My trip of a lifetime- or am I nuts?

We have found 50 miles of travel for each hour of driving is fairly accurate. The only time it gets better then that is if your camping right next to the interstate. Even then it's not a given.
 
We used to push hard all the time. But now, it seems impossible to get on the road before 9 am, and we prefer finishing by 4 or 5 so we can relax in the campground - even if it is only that one night. Maybe a trip to a nearby park to walk the dogs further than most campgrounds can provide, find a pizza place, checkout that small "interesting" place nearby, or just hang out and chat with the neighbors.
Don't forget to build in "camp days" for taking a break - doing laundry, super cleaning the black tanks, etc.
The further from a population center you can be, the further from a "big deal" destination one can be, going before/after the peak seasons, and not needing a weekend/holiday site, all help in finding a site with less notice.
But I reserve everything now - the competition for almost any location is just too hard to be able to "take you where the wind blows" any more. Unless you only boondock in pretty remote locations.
 
Glacier Natl park can be seen in a day or so unless you hike a lot. MUST DO cross into Canada (you will need a passport) and see Waterton NP. Much nicer than Glacier. Then since you are in Canada do the Banff-Lake Louis- Jasper NPs. They are not that many miles away. Then you can hit Yellowstone-Grand Tetons NPs on your way home. 4 to 6 weeks

Add The Utah 5 NPs in southern Utah 3 to 4 more weeks. Thus the summer is over. So head South for the winter.
 
Since I am "parked" at my son home in TN, it is 3 days driving West to see anything interested. I have been on the road for 15 years. My trips are 8 to 12 weeks long. I boondock or dry camp at NFS- BLM land about 80% to 90% of the time. I like the 1/2 price feature. I can go 3 to 4 days before I need to dump and fill with fresh water - depending on how often I shower. I gave away the blue tote after year one. Never used it. I run out of fresh water first. There are always places to dump/fill close by. Check out iOverlander.com for sanitary dump places and Free or Wild camping. There is also a Facebook group for Boondocking for Big Rigs.
 
We have done many of the stops that the OP mentioned, but over 3 trips. 6 weeks in Michigan, including the UP and a jaunt into Ontario to camp at a friends house. 7 weeks for the northern part of the US, including both sides of Glacier, and 4 entrances to Yellowstone. 7 weeks for the southern part of the US, including all of the National Parks in Utah.

Because of our length (36' 5th wheel at the time), we did not stay in any National or State Park campgrounds. We made reservations at outlying campgrounds. That worked out great.

While on the road, we take our chances with finding overnight stops on the fly. After about 300 miles on the road, the missus will start looking for spots and calling ahead. That also worked out great for us.

We have stayed at Cabela's, Walmart, town and county parks, fairgrounds, along will with commercial campgrounds and COEs. What ever is available around the area.
 
Thanks all! I don't expect this to happen until 2026, but I am a planner so wanted to start research. I tried to limit our travel days to no more than 8 hours driving time (Google maps), not issue for me but the wife can't take much more than that in the truck. On long travel days I planned 2 or 3 overnites for recuperation. One of the points was about adjusting the schedule on the fly. Is this possible if I have reservations? I know National Parks would be difficult to move so would have to keep that timeline. I'm not really interested in anything farther out than Wyoming, Colorado and Utah. Wife has a sister in mountains of Denver, so may try to accommodate a visit. Her place is completely inaccessible to my rig so would have to plan something nearby. Saw the post about the road not opening until July-YIKES! What is the busiest time at Glacier and how long are they open? I'll have to reconsider the suggestion heading to Zion as starting point and heading North. Good info so far. Thanks for the help!
RV Trip Wizard will be your friend for planning drive times. You can adjust your speed setting in case you drive under (or over) the speed limit and you can set drive times or drive distances and draw a circle with those setting to see how far you could reasonable expect to go based on your choices.

Rescheduling on the fly requires you to not schedule every single day of your trip. You leave some buffer days along the way depending if you want to change any plans. Admittedly it is kind of hard to estimate when, where, how long for the buffer days, but it gets easier after you get some experience under your belt.

Here is a rescheduling (or a not scheduling) example....
I plan to leave Gulf State Park in souther Alabama on 4/28/25 and arrive at Horse Tooth Reservoir in Ft Collins, CO on 5/11/25; both those are reserved in advance. That's about 13 days of travel and, while I have mapped out where I expect to be each day (and what to see/do at each stop), I have made no reservations. Given the time of year and the route I plan to take I do not expect to have a problem staying where I plan. And since I am traveling in the spring and the weather is always a question, I can reroute or stay longer/shorted depending on weather conditions. On some travel days we start off and have a stop in mind; if we decide to use that stop we call ahead to check on availability.

fwiw... I like to plan ahead. I find it fills in the slow, non-travel months and I find it fun to plot and plan and discover things to do/see along my planned route.
 
