(mostly) Baby/Family Friendly Out West Road Trip
Quick Synopsis for those who don’t like details in the picture below.
For those who do like details, keep reading.
Also…everyone’s definition of ‘baby friendly’ is different. Mine is that no one died (either from dangerous situations or the parents leaving the kids on the side of the road)
MidWest to Mountain West Camping Road Trip Starting In Michigan
I get it.
You think that road trips are for a special kind of people:
People in reality shows.
Or people on Instagram who for some reason show everyone every second of their lives (hint: the reason is they make money doing it).
People who are too stupid to realize it’s not a good idea
Those sorts of people with a special kind of mental disorder that involves them participating in physical and emotional trying activities all in the name of fun.
(In case you’re wondering, I am the latter two kinds of people)
Covid happened, and the husband was put on a paid leave. His ultimate goal in life is to be a trophy husband, but he is accepting the fact that paid leave due to Covid might be as close as he gets. (unfortunately for him, a few kids get in the way of his dreams…but don’t they always).
So we did what any normal person would do in the midst of a global pandemic and bought a tiny camp trailer and went on a 6 week road trip out west with our 3 children 6 and under (1yo/almost 3yo/6yo)
And because I’m nice, I’m sharing our itinerary & activities with you to save you some time.
For those of you who want even MORE details- keep a look out for the posts coming up that detail specific places. This post was long enough as it was.
Custer State Park, Rapid City, South Dakota (18hr drive)
We left Grand Rapids Michigan at 5pm on a Thursday evening and made it to Rapid City, SD around 11am the next day. We stayed at Custer State Park at the Legion Lake campground (hookups) and hit up Mt Rushmore the Following day.
Devils Tower, Wyoming (2.5Hr)
A few hours away from Rapid City, We stopped at Devil’s Tower and hiked around the tower (only 1-2 miles on a mostly paved trail). There is also an (expensive) KOA at the base of Devils Tower, but we kept going.
Bighorn National FoRest (4Hr Drive)
We kept driving a few more hours until we got into the Bighorn National Forest (see above picture) and camped on National Forest Land (for free!)(rustic). You can pick any Fire road within the Forest and find a spot and camp.
Buffalo Bill State Park (2hr Drive)
We made a reservation to stay at Buffalo Bill State Park(hookups), just west of Cody, Wy….and we got there and decided we would just lose the $40 we paid and kept going west.
I would not advise you to stay here!
It was basically like camping in the middle of a field. A field with 50mph winds hammering you so relentlessly, it makes you think fondly about the times your kid incessantly pokes you on the leg asking for snacks.
Sheffield Creek, Wyoming (Yellowstone)(3hr Drive)
So instead, we drove 3 more hours through Yellowstone (it will always take you longer to drive through than it looks like on map) and found one spot left at Sheffield Creek Campground (rustic). Fair warning, you do have to drive through a small little creek to get to the campsites, but it’s a paved creek and multiple RV’s had made it.
Prismatic Hot Springs in Yellowstone
Bozeman Hot Springs, Bozeman Montana (4hr drive)
We left Sheffield Creek in the morning, drove through Yellowstone (stopping at all the major highlights), and met our friends in Bozeman for dinner. We made a reservation that night for the Bozeman Hot Springs and stayed a night. (Hookups).
Lolo Pass, Montana (4hr Drive)
The original plan was to spend a night camping at Lolo Pass in Montana (lots of campgrounds along the highway), but it was POURING rain and we didn’t feel like dealing with 3 kids and rain and camping. So we kept driving until we made it to Joseph, Oregon where the in-laws lived.
Joseph, Oregon (6hr drive)
My in-laws like us, so we got to stay with them, but if you’re looking for a place to camp, there is a state park at the end of Wallowa Lake.
McCall, Idaho (4.5 hr drive)
After our stay in Joseph, we left and drove the back way to McCall, Idaho. It’s a curvy drive, but so beautiful, with the ability to stop at the Hell’s Canyon Overlook. We camped on our cousins property in McCall, but there is a lot of camping up around the lakes.
Lake Cleveland, Idaho (4-5hr drive)
We left McCall, and after having lunch at my aunt & uncles house in Boise, we drove to Lake Cleveland - this hidden gem campground in South West Idaho. (rustic). It was amazing. (insert pic)
City of Rocks, Idaho (Alto) (45 min drive)
City of Rocks is one of the most amazing places ever. It is magical to drive through all of the rock croppings- it makes you feel like you’re on a different planet. If you are a climber, or want to be a climber- this is a great place. You can camp in the park (rustic)(reserve online for the weekend).
Of course we didn’t plan that far ahead, so we camped on BLM (Bureau of Land Managment) with some friends for free.
Deer Valley/Park City, Utah (5hr Drive)
We camped in the yard of one of my husbands best friend up in the mountains, but there are many campgrounds to choose from.
Arches Nat’l Park, Moab Utah
Moab, Utah (4Hr Drive)
Moab is one of my all time favorite places on the planet (stay tuned for our potential land buy and yurt building), so despite it being 100+ degrees, we decided to camp there for 2 nights. Because of the July heat, we choose to camp in town, so we would have electricity and air conditioning in our trailer.
Best campsites are on the river along the 128 highway.
Wolcott, Colorado (Vail Area)(4 hour drIVE)
We stayed 3 nights along the Colorado River outside of Vail. This is by no means the best campground in the area, but it had cell phone service, which our friend needed since his wife was SUPER pregnant (hence staying at their house in Vail and not camping).
Denver, CO (2hr Drive)
Fair warning, the drive is only that short if there are no accidents or 394 million people on I-70. It took us 3.5, but it used to take us 1.5-2hours back in the good ol’ days. Also, we didn’t camp in Denver…we stayed for 3 nights with our good friends, but you COULD camp outside of Denver if you wanted. (Check out Golden Gate Canyon State Park for not too far camping)
Grand Rapids, MI (18-20HR Drive)
We left Denver in the morning and drove all day and night and finally made it home. I’m not sure I reccomend this method..but it did shorten the misery of driving with 3 kids.
It INTENSIFIED the misery…but also shortened it.
And there you have it folks…the great Swatts & Co Covid Road Trip of 2020 in a recap. As time goes on, we’ll be adding blog posts regarding each specific spot, so stay tuned, or comment below which location you’re most interested in learning about.