Next weekend we will be leaving our home on the Northeast tip of Tennessee (Bristol to be exact) and heading to the Grand Tetons. We know we will stop in Clarksville, TN. and then Columbia, MO to see our son, but then we are open to routing suggestions. Our niece looks after our house when we travel. We went through Nebraska last year. This year we are debating whether we should try going through Kansas. Pluses or minuses for either route?

Once we are in the Tetons, which is an area we really like, we will be there 10-14 days before turning around and heading down to Santa Fe, New Mexico where our family is flying in and we will be staying with them in a rented house for a week. After that we will be on our own wandering with no itinerary and and will not be home before the end of September, but might extend that into October. We probably will go by the Hallmark manufacturer to see about having out camper reroofed over the winter. If it cools down we could head down into Oklahoma and Texas.

If you have recommendations please feel free!

Steve

 

For the drive through Nebraska versus Kansas, the only difference is one is corn and the other is wheat. South Dakota is probably more interesting.

 

Steve,

You're headed out to some of my favorite places on the planet. We used to own land near Lander, WY, and our younger son attended UW in Laramie. My uncle lives in Albuquerque. We've made variations of this trip many times from the DC- and western NC areas, so I hope you'll allow me to offer up a “few” comments and suggestions.

From MO to WY, you have a couple of route options. One is to take I29 north from Kansas City into NE, then Route 2 over to Lincoln to pick up I80. US287 from Rawlins, WY up to GTNP is a lovely drive. Parts of this route are historic, but it can be a tad desolate.

If you're a rail fan, North Platte in central NE is home to the massive Union Pacific Bailey Hump Yard. A private (fee) observation tower affords a terrific view of yard operations.

Sidney in western NE is a good stop with a HUGE Cabela's and the well-known Sapp Brothers Truck Stop. Bass Pro acquired Cabela's recently, so I don't know how that may have affected operations at what used to be their flagship store. My understanding is the Cabela's offers free overnight RV parking.

You're likely aware of this, but I think it's worth a reminder: I80 westbound across NE puts the heavy duty stress on RVs. It's 400+ miles uphill – usually into a headwind – and most drivers run their A/C systems in the hot summer. The speed limit is 75 mph. So, make sure your truck's cooling systems are up to snuff.

Put another way, my old F250 5.4 4R100 4.10 4x2 scored a solid 20 mpg making this run eastbound.

I hear that there's one of the few remaining Big Boy locomotives on display in Cheyenne.

Take old US287 from Rawlins. Mr. D's Supermarket in Lander is a great place to stock up on supplies. Dubois (“Doo-boys”) is a picturesque mountain town along the way. The Cowboy Cafe serves up hearty breakfasts, and the Stagecoach Inn offers old-style motel rooms (at what I think are reasonable prices). A small stream babbles along the west side of the inn.Togwatee (“Tog-a-tee”) Pass between Dubois and GTNP is at almost 10K feet, but 287/26 has been substantially rebuilt in the past 10 years or so.

An alternative route to GTNP is to stay on I29 north past Omaha and then take I90 west to SD's Black Hills. Custer State Park is worthy of national park status, IMHO. Other local sites IIRC include Walls Drug, Deadwood, Jewel Cave, Wind Cave, Mt. Rushmore, and the Badlands. You can then get to GTNP via the Devil's Tower, the Bighorn Mountains, Cody (worth an overnight ) and then on to Yellowstone's East Entrance.

Depending on your route south to Santa Fe, Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Mesa Verde National Park, and Bandelier National Monument (the latter near Santa Fe) are all worth considering.

If you decide to travel home from Santa Fe via I40, then visits to Palo Duro State Park (south of Amarillo) in Texas is worth considering, as is the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in SE Oklahoma.

Another route from Santa Fe would be to head south to Roswell, and then visit Carlsbad Caverns and/or Guadalupe Mountains National Park. From there you can head east one way or another and then pickup I40 in Little Rock.

I hope you have a GREAT trip, and safe travels!

Jim / crewzer

 

Thanks Jim,

Appreciate all the info!!

 

 

A dry county? No wonder the campground was almost empty!

 

Of everywhere I have traveled across the United States that stretch on I29 from Kansas City, MO to Exit 10 in Iowa (where you get off on HIghway 2 is the part of the drive to Wyoming I dread the most. Not that St. Louis to KC is all that great but that little stretch going north out of KC is boring and not scenic (at least to me). But the road isn't horrible and the traffic is reasonable.
Going across Nebraska you are headed uphill the whole way and into a headwind, road isn't bad at all and there seems to be alot of places if you need to stop there is some sort of services not far, alot of corn, cows and irrigation systems to see through Nebraska.
One year headed to Wyoming on a hunting trip dad and I went across Kansas and into Denver just to see different scenery, we've hunted Southern Kansas alot so we decided on I 70. Its different than Nebraska, more hills, less cows, more beans, decent towns to stop in, road wasn't bad however there were more crosswinds.

 

 

 

 

When you leave Missouri, head north to intersect Hyw 20. It leads thru northern NE going thru the Big Horns in WY. and into Cody, Scenic route we have traveled a few times. Ten Sleep Canyon is awesome! sounds like a great trip - take care,

 

I am sure we crossed paths on I-70. We were headed home. The wind was horrible for us. I had to slow down and I hate doing that.

On your way back if you come through Oklahoma on I-40 let me know. I am only 10 min off of I-40. Same goes for I-35 as well.