Wyoming Visit (Cheyenne, Casper, Laramie: appointed, hotels, home)

[bdl1]

Driving out in early June from western Massachusetts. After a few days in S.D. planning to visit the Yellowstone area. Questions--
Is Cody a good base to use for Yellowstone visits? Other suggestions?
How many days should I allow for Yellowstone?
Any other sites to visit?
Trip out of the Yellowstone area will be south to Denver, if this helps.
Thanks in advance,
Barry

[sunsprit]

Coming from SD, Cody is one of the possible "park entrance" gateway towns you could choose.

Keep in mind that it's still a fair distance from Cody into the park, so it's not like you'd stay in a Cody motel and do day trips into Yellowstone. You'd be better off investigating the lodging or camping that is within the Park and staying there for the duration of your Yellowstone visit.

Yellowstone is so varied a place that you cannot possibly see it all in a short time frame. Even just visiting the famous highlights would reasonably take a week, and that's just the places that are readily accessible by car or the shuttles around the park. To get into the backcountry and non-motorized areas can take many weeks in and out ... hiking or on horseback.

This is like heading to the Smithsonian and trying to see it all in a couple of days ... it's not going to happen. You need to research and prioritize what you'd like to see before you get there (via the website), and then choose what you can reasonably do in the time you have available. If you've got a week, so be it ... if you've got a month and like tohike and camp out in the wilderness, than so be it. You'll still be leaving without having seen it all ....

Your options heading to Denver are still very challenging ... you could head out of the park to Dubois, or to Jackson, both routes take you through the Grand Tetons, still very interesting territory south of Yellowstone, and worth your time if you have it available to stay for awhile. Either route will then have you heading Southeast through a lot of miles of "fly-over" country in Wyoming as you head to Laramie.

From Laramie you can head over to Cheyenne to get on I-25 South to Denver, or you could take the canyon route from Laramie to Fort Collins and then South on I-25.

Much of the choices of places to stay and see along the way will depend upon your particular interests. If you just want the Disneyland tourist highlights of the unique area, then you'll be satisfied with a brief stay in Yellowstone and won't have much else to do once you leave there until you reach Denver.

So, it's up to you ... if you enjoy the outdoors, wildlife, terrain, weather, fishing, hiking, camping, and so forth ... it's a lifetime of possibilities. What's your pleasure?

[CptnRn]

From South Dakota on I-90 you should definitly stop and visit the Devils Tower National Monument not far North of Sundance, WY .

Then take the interstate through Sheridan Wyoming to Highway 14 and over the Big Horn Mountains . A very scenic drive over the mountains on good highways to Lovell and on to Cody. While in the Big Horns stop and visit the Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark .

While not ideal for seeing the park, it is possible to stay in Cody and make day trips around the area including the park. You might want to visit the Buffalo Bill Cody museum in Cody. We took one day trip that went North from Cody up to the Beartooth Highway , a beautiful drive, then followed the highway down through the park making numerous stops and then back to Cody.

When you are ready to head home I suggest leaving the park South to Moran Junction then take 287 East through Togwotee Pass. The Togwotee Mountain Lodge Togwotee Mountain Lodge is another place makes a great base camp for exploring the area. When I wanted to introduce my wife to Wyoming that is where I took her. Beautiful location and much less expensive and less crowded then staying in Yellowstone or Jackson Hole.

From here drive through Dubois, the Wind River Indian Reservation , they occasionally have powwow's in the summer that visitors can attend, and through Lander Wyoming. The drive up 131 the Sinks Canyon road is a worthwhile side trip. Sinks Canyon State Park The river disappears into the ground at the Sinks, then reappears 1/4 mile down the road at the Rise. There are some nice campgrounds and picnic grounds in the canyon.

Wow this thread is reminding me what an enormous number of wonderful things there are to see and do in Wyoming. Especially if you love the outdoors.

[Bill7719]

One thing to also point out... Yellowstone is huge. Old Faithful is closer to the west side of Yellowstone, meaning it is a long way from Cody. If you're into geothermal stuff, a number of those areas (Norris Geysers, Fountain Paint Pots, etc.) are also closer to the west side of the park.

I took a cross country trip last summer and fall. Sadly, I got to Yellowstone right during Labor Day weekend. That was a big mistake because of the cost of hotels and outright lack of availability. I stayed in Rexburg, ID and drove 80 miles each way back and forth for a couple of days to see the park. I barely scratched the surface of what can be seen in Yellowstone. But I was just too tired of sight-seeing by then to fully appreciate Yellowstone.

I was heading east, meandering my way back to NY. I planned to stay in Cody on the evening of my last visit to Yellowstone. There was driving rain and I went very slow. If I recall, it took about three hours to get through the park from the west side and then another forty minutes to an hour after leaving the east entrance to get to Cody. But again, it was dark, there was driving rain, and I was unfamiliar with the area.

