Wisconsin to Glacier and possibly Idaho and Seattle

[mattfromflorida]

Every year at least one of my friends and I like to do some sort of road trip, even if it isn't more than 3 days long. Last fall we drove from NYC to Morgantown, WV (football game). The year before we did a whistle stop tour of New England from NYC.. (all of New England in two days). We've also driven out to Yellowstone from Minneapolis, did a 10 day east coast trip, (Minneapolis- NC-to NYC-to MPLS) and several others, so I am aware of how weather conditions and road closures can affect a trip. We also car camped from San Diego back to Minneapolis, and I've driven alone from Minneapolis to NYC.

I guess we're not ones to stop and enjoy the scenery for long periods of time. It's more a thirst to explore and see as much as we can while still being on the move. Spending 3 or 5 days in a national park is nothing something that is enjoyable at this point. 1 or 2 days is probably the limit.

With this trip, the concern though is timing, and whether or not it is doable or is something I should even start planning or taking the additional time off from work. I wil currently live in NYC but will be flying into Minneapolis on August 1st for a wedding near Madison on August 3th. The roadtrip would begin on August 4th from Madison, WI. We might stop for a few hours in Minneapolis (my friend lives there) before heading to Glacier National Park. We would probably get a motel or camp along the way. Spend a day or two possibly 3 exploring Glacier, before heading to Coeur d'alene, then Spokane and Seattle, then to Portland before heading back to Minneapolis. This would be an ideal trip.

But I am fine with just Glacier national Park, and Spokane, if that means we could possibly stop at Yellowstone on the way back. Seeing that the trip would start on August 4th, how many days would I need to for this trip. At the same token, we would be fine with just Glacier National Park and driving back to Minneapolis. I would need to fly back by the 14th at the latest. So I guess I'm wondering how much could we realistically do from August 4-13th..

[glc]

Welcome!

If you want to go to Glacier and Yellowstone and spend 2 days at each, that's all the time you have. You need to be careful not to overextend yourself and try to drive more than 600 miles a day.

Aug 4th: Madison - MSP - Fargo
Aug 5th and 6th: Fargo - Glacier, overnight Billings
Aug 7th and 8th: Glacier
Aug 9th: Glacier - Yellowstone
Aug 10th and 11th: Yellowstone
Aug 12th and 13th: Yellowstone - MSP, take the Beartooth out of the park, I-90/I-35 the rest of the way, overnight Rapid City. You could cut 50 miles out by taking US-212 from Crow Agency to Belle Fourche.

Camping would be ideal for the days you are in the 2 parks, overnights enroute would be best done in motels/hotels.

EDIT: If you do this, I'd book a room in Rapid City NOW, because the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally is Aug 5 - 11 this year. It's still going to be crowded and reasonable priced rooms will start going pretty fast. I see rooms starting at $59 right now for the 12th. Taking I-94 back is not a good option, because rooms in western ND are always scarce and expensive due to the oil boom. Rooms are starting at $125 on the 12th in Dickinson.