The Oregon Trail

Tommy

Just a Millennial living in the real world...

It’s Fall and 2021 has flown by! I went on a hiatus as I moved to a new apartment back in July, had a monthlong sinus infection in August, went to Big Cedar Lodge in September, ran my 5th marathon two weeks ago, and then I got COVID last week. Yeah, definitely a lot of ups and downs over the past months. COVID was very mild for me, thanks to the vaccine and I am in better health now. So I wanted to write about my epic road trip that I took back over Memorial Day weekend earlier this year with one of my buddies from middle school. We called it the Oregon Trail. Yeah like the computer game we played back in elementary school.

One of the top items on my bucket list is to visit all 50 states. This trip got me up to 44 states crossing off Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon. Since COVID-19 is still around, one of the best things to do is take a road trip to the national parks and that’s exactly what we did! I knew that this was going to be a once in a lifetime ordeal as it was an extremely long trip.

The road trip took 11 days, but I only needed to take 6 vacation days as it fell on Memorial Day, which is a bank holiday and then 4 days were the weekend. Driving one way and flying back made the most sense to conserve vacation days.

Pre-Trip

The trip took a decent amount of planning, but one of my friends took a similar road trip and I based it off her plan so it wasn’t too bad for me. The hardest part was getting the dates set as you have to make a lot of hotel bookings. Once you get your dates set, it’s pretty easy from there. I like to write out an itinerary so it’s all laid out in front of me and I just use Google Docs. I sent the itinerary to my buddy and he said he was in.

After booking everything, I wanted to make sure we were prepared for a long road trip. Below are some tips to think about before you go on a road trip like this:

Booking reservations: For the road trip in May, I booked everything in January. I ended up changing things slightly when I found cheaper or better options. The priority was the rental car, hotels at Yellowstone, hotel at Jackson, and cabin at Crater Lake. This is because there are limited options and demand is high at these locations.
Use rewards programs to save money: This is a travel blog after all. If costs are more expensive, look into redeeming points if possible. This is a great points calculator at Million Mile Secrets.
Bring a friend or someone along: There was no way I would have been able to complete this trip alone and this trip was contingent that I found someone to go on it with me. It was too many early mornings and long driving times. So definitely bring some friends along!
Print the itinerary: I printed off two copies of the itinerary as it had our things to do, driving times, stops/hotels, alternative things to do, costs, COVID travel restrictions, bear safety, etc.
Have email confirmations of all bookings: We never had any problems as the hotels had the bookings on file, but it’s better be safe than sorry.
Print directions: Out west when you are in the middle of nowhere, cell service can be very spotty. This was the case at Badlands National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Crater Lake National Park. I printed off Google Map directions of the exact route we would take to use as a backup. But for the most part of the trip we were able to use Google Maps on our phones.
Buy groceries: We ended up not buying any groceries and just purchased things at gas stations. But buying groceries would have saved some money. Convenience stores have some of the highest price mark-ups in retail shopping. We drank a lot of energy drinks and water on this trip.
Packing: I brought a suitcase, backpack, and daypack. We lucked out with weather on this trip as it was pretty much sunny the entire time ranging from 35 degrees to 80 degrees. It’s pretty much desert terrain out west. So it would be warm during the day and cold during the night. So we definitely brought some warmer clothes along. Definitely bring a rain jacket in case it rains as you don’t know when you would need it. It ended up snowing at Crater Lake, and it was June, to put things into perspective. I brought the daypack for all of the hiking we did.
Buy a National Park’s Pass: The entrance fee to each National Park is about $20 and we visited 6 of them. The National Park’s pass is only $80 annually so that will save you some money for a trip like this.

