Best routes to Yellowstone

[huskeroadgeek]

I will likely be planning a trip to Yellowstone sometime in the near future-if not this year, then probably in the next couple of years. I've been there twice before, but it's been over 25 years. I was wondering about the pluses and minuses of different routes. The way I see it, there are 4 main routes to take(keep in mind this is based on coming from eastern Nebraska). One route is sort of a hybrid of two others(two of these I have been on before). Also keep in mind that I will have other people with me, and probably won't be able to do any side trips for strictly roadgeeking purposes.

#1. I-80 to US 26 at Ogallala-US 26 to I-25-I-25 to Casper-US 20 to Thermopolis-WY 120 to Cody-US 14/16/20 to Yellowstone: This is the route I took with my family the last time I went to Yellowstone.

#2. I-80 to Rock Springs-US 191 to Yellowstone: This is the route I took with my family the first time I went to Yellowstone(also spent time in Jackson and Grand Teton). This is the longest of the 4.

#3. I-80 to Rawlins-US 287 to Yellowstone: I have never been on this route between Rawlins and Moran Jct.

#4. This is sort of a hybrid of #1 and #3-it deviates from #1 at Shoshoni and takes US 26 through Riverton to Moran Jct. This is the shortest route.

I have also thought about coming into the Northeast Entrance from Cody via WY 120, WY 296 and US 212.

Also, if anybody has stayed in any of the gateway cities nearest the entrances recently(Gardiner, Cooke City-Silver Gate, and West Yellowstone), any help on good places to stay would be appreciated.

[J N Winkler]

I have been to Yellowstone multiple times.  In my experience, Cody has reasonably priced tent camping, while Dubois has reasonably priced motel accommodation.  I have also stayed in Jackson, but don't recommend it because it can be quite expensive--I stayed with friends (originally from southern California) who had a second home almost within Grand Teton National Park.  I have never even wanted to try staying in any of the gateway cities and, frankly, I would find it difficult to justify staying anywhere in Yellowstone itself (whether in a motel or under a tent) unless it was as part of a multi-day backpacking expedition.  (If you decide to do that, make sure you get issued a bearproof food container, and stay at least a quarter mile away from the bison.)

I don't think there are any really good routes to Yellowstone because the park attracts enough traffic to sour the LOS on all of the approaches, which go down to two lanes a considerable distance away from the park.  US 26-287 from Dubois westward was tolerable, however, and the Beartooth Highway (US 212 approach) is a purpose-built scenic highway through alpine terrain and is quite well worth doing as a tourist attraction in its own right.  To get the full benefit of the alpine scenery, however, you need to take the long way round and do the hill climb out of Red Lodge instead of using the Chief Joseph Highway (Wyo. 296) cutoff.

[agentsteel53]

rule #1.  get off I-80 as soon as possible.  I-80 is the feces of numerous species.  I'd even get on US-30 at the departure of your journey, just to see some things which you would never notice from I-80, despite the fact that they are only 5 miles apart.

but, you name three corridors which are each scenic and worth seeing in their own right: US-26-and-friends, US-287, US-191.  

I would recommend US-26 simply because you get Hell's Half Acre, the Wind River Canyon, and the red rocks on the approach to Grand Teton ... and the approach itself.  MY GOD - at one point, you are thinking you are still in the foothills, then you crest a high point on the road, and THERE, RIGHT BEFORE YOU, are the Tetons, and you damn near swerve off the road and hit a tree and fucking die because the view is so amazing.  

US-26 to US-191 is my recommendation.  Not the I-25 swing, even though US-20 is also remarkably scenic - those views on US-26 need to be experienced.  I need to post those photos from that Oct '07 trip to my Flickr, because it is incredible.  

then do 20 and 191 and 287 as well.

[corco]

I'd agree with a lot of that but I'd deviate in Casper. 20/26 from Casper to Shoshoni sucks balls. I've driven every mile of state highway in Wyoming and 20/26 from Shoshoni is bar none my least favorite stretch of road in the entire system.

26 from Ogallala to Casper is fairly interesting, so that's a good call. I'd go US-26 to Wyoming 220 to US-287. It's a few miles longer but well worth it. 20/26 west of Casper is incredibly long and flat with nothing to look at and a surprising amount of traffic (much of it drunk folks driving from the reservation to Casper- it's actually a fairly scary drive) passing each other in dangerous areas. Then you get to go through Lander as well which is both more interesting and quicker to drive through than Riverton.

I'm not sure why Google hates WYO 220 so much- it's just like every other major rural road in Wyoming with a 65 MPH speed limit and shoulders. 220 goes over some mountains and then goes by Independence Rock and the Avoca Reservoir, so there's at least stuff to look at

[NE2]

I'm not sure why Google hates WYO 220 so much- it's just like every other major rural road in Wyoming with a 65 MPH speed limit and shoulders. 220 goes over some mountains and then goes by Independence Rock and the Avoca Reservoir, so there's at least stuff to look at

Probably because - oh my god - it's not a U.S. Route! I guess TIGER's to blame for that originally, in making U.S. Routes more major than state routes in the data Navteq or whoever middle-manned to Google.

