Cody to West Yellowstone?

[nodine]

Is it advised to take a 40 foot motorhome through the park on US20 from Cody to West Yellowstone? If not, what is a recommended route from I-90?

Bob

[nodine]

Is it advised to take a 40 foot motorhome through the park on US20 from Cody to West Yellowstone? If not, what is a recommended route from I-90?

Bob

[Ding-a-ling]

We had no problem driving on the road from Fishing Bridge to West Yellowstone IN the park. Cannot speak for the road from Cody to Fishing Bridge, though.

Cruzer should have the definitive answer for that!

[Cousin Ed]

It's a beautiful easy ride!

[two2go]

Three years ago, we drove it during construction--fifth wheel plus friends in MH. Single lane and rough gravel and rocks. Hope construction is done by now. We are going there in two weeks.

[Ray,IN]

From Cody to the Yellowstone gate, the highway is easy driving. After you enter the East gate the road becomes steep and curvy, with adequate pull-outs so RV's can pull over (required BTW) and allow backed-up following traffic to pass, or cool your engine if necessary.

[chasfm11]

We came in the East entrance from Cody in September, '06. The road prior to the entrance is absolutely fantastic and the scenery is great. I understand that the construction at the East entrance is mostly finished. It was only the ascent that was dirt when we were there. It does go from 4,000 to 8,800 feet but we had no problems. The decent is pretty winding and fairly steep in a couple of places coming into hard turns. Using the exhaust brake and watching our speed, we had no problems. The key was to keep our speed down before the steepest parts.

[paz]

Just made the trip today fron Cody to West Yellowstone. It is an easy drive to the park entrance as everyone says and the only steep (8% in some places) grades are in the park. Speed limit is 45 through most of the park (25 in spots), so you don't feel as rushed as on the interstate.

As Ray says, there are plenty of turn-outs. The only problem I had was that there was a 4-wheeler or two parked right in the middle of most of them.

[Cruzer]

Made that run many times. There are 5 entrances into Yellowstone and everything is RV friendly. The only road I'd not take a large RV on is between Tower Junction and Canyon. It goes through Dunraven Pass as it climbs Mount Washburn. The hairpins can be very tight for a long rig that doesn't bend in the middle and there are always smaller vehicles coming at you over the yellow line. Any other road is fair game.

There are many ways into the park. It all depends on where on I-90 you want to get off and which direction you are coming from.

[LewF]

Mark (Cruzer),

We are traveling to West Yellowstone from Tennessee starting next Tuesday via I-90 and Bozeman. After we finish about a week in West Yellowstone, making day trips into the park, we would like to travel to Cody. We have a 41 ft HR Endeavor and will be towing a Chevy Colorado pickup. From the posts on iRV2.com it looks like we should have no trouble going through the park from West Yellowstone, out the East entrance and then on to Cody. Is that your impression? I looks like you have a tag axle MH that is about 45 ft. so if you can make it we should be able to. Any advice would be appreciated.

[RVThere]

Back in July, I did the Fishing Bridge to Cody run with a 40-footer towing a mini-van. Construction is done and that road is a beautiful ride. But make sure to use your engine braking.

The question is, where are you going AFTER Cody? That is where the routes, in my opinion, get a little hairy. I have done the Ten Sleep Canyon route 16 and the Sheridan route 14 from Cody back to I-90. Route 16 takes you over Powder River Pass where I had snow in late June 2000. Route 14 takes you over Granite Pass with a couple jillion switchbacks on the way down the east side of the mountains. (2006). Last July, I headed down through Thermopolis which seemed way easier. A stop at the thermal pools in Thermopolis helped too...

[LewF]

Tom, how is the route from Cody to Capser. It looks like that would be 14 from Cody to 16 South at about Greybull, then south on 16/20 to Shoshoni and then 20 to Casper. I don't really have anything that shows me terrain, prefer not to have the "couple jillion" switchbacks you mentioned.

Lew

[Cruzer]

Lew, Tom is right. Leaving Yellowstone via the east entrance is no big deal. Driving through Shoshone Canyon and Wapiti Valley on the way to Cody is no big deal either. Driving across the middle of Wyoming is also no problem.

The issues begin when you get to the Bighorns. There are 3 routes across it. I've taken them all with a number of times with large RVs as well as a Suburban back in the pre-RV days.

You can take US-14A from Lovell or US-14 from Greybull up to the top at Burgess Junction, then they combine as US-14 and you go down the other side to Ranchester and I-90. The west face of either of these routes is steep but the east face isn't as bad. The west face really has no place to pull over and it's a long climb up to the top. Yet, I can make it eastbound with my 42' Bus. I don't set any speed records but the coach handles it just fine. However, taking either of these routes westbound with a large RV is suicide. You'll be foirever on the brakes and there's no place to cool them or rest so you'd be headed for disaster going down the west slope. The east slope has lots of areas to let the coach breathe and ther are pull-off areas as well so I have no problem going down that side. But, this limits large RV traffic to only head eastbound via either of these two routes.

The third route is US-16. This route goes through Ten Sleep Canyon and climbs Powder River Pass, which isn't as long and steep as the previous two routes. Plus, there are plenty off pull-off areas to rest the coach if needed. Because this route tends to cut through the Bighorns at a lower height, rather than climb over them at their highest point, it's a much better route. It's also the most scenic and you can take it in either direction with a large RV. Coupled with the fact that it goes to Buffalo, which is much more interesting than Sheridan, US-16 would always be my preferred choice.

US-14A is the worst of them all. The only reason I would take that route is if I was in Lovell to see the wild mustangs in Bighorn Canyon's Pryor Mountain Range. If that was not part of my itinerary I'd take US-16 down through Thermopolis (you may even want to stop and see the Hot Springs there) and then over to Buffalo.

[JRP]

Mark, Thanks for that great summary. I'm leaving W Yellowstone tomorrow, headed for Buffalo, Wy and was just trying to evaluate the best route for my MH & toad.

Jim