Costs

The one-way rental car was definitely the most expensive part of the trip and this was before the rental car shortage. I used Hertz with a AAA discount and I was able to lock in a rate of about $1,300 for a Chevrolet Malibu for 10 days. Other rental car companies, like Avis and National, were going for about $1,800 so Hertz was the cheapest option. The price included an additional driver fee of $13.50/day. The Chevrolet Malibu was great because it got about 35 mpg and that’s just what we needed for a long road trip. Another alternative to the rental car companies is to use Costco. I don’t have a membership, but that is definitely an option. Other options are Turo and even Uber/Lyft now, but those are probably doubtful as you are actually borrowing someone’s car. The best tip I can offer you is to not book rental cars at airports as they jack up the prices. I booked the rental car for pickup at the River North location in downtown Chicago and it was significantly cheaper.
The flight back to Chicago: The one way flight from Reno, NV to Chicago, IL cost about $180 for economy. I had a flight credit from a cancelled flight during the pandemic so I was able to use that to offset the cost. There were two direct flights to Chicago, one with United Airlines and one with American Airlines. Both flights were early morning at 6am and 7am.
Lodging: I’m a Hilton Loyalist as I have credit cards with AMEX for Hilton Honors and I like most of their brands. So we stayed mostly at Hiltons where we could.
- Omaha: We stayed at my fraternity brother’s house. But hotels in Omaha were pretty cheap. I found a Hampton Inn in West Omaha for about $70/night. Hiltons in downtown Omaha were about $120/night and these were weekend nights. The Old Market neighborhood looked pretty cool with lots of restaurants and shops.
- Rapid City, SD: We stayed at the Homes2Suites Rapid City. The rate was about $290/night, but I used a Hilton free night certificate. The hotel was located right off the highway just east of Rapid City. Hotels in Rapid City were actually very pricey at about $200+/night. It was because of Mount Rushmore and it was Memorial Day Weekend.
- Billings, MT: We stayed at a Hilton Garden Inn Billings and the cost was $142/night. The hotel was located right off the highway just west of Billings.
- Yellowstone National Park: There are very limited lodging accommodations inside the park and if you want to book those then you will have to book about a year in advance as they sell out quickly, especially during summer. Camping is also an option and is significantly cheaper than hotels at like $35/night. So the best options for hotels is to look at Gardiner, MT (north of the park), West Yellowstone, MT (west of the park), or Cody, WY (east of the park). This works out well because of how Yellowstone National Park is laid out. It basically has two loops, a north and a south loop, and that is how you will want to explore the park. Prices are expensive because of how popular Yellowstone National Park is so expect to pay $200/night or more.
  - Gardiner, MT: We stayed at The Ridgeline Hotel at Yellowstone (Choice Hotels) for about $250/night. The hotel was located in downtown Gardiner on the Yellowstone River. There were some restaurants within walking distance and it was about a 5 min drive to Roosevelt Arch and Yellowstone’s north entrance. I loved the location of this hotel, but the sheets were very itchy and the bed wasn’t super comfy. The room was nice and spacious though. I would look at a different option next time.
  - West Yellowstone, MT: We stayed at the Best Western Desert Inn for about $310/night. I probably had the best night’s sleep here as the bed was super comfy. The hotel was located downtown West Yellowstone close to nearby shops and restaurants. It was about a 5 minute drive to Yellowstone’s west entrance. I did enjoy the room overall and I loved the location. I’m a fan of Best Western’s.
- Jackson, WY: We stayed at the Homewood Suites Jackson. I stayed here before when I visited back in January 2020. The rate was about $350/night, but I used another Hilton free night certificate. Jackson is a very expensive town so expect to pay $300+/night if you want to be right downtown Jackson. There are cheaper options down the road, off of US 26, but you would have to drive or take the bus to downtown Jackson. The rooms are a little tight and the hotel is a little dated, but the location is prime, being within walking distance to the charming downtown Jackson.
- Boise, ID: We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn Boise Downtown for about $160/night. The hotel looked pretty new and the location was right downtown Boise. It was within walking distance to a lot of restaurants and even the capitol.
- Crater Lake National Park: We stayed at the Cabins at Mazama Village, which was near the park. The price was $192/night and we stayed for two nights. Lodging was very limited as your only options are pretty much the Crater Lake Lodge, the Mazama Cabins, or camping. There are a few motels closer to the highway, which would have been about a 30 minute drive to the park. The room was very small and very bare bones (no TV and WiFi was spotty), but it’s worth the money to have a private bathroom instead of camping out in the cold. The cabins are cheaper than the Crater Lake Lodge, which is located at Rim Village. The Crater Lake Lodge has a better location as you are within walking distance to view the lake.
- Reno, NV: We stayed at another one of my fraternity brother’s places to keep costs down. There were a good amount of hotels with casinos downtown Reno and prices were about $150/night.
Gas: I budgeted for about $400 total or $40/day with the rising gas prices. I only spent about $150 on gas. I think that was due to having a very fuel efficient car that got about 35 mpg.
Food & Discretionary Spending: I budgeted $1,000 and I spent just over that. If you want to save money, then I would recommend buying groceries and bringing them along instead of eating out. Buying PB&J’s, breakfast items, drinks, etc. will help cut down costs.
Total: I spent about $2,400 in all. Definitely not the cheapest trip, but I knew that going into it.

