Seattle to Yellowstone
And, we’re off!!
June 26, 2022, marked the start of six weeks on the road with the family. Seattle to Butte, Montana is about 600 miles. We’ve done the drive from Seattle to Northern Idaho, but not into Montana.
But first, on June 13, Yellowstone National Park was starting to flood. By June 15, half the park was closed, and we were left wondering what to do. While glued to the news and waiting to see what would happen, we had to make contingency plans. Our thought was to spend more time in Jackson & the Grand Tetons and see what happened with Yellowstone. Thankfully, that bet paid off. We would only have one full day in Yellowstone, and we had to make the most of it! The park was letting in cars based on their license plates, on even and odd days. In a sense, it worked out well because there were fewer people in the park. But now, we have to go back to see what we missed.
We got an early start on day one. We really worked hard to plan our long driving days sparingly. Kids in a car for a long time is not a recipe for success. But we needed to cover a lot of ground, about 600 miles. With stops along the way, it took us about 12 hours. We’ve made the drive from Seattle to Spokane multiple times and even into Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. But the kids & Mike had never been to Montana. I grew up in Spokane, so I spent a lot of time in Montana on ski trips as a kid. Once in Montana, you jump ahead one hour to Mountain Time and begin climbing in altitude. From Idado until we left Utah, we were always above 4,000 feet.
I packed us lunches and snacks in containers we would continue to use on our trip. We had a lovely picnic lunch at a rest stop near Sprague Lake, outside Spokane. We stopped at Costco in Coeur d’Alene to grab a case of water, hit the bathrooms, and get gas before continuing on to through Northern Idaho into Montana. Outside of Coeur d’Alene is the Veterans Memorial Bridge. It’s situated high above Lake Coeur d’Alene, and it’s a breathtaking view for miles. In the summer, it’s far less scary, but driving that in the Winter is nerve-racking. Then you continue on into the Silver Valley with tiny old mining towns and Silver Mountain (great if you have time to stop and take the Gondola). You’ll be driving through twisty canyons most of your way through Northern Idaho. The kids had their binoculars out to spot bears, but no such luck.
A perfect picnic!
About two hours into Montana, we stopped at a rest stop to do some yoga. We need to stretch our bodies and move around a bit. This was also our first introduction to incredible rest stops in Montana, Wyoming, and Utah. I never thought I would be writing about rest stops and bathrooms, but they were so nice! Clean bathrooms and what felt like parks, and most of them with fantastic views, too.
The first of many rest stops we would be impressed by. Washington State needs to up their game!
We finally made it to Butte around 7 PM for dinner. Dinner was not amazing, but after a long day in the car, we just wanted to eat and get to bed. Our hotel for the night was the Best Western Plus right off the freeway. Let me tell you, this chain is fantastic, especially the newer ones! It would not be our last Best Western Plus on the trip. Our room was spacious, I was able to wash our dishes, and they had the best free hotel coffee of the trip. Breakfast was included, and incredibly, they had Udi’s gluten-free blueberry muffins, which ended up being a staple on the trip.
The next morning, we woke up and drove 45 minutes to the Lewis & Clark Caverns. They were on their way to West Yellowstone, our next stop. The Caverns are one of the largest limestone caverns in the Northwest. It’s a 3,000-acre park with tours of the caverns and trails for biking and hiking. We opted for the Classic Cave Tour. This is a two-hour, two-mile guided walking tour. This tour is challenging. The tour will gain 300ft in elevation, ascend over 100 stairs, and descend over 500 stairs. The caverns will be wet and slippery. There is also the Paradise Tour, which is a 1 1/2 hour, 1-mile guided walking tour. This tour is great for young children and is accessible to most people. The tour will visit 2 cave rooms. These caves are also combating White Nose Syndrome with bats, so if you have been to a cave or cavern within the year, you cannot wear any of the same clothing or shoes to visit Lewis & Clark. Luckily, we don’t often visit caves, so we were fine!
Lewis & Clark Caverns Hours/Seasons
The Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park is open all year. The Caverns are open for tours from May to September:
May through mid-June: 9am to 4:30pm
Mid-June to mid-August: 9am to 6:30pm
Mid-August through September: 9am to 4:30pm
Cost (double check website for the most up-to-date)
Free Admission for Montana residents
$8 per car
$4 Walk or Bike
Cave tours: $15 adults, $10 kids ages 6 to 11
After the tour, we headed to West Yellowstone. It’s about a two-hour drive, and we arrived in the afternoon. Although now converted to a food truck only, we ate at Smokejumper Cafe for lunch. At the time, it was at the airport. Everything there could be made Celiac-safe. It is always refreshing to be able to eat safely without worrying about M getting sick.
We stayed at a funky old motel, The Three Bear Lodge. It is very near the West Yellowstone park entrance and right in downtown. Hotels near the parks book out well in advance. If you are planning a trip to any National Park, give yourself a year to book lodging. Some of the older parks, like Yellowstone, have lodges inside the park. While beautiful and historical, a few things of note: most do not have elevators, air conditioning, or WiFi. If any of those are important to you, do not book an historic lodge inside a National Park.
The kids spent some time in the pool, which was a fantastic way to get some wiggles out. We were able to walk around the town, get dinner, go to the grocery store for some sweet treats to pack in backpacks, and hit the pool. Everyone was early to bed so we could get in line at the West Yellowstone gate bright & early.
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