If you plan to stay in the National parks, you need to make reservations 1 year in advance. We have our mega 2017 trip planned that will include Yosemite and Crater lake. Now, starting the planning for 2018 to include Glacier and Yellowstone. So, I'm looking forward to your updates.

Also, remember if you are 62 or over you can get the lifetime National Park pass for $10!! "Great deal! Really great deal! It's so great!" (Trump)

 

Is that for the improved sites or can we get unimproved tent camping on demand?

We like to play our trips casually, with a general route plan, but flexible enough to let the road dictate our schedule.

We never stay the same place two nights in a row.


We can certainly set a few major stops, but I would hate to have to plan each night.

 

You're gonna leave your truck and trailer in Yellowstone?


Wife and I riding from Central Texas to GNP on scoot...


Part #1
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Lamp...44.6621493!3e0


Part #2

 

Stupid google maps...
After West Yellowstone come down thru YNP and Tetons into Jackson for night. Then down into Vernal UT, and to Ouray, CO and then in Durango kick east and down into Santa Fe and Madrid, NM then down to Roswell and back to Central Texas..

 

As an example the following is from the Yellowstone site;

"The National Park Service operates 7 first-come, first-served campgrounds (450+ sites) including Mammoth, Norris, Tower Fall, Indian Creek, Pebble Creek, Slough Creek, and Lewis Lake. Campgrounds usually fill by early morning; plan ahead to obtain a site!"

This would seem to indicate that if you're planning to arrive after a long day of riding you might be disappointed. There's a fair amount of camping outside most of parks so that too is an option for you.

If you have passports you might want to consider crossing into Canada at Chief Mountain and visit Waterton Lakes NP. It's only about 47 miles from St. Mary to Waterton, AB. Waterton Lakes and Glacier share the US/Canada border.

 

Bradley, an alternative to trailering into YNP would be to drop your truck and trailer in Buffalo or Sheridan. I suspect a search would turn up a storage business with outside but secure parking. You no doubt would have to pay a month's minimum but IMO worth it. Then you'd be able to proceed to YNP via Ten Sleep or 14A, both outstanding rides. On your return from Glacier either town would be fine to spend the night before saddling up in the morning and hauling to Texas. I've stayed at the Z-Bar in Buffalo several times. Nothing fancy, but reasonable and clean and the manager there is a Nam vet and Harley guy. If you stayed there I bet he'd be ok with parking your rig in the back.

 

Looks like you're not spending any time in Yellowstone. So I would go to Red Lodge instead. Out of Cody you can ride the Chief Joseph Hwy and the Beartooth Pass to Red Lodge. Spend a night or two in Red Lodge, it's a neat town.

 

We do this all the time. We decide on a jumping off location and call around for a storage facility. They will generally let you park the truck and trailer in a fenced area for $40 for the week. But I also have a friend that lives in Billings, so we may drop there.

We don't mind riding, but it is all about time. For the drive to Yellowstone, I can leave work early Friday afternoon and be at Yellowstone before lunch the next day. If we were to ride the whole way, it would consume two to three days on both ends of the trip.

When we do destination rides like this, we like to have the most time possible to ride the "pretty stuff"

Last year we did NC / Great Smokey Mountains. Drove overnight to my brother in laws place near Nashville to drop the truck and trailer.

Ride all week, then an overnight back to Dallas.

Highways are boring

 

Every few years we do Colorado, it is one of our favorite places to ride. That ride through west Texas is the worst!!!

 

I swear 287 between Ft. Worth and Amarillo is where the expression dog miles originated....where every mile seems like 7. Especially on return rides to Tyler in August when it's a hunnert.