Day 1: Leaving Chicago

The first leg of the trip was Chicago to Omaha. The drive was 541 miles and 8 hours and 44 mins of driving. We left around 10:15am. The first stop was the Field of Dreams Movie Site in Dyersville, IA, which was 3 hours and 41 mins away from Chicago. It was literally in the middle of nowhere in some corn fields. Also, it’s definitely a tourist trap, but not many people were there on a Friday afternoon. Their website says a $20 suggested donation, but it was more like a $20 entrance fee. They had a person in a booth at the entrance collecting it. I was fine with paying it, but I wish they would just make it an entrance fee instead of a suggested donation as it was pretty forced. Like would they not let me in if I said no and didn’t want to pay $20? Oh well… They offer tours of the house, but I wasn’t very interested in that. I did watch the movie for the first time earlier that week and it was actually very good! Definitely worth a watch!

After Field of Dreams, it was a 5 hour drive to West Omaha. We got to my fraternity brother’s house around 8pm. He cooked us an amazing Korean BBQ! It was essentially Bulgogi, rice, and Kimchi. It was spectacular! We stayed up until about 10:30pm drinking some bourbon and then hit the hay.

Day 2: Omaha to Rapid City

On day 2, we had 554 miles and the total driving time was 8 hours and 14 mins. Another long day. We woke up around 8am and then we went to First Watch for breakfast around 9am. I have never heard of First Watch, but it’s a chain in the midwest that has very fresh and somewhat healthy food. It was pretty packed on a Saturday morning. Definitely worth a visit if you ever run into one! During breakfast, my fraternity brother told us to check out Warren Buffett’s home as it was nearby. It was on the way out of Omaha so that’s what we did. It was in a very nice neighborhood and it wasn’t very extravagant. But I heard that Warren Buffett lives a very frugal lifestyle so that makes sense. After Warren Buffett’s home, it was a 6.5 hour drive to Badlands National Park.

Badlands National Park

We arrived at the northeast entrance of Badlands National Park around 4pm. The northeast entrance is a starting point of the Badlands Loop Road. The road is a scenic byway on Highway 240 and then it loops back around on I-90. You can start at either the Pinnacles Entrance station heading east to the Northeast Entrance station or go the opposite direction heading west like we did. We did a 1-way journey heading west to Rapid City starting at the Big Badlands Overlook.

The Big Badlands Overlook is right after you enter through the northeast entrance of the park. It has a decent size parking lot and it’s a great spot to introduce you to the Badlands. Cell service is very spotty here so if you are not good with directions, then ask a ranger for a map or bring your own directions.

The Notch Trail

After the Big Badlands Overlook, we headed over to the 3 trails, which consists of the Castle Trail, the Window Trail, and the Notch Trail. The parking lot was huge so it was easy to find a parking spot. There were a lot of people, but it was no where near full capacity.

What makes the Notch Trail distinct is the ladder you have climb up at the middle of the hike. The hike is short at about 1.5 miles round trip and it probably only took us 1-1.5 hours. The difficulty is moderate. We ended up climbing the ladder and then going down the hill on the side so we didn’t have to wait for people coming up. I wouldn’t advise going up the hill as it is very steep and the ladder made it easier to go up. The hike wasn’t hard for us as we were in good shape, but the ladder and the steep hill is definitely moderate to strenuous for some people. The hardest part was actually coming down the hill, left of the ladder, as it was very steep and I definitely slid/ran down at times as it was so steep. Other than that it’s an easy walk. It was a cool little hike and worth the stop. The rock formations are so cool to see!

The Door Trail

After the Notch Trail, we started heading back to our car. We noticed a sign near our car and it said there was a 4th trail called the Door Trail. We read the sign and saw it was very short at about a mile round trip so we decided to check it out and I am so glad we did!

The trail was a boardwalk for the first 100 meters and then you go off onto the rugged terrain. You had to watch your step and climb off some rocks, but it was fairly flat other than that. The trail was marked by numbered yellow/black poles in the ground. This trail is great for families with kids, but make sure they are careful on the rugged terrain and watch out for rattlesnakes. Luckily, I did not see any rattlesnakes so that was good as I have a huge fear of snakes!

This trail was definitely worth the stop as it was so cool to see the rock formations. It literally felt like I was on Mars! After the Door Trail, we went do the Ben Reifel Visitor’s Center and headed west on the Badlands Loop Road towards the Saddle Pass Trail.

The Saddle Pass Trail

I wanted to get a little bit of a workout in and I read that the Saddle Pass Trail was strenuous. It was very short as it was about a mile round trip, but very steep. It probably only took us about 30 minutes and there wasn’t much to see. I would probably pass on this trail as there isn’t much to see besides more rock formations and an open field on top. It was also a very steep climb. But connecting it with the Castle Trail isn’t a bad idea. But we didn’t have time.

