What Is The Best Route 66 App

[Manases Blakemore]

Generallyspeaking, there are three main routes to drive cross country: northern, central, and southern. Mostly self-explanatory, the northern route stays on a path across the northern states like Minnesota, Montana, or Idaho. The central route follows a path across the middle states, like Kansas and Colorado. The southern route stays mostly south, crossing states like Georgia, Texas, or Arizona.

In my mind, there are two main categories of road trips: trips in which you immerse yourself deeply into one region, and trips in which you experience a lot of different regions at once. In the first category, immersing yourself deeply into one region, you spend your entire trip exploring all of the various things you can see in do in that particular region. You delve into the intimate nuances which make that region unique, spending hours or even days exploring single areas.

A cross country road trip, by its very nature, is going to fall under the second category. Instead of spending the majority (or entirety) of your trip exploring a single area, you are going to spend a little bit of time experiencing multiple different areas. I like to call it an appetizer adventure: you experience a proverbial sampler platter of a number of different regions of the country, getting a small taste of what that area has to offer.

The Bourbon State. The Bluegrass State. Home of the Kentucky Derby. Another major coal mining state. No matter what description you use, the bottom line here is that Kentucky is one of my favorite states on the East Coast, and is home to some absolutely gorgeous back roads.

The question of when to take a cross country road trip can be a very tricky one. In addition to the amount of time required to drive cross country, one also has to factor in things like climate, elevation, and local weather extremes. It is especially challenging due to the fact that the climate in areas along the way can vary drastically during the exact same months. Toss in the fact that most of the highlighted places will be very busy during the summer months, and picking a time to take this trip can be an unenviable task!

It is no secret that Yellowstone National Park is huge. I mean which park covers almost three states, has five entrances, and nearly 470 miles of roads? As you look towards planning a visit to Yellowstone, driving long distances can sound intimidating especially if you are strapped for time.

If you read our previous post, you might have noticed that we flew into Salt Lake City but departed out of West Yellowstone airport. This helped us avoid a long return drive, save time, making the one-way drop-off fee for car rental totally worthwhile.

Enough talking, now to the point. If you search for routes from Salt Lake City Airport to Yellowstone National Park South Entrance, Google suggests the following options (click to open map in Google Maps):

Have your fellow passenger be camera-ready as you start descending down. On a clear day, the shades of blue on this lake look too good to be true! Most likely, Google Maps will lead you to the marina center where there is a parking fee, but you can park for free at the state park and walk to the lake. We had our first picnic lunch of the trip at this spot ?

Besides the lake, this town is famous for its raspberry shake. Head over to Raspberry Square and get yours! With the views of the lake and the yummy shake in hand, life will seem good. Count some more time in as you start driving north, as the vistas on the right side will urge you to pull over constantly.

The 80-mile Star Valley scenic byway stretch is one of the most pleasurable drives that you will encounter on your journey to Yellowstone. The byway begins along the Idaho-Wyoming border on US-89 and continues till the Teton county line till Snake River Canyon up north.

This remarkable national park is known for its alpine terrain and mighty Teton range. Normally I am an early riser but Supriya is not. But on this trip, she was up and pushing me to get in the car before sunrise. So next morning (and every morning thereafter in Yellowstone), we were driving around to the scenic spots or trails before the 10 AM crowd barged in.

In this case, we drove to the most photographed places in Grand Teton, only to find the company of a few like-minded travelers with their tripods set up. It is also the best chance to view elusive wildlife, though we were not lucky that day. However, it was great to breathe in the crisp mountain air. Also, Grand Teton is only 31 miles away from Yellowstone.

We traveled as a couple to Yellowstone, and for us a scenic road trip was irresistible. Though your situation may not be the same. First off, prioritize your goal for the trip. Ask yourself the following:

On your way back, my only suggestion would be to consider taking scenic US-26 which passes through Alpine and Hoback Jn. I remember reading about it- that it passes through Snake river and the scenery is beautiful with the alpine vistas. However we did not cover this part of route ourselves.

Never been at Salt Lake City but as you shared the route best driving route from Salt Lake City to Yellowstone looks really amazing. A long drive always make happy to traveler but it becomes more amazing when you found a good route to travel ?

