But I may be a little bit like Michael -- shopping never factors into my vacation planning.

I'm also not sure....why 3 days in Idaho Falls? Maybe I'm missing something, but to me, Idaho Falls is a place to stay when you go out to Craters of the Moon. That in itself could be done in a morning and then shopping in the afternoon...so two nights in Idaho Falls?

Back to the Yellowstone issue .... it takes one full day to see a lot on the "Lower Loop", which includes most of the geyser basins. It takes another full day to see a lot on the "Upper Loop", which is waterfalls, mountains, lakes, and hopefully some wildlife.

AAMOF, the wildlife are one of the major reasons why it's "slow going" in Yellowstone. You'll be going along from one scenic view to the next, and you'll come to a complete stop for a long time. Could be bear, moose, deer, bison, or even wolves. No one is going to let you around, it's that stopped up. Sometimes a ranger will come along and try to get traffic moving again.

Another slow going reason is parking. Now I believe you're going in the fall, so that might relieve some of the issues there. There's a huge amount of parking at Old Faithful, but there's also a ton of traffic there. You may end up parking a half mile across the parking lot, then have to hoof it up to the boardwalks there, THEN wait until Old Faithful is ready to go off. She is fairly regular -- thus her name -- but if you arrive after she's just gone off, you'll wait. BTW, there are some nice shops in the Old Faithful area. They are mostly gift shops. In other areas, you may pull into a scenic spot and have to wait for someone else to pull out. (We even had to wait at 7 in the morning at one such spot, in the summer.) My husband likens it to trying to shop at certain big-box stores in our area at Christmas....you drive around and around until you see somebody about to pull out!


Donna

Thanks all for the... forthright feedback, it's appreciated :) Especially around Yellowstone - looks like the average travel time my map planner gives me might not apply there!

Shopping itself to be fair is not a major concern, the better term would probably be 'quiet days' i.e. days without a whole lot of travel pre-planned so we can just chill out. But I think given the amount of ground we're trying to cover, you're probably right about weighting too much on those. Ideally, we'd also prefer not to be putting down huge miles in a day more often than necessary.

I'll do some more working and come back with Plan C :)

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Shopping itself to be fair is not a major concern, the better term would probably be 'quiet days' i.e. days without a whole lot of travel pre-planned so we can just chill out.

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To be honest there are no better places to enjoy quiet days than when in the midst of nature. I would much rather be 'chilling out' in the likes of Yellowstone than I would Idaho Falls or Denver. We appreciate we are all different but sometimes another perspective helps.

Holy moly guacamole - just started costing some of these stops up - $450-600 a night in Jackson for anything approaching a normal hotel room! Is it just that much of a resort town?

Yes, it's absolutely that much of a resort town. It's one of the premiere - i.e. most expensive - resort towns in the US.

I guess I haven't shopped it (I've camped on my visits to the area) but that still seems kind of high. What are the dates you're looking at? If this is Labor Day weekend (first weekend in Sept), then I'd expect the prices to be even higher than normal.

Ah... that's it... the date I had in the schedule was the Friday night of the first weekend in September.

In any case - thanks everyone for all the thoughts - in the end, I cheated - my wife and I have decided that the 3 week pace was going to be too rushed, so we're going to save up extra and make it a 4 week trip.

Once we add in the additional week, it's much less hectic - get to spend 4 full days travelling through Yellowstone, can fit Vernal/Dinosaur into it comfortably, and take US50 from Colorado to Grand Junction via Salida - and still have plenty of rest time.

I'll post some pics once we're actually on the trip :)

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just started costing some of these stops up - $450-600 a night in Jackson

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You do pay a premium for Hotels near Yosemite at the best of times and I think I mentioned earlier about rooms and cabins within the park that suddenly don't seem too bad value. The cabins (or lodge) at Canyon village meant we could have a full day off from driving as there was a path leading directly to the rim of the Grand canyon of the Yellowstone.

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I'll post some pics once we're actually on the trip :)

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We love to see other members trip unfold into reality and have the Roadtrip Field reports section if you'd like to share your adventures and thought with us !

Your going to have a lot of fun but if you have any more questions in the meantime, don't hesitate to ask.