Reno to Eau Claire WI

ANG0225 · August 21, 2016

In about a month we will be traveling from Reno to Eau Claire WI. Thinking about taking the northerly route to Yellowstone and then East to Eau Claire. Anyone familiar with that route? How bad are the mountains as far as towing?

Kirk W · August 21, 2016

Anyone familiar with that route? How bad are the mountains as far as towing?

I'm not quite sure how to answer this. I have been over all of the route you are likely to take from Reno as far east as Minnesota and would not consider any of it to be "bad" mountain driving, but there are mountains and degree of difficulty is more an issue of who is driving than of the road involved. Between Island Park, ID and West Yellowstone, MT there is a mountain pass, but the road is good and it isn't excessively steep. If you live in Reno, you probably have already driven more complex roads than you will experience on that trip. The worst issue will probably be dealing with the traffic of Yellowstone. The same will be true of US191 from West Yellowstone to Bozeman. You could also travel east through Yellowstone to Cody, WY, following US14/16/20 which would be my preferred route and more scenic in my view, but it is also more mountainous. Any of these options are traveled by all sorts of RVs in the summer season and should not prohibit your travel, as the roads are good and it isn't overly challenging.

Twotoes · August 21, 2016

I agree with Kirk that the route from Cody on US14/16/20 is nicer. If you take that route you may want to stop at Custer State Park in South Dakota just down the road from Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse.