looking for advice on a 4,000+ mile road trip

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

I think you've got a great concept for a trip, but when reality sinks in, I think you're really going to have to cut back, as you're trying to do more than you can realistically get to.

The pre-wedding portion of the trip looks like it would be ok, except for that first day. If you don't get done with work until noon - meaning getting on the road, optimistically at 1 o'clock - it's going to be way after dark when you get to Iowa. Getting from Marquette, Michigan to Marquette, Iowa is at least an 8 hour drive, possibly more since much of the trip is on 2 lane roads. That means trying to set up a tent around 9 or 10 o'clock at night, in the dark, after a day at work followed by 8 more hours of "working" behind the wheel. The exact travel times will depend upon your exact starting point, but the principal is going to be the same no matter where in the UP you're starting from. Also, keep in mind that online travel time estimates are not accurate over a long day on the road, you need to plan for real world times to take at least 20% longer, when you factor in even the minimum of stops and slowdowns.

I will say, I'm pretty strongly biased against Iowa State Parks - in fact, it's the only state in the country where I will generally look for anything other than a state park for a place to set up camp. That's based on having several bad experiences at several of their parks, and finding the tent areas of most of their state parks consist of taking a small piece of lawn and seeing how many tents they can have people stacked on top of it, with no trees or anything to break up the sites. Pikes Peak pretty much qualifies for that kind of area - the park itself is fantastic for it's overlooks - but for camping, I would much rather stay across the river at Wyalusing SP in Wisconsin.


Your trip back is where you've really bitten off more than you can chew, I have to say. It doesn't appear you've factored in the time you actually need to cover the miles you're planning. For example, Skiatook to Pueblo via OKC and Amarillo is more than 700 miles, including more long stretches on 2 lane roads. Just on the road time for that is about 13 hours, which is more than is safe or reasonable on a multi-day trip. That doesn't even start to factor in more time to see the Bombing Memorial, find a place for BBQ, or find and set up camp at the end of the day, during a time of year where you've got limited daylight to work with.

I could probably go on day by day, but I'll just summarize by saying 10 days just isn't nearly enough time to drive from Northeast OK to Yellowstone and back to the UP. Yellowstone is a huge detour - that's more a full day drive from RMNP, especially to get to the North end of the park by Mammoth Hot Springs. Also, Considering the fact that by the end of October, Yellowstone is nearly into full winter mode, with hardly any services available, and many roads already closed for the season, and it's a trip that needs to be saved for another day.

I think with 10 days, you could probably come up with a plan to see some of Colorado and South Dakota, but that's really the maximum you should be looking at on your timeline. Even there, the weather is going to be something you'll need to keep in mind. Trail Ridge Road could very well be closed by the time you arrive, as it typically shuts down in mid-october, and storms can cause temporary closures even before then. In the black hills, you'll find that most tourist services are closed for the season. I was there on Columbus Day weekend (Native American day in South Dakota) a few years ago, and most of the restaurants, shops, etc were either closed or were in their last weekend. That doesn't mean you shouldn't go there at that time of year, it just means you'll have to plan ahead a bit more.

When you come up with a Plan B, I'd really keep in mind that 500 miles is a very full day on the road when you factor time for camping, a factor that's even more important when it gets dark early. Even there, that doesn't allow a lot of time for extra exploration, so if you want to stop and explore museums, parks, or other attractions along the way, you should think about even shorter days on the road.