One more thing about not booking ahead. You need to have the holiday weekends covered somehow. Currently we plan our stays at family property. Just an FYI that popped into this ole head. LOL.
 
Referring to post #2, Road to the Sun not open till mud July. Are the campgrounds open then? I'm wondering what the camping season is up there. Other thoughts- Wife has no interest in ever traveling outside US, so not going to Canada, lol. I was figuring campground availability would be more open during weekdays and would make reservations for anything over a weekend. I would consider Harvest Host, but don't know availability up there. Pretty sure wife won't like overnighting in a Walmart! I cover 350+ miles in 6 hours so I'll try using that as my guide. A day or 2 of more travel won't be too bad.
 
If you have the time don't cut yourself short on stays and allow for down time now and then. We always stay at least a week at points of interest, Yellowstone was 10 days and that not enough time. Custer we did a full week and could have added a couple more days. Some areas we stay outside of the parks (Yellowstone and Glacier) at National Forest cgs that offered water and ele. Some had a dump some don't.
 
@dually mike GNP campgrounds open much earlier, and the park is vastly less crowded. Check the website, there's some major road construction in the NE and stuff just happens. Just before the pass opens they run special events when you can hike or bike the road.
 
Enjoy the blessings of the journey. My favorite section of the country is Southern Utah. Try to visit Moab, Bryce Canyon and don't miss Monument Valley! From 2009 to 2018 we rv'ed 60,000 miles in the lower 48. I've traveled in Europe, Central and Soth America, but the best adventures are in the RV. Started traveling again in 2020 revisited Europe, Hawaii and Alaska. Rv'ed an additional 15,000 miles. Love Florida in the winter, Yosemite in the spring and New England in the fall.
 
I wouldn't say your nuts. Youre retired. Do your thing you're way! Where you are nuts is stopping before you get to Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Northern California. Many great places including more National Parks. Maybe your trip in 2027?
 
LOT of great information here.
I agree with using RV Trip Wizard for planning. It's a great way to see the whole picture of all the campsite possibles.
I think that if you don't have reservations for the "popular places", you will SOL. Utah is very busy in the spring and the fall.
There are many steep, long pulls. Plan accordingly.

We are full-time travelers (except when we workamp) and we try very hard to NOT travel on the interstates. So many "mama and pa" towns have some interesting things to see and do. Don't stop at a rest area. Stop at a local museum. The person volunteering in there will give you 10 more ideas of things to see.
Get Open Roads fuel card, so that you can go to the truck stops, plus get a discount on the fuel. Out in the rural america, some of the gas stations are huge and spacious, but in busier cities they are small and hard to maneuver a large rv.
When making reservations; don't tell them that you are 42ft. Some places draw the line at 40. We are close to 42ft and never tell them.
DON'T do more than 300 miles a day. We might not even do 200 or 100. There's just too much to see and do.

Safe travels and happy planning, KEN
Here is a bit of our travels, in 2024
53937038252_ffa089a3e0_b.jpg
 
We did a variation of this trip (in our early 30s!) two years ago and to this point it was one of the highlights of my life. The advice in this thread is outstanding. Since you are retired, my recommendation is to take the travel days easy. I tried to limit to one tank of gas (36gal, 10mpg). Sweet spot was a 5hr drive of 250-300 miles. Then leave time at stops - 1 night leaves very little time for any activity and 2 nights can still be very limited even at intermediate stops (and can tire you out with back to back to back travel). Good thing about driving out west is that it isn’t traffic like East coast driving.

Glacier - worth it with or without going to the sun road. It’s crowded when the road is open but still worth it. There are also two sides of the park - we preferred the west side and lots of park options for your rig. A lot of the parks right outside Yellowstone/Glacier cost more than other places but imo are worth it.

Badlands, Minuteman Missile Site both well worth a visit - look at their schedule in advance though. We found Minuteman to be closed on Monday (iirc) when we were there.

There is so much to see you could budget two years and not do it all - decide how long you are willing to travel and what the main goals are, then make it a journey and hit what you can in between because some places (like Badlands!) may not make your list but end up being a highlight.

We booked the main stops then had intermediate places in mind but not necessarily booked allowing flexibility in the journey but still guaranteeing reservations and whatnot at places like Glacier and Yellowstone.

HAVE FUN!!!
 
Another vote for RV trip wizard. The red dots you see are Harvest Host locations. Now you can link your Harvest Host account to RVTW and it will show on the map.
We didn't make it to Idaho or Tetons due to a breakdown at Glacier which cost us a week but the trip was still wonderful and we spent a couple of extra days at Yellowstone. 70 days and felt like we missed so much.

