in early September we will be driving to Valley Lodge Hotel in Yosemite National Park from Old Faithfull Lodge in Yellowstone. We know we will have two long days of driving but would like suggestions of the best route to take and where to stop off over night. We would like to get as far as we can the first day. There will be two drivers to share the driving. Thanks
Winnemucca is 8-1/2 hours from Yellowstone National Park, just past the halfway point from Yellowstone to Yosemite Valley (California).
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The most direct route from Yosemite Valley (California) to Old Faithful Inn goes up through Reno and up I-80 to Elko Elko is about halfway (almost 9 hours), but it is a little closer to California. From there you take US Route 93 up to Pocatello and then take I-84 over to Yellowstone. You could see how tired you were and if you didn't want to stop in Elko, you could probably find somewhere along US 93 to stay.
The other option which is about 150 miles longer is to take I-80 all the way to Salt Lake City This would be a 12 hour drive. The advantage to this is that you can then go up I-15 through Jackson Hole and go through the Grand Teton National Park to Yellowstone on the shorter (6-7 hour) part of the drive.
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