Badlands Loop Road (Highway 240)

After the Saddle Pass Trail we continued west on the Badlands Loop Road. There are a bunch of scenic overlooks that you can check out and you can see some wildlife. We stopped at Panoramic Point and Pinnacles Overlook as it was getting late. We timed it perfectly to be at Pinnacles Overlook during during, which was around 8:30pm in late May. Pinnacles Overlook was definitely one of the coolest sunsets I have ever seen! After Pinnacles Overlook, we headed straight to our hotel in Rapid City, which was about an hour away. We then ate a pizza and went to bed around 10:30pm.

Day 3: South Dakota & North Dakota

Luckily we are morning people as we had another early wake up time at around 7am. This was going to be our longest day of the trip as we would drive to Mount Rushmore, through North Dakota, and all of the way up to Billings, MT. This leg would be close to 9 hours of driving time. We checked out around 8am and grabbed breakfast at McDonald’s. We wanted to try to beat the crowds at Mount Rushmore as it was Memorial Day Weekend so it was going to be crowded.

Dinosaur Park

Rapid City and South Dakota are known for their touristy things. So we went up to Dinosaur Park, which is a free attraction with 7 life size dinosaur sculptures. The park sits on top of a hill with some amazing views of Rapid City, the Badlands, and the Black Hills. The sculptures were pretty old as they were built in 1936 and it’s great for families with small children as they can run around and play. It’s was cool to see, but if you are not into touristy things, then you can definitely skip this.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial

Mount Rushmore is about 30 minutes southwest of Rapid City. You drive through the Black Hills National Forest and it’s very hilly. There is a small town called Keystone, SD with a western vibe and lots of shops, restaurants, and more tourist attractions like a giant Sasquatch.

We arrived around 9am and there were already a lot of people. There is lots of parking and the parking fee is $10 per vehicle. Luckily the line moved fast and it felt like Disney World as it was very organized.

We strolled the Avenue of Flags and walked the Presidential Trail. They also had an auditorium with a recording telling you about the history. There is also an exhibit located in the Lincoln Borglum Visitor’s Center. The Presidential Trail is 0.6 miles with 422 steps and you can get some close up shots of Mount Rushmore. The steps were pretty steep and it was definitely a moderate workout.

Mount Rushmore was incredibly cool to see, but I would definitely advise getting there early as the crowds got a lot worse when we were leaving around 10:30am. We spent about 1.5-2 hours there and that is really all we needed. But if you are a history buff, then you can spend hours there.

Custer State Park

I spoke with a state employee at the South Dakota Visitor’s Center when we first crossed the border on Saturday. She told us that we should check out Custer State Park and the Crazy Horse Memorial. I did some research and found the Needles Highway through Custer State Park so we decided to check it out.

The Needles Highway is a 14-mile road and it would only take an hour to drive. The road is very narrow and windy and the name comes from it’s needle-like granite formations. The rock formations are very cool and there are some rock tunnels that you can drive through. The forest was very scenic and a very nice breath of fresh air.

Custer State Park was awesome to see! It looks like it’s great for camping, hiking, and fishing. It was very scenic, but it was not very big. That is probably the reason why it isn’t a national park, but it definitely could be one.

Theodore Roosevelt National Park & Medora

We left Custer State Park around noon and started our drive to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It was about 4.5 hours away and we got to the Painted Canyon Visitor’s Center around 4:30pm. I researched things to do at Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the Painted Canyon Nature Trail came up. It’s a 1-mile loop that drops down into a canyon and it’s a great introduction to the other Badlands. The hike took about 45 minutes for us and it was moderate. The terrain was rugged and going up the hill was moderate. Definitely great short little hike that was very scenic! And it was nice to stretch our legs.

We stopped in Medora, ND for dinner and had to give a shout-out in the post. Medora is a quaint small town near Theodore Roosevelt National Park. If you were to stay overnight, Medora would be the best place you stay at as it’s right next to the park and there are a good amount of shops and restaurants. Dickinson is also nearby, but it’s about 40 minutes east of the park. We chose Boot’s Bar & Grill. It’s a cool little bar with a western theme, live music, a game room, and a nice patio. They were also blasting country so I loved it! The food was decent, but the service was great as it had the small town charm. The BBQ sauce was amazing! After Boot’s we had a 4 hour drive to Billings, MT and we wouldn’t get in until about 10pm.

Day 4: Billings & Yellowstone National Park

Day 4 was a short driving day so this was the first time we were able to sleep in. We woke up around 9am and ate breakfast at the hotel. We were able to get free breakfast at the Hilton Garden Inn as I have Hilton Honors Diamond status with my AMEX Hilton Honors Aspire credit card. We left the hotel around 10am to go to get bear mace from a sporting goods store.

Then we went on a self-guided walking brewery tour through downtown Billings, which only took about an hour. Most of the breweries were closed as it was Memorial Day, but we had a beer at the Montana Brewing Company. Billings was very industrial city, pretty small, and walkable. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do much as it was Memorial Day and a lot of things were closed.

