BEST ROUTE WITH LEAST MOUNTAINS

[deem12375icloud]

Hello,my husband and I will be traveling with a fifth wheel from NC to west Yellowstone in august of next year.I am scared of heights and drop offs . I would appreciate some advise as to the route I can take to and from west Yellowstone with no drop-offs .Please advise

[paulj]

Sounds like you are mainly worried about 'shelf-roads', climbing along a canyon, with a rock wall on one side, and drop off on the other. The east entrance, from Cody, is the main one to worry about (we won't touch the NE entrance).

Coming from the north, I90, pretty well stays in a broad valley, US191, so should be easiest.

Yellowstone is a mountain top, with a lake in the middle. So there's no way around altitude. But you can be selective about routes.

Go to Google Maps and turn on the 'terrain mode'. Then zoom in on the more mountainous parts of the proposed route. Where the road seems to run close to a river or canyon, zoom in further with `streetview`.

Or use the 3d sat view (or Google Earth) to scan the route.

Within the park you might want to avoid the ridge route over Mt Washburn. US89 around the north entrance might also have some scary drop offs (e.g. the loop the drops down from Mammoth Hot Springs).

Some spots that look bad on paper or the screen might not be any worse than a freeway overpass or on-ramp. Or a bridge over a major river.

[Bumpyroad]

Horsedoc wrote:
90 to Buffalo and then hiway 16 you hit mountains as you cross the Big Horns to Cody. By then you will be an old hand at towing and have no problems coming into Yellowstone via Sylvan Pass.
Take your time and think about what you are doing. Mind your speed going down hill, because the chances are small you will go straight back up the other side (there will be a curve or two somewhere ahead.

you obviously missed reading the OP, "Hello,my husband and I will be traveling with a fifth wheel from NC to west Yellowstone in august of next year.I am scared of heights and drop offs . I would appreciate some advise as to the route I can take to and from west Yellowstone with no drop-offs .Please advise"

bumpy

[Horsedoc]

90 to Buffalo and then hiway 16 you hit mountains as you cross the Big Horns to Cody. By then you will be an old hand at towing and have no problems coming into Yellowstone via Sylvan Pass.
Take your time and think about what you are doing. Mind your speed going down hill, because the chances are small you will go straight back up the other side (there will be a curve or two somewhere ahead.

[Camper8251]

Take 90 West To Livingston MT, Head south on 89.. Follow to YNP....
Easy Button............

[narcodog]

So back in the 50's my grandfather wanted to travel the west pulling a TT. He was also concerned about drop offs and no guard rails, which was common then. He took some hypnotism sessions, they worked. Unless you go up on the Bear Tooth you should have no problems at all.

[vjstangelo]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
GO north to I-90 then GO WEST
I-90 to HWY 287 South (After Bosseman/Belgrade Montana)
Hwy 287 S.....dead ends at HWY 191...go south 10/12 miles to west yellowstone

Agree. Been this route many a time. This will also take one past Earthquake Lake and Hebgen Lake which is a fascinating story (and sad for those who died) itself and worth seeing.

Also could try I80 across WY to SLC, then north to Idaho Falls, then US 20 to West Yellowstone.

[Lwiddis]

“Old-Biscuit posted my mistake...”

He’s good at that! Got me a number of times. lol But I got Old Biscuit on NICKY/RICKY in “Long, Long Trailer.” NICKY, not Ricky, married TACY, not Lucy!

[pigman1]

Old-Biscuit wrote:

pigman1 wrote:
My wife had the same issues so when we started running routes with drop-offs, she'd go back and sit at the dinette. Now she drives these routes with the 43' coach and full size pickup toad and doesn't turn a hair. Just a question of getting used to it, SLOWLY.

OP has a 5th wheel.

Sitting at the dinette table probably NOT going to resolve issue :B

OOPS!! Sorry about that, I completely missed that point.

BTW, tried to apologize as soon as Old-Biscuit posted my mistake and found the post closed, and no way to find out why or if it had been moved and where it had been moved to.

[Bumpyroad]

jamesu wrote:

deem12375icloud.com wrote:
Hello,my husband and I will be traveling with a fifth wheel from NC to west Yellowstone in august of next year.I am scared of heights and drop offs . I would appreciate some advise as to the route I can take to and from west Yellowstone with no drop-offs .Please advise

It’s pretty flat between NC and Montana. Once you reach the eastern edge of the Rockies it’s pretty tough to keep going west from that point without going through mountains. With your fear of heights maybe you should reconsider a trip to the western U.S.

as long as you go on I-90 and then drop down to yellowstone there is no real problem.
bumpy

[doxiemom11]

Check out Mountain Directory West for help on your route. Printed books can be ordered online, or I believe there is an application for mobile. It's very helpful when out west.

[Busskipper]

Sorry - But - You do understand that Yellowstone is in the Rocky Mountains!

Go to Wiki to see that for the most part YNP is a Mile High with and Average of 8,000 feet soooooo.....

So ..........you will be at your lowest point a Mile High in the park! The good thing is that everything else is pretty high so it is not that big a deal. 🙂

Not sure if this route is completely free of all perials along the way but IMHO it is extremely Tame - https://www.bing.com/maps?osid=58fdbbcc-5c87-434a-bc98-68698e1490e0&cp=40.699438~-99.28617&lvl=5&v=2...
- Look it over to see if it might work - it Comes into Jackson along the River then up through the Tetons to Old Faithful.

Hope this helps,

[jamesu]

deem12375icloud.com wrote:
Hello,my husband and I will be traveling with a fifth wheel from NC to west Yellowstone in august of next year.I am scared of heights and drop offs . I would appreciate some advise as to the route I can take to and from west Yellowstone with no drop-offs .Please advise

It’s pretty flat between NC and Montana. Once you reach the eastern edge of the Rockies it’s pretty tough to keep going west from that point without going through mountains. With your fear of heights maybe you should reconsider a trip to the western U.S.

[jplante4]

Flattest Route

Also, Google EARTH has a elevation feature. Set a route and right-click on the blue line. Looks like this.

[1492]

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