Yellowstone trip...drive a motorhome or fly/rent a motorhome?

[Denise L]

DH wants to plan a trip to Yellowstone one of these summers. He grew up camping and going to all the National Parks. Yellowstone is his favorite. The kids have never been camping. We are thinking of renting a motorhome and driving from CA, or flying to Jackson Hole and renting a motorhome to make our way through the park. The problem I see with renting a motorhome there is that we wouldn't have camping gear, so we'd have to rent everything. We'd save many days of driving though.

I would think we would have 10-14 days max. Any advice? I think we'd have to make campground reservations a year in advance for the park? I've been browsing motorhome rentals and they aren't cheap (plus tons of gas , ugh!). Oh, and I have only been camping twice .

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

If you rent a motorhome, you wouldn't really need camping gear would you? They are self contained, beds and all and I would imagine they come with sheets and towels as everyone would have the same needs in a rental wouldn't they?

Sounds like fun,
Liz

 

[barndweller]

We spent 25 years doing RV trips all over the US & Canada. It is not the same as camping. We always avoided the interstates & saw the wonderful backroads, National Parks & Monuments & some of the more undiscovered treasures of our continent. I would think that any rental would have all the basic stuff already in it but you need to check on that. If you need to provide bedding, you could buy some inexpensive stuff at someplace like Wal-Mart. If a rented unit has basic equipment included for cooking, etc. then I would recommend you fly & pick it up there. The money you save on gas alone would be plenty to purchase (or rent) bedding, etc. Those puppies only get 10 to 12 miles to the gallon!

It is a great way to see our country, though. I highly recommend it!

 

[geekette]

I think you will find it would be cheaper to buy a motorhome and sell it when you are done.

Renting an RV is Very Expensive.

You might see if anyone you know would let you rent theirs.

 

[ricoba]

I think you will find it would be cheaper to buy a motorhome and sell it when you are done.

I have heard others say the same thing.

But I am curious as to how much cheaper it really would be. My assumption is that you buy a used one, right?

Do you have any facts or figures that show that this really is a cheaper way to go?

 

[geekette]

No facts or figures. It's opinion only.

I've priced rental before and found it to be way too expensive to consider, especially if you plan to actually drive it - the per mile charge is the big killer.

I'm not sure what a Class C goes for these days (that's all we'd need, and would be a better choice for my curb-prone hubby), but brand new hovered in the $35-40K range a few years back. Divide that by however many useful years you believe one to have, compare it to a 2 week rental. Depreciate that figure down a few mile years and you may just find a 5 yo in the right price range.

If you price out the rental + mileage and potential pick-up/drop-off fees and compare that with For Sale listings, you can run the numbers easily. Depending on where you get the rental, there could be a lot of junk fees.

Seems to me that someone on Tug ran the numbers last summer and found buying to beat renting.

 

[philemer]

I think you will find it would be cheaper to buy a motorhome and sell it when you are done.

This would ONLY work IF you could buy a used one at a low price. Then trying to resell it would also be an issue. These beasts are slow sellers now that gas prices are so high. Are you willing to make payments for XXX months until it sells? I'd rent. JMHO.

 

[geekette]

Of course it would be used, and priced low. Sorry, I thought that would be obvious.

I wouldn't be making payments, and would use it until I sold it. I wouldn't mind more weekends away from home, especially when football season starts.

Would you be financing the rental?? I don't think so. If you don't have the cash, renting isn't for you either.

 

[Passepartout]

Rent is cheaper than buying...

unless you really want to keep it for the longer term.

I think I would fly into Salt Lake City, rent a motorhome and head out. Seems I saw a place there where a class C rented for about $100 a day with a certain number of miles included. There are independent rental outfits that are cheaper than the chains, and many RV dealers rent used outfits for less than new. Remember, an RV, like a timeshare, is only 'new' on the first day for the first occupant. after that, they are all 'used'.

I don't have the numbers, but Googling, or checking yellow pages online for the city you'd want to rent from should yield results.

A few years ago DW and I rented a class C and took it into the central Idaho mountains. Seems like they threw in about 500 miles- for 3-4 days then it was about $.50/mi. You'll be lucky to get 10mpg so that puts just fuel cost at about $.30/mi. This is still cheaper than owning/maintaining/insuring one of your own.

Best wishes, the parks are something everyone should see.

Jim Ricks

 

[geekette]

$100/day is phenomenal! If the OP finds that deal, GRAB IT IMMEDIATELY!!!

 

[Denise L]

Would you be financing the rental?? I don't think so. If you don't have the cash, renting isn't for you either.

We wouldn't be financing a rental. But the prices are high...I think it was going to be $1200 for one week (we'll have to recalculate due to the high gas prices). I told DH that timeshare MFs were cheaper than that, and you get to sleep in a real bed . And there is usually a pool..

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

You get to sleep in a real bed in a nice RV, too and it has an indoor bathroom and everything. It really isn't camping and probably many places you would stay might have pools or rivers or lakes.

We took our trailer and camped in the California Redwoods and it was so lovely.