Yellowstone National Park

We left Billings around 11:30am and it was a 4 hour drive to Yellowstone. We took a longer route coming in through the east entrance instead of the north entrance, but it was only like 10 minutes longer. This would allow us to see Yellowstone Lake and drive through Hayden Valley.

During our entire time at Yellowstone, we pretty much had no cell service so you definitely need a map or directions as the park is massive. Luckily, the park is fairly easy to navigate as there are two loops that form a figure 8. The north loop and the south loop. Since the park is so big, it’s best to split your activities into north loop and south loop activities if you are spending multiple days at Yellowstone. In 2021, there is a big road closure due to construction from Tower-Roosevelt to Canyon Village on the northeast side of the park.

Once we got to Yellowstone, we stopped by Yellowstone Lake and the Mud Volcano, and then headed to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone through Hayden Valley. The Mud Volcano was pretty neat, but the sulfur smelled so bad like rotten eggs.

Hayden Valley

Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

After Hayden Valley, we headed to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. The parking lot was massive so we didn’t have trouble finding a spot. Since it was around 5:30pm it wasn’t too crowded.

The best place to view the canyon is at Artist Point on the south rim. We checked out Uncle Tom’s Point and the Grand View on the north rim. The north rim is taller and it was quite windy so you have to be careful around the edges.

I couldn’t believe how yellow the stone was and I can see how the park got it’s name. The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone was spectacular to see!

After the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, we drove to Canyon Village to go eat dinner at the Canyon Lodge Eatery. We both got a rotisserie chicken with two sides, which was quite good. You got a good amount of food for about $12. The cashier noticed my Purdue hat and she told me she was a college student at Purdue. Boiler up!

After Canyon Village, we started driving up to our hotel in Gardiner, MT, which was about an hour drive. During our drive, we rounded a corner and spotted a buffalo in the middle of the road and we had to stop. We pulled over and took some pictures as we were able to get pretty close to it. It was an awesome experience! Once we got to the hotel, we went to bed pretty quickly.

Day 5: Yellowstone National Park

The next morning, I woke up early around 6am because I couldn’t fall back asleep. It was a beautiful morning so I went to go grab gas and a photo of the Roosevelt Arch at sunrise. Once we got ready for the day, we left around 9am, drove over to Roosevelt Arch, and then drove about 20 minutes to Mammoth to go get some breakfast at the Mammoth Terrace Grill.

Mammoth Hot Springs

After breakfast, we went over to Mammoth Hot Springs, which is a large complex of geothermal springs. The parking lot was large, but it’s a popular attraction so parking can be hard to find. It was crowded around 10am and we found a spot when someone was pulling out. We saw that there are some small parking areas in the upper springs off of Upper Terrace Loop Drive as well.

Mammoth Hot Springs is divided by an upper springs and lower springs. It took us about 1.5 hours to walk around the entire complex. There are some signs, but make sure you stay on the path only at all of the springs. Since Yellowstone is technically on a volcano, the springs are extremely hot and people have fallen in and have gotten significant burns. Just be safe. Mammoth Hot Springs was very cool to see and well worth the stop!

Grand Prismatic Spring

It took about an hour to drive from Mammoth Hot Springs to the Midway Geyser Basin, which is where Grand Prismatic Spring is located. There are several springs at the Midway Geyser Basin. The walk around Grand Prismatic Spring is one-way going clockwise and it takes about 20 minutes because of the crowds. Like Mammoth Hot Springs, make sure you stay on the path due to the extreme temperature of the hot springs.

We arrived around 12:30-1pm. This was by far the busiest attraction at Yellowstone, but it’s well worth the visit. The parking lot is very small and there was a long line when we arrived so we didn’t even try to park in the parking lot. We ended up driving past the parking lot about a half mile away along Grand Loop Road and found parking on the side of the road. This is what a ton of people did and that was definitely the best way to find parking if it’s crowded. Below is a map of the area.

Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook & Fairy Falls

After checking out the Midway Geyser Basin, we drove down to the Fairy Falls Parking Lot, which is about a 5 minute drive away. This parking lot is fairly large, but it was crowded and it took us a while to find a spot. The Fairy Falls Parking Lot is where you want to park for the Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook and Fairy Falls trail.

The hike to Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook is about 1.2 miles round trip and it takes about an hour. You can continue on towards Fairy Falls, which makes the hike 5.4 miles round trip and it takes about 2.5-3.5 hours, which is what we did. The walk is mostly flat until you have to go up to the Grand Prismatic Spring Overlook. The hike up is moderate to strenuous as the path up is steep, but the view is well worth it!

