Traveling Huntleys

Inspiring travel stories, tips, and guides from a couple exploring the world one destination at a time.

Hot Springs

Grand Loop Road, Yellowstone: A Stagecoach Road, a Basin That Blew Up and the Head of the Missouri

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Last Updated: October 11, 2026

The Grand Loop Road was not built for cars. Army engineers laid it out for stagecoaches, and for its first decade nobody was allowed to drive an automobile on it at all.

Sandy Huntley at the overlook above Grand Prismatic Spring, Midway Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park

It is the figure eight of roughly 140 miles that ties together every major feature in Yellowstone, and driving all of it in one day can take four to seven hours depending on wildlife and traffic. We spent the first part of June 2022 working through it from West Yellowstone, Montana, about an hour and a half from Fishing Bridge. We were last here in the fall of 2020.

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Picabo, Ketchum & Twin Falls, Idaho

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Last Updated: May 28, 2026

From Bruneau Dunes we headed east to Picabo, Idaho — a tiny agricultural community that serves as the base for visiting Silver Creek and Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. From there we drove north to Ketchum to explore Sun Valley and make a day trip to Stanley through the Sawtooth Mountains. On our way out of Idaho we stopped in Twin Falls to restock at Costco and see Shoshone Falls.

Aspen trees showing golden fall color on the hillsides above Ketchum, Idaho
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Yoho National Park & Fairmont Hot Springs, British Columbia, Canada

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Last Updated: May 2026

From Revelstoke we headed east to Golden, BC, positioned between Yoho National Park and the Columbia Mountains. The fires that had followed us since Kelowna persisted — we could see smoke rising from burning trees on the surrounding mountainsides. Yoho, Banff, Kootenay, and Jasper National Parks all share borders; the only highway closed by fire was the one through Kootenay, which we had already driven.

The thundering cascade of Takakkaw Falls, the second-tallest waterfall in Canada, Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada
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