Yellowstone National or Route 66?

[FinanceDude]

Starting to plan next summer's family vacation. Which trip would be more "fun" with an 8 and 6 year old (their ages next summer)?

 

[Martha]

I would definitely say Yellowstone. They will love all the bubbling mud, geysers and stinkpots. Heck, we loved it and we are over 50.

If you have time, you can go through the black hills along the way and catch Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park.

 

[Texas Proud]

Yellowstone...

Route 66 is not any fun to a kid (and to tell the truth, not much fun to me except for that LONG STRAIGHT part where I hit 140 mph).. then again.. what part of 66 were you going??

 

[Outtahere]

Definately Yellowstone with the kids. Dh just came back from his third trip there on the bike and loved every minute of it. I'm planning on going next year.

They also stopped at this place last time
http://www.mammothsite.com/

This year they stopped here The Wyoming Dinosaur Center & Dig Sites Dh loved it and I'll bet the kids would too.

 

[kathyet]

Definetly Yellowstone there is so much to see and the kids will love the Buffalo..... it will be something they will remember.

Kathyet

 

[ajs56]

Yellowstone, especially with kids. DW and I plan to do both TS and R66... but with totally different expectations. YS natural wonders would be of more interest to the kids (and adults should love it as well), R66 is more nostalgia and recent US history which wouldn't be too interesting for young kids, I wouldn't think.

Enjoy your travels!

 

[retire@40]

Yellowstone.

Have your kids do the junior ranger program. Yellowstone National Park - Junior Ranger Program (U.S. National Park Service)

If you plan on going horseback riding in the park, the 6 year old will be below the minimum age of 7 in Yellowstone, but right outside the north entrance, you can take a half-day trip to Gardiner, MT and go horseback riding there. We used this outfit and had a blast Horseback Riding in Gardiner, Montana with Flying Pig Adventure

 

[tightasadrum]

Definitely Yellowstone. See the sites and take a river run down the Snake River. I'd love to come along too.

 

[FinanceDude]

I would definitely say Yellowstone. They will love all the bubbling mud, geysers and stinkpots. Heck, we loved it and we are over 50.

If you have time, you can go through the black hills along the way and catch Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park.

Nice pic!! We did Mount Rushmore last year, and then backtracked to Lincoln Nebraska to see my sister. We saw the Crazy Horse memorial being built from the highway, because I didn't want to pay $25 to see an a construction zone. I got some great picks. We also went to the Corn Palace on the way out.

I looked at a map. I figure half way is Rapid City, where we could stop for two days and do some things we didn't ge to do last time. Then head to Custer National Park for a day, then Yellowstone.

Can we do it in two weeks in a minivan? I think it's doable.............

 

[Outtahere]

FinanceDude, my dh, his friend and dh's son rode from MA to Yellowstone on their bikes, did it in less than two weeks and still saw 75% of Yellowstone, rode over Beartooth mountian down through Nebraska and then home. It's doable in a mini van

 

[ijuba]

Go Yellow

We just returned from a month long trip (out of VA) to the Black Hills of SD, Glacier NP and Yellowstone with our 9 yo daughter. We have a 5th wheel trailer and camped along the way.

I've not taken the Rt. 66 trail but, speaking on behalf of my daughter and knowing the things she enjoyed about this trip, I know she'd opt for the Parks again.

After a month on the road, as we were pulling into our hometown, she exclaimed, "I want to go again next year!"

Yellowstone is broad and deep in its offerings with spectacular thrown in for good measure. Glacier just takes your breath away.

Enjoy!

 

[Achiever51]

I vote for Yellowstone too....

and suggest, if you have the time, to go south to the Grand Tetons as well. As much as we've enjoyed Yellowstone, my family thinks the Tetons are even more spectacular.

Don't forget to stop and see the Yellowstone Lodge -- it's beautiful!

 

[Martha]

We went up close to Crazy Horse. Finally it seems like there has been real progress, though the scaffolding on the head looks like a weird hat.

We went to Yellowstone last fall. We went in the north entrance and left through the east entrance. There is a lot of road construction at the east entrance so you might want to check on that before you go.

Your plan sounds good. Custer is ok to do in a day. The important thing is to do the wildlife drive. Try to do it first thing in the morning when all the animals are out. If you are camping, the Custer campgrounds are really nice but you will have to reserve well ahead of time.

Be sure to leave plenty of time for Yellowstone, even if it means skipping other stuff.