The hike to Fairy Falls was very flat through a forest. It was pretty long and somewhat boring. We didn’t see many people on the trail, but we saw two bikers and that would have been the better option as it would have been faster. Fairy Falls is one of the tallest waterfalls in Yellowstone. It was a nice stroll as it was quiet and good exercise, but if you have seen waterfalls in Iceland, then Fairy Falls doesn’t even compare. I wouldn’t do it again as it was pretty boring, but it was nice to get away from the crowds though.

Old Faithful

Old Faithful is about a 10-minute drive away from the Midway Geyser Basin. Since this is the top attraction at Yellowstone, the parking lot was massive. We arrived around 5pm and the next eruption was around 6pm so we grabbed dinner at the Geyser Grill. We were able to get a spot up front as the viewing area is massive. We passed on hiking up to the Observation Point, which is a 1.6-mile round trip hike up switchbacks. We also skipped the Upper Geyser Basin. Old Faithful took a while to erupt, but we finally saw it. For me it was a little underwhelming, but it’s something that you have to do when you visit Yellowstone.

We left Old Faithful around 7pm and it was an hour drive to West Yellowstone to our hotel. Once we got to the Madison Campground junction, we ran into major traffic. It was moving slowly for about 4 miles and then we just stopped for about 45 minutes. No one knew what was going on and we saw a bunch of people get out of their cars. But then all of the sudden everyone quickly got back into their cars because a massive herd of buffalo came down the road on both sides of the cars. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen! We got delayed for a good 1.5 hours, but it was worth it! We got to our hotel around 9pm and went to bed quickly.

Day 6: Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, & Jackson, WY

So the next day we slept in and left the hotel around 10am. We entered through the west entrance and then headed towards West Thumb Geyser Basin, which was about an hour and 15 minutes away.

West Thumb Geyser Basin

West Thumb Geyser Basin is a smaller hot springs area than Mammoth Hot Springs and Midway Geyser Basin. But it is right on Yellowstone Lake and it has beautiful views of the mountains. The parking lot was medium sized, but it was full when we arrived and we found a spot eventually. Even though the parking lot was full, the crowds weren’t too bad. There was a path around the springs and it was flat. It only took about an hour to walk around the entire complex and it was well worth the stop!

Grand Teton National Park

Yellowstone National Park was magical and there is so much to do! I would like come back and do some hiking and things off the beaten path. We left Yellowstone around noon and it was about 2.5 hours to Jenny Lake at Grand Teton National Park.

We arrived at the Jenny Lake Visitor’s Center around 2:30pm. The parking lot was packed, but we were able to find a spot up near the entrance as people were leaving. We stopped by the gift shop to grab some snacks as we were going hiking and then headed over to the Jenny Lake Shuttle.

The Jenny Lake Shuttle is a boat that takes you across the lake to the bottom of the Tetons. A round trip ticket for adults is $18 and a one-way ticket is $10. The boats operate from 10am-4pm.

The Jenny Lake Loop Trail is 7.5 miles round trip if you want to hike around the entire lake and it would take about 3-5 hours. The west side of the trail is about 2.5 miles and the east side of the trail is about 5 miles. Our plan was to take the shuttle across the lake, hike to Hidden Falls/Inspiration Point, and then hike back to the visitor’s center on the west side of the Jenny Lake Trail. So we bought a one-way shuttle ticket. This hike is about 4.5 miles round trip and it includes the hike to Inspiration Point. It took us about 3 hours to complete. Taking the shuttle across the pond cuts off about 2 miles. Riding the boat across was pretty neat!

The shuttle across the lake drops you off on the Jenny Lake Loop Trail and it’s a short walk to the Inspiration Point trailhead. Hidden Falls is at the beginning of the hike to Inspiration Point and it’s about a quarter mile away from the dock. Inspiration Point is about 2 miles round trip and it goes up about 500 feet. The hike is heavily trafficked and it is moderate to strenuous.

Hidden Falls was one of the coolest waterfalls I have ever seen! It was powerful and you could feel the mist of it from the viewing area.

Inspiration Point had a nice view and it was a great workout. The hike really show how big the Tetons really were.

The hike back to the visitor’s center was very calming and the trail was very flat. There were not many people on the trail as many people take the shuttle back instead. The combined hike took us about 3 hours and was definitely worth it.

Jackson, WY

After Jenny Lake, it was about a 30 minute drive to Jackson. We checked into our hotel around 6pm and we tried to figure out where to eat. Jackson is a Foodie’s heaven as there are a lot of amazing restaurants. Jackson is one of my favorite places in the US. It has a ton of food places, it has a small town vibe, and the views are amazing. This was my 2nd time to Jackson as I came here to ski back in 2020. We ended up choosing Trio American Bistro as they were able to seat us at 7pm. They have some of the best cheese fries in the US and the burger was great!