From my point of view, I would highly recommend the Devils Tower monument.

If you plan to see a few national parks, you might also consider the annual pass. Devils Tower had a $10 entry fee last year. Yellowstone had a $25 entry fee (good for a few days) last year. If you visit the badlands in either ND or SD, there is an entry fee. If you check the National Park web site at National Park Service - Experience Your America and determine the admission fees for the various parks you might want to see, you can find out if the cost of an annual pass would be justified. If you break even, then you still have another year to enter parks for free. Most of the major parks are in the Western U.S. But the pass is typically good for certain historical parks in the eastern U.S. (check the nps.gov web site). For example, NPS owns the presidential sites for John Adams & John Quincy Adams in MA, plus Martin Van Buren in NY. The annual pass will NOT cover Mount Rushmore, FYI.

[jdavid93225]

Well, it looks like others have covered this topic quite well, but I'll add a little bit, too. I've only visited the park on two occasions, each only being for a day.

The first time I visited, I entered from Grand Teton National Park, where I had been camping. I took the western route around the park, visiting West Thumb, Old Faithful and some other geysers in nearby locations, up to Madison Junction and Norris Junction, continuing up to Mammoth Hot Springs, to the Tower-Roosevelt junction, and ending up heading out of the park from the northeast entrance. We made numerous stops along the way to see the things that we found interesting. After exiting the park, we took the Beartooth Highway (212) to the Chief Joseph Highway (296). We took that back to Highway 120, which we took north into Montana, eventually ending up in Red Lodge, where we spent the night. The section of Highway 212 that crossed over into Montana north of Highway 296 was closed for construction, so this ended up being a very long trip for one day. It was worth it, however.

On my next visit to the park, I came in the northeast entrance after taking the Beartooth Highway in from Red Lodge. This allowed me to see what I missed on the previous trip because of construction. Once I entered the park, I took the eastern route around a portion of the park. We visited Tower Falls and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone before reaching Canyon Village. We then headed West to Norris Junction and Madison Junction, before heading out the West Entrance into West Yellowstone, MT. From there, we headed over to Ashton, ID, where we spent the night.

These two trips allowed us to see some of the most famous parts of the park, but did not allow us the time to do them justice. As the others have stated, you could spend months there, and still have plenty left to see. As the others said, I would also recommend staying in the park, if you plan to spend several days there. I also recommend visiting Grand Teton National Park while you're in the area. You can do this on your way out of Yellowstone, but again, I'd recommend allowing extra time to see it. You will have unforgettable memories even if you just drive through, but there is so much more to see that it's worth staying for a day or two, or longer if time permits.

If you take that route and continue south, you'll end up in Jackson. A little further south is Hoback Junction, where you can head south on US 191, which will take you into Rock Springs, and eventually past Flaming Gorge Reservoir and into Utah, if you stay on it. You can continue this path until you reach I-70, then head east into Denver, or you can take a route through the Dinosaur country around Vernal, UT and Craig, CO, and continue in an easterly direction towards Denver, or, you can head east in Rock Springs, WY, and take I-80 towards Laramie, where you can follow Sunsprit's directions to reach Denver.

The whole area has so much to offer in the way of scenic beauty that there is no way that you can expect to ever take it all in. I've traveled much of that country myself, and can't wait to get there again, because there is so much more I would like to see. If seeing the countryside is your objective, you won't be disappointed with what you see.

[Bill7719]

Oh and one other thing.....be prepared for traffic jams if you're going to be in Yellowstone on a weekend. If an elk or a buffalo shows up on the side of the road, everyone stops their car for a picture. Sometimes the buffalo walk out onto the road too, so be very careful. Be sure to drive slowly. I remember sitting in a traffic jam for about 90 minutes on the Saturday evening of Labor Day weekend (someone's car had broken down). Just be sure to account for something like that in your schedule.

[trebor1961]

If you pass through Casper, Wy. give me a shout out. I would like to know your impression of it. I'm considering a move out there. Thanks, and enjoy your trip. I lived in Cody for a year in 1993, beautiful country.

[sunsprit]

Since it's about 50 miles from Cody to the park east entrance, I'd say that making that in 40 minutes during tourist season is quite a feat. Especially if there's the usual number of RV'ers on the road, which also make travel in the park itself a little slow.

If you're visiting when school's out and folks are vacationing ... count on traffic, even during the week.

[Bill7719]

In my case, the drive from the east entrances (and actually much of the trip heading east through Yellowstone) was dark, rainy, and lonely. There was nobody on the road. But, it was the Sunday of Labor Day weekend and people were probably either camping in the park for the last day or had already left earlier.

After leaving the park, I started to see electronic signs warning about wild fires. My cell phone was out of range and I got a bit nervous. I stopped at a restaurant for dinner and they were quite friendly. With the dampness and the rain, they said I shouldn't have any problem. Sure enough, I didn't see any flames (can't even remember if I saw even a hint of smoke).