 

[UncleHoney]

I vote for Jellystone and don't miss the Tetons.

 

[FinanceDude]

Thanks for all the help........

interesting sidenote. I asked my 7 year old if he knew what Old Faithful was. His reply? "It's a big geyser of steam water and stuff like that........it's in Wyoming...........

I asked him if he wanted to go, and he said "YES!!!! That would be so cool! When are we going?? How about next week?? "

Man, kids are great.......

 

[HFWR]

I check out the Tetons every chance I get...

I would guess that Yellowstone would be more enjoyable for the kiddies.

I'd be interested in at least a partial Rt66 trip, 'cause I'm a bit of a history [-]nut[/-] buff. The highway is very fragmented in places, though, and doesn't officially exist anymore...

The Mother Road: Historic Route 66

 

[gettingthere]

Yellowstone, for sure. My family did a cross country trip when I was 6, and from that trip, my recollections of Yellowstone are the strongest. This is going back almost 50 years.

 

[FinanceDude]

I check out the Tetons every chance I get...

I have to be careful when I check out the "local Tetons".......

 

[bssc]

I hate oppose everyone else but Yellowstone and the Tetons.

 

[Ronstar]

Yellowstone. Parts of 66 can be boring to adults let alone children. In 2002, I did the 66 trip Chicago-Flagstaff AZ, picked up the wife in Phoenix, drove north thru the Grand Canyon, Colorado, Wyoming (Yellowstone), the Dakotas and home. It took almost 3 weeks and had great time

 

[A854321]

Route 66 is just a joke. Very little of the original road still exists as Route 66. Part of it is a big interstate freeway- why would you visit that? What is there as Route 66 is about as authentic as the Matterhorn at Disneyland.

 

[ajs56]

Route 66 is just a joke. Very little of the original road still exists as Route 66. Part of it is a big interstate freeway- why would you visit that? What is there as Route 66 is about as authentic as the Matterhorn at Disneyland.

Well, uhhh... all of R66 has been decommissioned and so technically none of it still exists as R66. And a major reason for exploring R66 is to experience the pre-freeway era. That might be why someone would "visit" it. Route 66 is far from a joke. A lot of modern US history lies along that road. Over 80% of the road is still traceable and there are a lot of resources to assist anyone interested enough to do some research on it. With the internet, such research is easy for one who is willing to put forth the effort. But alas, the internet also makes it easy for one to post one's own misunderstandings.

Some might like R66, some might not. To each his own.

 

[HFWR]

Many of the old highways are still around; for instance, US31 and US41 are both still mostly intact through the midwest and south.

The town where I grew up in Indiana was on US31. The interstate came through when I was around 6yo or so, and I can still remember (and some of the skeletons are still evident) many of the gas stations, restaurants, and motels in all the small towns along the route.

US41 through Indiana, which runs from the UP in Michigan all the way to Miami, at least in Indiana, probably has more of the pre-interstate feel, because it wasn't directly replaced by a parallel interstate route. (At least the Indiana portion)

Interestingly enough, I lived on US41 for a time when I lived in Atlanta.

One interesting restaurant just south of town was the "Coffeepot", actually shaped like a coffee pot. It was closed before I remember, but was still standing well into the sixties. My school bus drove by there every day enroute to elementary school. It was located on the apt named "Coffee Pot Curve" on US31.

"And I was born in the backseat of a Greyhound bus, rollin' down highway 41..." Richard Betts, Allman Bros. Band

 

[Martha]

We live not far from highway 61, which ran from the Canada/Minnesota border to New Orleans as US61. We drive up the north shore of Lake Superior on what is now called old highway 61. A very pretty drive through nice little lake towns. This was also the highway we used to take before the freeway was built to Minneapolis. Hours and hours of driving through dreary small towns.

[FONT=Courier, Courier New] Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No." Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run"
Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
God says, "Out on Highway 61."--Bob Dylan[/FONT]

 

[FinanceDude]

We live not far from highway 61, which ran from the Canada/Minnesota border to New Orleans as US61. We drive up the north shore of Lake Superior on what is now called old highway 61. A very pretty drive through nice little lake towns. This was also the highway we used to take before the freeway was built to Minneapolis. Hours and hours of driving through dreary small towns.

Old thread, but I have driven to Minneapolis MANY times on Highway 61...........through neat river towns like Winona, Red Wing, and Lake Pepin..........