San Diego to Yellowstone

Hi everyone,

We have overseas guests coming to visit mid to end of July, and plan on taking a road trip to Yellowstone. Group of 4 adults. We have 14 days to explore. Need help to plan itinerary as we%26#39;ve never been that far north. Any suggestions on where to stop (Vegas, Salt Lake City?), places of interest that we may not be aware of along the way to YNP?

Originally booked Ol%26#39; Faithful Inn for 5 nites in Aug. Need to reschedule as last minute work means travelling in July. Any suggestions of where to stay if Xanterra doesn%26#39;t have any available mid July?

We love taking hikes and photographs. No rush to do everything - just want to take in nature%26#39;s beauty. Any suggestions greatly appreciated! Rough itinerary...

+ 1 Nite Vegas/Provo/SLC on way up (which is better?)

+ 5 Nites YNP

+ 3 Nites Grand Teton

+ 1 Nite SLC/Provo

+ 2 Nites Vegas on way back

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!! Is July too hot and crowded??

San Diego to Yellowstone

That%26#39;s a lot of territory to cover. Here%26#39;s some ideas.

Day 1 San Diego to beyond Vegas. Look at St George, Hurricane or Springdale UT!

Day 2 Zion Nat Park 1/2 day, then to SLC for the night.

Day 3 SLC to West Yellowstone

Day 4 YS

Day 5 YS

Day 6 YS

Day 7 YS or drive out to Cody WY for a day/night to see museums, rodeo etc.

Day 8 YS/Tetons

Day 9 Tetons

Day 10 Tetons

Day 11 Tetons to Beaver UT or Cedar City UT.

Day 12 To Vegas

Day 13 Vegas

Day 14 To San Diego

San Diego to Yellowstone

On the SLC - YNP leg GoogleMaps suggests taking I-15 all the way up to Idaho Falls the US 20 to West Yellowstone. Because the drive that day would not be that long and because the I-15 route is not really scenic I would suggest another route.

Such as either

- I-80 to just past Evanston, WY and US-189 all the way to Jackson and US-191 up to Yellowstone with a drive by preview of Grand Teton.

OR

- as above but at Kemmerer take US-30 %26amp; US-89 up along the western edge of Wyoming to Jackson via the local named ';Grand Canyon'; of the Snake River.

Both are much more scenic and only a couple hours longer than the I-15 routing. Interestingly there is only 4 miles difference between the two.

A third option might be I-15/I-84 to Twin Falls then up through Arco, ID to view Craters of the Moon then over to Idaho Falls and Yellowstone. Craters is a very interesting place with volcanic spatter cones and lava tube caves. Drive time would be about 8 hours plus stopping and touring time.

You%26#39;ve got a great trip planned. It would be even better if you could throw in Grand Canyon as well. If you or your friends haven%26#39;t been there, you could spend the first night in or around the South Rim of GCNP. The following day you could move on toward Salt Lake City, or better, spend the second night around Zion NP. You could easily take away a day from Grand Tetons without missing anything there.

The parks will be busy in July, but they are big places and can handle it. July is a good month for all the parks in the west. Grand Canyon and Zion are at hgher elevations so don%26#39;t really get too hot, plus it%26#39;s desert dry air much like you have in So Cal. Yellowstone and Grand Tetons will be pleasant during the day and cool at night.

Try West Yellowstone if you can%26#39;t get anything in the park, but keep calling as many cancellations occur as you can attest. Same with Grand Canyon. Tusayan, AZ outside the South gate has several lodging choices.

Hi CasaAzul, Sequim88, texhills,

Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions!!! Yes, we managed to re-book YNP for mid-July due to last minute cancellations.

We%26#39;ve never been to (the south rim of) GCNP. Where is that along the route SLC-YNP? We%26#39;re hoping to rent a van with GPS to help, but wants a headstart to hotel bookings as it%26#39;s peak July. Would that be at Tusayan as suggested?

Sequim88, if it%26#39;s you, which of the 3 routes would you take? Bear in mind, we%26#39;d like to spend 2 nites on the road, reaching YNP for the 3rd nite.

For Grand Teton, any suggestions of mid-price lodging? The Lake Jackson hotel is too expensive for our group!

Grand Canyon NP south rim is some 9 hours drive to the east using I15 and I40. It%26#39;s nowhere on the route SLC-Yell but if you don%26#39;t mind driving extra miles do as Texhills adviced but you%26#39;ll best spend one day at the rim, if you can find accomodation.

In 12 days it%26#39;s quite a detour though.