After dinner we did our own mini bar crawl. We grabbed a beer at Thai Me Up/Melvin Brewery, and then had some bourbon at Silver Dollar Bar & Grill. Then of course we had to end the night at Pinky G’s.

Restaurants in Jackson:

Cowboy Coffee: Great coffee shop in Jackson!
Pearl Street Bagels: One of the best bagels I’ve had.
Persephone Bakery: Amazing bakery! You have to try their chocolate chip cookies.
Teton Tiger: Solid ramen and Japanese restaurant.
Big Hole BBQ Jackson: BBQ joint that is on my list to try.
Hatch Taqueria & Tequilas: Mexican restaurant that I want to try.
The Restaurant at the White Buffalo Club: Steakhouse in Jackson.

Day 7: Jackson to Boise

So I think the altitude got to me as I was pretty hungover the next morning. I wanted to see the sunrise and the Tetons as I heard it was spectacular. Sunrise in early June was at about 5:45am. So I woke up at like 4:30am and I felt ok. I drove out to Oxbow Bend near Moose, WY as I heard it was one of the best places to watch the sunrise. It was about a 40 minute drive away from Jackson.

Man was waking up early worth it! It was so quiet and peaceful. There were a decent amount of people, but you could find places by yourself. I never knew that you could see pink mountains. This was so worth it!

I went back to the hotel around 6am. On the way back, I stopped at the Teton Point Turnout as the photo opportunity was incredible. Then I went back to bed, but then woke up again at around 8:30am as it was very bright. We checked out of the hotel around 10am and headed over to Mormon Row, the Snake River Overlook, and the Chapel of Transfiguration. You were able to go inside the Chapel, which was very cool.

The drive to Boise was fairly easy, but it was 6 hours long. We didn’t leave Jackson until noon and arrived at Boise around 6:30pm. This was a rough drive for both of us as we were exhausted. We got Panera Bread next door, ate at the hotel room, and we both went to bed at like 8:30pm.

Day 8: Boise to Crater Lake National Park

The next day we slept in until like 9am. We both got a great night’s sleep and felt a lot better. We woke up and went to breakfast at Goldy’s Breakfast Bistro around 10am. We went to the restaurant and they said it would be about a 20 minute wait and they would text me. So we walked around Boise for a little bit. The city was extremely clean, probably the cleanest city I have ever seen. Boise had lots of restaurants and a few breweries. Even though it was in the middle of nowhere, there were plenty of things to do as it was a decent sized city.

Goldy’s was a bistro and it was extremely cramped. Service was solid, but the food. I ordered the Veggie Benedict as I needed to cleanse my system. I noticed that Idaho was extremely rural so I’d figured that their vegetables would be good. This Egg’s Benedict was the best breakfast I have ever had! I am not kidding. The hollandaise sauce was extremely rich, the veggies were crunchy, and the eggs were soft and fluffy. Also, the Idaho potatoes rep as seen on TV is not kidding about their potatoes as they were incredible. The Goldy’s seasoning added a lot of flavor too. The breakfast was incredible and again it was the best breakfast I have ever had! Sorry Mom…

Bend, OR

We actually made a spontaneous change to the trip at breakfast. Instead of going directly from Idaho to Crater Lake National Park, I saw that Bend, OR was only about 30 minutes out of the way. I just watched the Last Blockbuster on Netflix and I remembered that it was in Bend, OR. Deschutes Brewery is also in Bend as well. So we decided to go for it as we could grab dinner in Bend and get out of the car for a while.

We arrived in Bend around 5pm and went straight to the Last Blockbuster. We both bought Blockbuster T-shirts and it was exactly like I remembered as a kid. It was so nostalgic!

We went to Bend Brewery to try to grab dinner, but they said it would be an hour wait. I bought some beer to go and we went to Zydeco Kitchen & Cocktails as they were able to seat us immediately. It was a pretty cool atmosphere and the food was solid. I ordered the veggie risotto and it was tasty.

Bend was an extremely cool city. It reminded me a lot of Portland, ME as it had a lot of breweries and restaurants, but on the west coast. Definitely worth a visit if you are nearby.

Crater Lake was about a 2 hour drive away from Bend. We arrived around 8pm and the office was closed, but they left the room keys for us to check into our cabin. It was getting dark, but we drove up to the top to see the lake to get our bearings.

Crater Lake is inside the dormant volcano, Mount Mazama. The lake was formed by a large eruption over 7,700 years ago, which collapsed Mount Mazama and then rain/snow filled the crater, which formed a lake. Mount Mazama hasn’t erupted in over 4,800 years so it’s considered dormant not extinct. An extinct volcano means it hasn’t erupted within 10,000 years. Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States. The island inside the lake is called Wizard Island, but unfortunately it was closed as the boats were closed due to COVID.

