Looking for ideas for stops on family vacation

[dayhunt85]

Family of six, three girls and one boy (girl 11, girl 6, boy 4, girl 2). We took the kids to Disney world for each of the oldest girls 5th birthdays. My son turns 5 next year. Instead of Disney we are going to take a Griswold tour of the Midwest and the western States, 10 to 12 days.

My wife is willing to do a little camping along the way with all of this kids. We will probably hit a hotel a couple of times and we will rent a cabin in CO for 3 or 4 days. I want this vacation to be about the journey. Hitting multiple stops along the way, stopping for pics in front of the signs as you enter new states kind of stuff.

We live in West Central IL. I plan to head thru IA,SD, WY, CO, KS and possibly MT and ID. We are going to hit Mt. Rushmore national park and Yosemite for sure, but I am looking for other spots along the way that we need to see if we are in that neck of the woods (national parks with epic views, awesome fishing, hiking, river floats, etc....)

Throw your ideas and experiences my way so I can start planning a route!

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[WV Mountaineer]

Good looking family bud. I bet you have a ball. Good luck, safe travels, and God Bless

 

[IdahoElk]

You are blessed with a nice family,have fun on your trip!

 

[Justin Crossley]

We did a trip kinda like that a couple years back. It was a blast.

Near Rushmore; Crazyhorse, Devil's tower, jewel caves.

 

[BroodBuster]

About a decade ago I got my niece and nephew each a NPS passport book. So every park and monument they visit they get a stamp to add to it. I had now idea they would both get so into filling that thing up. Now they set the itinerary all based around that passport book. My brother calls it the best Christmas present I ever got him as he's seen and been to a lot of cool places that he'd never have done if the kids hadn't dragged him along.

eParks.com: Passport To Your National Parks(R) - eParks - Where your purchase supports America's National Parks.

Should be a fun trip.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Add Yellowstone to the list for sure. Some fishing and non-class rafting is always fun, we painted ourselves like Indian warriors and "attacked" other rafters using Super Soakers. Kids loved it and so did our "victims" (cuz it was a hot day). Look for festivals and regional events too...always fun to drop in on a county fair.

 

[Shooter19802003]

If you come up my way goto glacier np.

 

[mlob1one]

Zion NP & Bryce Canyon are spectacular spots to hit in UT.

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[Btaylor]

If they are still around, you could check out Wall Drug and the Corn Palace on that trip. I saw them when I was about your oldest kids age and they were fun stops. Rushmore was a cool stop too.

 

[KurtR]

corn palace in mitchell and wall drug are both still around and trapping tourists on a daily basis. In the hills wonderland cave is pretty cool

 

[PF_JM]

Go to Cody, WY. Kind of a tourist trap but I always thought it was a cool place. Buffalo Bill Center of the West was amazing when I was a kid.

 

[wildcat33]

Where you planning on renting a cabin in CO?

 

[bigdesert10]

If you come through ID, hit Craters of the Moon NM and Shoshone Falls. Both easily accessible with youngsters and generally not as crowded as the National Parks.

 

[Ridge Ghost]

If you are going to Yellowstone anyway might as well head next door to the Tetons as well. In my opinion TNP is even more scenic than YNP. Rent some kayaks or paddleboards with the kids and paddle around Jenny Lake, get a whitewater guide down the Snake, head in to Jackson and take pictures of the kids in front of the elk antler arches, etc.

Do you fly fish, or would you mostly be doing bobbers with the kids? Any of the rivers and creeks around Yellowstone should be good fly fishing, along with the Gallatin, Madison and Yellowstone rivers outside of the park.

Depending on how far you want to drive, I can not recommend Glacier NP enough. Drive Going to the Sun Road and look for mountain goats next to the road by Logan Pass. Avalanche Lake and Hidden Lake are two easy hikes for kids. They get more crowded because they are easier, but both are still very scenic. You should be able to see a lot of goats up close on the Hidden Lake trail.

 

[Titan_Bow]

If you are going through Colorado then north, I would suggest going through Rocky Mountain National Park and taking Trail Ridge Road. Its the highest paved road in America and takes you over the park at 12,000ft. That will drop you in Granby. Take 40 back to I-70, then take to Glenwood Springs. Id try to spend a full day or two there, the kids will love it. There is a hot springs pool, a neat little amusement park up on the mountain, a haunted hotel, lots of cool stuff to see and do. If your kids are into dinosaurs, go north from Craig and hit Dinosaur National Monument and stop in Vernal, UT. You could take that northern route up through WY into Yellowstone and on to Bozeman.

 

[Huntindog45]

If you are on this page we will assume you love hunting and things wild. with that I would say a trip to the RMEF headquarters would be awesome or the Sheep foundation in Bozeman. aside from that the obvious spots are all the National parks, rocky mountain, glacier, teton, YS, etc. but those are also crowded. there are some pretty damn cool spots within 100 miles of those places without the huge crowds. But you kind of have to go to yellowstone. it is amazing. try and go in midweek if you go in the summer. a yellowstone river or madison river float (or any of the big rivers in Idaho) is always amazing.
Have fun.

 

[dayhunt85]

Where you planning on renting a cabin in CO?

This was recommended by a friend but it was a little pricey.

I'm open to suggestions.

 

[ndbwhunter]

Lots of good suggestions thus far. Only thing I would add would be the Badlands of North Dakota. You can camp/hotel in the town of Medora, and take in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and the Medora Musical. Other than that, stay out of North Dakota. If you're looping up through CO, WY, and into MT, it wouldn't be too far out of the way to hit ND. Then you could head straight south into SD and take in Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, etc.

 

[alexanderg23]

rushmore was kind of a let down for me.

 

[Rob T]

Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park are great stops. If you want a great taste of Idaho, however, I would consider going to Salmon and booking a day trip on the Salmon River downstream of Shoup.
As you book your trip, make sure you are visiting the national parks on a weekday. The weekends can be very crowded.