Yellowstone to San Francisco

Hi we will be in Yellowstone in May, we want to see Jackson and the Tetons. We will then have a week to drive back to San Francisco. What is the best route, we have been told that Lake Tahoe is worth seeing. We are a family of five (three children) and we really would like to get ';a little'; of the beaten track and see real america. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Yellowstone to San Francisco

Hi aussiejill,

There are some wonderful routes you can take along the way, both historic and scenic. With a week to drive you should be able to enjoy a lot of western America. I have included links to a number of places I think you and your family might enjoy. While in Yellowstone, you sre very close to Cody Wyoming.

http://www.bbhc.org/museums/index.cfm

Promontory Utah, the meeting of the railroads

http://www.nps.gov/archive/gosp/home.html

The Great Salt lake

Lake Tahoe is very beautiful

Sacramento has the gold discovery site and the California railroad Museum

http://www.csrmf.org/default.asp

http://www.coloma.com/

If you have some additional time a drive to Yosemite national park and the valley together with Sequoia National Park could be very rewarding as well as beautiful

http://www.nps.gov/yose/

http://www.nps.gov/seki/

There are other routes such as going thru the Columbia River Gorge, so have a great time and enjoy America.

Yellowstone to San Francisco

I have driven from Jackson to Reno (next to Tahoe) and the Bay Area a few times. From Jackson, if you wanted to, you can make it to Reno in 12 hours and then it is another 3.5-4 hours to San Francisco. So with a week, you have plenty of time. To be honest, there really is not a whole lot to see between Jackson and Reno. The best way to go is to drive from Jackson to Twin Falls Idaho (which is pretty, but nothing really worth stopping for), and then you head south and head into Nevada where you go through the towns of Jackpot and Elko. And then you head west again towards Reno. Pretty much all of Nevada before you get to Reno is high desert with not a whole lot to see.

If I were you, I would take 2-3 days in Jackson. From hiking to river trips to horseback riding to the alpine slides, there is so much to do and see here with kids. I would then take a day to a day and a have to drive to Reno and then spend 3-4 days in the Reno Tahoe area, which is a beautiful area.

I am beginning to think it may be more worthwhile to spend the time around Jackson, then drive back to Salt Lake and Fly to San Fran. that way we will have atleast 2 days up our sleeve and can hire a car in San Fran and see Yosemite. Thanks for your advice, I appreciate it. Aussiejill

Hello Jill,

You do not say when in May you are planning to be in Yellowstone, and you should be advised that May can still be wintertime in the higher elevations of the American west. Most of the park roads and facilities should be open by the end of May, however that can depend on the total snowpack that the crews have to deal with. Here is a link to the scheduled opening dates for the park facilities:

nps.gov/yell/…open_closedates.htm

You will noitce that these are *SCHEDULED* dates, and as such they are dependent on the weather conditions.

As for experiencing the ';Real America';, it just doesn%26#39;t get anymore real than what you will find in Yellowstone. Please take the time during your holidays to fully enjoy this spectacular part of our country!

We would arrive in Yellowstone on 11 May. Thank you for the link, I have used it previously, and I also phoned the Park and they advised that there is sometime snow falls at this time, days are warm but nights are cooler. I have also read other links or blogs where others had been in the Park at a similar time and had great wild life sightings. It would be great to be there in June but unfortunately that is not possible for us. Thanks for all your help. The trip advisor members have been a godsend.

Thanks so much for all the links and info. It is much appreciated. We have so much we want to see and so little time.

May is one of my favorite times of year to be in Yellowstone, and I will be there myself from the 15th. to the first week in June. The wildlife sightings are usually incredible at that time of year. Especially with all the newborns running around. The only reason that I mentioned the weather was to make you aware of the possibilities, and so that you can pack accordingly.

Enjoy!

THanks for your advice. I have a couple of more queries though. Our plans are to have atleast 4 days in Yellowstone (not sure if we should see Cody), we will then fly Salt Lake to either Reno or San Francisco, then we plan to have atleast a day and a half to two days in Yosemite. How much time do you think we need to see Jackson and the Tetons, as I gather that in May there would not be a great deal to do - or am I wrong. Any advice would be appreciated. Another thing, we have booked two nights at the Old Faithfull, with an option for a third - is this a good place to base ourselves or should we spend the third night somewhere else in the park??

Hi Jill,

We are driving up to Yellowstone and Tetons from Sacto (90 mi northeast of San Franc) in early June and were wondering the same thing about what to see between here and there. As said, there are not a lot of big things to see. You definitely should spend a day or two in Tetons and Jackson Hole. If you could fly into Reno and then see Lake Tahoe area, I think you would enjoy it. You would need at least an overnight in Yosemite which may be difficult depending on what year you plan on going. Lodging in the park is very limited. Outside the park, there is plenty, but then you have the 1/2 hour or so drive into the Valley. Yosemite from Lake Tahoe is probably about 5 or 6 hour drive down I-395 and thru Tiago Pass, if open. I think Yosemite is about 4 hrs from SF. You will probably want at least a day or more in SF unless you have seen it before. Have a great trip.

JQ

Thanks for your advice. We changed our plans a couple of weeks ago and will now fly into Reno, see Lake Tahoe on our way to Yosemite. We have allowed two nights. Will then head to San Francisco. We will try our luck with accomm around Yosemite when we arrive, we will be their mid-week in May so hopefully we will get lucky. Only 8 sleeps to go. Thanks to all who have offered great advice.

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