Mazama Village is located at the bottom of the volcano so we have to drive up to Rim Village, which took about 15 minutes. The road was very steep and very windy with large drop offs. We were able to see the last bit of sunset. After that, we relaxed in the cabin and went to bed.

Day 9: Crater Lake National Park

We slept in and woke up around 9am. We went over to the office to formally check in and grab some snacks for the day. Then we headed up to Rim Village around 11am to see the lake. There is a good amount of parking at Rim Village and we didn’t have a problem finding a spot. We grabbed some lunch at Rim Village and then we drove north on Rim Drive. There are a bunch of scenic spots off of Rim Drive. Rim Drive is closed during winter due to the amount of snow. The east side of Rim Drive was closed to vehicles while we were there.

We drove to Discovery Point and the plan was to hike the trail to the Watchman Lookout, which was 2.4 miles one way. We made it about 1.5 miles before we were blocked by snow so we had to turn back. But we found some great views! The hike was moderate, but hiking through the snow made it pretty strenuous as I worked up a sweat.

Once we got back to the car, we drove north towards the East Rim Drive. We stopped at some scenic spots including Watchman Peak and the Pacific Crest Trail. We parked the car at the Merriam Point and spoke with a Park Ranger. He told us that the East Rim Drive is closed to vehicles due to snow, but we could go and hike it on foot. We walked to Steel Bay, which was about 2 miles one-way. The next spot was like 5 miles one-way and that was way too far for us that day.

We headed back to the car after Steel Bay. It was around 5pm so we would head back to the cabin and eat dinner at the Annie Creek Restaurant. We would then relax in the cabin until it was dark. We went out up to the top again around 10pm to do some quick stargazing, which was cool to see.

Day 10: Drive to Reno

We were able to sleep in again and woke up around 9am. We went for a short hike on the Annie Creek Canyon Trail. The trail was a 2.1 mile loop and it was moderate. It was mostly flat except for a few parts of the loop. We didn’t complete the loop as it was blocked off by snow so we just went back and explored both sides. We went up to the Rim Village visitor’s center to check out the gift shop and get one last view of the lake. Of course it started snowing and it was June…

We left Crater Lake around 1pm and we had a 5.5-hour drive to Reno. We drove through California and it was pretty much desert and very rural. Pretty boring of a drive overall.

We arrived in Reno around 6:30pm. My fraternity brother picked us up from the airport as that is where we dropped off the rental car. No more driving was quite a relief! Reno, NV was pretty cool city. It was up in the mountains and surrounded by the desert. Lake Tahoe is only an hour away. It was a less glitzy Las Vegas as the downtown still had a bunch of casinos. We ate at the Washoe Public House and had some beers at Pinon Bottle Co., which was a beer bar in midtown. We went back to my fraternity brother’s apartment and chilled there until bedtime.

Day 11: Back to Chicago

We had an early flight out from Reno to Chicago so we woke up at 5amish for a 7am flight. My fraternity brother dropped us off at the airport and we were back in Chicago before noon.

I’m not going to lie… This trip was very exhausting. We drove 3,228 miles through 11 states, visited 6 national parks, and did a ton of walking. I was in a lot of pain after Jackson, WY. So much pain that I actually went vegetarian until we reached Crater Lake National Park. I knew that it would be exhausting going in and I told myself that this was probably a once and a lifetime trip that I would never do again. So I might as well do it when I was young. The saving grace of the trip was that the longest days of the trip were the first 3 days of the trip. If they were later in the trip, then it would have been extremely tough to complete in 11 days.

My favorite part of the trip was probably Grand Teton National Park and Jackson, WY. Waking up for the sunrise was exhilarating and fun, especially since it was cloudy during the sunrise on Cadillac Mountain at Acadia National Park. The hiking was a lot of fun and the views were outstanding. Yellowstone National Park is probably my new favorite national park though because of the amount of things to do. If I were to go back, I would love to explore the Dunraven Pass and do more hiking. Unfortunately, you can only see so many thermo pools until you get tired of seeing them. Do not overlook Badlands National Park and Crater Lake National Park. Crater Lake was definitely the prettiest lake I have ever seen! The Badlands rock formations were incredible to see!

This trip was a blast as it was so nice to escape Chicago. Nature is very calming to me and it helps me relax from the hustle and bustle of Chicago. Seeing the different states puts things into a lot of perspective as it was mostly rural America. Also, a BIG THANKS to my fraternity brothers and letting us crash at their places! It was great catching up with them. I loved this road trip and I wouldn’t have changed a thing!