In a matter of a week, we decided to take an epic road trip to Yellowstone from Southern Oregon. COVID-19 restrictions were lightening, so we figured we better beat the rush before people realized these magical sites were opening up. We still had to work, so the plan way to travel and work from the RV! The first step was finding RV sites with good WiFi or great cell service. We rely on Campendium where campers post reviews of campsites, and most importantly patrons report on the WiFi experience and how much cell service they had based on their carrier! With that we booked 4 days in Yellowstone and mapped the route around that.
Day 1 Travel Day, we ended up sleeping at a Walmart that boarded Oregon & Idaho. If you didn’t know you can park your RV overnight for free in their parking lots.
Day 2 Twin Falls Idaho – Intermountain RV Park
Day 3 & 4 Jackson Hole Wyoming – The Virginian RV
Day 5 – 8 Yellowstone – Yellowstone Grizzly RV
Day 9 Pendleton, OR – Wild Horse Resort
Day 10 Travel Day with a planned stop at In & Out, of course!
We headed north through Bend, towards Idaho. We booked the Intermountain RV Park, about 30 minutes from Twin Falls. A quaint place, with great owners that do waffles every morning, and ice cream scoops for a buck each every night! It is a family that owns it with children, so my kids loved having playmates while at camp! It was very hot and dry in this area, so there wasn’t much natural beauty at this site. (you know I am a sucker for a campsite surrounded in natural beauty)
Twin Falls was a breathtaking drive, along the Snake River. You also cross over the Perrine Bridge, where it is legal to Base Jump! There is parking lot that lead to a path that takes you under the bridge, we got to watch 6 jumpers, it was awesome!
Unless you are planning on playing in the river, I really feel like you could do the Falls & the Bridge while passing through if you planned a couple hour pitstop. If we ever return, I would plan to camp by the Snake River.
Next we were off to Jackson Wyoming, a town known as Jackson Hole. This cute little city is filled with boutiques, good food, lots of fun outdoor adventures and is located at the base of the Grand Teton National Park. We stayed at The Virginian RV Park, which was surrounded by green mountains, was clean and perfectly placed so you can walk into the main part of Jackson Hole. We did not bring our bikes on this trip, but next time it is a must. There are bike paths all through the town for everyone to enjoy. There was even some street art there!
We downloaded a Narrated Driving Tour Application that covered the Tetons & Yellowstone! This amazing app, called Gypsy Guide, works with your phones GPS to provide you great information about what each stop is, which turnouts are considered “musts” and educates you on the history of the area you are visiting.
The Grand Teton’s was my favorite part of this trip, there was so much to see from the natural beauty of the land, tons of wildlife (moose, bears, a wolf, beavers, bison and more) and cool historical homes that are still standing today. (I am telling you if you take nothing else from this post, remember the application called Gypsy Guide!)
Next we were off to Yellowstone, about a two hour drive. We stayed in West Yellowstone, at the Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park. This campsite was great, smaller sites so you are close to your neighbors but overall a wonderful RV park. The one downside was while we were there the mosquitoes were out in full force so we all woke up with bites and lived in bug spray. They said this doesn’t happen all the time, but make sure to pack your strong bug spray! We were able to get around and see all that we wanted in about two days, but the park was empty. We never had to wait for a parking spot, which I was told very uncommon.
Of all the stunning sights Yellowstone has to offer, my favorite was the majestic awe-inspiring Grand Prismatic Spring. Walking at the ground level, you feel like you are walking a wooden path through Mars. It is unlike anywhere I have ever been, in that short loop at the Midway Geyser Basin there are five colorful Geysers to take in. I highly suggest setting aside an hour or so to take the short 1.2 mile Overlook hike. A family friendly hike that takes about 20 – 30 minutes each way from the parking lot. Park at the Fairy Falls parking area, just a five minute drive from the Midway Geyser lot. The view from above, is even better than ground level as it allows you see all the colors of the Grand Prismatic!
The other highlight of our trip was the Grand Canyon. We got up early and hit the road by 7am in hopes of seeing some wild bears! Not only were the views of the Grand Canyon magnificent, we had the honor of running into a few bears!
Just in case you are not as lucky to see bears like we did there is a cool place to visit in West Yellowstone, called the Montana Grizzly Encounter. They rescue animals and overall the place had a really good vibe! Not only can you see bears but our favorite was getting up close with some really cool otters!
Our road trip was a huge success, we got to see new things and keep social distance from everyone! Please feel free to add your favorite tips for this road trip in the comment below. Happy Travels!