2023 trip.jpg
 
Background info for reference- Wife and I retired, traveling in a 42' toyhauler and taking our Trike along. Towing with a CCLB Dually. I can take the genset along or leave it home. Probably taking my waste tote in case I can't find hookups.

Trip info- Leaving PA, probably sometime around April/ May. Have friends near Dayton, OH so plan to spend about 3 days at their place. Another friend is in Flushing, MI and will only spend a day or 2 there. Would like to go to Mackinac KOA for about 3 days. Want to see Mall of America. Head to Custer State park for maybe 3 days. Head to Buffalo Gap KOA for a couple days, then on to Glacier Natl park. Imagine we'd stay for about a week. Undecided if I want to head back from there or go down to Yellowstone NP and then further down to Zion. No timeline for this- retired and have no responsibilities LOL! Looking for insight as to what to see and how is traveling. I've been up and down east coast, but never traveled out West so give me some ideas! Thanks in advance.
If you are going to Glacier or Yellowstone, you absolutely need reservations. Glacier KOA is very nice, but expensive. Your rig will fit in Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone, but you will need to book the hour reservations open. Can't remember if they are 6 months or 12 months out, but they sell out quick. Glacier requires advance passes for access to Goung to The Sun, Many Glacier, etc. Requirements vary from year to year, so do your research early. I would book these two reservations first and plan your trip around that. Zion as well if you plan on going there. I would advise on no more than two back to back travel days, with a two night rest stop between. I aim for 250-300 miles per day max. I will stretch to 350-400 if absolutely necessary. Have fun!!
 
Background info for reference- Wife and I retired, traveling in a 42' toyhauler and taking our Trike along. Towing with a CCLB Dually. I can take the genset along or leave it home. Probably taking my waste tote in case I can't find hookups.

Trip info- Leaving PA, probably sometime around April/ May. Have friends near Dayton, OH so plan to spend about 3 days at their place. Another friend is in Flushing, MI and will only spend a day or 2 there. Would like to go to Mackinac KOA for about 3 days. Want to see Mall of America. Head to Custer State park for maybe 3 days. Head to Buffalo Gap KOA for a couple days, then on to Glacier Natl park. Imagine we'd stay for about a week. Undecided if I want to head back from there or go down to Yellowstone NP and then further down to Zion. No timeline for this- retired and have no responsibilities LOL! Looking for insight as to what to see and how is traveling. I've been up and down east coast, but never traveled out West so give me some ideas! Thanks in advance.
I would add Bryce to your itinerary if you are already planning on Zion. Also, as you work your way north, if you are already as far north and west as Glacier, you might consider the Tetons, the Wallowa Mountains in Oregon, Sisters Oregon, and the Oregon Coast.
 
Going to the Sun road opens late as previous stated. You can not tow a trailer on that road. Also it will be difficult or more likely impossible to get a campsite in Glacier with a trailer of that length. Very nice KOA campground in West Glacier near the park entrance. If time is not an issue for you, would definitely visit Yellowstone, Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands and Arches NP. None of those parks will likely have a campsite to accommodate your trailer but all have very nice campgrounds just outside the parks. The parks that I mentioned are beautiful in the fall. Not as hot and much less crowded. September and October are great times to visit.
 
My wife and are planning a trip to Yellowstone next year and we discovered this couple on YouTube who have a lot of history and they include suggested itineraries, etc... I'm planning to use their research for my trip to Yellowstone, Grand Tetons & Black Hills.

I'm excited for your trip. I'm not quite there yet!
Dwayne
 
We have taken a 17MKE on two US 12,000 mile trips over about 20 weeks total. Our goal was to visit national parks and monuments ( which are also great and less crowded). On the first trip we only had a reservation the first night and at at the Grand Canyon, and on Memorial Day because we were worried that we would not be able to find a place to stay outside of a National Park. It turned out that on that day there were many open spaces near Rocky Mtn. NP. On the second trip where we stayed in LA for a few days we had a reservation a few hours outside of LA to store the trailer at a KOA with power since the temps were over 100. It also was not crowded.
Regarding reservations at NParks. We did not have any in advance since we travel day to day, but did sign in to the National Park website to snag tickets for timed entry the evening before at 7 PM when additional tickets are busy. We tried using our cell phones, but I had also purchased a Starlink with monthly rental to help us bypass the campground WiFi’s. We got the starlink because on our first trip about 60 % if of the time there was no wifi or phone service (Verizon). On the second trip WiFi was much better. Between the two we were always able to get a timed entry and it is also possible to enter before a certain time in the morning and after a time in the afternoon without a reservation.
 

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