Road Trip Advice Thread

[MrBiggs]

Well, it finally happened. I graduated UCLA. I'm moving out of SoCal and headed up to Bellingham, WA to start a job at Western Washington University. Wifey and I are packing the apartment up into a truck and all our camping stuff (plus the dog) into our car. Road trip will be the whole month of July and will go way out of our way to have some fun in the mountains.



There's a lot of new territory for me, and I'm soliciting ideas from you fine folks. I don't want to blow any spots up, so if you have any advice that you want kept off the net please feel free to PM me and I'll keep it mum.

So with that, here are some places where I'm begging for some info. Fishing, campgrounds that anyone likes (or hates), anything at all would be helpful:

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest (we'll be in Park City for a couple of days, but in the mountains for a couple of more. It looked like there were alpine lakes on the map, but there's sparse info on the net.
Jackson / Tetons
Glacier
North Olympics

And really, if there's anything that you think is worth seeing I'd love to hear about it. We're new to this. I have been hunkered down in a lab for the last... many years... and we want to go get some fresh air and see some beautiful places. I appreciate any and all advice and comments.

[fly addict]

You are lucky to have the opportunity to move to a place like that so early in life. Your route looks epic and you should have lots of good fishing and camping spots to choose from. One thing I would suggest is a series of books based on Fly Fishing to the states you plan on going through. I have found the books by “ A Wilderness Press Adventures Flyfishing Guidebook," Flyfishers Guide to Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Washington to be a great resource for planning trips like your doing. You can get them on Amazon ether new or used, it is money well spent.

[tomsakai]

Make sure you hit up Rock Creek, near Missoula. It's good for a couple of days. I've never camped there but there is a campground with a good reputation and full facilities (showers I think) called Ekstrom's, a mile up Rock Creek Road from I90. I will pm fishing info.

[Hunt4lyf]

Sent you a pm about park city area fishing.

[WanderingBlues]

Congrats! Can't wait to see this epic report.

[8NoFish]

Green River - east of Salt Lake City
Flat Creek - just outside of Jackson, WY
Silver Creek & Big Wood River near Ketchum/Sun Valley

[clee]

Personally I'd reroute. From Reno head north to SE Oregon, go through Idaho into Wyoming. Bypass Utah, I think it's better fishing and less pressure. But that's just me.

[Wildman]

Congratulations on graduating! You have lined out an epic trip before you settle down up north. I think you will like Washington...water and fish everywhere. Looking forward to living vicariously with you as you explore the West.

[k9mark]

Per you map routes, I see your hitting Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. Jackson Hole puts you within driving distance of the S. Fk of the Snake River, Fall River and the Henry's Fork. They are a must. In Yellowstone you must fish the Firehole River. Montana its Hebgen Lake and the Madison. Now that I look at your route again, I'd skip Salt Lake altogether and shoot north to Boise and fish the Rocky Mountain Fly Hwy (hwy20) all the way to Yellowstone. So many epic rivers along that route which are the best in the country.

[MrBiggs]

Personally I'd reroute. From Reno head north to SE Oregon, go through Idaho into Wyoming. Bypass Utah, I think it's better fishing and less pressure. But that's just me.

I wish I could, fishing-wise, but we have to meet up with friends in Park City.

[MrBiggs]

I'd skip Salt Lake altogether and shoot north to Boise and fish the Rocky Mountain Fly Hwy (hwy20) all the way to Yellowstone. So many epic rivers along that route which are the best in the country.

I'm seeing a common thread here, which is "skip SLC." Haha.

We were originally going to spend some time in the Sawtooths. We have friends that guide the MF Salmon, but they're the busiest, hard-workingest people during their season. I figured that spending some more time at the folks' place on the Madison would be more fun. Currently have a whole week scheduled there.

[MrBiggs]

Thanks to everyone for the great advice--both the PMs and the messages here. I'll try to do a TR on this, and we were debating doing a blog of the trip. I'll post something if that happens.

For now, back to packing!