Hi Barb, A motorcycle trip sounds so exciting. Are you looking for specific tips on places to stop by or something else? 5-6 days is just about right for visiting the main spots inside Yellowstone and spend a day at Grand Teton maybe. For Yellowstone, maybe you could look at our post to get some ideas:

-itinerary

I enjoyed reading about your drive, as my wife and I will be doing the same this fall. Can you tell me if there are any high, mountain roads on the route you took, as I am terrified of driving on roads high up in the mountains with no guard rails or shoulders.

Hi Walt, glad you enjoyed our blog. From what I can recall, some stretches from Afton towards Jackson could be called as high mountain roads but very broad and well paved. We had no trouble at all driving past this route, neither our car was a 4WD. Hope you guys enjoy the drive ?

Hi Uma,

Thanks for checking out our blog! June 1st week would be a fairly good time to visit- we did around mid-June (evenings obviously a bit chilly). Did you read our other two blogs on Yellowstone (one of which is a storybook itinerary)? I am sure that will give you a perspective as to how we planned each day at the park without being overwhelmed. Yes it is BIG ?

South entrance is popular because this gives you the opportunity to explore the nearby Grand Teton National Park (I highly recommend!). To save time, you can fly into Jackson, WY. We however flew into Salt lake city and road tripped to Jackson. At the end (to avoid backtracking), we flew out of West Yellowstone airport as we did a glamping stay on our last night, which was very close to it.

For stays, we booked way in advance for the lodges INSIDE the park (and that is what I would recommend to save time/fuel). Consider yourself lucky if you find availability now for June ( -lodges/). Keep trying as there are cancellations all the time. Otherwise depending on your plan for each day, choose to stay in the nearest town like Jackson, Cody, West Yellowstone.

Hello Bharat

I like the itinerary you posted and it is the same suggested by AAA

Can you tell us how much time one needs in Yellowstone National Park and where does one finds a good place to stay around Yellowstone National Park as all

the Inn inside Park are fully booked

Thanks

Hello

Nice blog, thanks for sharing your experience. I am trying book for June 2019. I was trying to find flights out of West Yellowstone airport but no luck. Which website did you book your travel for that airport? Appreciate your help

Hi Bharat,

Thanks for posting about your experience to Yellowstone from SLC. As a group of 4 people, we are planning for a trip to Yellowstone. Your points would definitely help us. I wanted to check with you if 2 days would be sufficient to enjoy the road trip and the Yellowstone from the South Entrance.

Hi Bharat, thank you so much for sharing your experience and recommendations! I flew into Salt Lake City today and picked up my rental car ( yes it is much more expensive to do that like you said) I am so glad I took your advise and made the epic drive through the Logan Caynon and then stopped at Bear Lake, the landscape and drive is out of this world and luckily very little traffic, my final destination was Driggs Idaho so I took the Route 26 alongside the Palisades Reservoir and this is also a lovely drive! I am looking forward to driving to Jackson tomorrow to check it out and then onto Dubois for a ranching adventure for a week! For someone who did no trip planning and happened upon your blog the night before I came out here, it worked out pretty amazing! Thank you!

Hi Bharat and Supriya, Thanks for helping to plan the trip. We are going to Yellowstone in a week from SLC. Little confusion your map shows go through Evanston to Bear Lake and pull over at Bear Lake Rest Area and Overlook which comes on 89 only if you come through Logan unless you recommend to make a turn just to see that overlook area if you are coming through Evantson. Which way is better Evanston or Logan?

Hi, thank you so much for the suggestions! Do you have any recommendations on where to stay on the way to Yellowstone from Salt Lake City Airport? We are looking for a city or town nearby, and I am sorry one of your recommendations confused me is the best entrance Yellowstone South from SLC Airport?

Hi Yojana, you could totally stay in Jackson. That way you could also see Grand Teton National Park. The best entrance, if you want the scenic route and stop at Grand Teton is definitely Yellowstone South. Hope this helps. Let us know if you have any more questions.

Hi there :) We are an Indian family living in Germany. Our greatest joys have come from moments spent in the mountains, or jumping waves in the sea, or tasting a farm fresh meal. After traveling as a couple, we're now navigating the world of baby travel.

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