Route Options From Wi To Gnp

M

Midwest Marcus

Newbie
Hello,

I'm new to the forum. My wife and I recently picked up a very nice used 2012 550 #556. We have been out a few times already and absolutely love our camper.

We have a big trip planned from Wisconsin out to Glacier National Park in mid-July. My question is about our routing options. It looks like there are three main options which include interstate 90 through South Dakota, interstate 94 through North Dakota or taking 94 to Fargo then heading north to Grand Forks and taking US Route 2 the rest of the way. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of extra time on the trip for side excursions. An extra couple of hours would be fine but we aren't going to have time for spending an extra day to check out parks and attractions. I know the drive through the Dakotas and much of eastern Montana are fairly bland (long, straight and flat) but if one of the routes offers more scenic driving that would be great. The other big concerns are road conditions (any major road work planned that is going to slow us down?) and services along the way. This is our first big trip with our camper and I certainly hope we don't run into any issues but there are some long lonely roads out there. Just curious if others have made this drive and what their experience was like?
 
Hard to predict road conditions at this point, but as for services along the way and not having time to sightsee, I'd say take 90 through Rapids City and the Black Hills area. Rte 2 would likely offer less in the way of services, depending on what kinds of services you are looking for. They're all easy drives. I remember thinking that parts of Montana were like driving on the moon would be - but interesting...
Glacier is a beautiful place! How long will your trip be?

Glacier National Park (U.S. National Park Service)
 
Spearfish Canyon in the Black Hills is a beautiful drive. Stop and walk to some of the waterfalls.
 
I believe there is a lot of road construction planned near GNP. I'd double check on that first and foremost.
 
Rt 2 takes you thru the ND oil fields. The trucks with oil, pipe, machinery, fuel can make travel a real mess. Did that route a few years ago, not again.
Half mile north of Bismarck, ND is a dandy state park called Cross Ranch. Right on the Missouri. Worth stopping. They have showers. I believe it is $16/night.
 
We leave Madison, WI on a Thursday night after work. We have reservations at Fish Creek Campground Sunday through Friday where we will be meeting my BIL’a family. For the return trip we leave GNP on Friday and have to be back home by Monday. US route 2 sounds like it’s out as an option due to all the truck traffic from the oil fields. Maybe we will take 94 out and try and get to the East side of GNP so we can spend a day there before our reservations start on Sunday. Then we can come back on 90 when we will have a little extra time on the way back so we can cruise through the Black Hills and maybe take a slight detour through Needles Highway.
 
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