Tourist ideas en route from Portland OR to Old Faithful

I have an Italian friend who intends to hire a car and drive across America this August. Is he mad or does he just love driving at 50mph I hear you ask ? He will leave Portland, Oregon and head for Yellowstone National Park to see Old Faithful but I know he is short of ideas of things to see on the way. He seems happy enough with the rest of the route to New York.

Could the local expert for Idaho or others suggest places of interest for me to pass on to him. Also I have no idea of where he intends to stop en route so perhaps you coudl advise if there is a national chain of motels he could consider ?

Many thanks for your time

Tourist ideas en route from Portland OR to Old Faithful

Sounds like fun to me! Does he want to get off the beaten path, and does he have the time to do so? I would suggest when he gets to Boise that he take the Ponderosa Pine scenic byway (highway 21) northeast to the Sawtooth Mountains. Overnight at Stanley or go southeast on another scenic byway (Hwy 75) 7 miles to Redfish Lake... well worth a day of exploring (hiking, horseback riding, sitting on the beach, boating). Continuing south to Hwy 20, go east to Craters of the Moon, where the astronauts trained before landing on the moon. Another great stop. Continuing east, at Arco take 20/26 to Idaho Falls and on to West Yellowstone.

Tourist ideas en route from Portland OR to Old Faithful

When he leaves Portland, advise him that he should allow some time to drive the slower historic Columbia Gorge highway from Troutdale to The Dalles, Oregon. This is a fabulous piece of road!

Also, in eastern Oregon is the Hells Canyon which I would highly recommend making a detour to. One route would be to head to historic Baker City, Oregon (perhaps stopping en route to visit the John Day fossil beds) and then head east into the canyon, driving to Joseph, Wallowa and Enterprise. At Enterprise, the incredibly scenic Rattlesnake Canyon road would take him to Lewiston, Idaho and he could continue via the #2 all the way to Missoula, Montana. Or continue through Idaho as cdudley has suggested.

He could also head north via Couer d%26#39;Alene and Sandpoint to Bonners Ferry, Idaho and then take that road east to Whitefish and Glacier National Park. GNP would easily be worthy of 2 or 3 days of his time, if nature and hiking are of interest to him.

How much time does he have available for this leg of his trip?

Great suggestions. Maybe a stop in Sun Valley Idaho, just to see all the Lodge and the surroundings. There are lots of things to do and see around there. We also have the largest Free symphony in the US...with a new pavillion...enjoy

Hi Folks, I%26#39;m Francesco from Italy, the robert%26#39;s friend (that i thnk again for his post).

Thank you for your answer, actually I dont%26#39; know how many days i will have.

I need to get the right balance between, City and nature, beside because of I have many miles to drive, I need to make a hard selection, for the route and what i can visit.

For this reason I need to know, which is the best combination, between the most important things to visit..and the fastest way to do it.

for going from Oregon to yellowstone park, i understood that I can choose between drive in the south of Idaho or in the north.

maybe there are intersting things to visit in both way, but i need to ask you again what would you do, if you have 2 or 3 days to move from portland to yellowstone.

Thank you, and sorry for my english

Francesco

how about a trip ...boise to stanley via loman and banks...then a free symphony at the new sun valley pavillion...the largest free symphony in the us...

www.svsummersymphony.org/ - ENJOY...we all can harldly wait

I%26#39;m with Charley48, but then I love the Sawtooth Mountains and play viola in a symphony too... :)

If you only have 2 or 3 days to get from Portland to Yellowstone..... I don%26#39;t think you%26#39;ll have time for much more than the most direct route and you will not see much of anything, except what is racing past you through your rental car window. It%26#39;s 1360 km between the 2 spots.

I would recommend the historic Columbia Gorge highway between Troutdale and The Dalles, Oregon for a little glimpse of nature. Then follow the interstate into Idaho and stick to the southern portion of the state. You won%26#39;t have time to tour north or visit Glacier National Park, Montana.

If you have any interest in the ';old west'; history, you may want to visit a ghost town along the way or perhaps detour to Virginia City, Montana which is not too far north-west of Yellowstone.

Thank to everybody, yes I know that the time is short, but I really would like drive from western coast to the easter one.

At the moment the plans is that.

To spend a couple of day in Newport visitng the downtown, and makyng a day trip to seaside (Astoria and Cannon Beach), than, leaving Portlan I will drive on the Historic Gorge Highway.

Before i%26#39;ll arrive in Yellostone Park, i have to do 2 stops to sleep, to break the leg.

usually I drive for 6 hours, visit somethin for 4 hours, and then spend the rest of the day to give me some rest.

so could you suggest where I can do my stops, to have something to visit in 2-4 hour?

Byebye

Francesco

Taking into consideration that you like to drive about 6 hours, this is what I would suggest:

Portland to Ontario, Oregon - 6 hours drive/375 miles (I%26#39;m not sure if there%26#39;s anything worth doing here or not, but if you take your time enjoying the Columbia Gorge drive, you can explore along the way)

Ontario to Stanley, Idaho - 4 hours drive/ 185 miles - The road is very scenic from Boise over the Lowman Pass to the Sawtooth Mountains. Relax at Redfish Lake.

Stanley to Yellowstone National Park - 6 hours/339 miles. You%26#39;ll drive along the scenic Salmon River to Challis; then through the desert to Craters of the Moon National Monument; then north at Idaho Falls to Yellowstone National Park.

Best of luck, and have a wonderful trip.