Liz

 

[Kauai Kid]

If you fly into Jackson Hole, whatever you do, don't decide to cross the Continental Divide at Jackson Hole. Extremely steep grade for a car much less a motor home (8-10%). Just an accident waiting to happen. If you fly into Salt Lake City it is an easy 5 hr drive to West Yellowstone.

Have you checked into renting a cabin at Yellowstone or the Tetons? Might end up being cheaper than a motorhome and just as much fun.

Just got back from Yellowstone a month ago and saw herds of incredibly stupid tourists. One man with a camera wanted a good shot of a mama bear with a cub so went running toward the bear cub. Another man walked across the street less than 50 feet behind a buffalo. People let their kids go running toward waterfall lookouts with no apparent thought that they might trip and go over the lookout to their death. Adults step over barriers to get even closer to cliff's for that incredibly scenic shot.

It is the worlds first national park and the park service budget has decreased every year for the last ten.

We saw bald eagles on the nest, a herd of 500 buffalo with calves, coyotes, mule deer, antelope, elk in velvet, black bear, and couldn't camp at Harriman State Park in Idaho because of a grouchy grizzly with a cub. (Too many late night feedings I guess)

Sterling

 

[Denise L]

You get to sleep in a real bed in a nice RV, too and it has an indoor bathroom and everything. It really isn't camping and probably many places you would stay might have pools or rivers or lakes.

We took our trailer and camped in the California Redwoods and it was so lovely.

Liz

True, we would be sleeping in the RV . Before we got married, we went to Yellowstone for 10 days and slept in tents (MIL had the motorhome). That was many years ago.

We'd want to BBQ a lot, I think, but who knows. I don't know the first thing about motorhomes, but I know we'd need water hookups now and then and a place to empty the tank.

 

[Denise L]

Have you checked into renting a cabin at Yellowstone or the Tetons? Might end up being cheaper than a motorhome and just as much fun.

We briefly talked about renting a cabin. The trouble is, the park is so huge and we'd have to drive back and forth to see the sights. I asked DH to make me a list of the areas he wants to cover, and try to map out a trail. Then we can figure out whether to have a "base" or not. He did look up RV rental prices for next summer...he estimated a base price of $150/day per week, and a bit more per day for partial weeks. I asked him to include gasoline and RV mileage fees in his estimate, but he hasn't done that yet. So it is $0.32/mile + gasoline, $50 per bedding pack, $100 for pots, pans & dishes, and there are fees for not dumping the sewage tank. I'll have to figure out the mileage tomorrow and come up with a much larger per day price !

 

[Denise L]

Just an update on the RV rental fees...

14-day driving trip : approx. 2600 miles (driving from CA roundtrip, plus around the park), it would cost us

$910 worth of gas (est. $3.50/gal)
$832 for mileage fees for the RV ($0.32 per mile charge)
$2100 (150/day for 14 days) = $3842 for an all-driving trip. We'd bring our own bedding and pots/pans so wouldn't have to rent the bedding packs.

Fly/Drive 7-day trip: approx. 600 miles (renting near Yellowstone), it would cost us

$210 gas
$192 mileage fees
$1050 (150/day for 7 days)
$200 bedding
$100 pots/pans/dishes
$105 airport parking fees
$1600 estimated RT airfare for 4 = $3502 for a Fly/Drive trip

Wow , that's expensive no matter how we slice it! Is there a cheaper way to go?

 

[Cathy22]

How set are you on a motorhome? If you could make a couple of motel stops along the way, or even KOAs where they have pools, then split your time between camping and cabins within the park at different areas, you may be able to see a lot more & be able to get into more places than you could with a motorhome.

We made the trip to Yellowstone 2 years ago from Calif. We did have a bit more travel time though, and made a few more stops along the way. We had our 2 boys, 17 & 12, in a pick up truck. We had all intentions of camping with occasional motel and did reserve a partial timeshare week in Park City. However, DH is not much for camping – his idea of roughing it is a Motel 6! We did stay in motels more than we camped. Ended up being too hot in many places to set up camp. Anyway, we came into Yellowstone from the eastern entrance. We stopped for 2 nights at the William Cody Ranch (highly recommended!) and saw the eastern part of the park.

Then into the park to find a campsite at the western end. There are some campgrounds that are on a first come basis – no reservations. But you need to get there probably very early afternoon. We didn’t have a problem finding a spot though.

This early in your planning you may want to consider a night or two at the Old Faithful Inn. Such a beautiful place! There's also lodging towards the north entrance at Mammoth Hot Springs.

So not sure how much cheaper the all driving/camping/lodging this version would be. But always think of it as an adventure! Good luck!

 

[philemer]

If you don't have the cash, renting isn't for you either.

That's quite a statement. I can't afford to pay cash for a $50,000 + motor home but I sure as heck can afford to pay $150>$250 a day to rent it. Cash flow is a lot different than cash in the bank.

 

[LisaH]

When we lived in Denver, we went to Yellowstone twice. The first time was before we had kids. We just camped around until one day it snowed (Memorial weekend) so we chickened out and checked into motels for the rest of our stays. The second time my kids were four and half and 18 months old. We stayed at the cabin and a hotel near Lake Yellowstone and it was delightful. I wish we tried the motor home but I guess with that kind of price tag, it will scare me off as well...