[huskeroadgeek]

I'd agree with a lot of that but I'd deviate in Casper. 20/26 from Casper to Shoshoni sucks balls. I've driven every mile of state highway in Wyoming and 20/26 from Shoshoni is bar none my least favorite stretch of road in the entire system.

26 from Ogallala to Casper is fairly interesting, so that's a good call. I'd go US-26 to Wyoming 220 to US-287. It's a few miles longer but well worth it. 20/26 west of Casper is incredibly long and flat with nothing to look at and a surprising amount of traffic (much of it drunk folks driving from the reservation to Casper- it's actually a fairly scary drive) passing each other in dangerous areas. Then you get to go through Lander as well which is both more interesting and quicker to drive through than Riverton.

This matches up with what I remember about US 20/26 W. of Casper. Thanks for the tip about WYO 220 and US 287-that's something I'll probably do.

Thanks for the other tips as well-I haven't ever approached Grand Teton/Yellowstone from US 26/287 through Dubois, so it looks like that's what I will do, and maybe take a different route back.

[texaskdog]

I love Beartooth (212) of course but I always loved coming in on 14 or 14-A from the east from Sheridan.  14-A over the Bighorns is great, as is 14 through Shell Canyon, and then in from Cody. 

[Sykotyk]

Definitely agree, get off I-80 as quick as possible. If it were me, cut up to US-20 and run that west through Lusk to I-25 and continue from there. Either US-275 or a combination of other routes. US20 is very fast moving and really has a great stretch of emptiness in Cherry County.

Another option is to get to US20, run west and cut up to US18 in southwest South Dakota via NE-27 to SD-79 to US385. Take that through Wind Cave National Park. Continue US385 to US16, and take that west through Jewel Cave National Monument into Newcastle, WY and venture west from there on US16 to I-90 to US14, etc.

Sykotyk

[texaskdog]

I liked 16 from Newcastle to 90.  West of 90, I really didnt care for 16 much compared to 14 & 14A.   Though you do go past "Brokenback Mountain" which I thought was incredibly funny, passing through there in 2006.

[froggie]

I've been on I-80 west of Rawlins.  It's not as bad as the others are claiming, and also offers a lot of trainspotting opportunity.

That said, I agree with Corco about trying WY 220.  Passes by a reservoir, Independence Rock, and Devil's Gate.

[agentsteel53]

I've been on I-80 west of Rawlins.  It's not as bad as the others are claiming, and also offers a lot of trainspotting opportunity.

80's good for speed, but otherwise US-30 has everything you need instead.

[MeanMeosh]

Never done the approach on US-16 or US-26/287.  US-14 through Shell Canyon is pretty cool, though the triplexed 14/16/20 section west of Cody can get congested with RVs and travel trailers.  Nothing more irritating than getting stuck behind someone in a rented RV or fifth wheel doing 45 in a 65 who doesn't believe in using pullouts.  If you have the time, swing north to Billings and come down the full length of the Beartooth Scenic Highway from Red Lodge.  You'll be glad you did.

[vtk]

My family's preferred route was usually #2: I-80 to Rock Springs, then up US 191.  But there's a pretty good reason for that: we weren't going directly to Yellowstone, but to a rental cabin above Palisades Reservoir in Idaho.  From there we usually made a day trip into Yellowstone, and maybe one or two shorter trips just to Jackson. 

There's a 70-mile stretch of US 191 starting after you climb up the bluff north of Rock Springs that is absolutely the most boring road I've ever been on.  Right in the middle is a town of 400 called Farson, and that's about the closest to literally "the middle of nowhere" that I can imagine.  (Side story: I was telling about how horrendously isolated this place was at lunch in high school once when a classmate interjected "I used to live there!"  Small world.)

[corco]

Ha! There's no way there's 400 people in Farson- there's probably not even 100- maybe 200 in combined Farson/Eden.
But yeah, that stretch of 191 is horribly boring. Wyomingites don't tend to drive much more than 5-7 over, but you see folks going 80-85 down 191 on a reasonably regular basis- it's a boring road and there's more traffic on it than most other roads in Wyoming, which makes it a terrible drive.

There is one worse stretch in Wyoming, and that's 20/26 from Shoshoni to Casper, but 191 is right up there. In terms of towns, Wright is similarly way the hell out there in the middle of nowhere, and 59 is a pretty rough drive, but for some reason it doesn't bother me as much as 191 or 20/26.
Edit- and...wow- my own photographs prove me wrong



I really can't believe there are that many people in those areas- they're so awful and there's nothing there but modular homes

[vtk]

Looks like about 100 people moved from Farson to Eden since the last time I was there.

I suspect the primary reason for that many people to live in Greater Farson has something to do with the military.  My classmate who used to live there was an Army Brat.

[corco]

I'd bet it has to do with the oil/coal fields in the area- the area between Pinedale and Rock Springs is loaded with nice resources- Pinedale, Rock Springs, and Big Piney have the brunt of that population, but certainly some of them live in Farson. I know of no military installations nearby.