I am planning a trip to Yellowstone in June and am looking for suggestions relative to highway selection to West Yellowstone, MT. Traveling in a 30 ft Class "C" with a tow car. I will be coming in from Kansas City via Interstate 80. From I-80 I will head north on either US 287 at Rawlins, WY or US 191 at Rock Springs, WY. Which of these two highways would be the best choice and why? Thanks in advance for your help.
Hi, I'd be tempted to go farther north through Sioux City--then you could add Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse to the trip.
Hi DavyD, The answer to your question depends on you and what you consider important. I'll try to cover a couple of potential important factors. Time: Going all the way to Rock Springs and taking US 191 north may be qucker if for no other reason that you will be spending driving more miles on I-80 and thus less on on 2 lane highways. I came up with 260 miles from Rawlins to Moran (in Teton NP) versus 200 miles from Rock Springs to Moran via US 191. That difference is more than made up for by the 110 miles distance from Rawlins to Rock Springs. Stop before getting to YNP: If you plan on spending the night before you drive to YNP/GTNP in one of those I-80 towns (Rawlins or Rock Springs), the drive from Rock Springs is a lot easier. There are fewer high mountain passes and that 60 mile difference could translate into an additional 2 hours of driving time. Scenery: Either route will give you spectacular scenery and each has towns of interest along the way. On US 191, however, you will be going through Jackson, WY which many folks consider a don't miss stop and the views of the Tetons as you drive north from Jackson are constant for miles. If you take US 287, you will have to make a 60-70 mile southern roundtrip detour from Moran to visit Jackson. Confused yet? If this is your first visit to the area, I'd vote for US 191 because it goes through Jackson. Again, if you haven't traveled this area before, it will often take as much as 2 hours to travel 100 road miles once you are off the intersates. I'd also suggest US 191 if you are on a tight schedule because potential time savings. As an aside, I hope you are going in late June. GTNP and especially YNP can be very "iffy" weatherwise until mid-June. Road closures due to late season snows are not unusual in early June. I know it happened last summer for a few days in early June. Have fun!
JerryS, This is good information! I am planning a trip as well to Yellowstone in mid August. My initial thought was to go via US 287, but Togwotee Pass had me concerned. From your post I am rethinking my original thought of going US 191. Pulling 25 ft travel trailer.
Jerry S. Thanks very much for the reply. That is exactly the type of info I had hoped to get. My trip is planned for mid-June. I have already begun to pray to the "weather gods".
You are both very welcome. Might I suggest that you both take advantage of the "search" function at the bottom of this page. there have been a number of Yellowstone discussions in the recent past and you may be able to get some valuable information concerning RV parks and touring YNP and GTNP. Just typing "Yellowstone" in the search box should get you to most of these previous threads. I hope each of you is able to spend enough time (I'd say 5-7 days) to be able to see at least the highlights of everything this 2 park area has to offer. Even then, if you are like most people, you'll want to come back ASAP and see and do even more.
