Thinking About a Trip Out West

[interstate al]

I hear the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum in Hood River OR is well worth the visit. Also Sept. 2nd - 7th is the antique fly in at Blakesburg, IA. Always a fun time.

[Jim Douglass]

If you are planning Yellowstone and arriving from the east here are a couple of thoughts:
Spend a night in Sheridan and head over the Big Horn Mountains the next morning. Roughly follow follow the Highway 14 over the mountains--about 8500 high-- and descend through Shell canyon. It is plenty wide but it is a spectacular canyon to fly through.
Land in Greybull and look over a vast collection of derelict firebombers and other heavy iron. (I used to work there in my wasted youth) Tour on to Cody and spend the rest of the day at the Buffalo Bill museum--and maybe the next day too.

Next stop I would recommend is West Yellowstone. Rent a car and tour the Park. After that tour head to Jackson. It's pretty touristy and the airport is slightly hostile to non jet folks but it's worth it. Make a reservation for Grand Teton Lodge--pricey but you will remember the stay for years.
If you want to try some of mountain flying in Idaho it is not very far from Jackson. Just follow the Snake River out of Jackson and into Idaho

[robcaldwell]

The best alternate to Jackson Hole (and more GA friendly) is Driggs, Idaho. It's just on the other side of the Tetons. The drive (and flight) over the Teton Pass to and from JAC to DIJ is spectacular! I routinely flew scenic flights from DIJ to WYS, then east over Old Faithful > Yellowstone Lake > Jackson Lake > Town of Jackson then back over the Teton Pass to Driggs.

[Wyo Johnson]

Don't forget Devils Tower and Mt. Rushmore on the northeast corner of Wyoming/South Dakota...just fly by it but spectacular from the air, Rushmore is cool at night also. Southeast Wyoming has a number of "hidden parks" like Ft. Laramie (not to be confused with Laramie the town) and a number of things that can be see from the air like the ruts carved in the limestone from the pioneer wagons, etc. There are a number of things to see coming across the country from your home base. Omaha has a huge USAF Sac museum. Like Jim Douglass mentioned, Greybull was the home base of Hawkins and Powers Aviation...A-26's, C-119's, C-130s and all kinds of other weirdo aircraft...if they could spray or hauls stuff, they bought it/operated it. Greybull is the eastern mouth of Cody and they onto Yellowstone. you could fly all the way across the northern edge of wyoming and see Mt. Rushmore, the BigHorn mountains, Greybull, Cody (Buffalo bill museum there) and Yellowstone. I'm a native and traveled all over the state by air...holler if you have any questions. I sound like a freaking tour guide...but there are lots of things to see a do there that are off the beaten path...after a hard day of flying even a place like Thermopolis is neat because of the natural hot springs...basically a desert that smells like eggs, but once you hit that water you wont regret it. Caldwell is spot on with using Driggs.

I'm in Wichita...probably out of your way but there is an aviation museum here built in the original Wichita air terminal that Earhart, Willey Post, Howard Hughes etc. flew through here with a number of aircraft displays like B-47s, B-52, original Lear 24...basically a lot of aircraft that were born here in Wichita. Cook Field (K50) is 10 minutes from my house, happy to provide ground transportation and if you need a place to stay we could support that (I have a trip at the end of this month and early July)...

Andy

[kestrel]

I'm shocked that no one has mentioned the RAF's Ryan Field (2MT1) at the south end of Glacier Park.

https://theraf.org/ryan-field/

[Bcone1381]

We need more airports like that one!!

[Cguy]

I lived and flew in the Jackson Hole / Teton / Yellowstone area for several years. DA can be a problem at later hours of the day but the runways are LOOONG. Driggs, Idaho has a fantastic facility with a museum, restaurant and glider operations. West Yellowstone is another great area for access into the Park. Big Sky (Ennis), Bozeman, Kalispell... Don't get me started! Love it out there!

One of my favorite annual breakfast flights is from my strip outside of Pocatello, past the Tetons and then over both national parks, with luck getting to see old Faithful do it's thing, and then land at West Yellow. Then I ride my bike to the Running Bear restaurant and order the sea food omelet. The route home takes me by the west side of the Tetons. Another fav flight is to Kalispel, and the "old" airport, smack in the middle of town and convenient to everything, and where you get a pilot discount at the Red Baron Inn.

The only real problem with flying in Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming, is that even after going on 40 years of cruising the area, I still haven't got bored with it, and thus I ignore the rest of the country, and that includes Alaska, I almost feel guilty about that.