 

[geekette]

That's quite a statement. I can't afford to pay cash for a $50,000 + motor home but I sure as heck can afford to pay $150>$250 a day to rent it. Cash flow is a lot different than cash in the bank.

There are plenty of ads in our area for newer RVs in the 5 - 10k range. I wasn't advocating 50k, that's just plain silly for a trip like this. OP is looking at rental in the $3-5k range. Renting would compel me to keep the mileage low - on a trip like this, it would be a shame to pass up some day trips to save the ridiculous mileage rate.

People are looking to unload their rvs, having bought them post-9/11. I believe a used rv can be had for a price way better than renting.

 

[Kauai Kid]

Why not timeshare and forget camping? I assume you know about the black bear that ripped a hole in a tent, grabbed a child and carried it off into the woods. The child died and the bear was tracked by hounds and shot. It occurred in June somewhere in Idaho or Montana.

However you get to Yellowstone and where ever you end up staying you are going to have to drive around a lot to see the sights. It is just like Hawaii, you'll never see everything in a lifetime.

We stayed at Island Park Village Timeshare in Idaho 22 miles from the West Entrance. 30 minutes to the West Entrance and we spent a couple days exploring the top loop, then the middle loop, and then the lower loop. Never had enough time even to get to the Tetons.

By the way, the Travel Channel on Direct TV is running an hour special on Yellowstone. Hope you can catch it. They called it the Serengetti of North America.

Good luck on your decision. It is an incredible place.

Sterling

 

[Andar]

I have bought motorhomes twice to use and then re-sold them. That was in the late 80's early 90's. We actually made a little profit on both. Both were class C's about 5 years old. It worked out great. Would I do that today? NO WAY! Gas fuel prices are way too high, selling a motorhome in this climate is vey risky.

I agree that flying, renting a car or van and staying in a nearby TS, Cabin or moetel would be your best bet. Spend extra for a roomy car rental as you will be seeing Yellowstone mostly by car (unless you are really into backbacking).
Enjoy the planning and have a great time.

 

[Rose Pink]

Why not timeshare and forget camping? I assume you know about the black bear that ripped a hole in a tent, grabbed a child and carried it off into the woods. The child died and the bear was tracked by hounds and shot. It occurred in June somewhere in Idaho or Montana.


Sterling

It happened in Utah. But you are wise to be cautious. The bears near Yellowstone are more used to people and can get very aggressive. They will come right up to cars and campsites looking for food. I don't think I would want to go camping anywhere near that area. Lots of people do, though, every year, and live to camp another day. I guess one would have to ask, "do ya feel lucky, do ya?"

Wild animals that do come near people are still wild animals. They may be "cute" but they are also deadly. There was a notice at Capitol Reef National Park when we were there a few years back about a deer that killed a small boy. He had refused to give it his sandwich.

 

[zinger1457]

Believe many of the campgrounds in Yellowstone have a section for RV's. Did the camping thing many years ago in Yellowstone and doubt we would do it again. For your own safety when you enter Yellowstone you will be constantly reminded about the dangers of bears while camping. The constant reminders made the camping experience somewhat nerve racking for us. Never did see any bears in the campgrounds but it will always be on your mind. May not be the true 'outdoor' experience but if I was to go back I would rent at one of the hotels/cabins located in the park, stay a few days at one and move to another one. You just want a place to sleep, when in Yellowstone there is so much to see you won't be spending much time hanging out at the campgrounds/hotels.

 

[PStreet1]

By booking waaaay in advance, you can get lodging in the park. We entered from Cody, Wyoming, early in the morning and turned left to the lake. We listened to a short ranger talk there, then started north toward Mammoth. We were at the mud volcano (forget its name) by noon for a ranger talk. We polked along, stopping repeatedly for moose, a bear incident, a walk back to The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, photo ops of waterfalls, etc., and reached Mammoth aout sunset. We checked in and ate there, explored that area some. The next morning, we headed in the direction of Norris and stopped lots of times--at each major feature. Arrived at Norris for the ranger talk. Proceeded on to Old Faithful. We took the last ranger talk of the day for Old Faithful, and we stayed at Old Faithful that night. The next day we could have easily gone to the lake, but we had done it on entering, before we set out to view the Tetons.

We chose to stay in the cabins at Old Faithful and Mammoth. They were absolutely spotless. There is a sink in the cabin, but you have to go a cabin length or two to get to the showers and toilets. The beds were comfortable, and it felt "more Yellowstonie" than being in a lodge. The cabins are really cheap--well under $50.00 a night.

We didn't have to backtrack at all by changing our location within the park, and we felt like we did really see it. For the type of sightseeing we were doing (no major hikes and exploring of the wilderness), we had plenty of time. Had we needed more time, we could have scheduled another night or we could have spent more of the day before we headed down to the Tetons. For us, it was much easier than driving a motorhome on narrow roads that are VERY crowded during tourist season.