Chuq
Active Member
I can't speak for all but I don't think this would worry most EV owners!
Is this on Plugshare?
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Supercharger - West Yellowstone, MT
- Thread starter BlueShift
- Start date
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- montana Northwest Supercharging USA
I can't speak for all but I don't think this would worry most EV owners!
Is this on Plugshare?
For our 1 week road trip from Loveland to Custer, Devil's Tower, and Yellowstone we packed clothes for summer, fall, and winter. We expected cold weather in Yellowstone. On Fri Sep 22 all roads in Yellowstone were closed except from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful. Some roads were open later in the afternoon so we could drive from OFI to Lake Yellowstone. Lake Yellowstone Hotel was without power for many hours on Friday so when we arrived on Saturday the restaurant menu items were very limited due to spoiled food.LOL snow already?
There’s a KOA in East Yellowstone that would probably let you hook up. It’s a good size, between Many Glacier and Two Medicine. We used it as an overnight on our way from West Glacier to Fort MacLeod, but we had the camper.
Bighorn
Top Supercharger
Any suggestion for charging between Fort Macleod to West yellowstone park?
What I did to bridge the gap with I-90 from Fort MacLeod was to hit the Conrad Super 8 for a 14-50, $5 and then an HPWC at the Suds Hut in Helena. The cold and weather precluded trying to do RV parks around Glacier--most were closed for the season. So I headed to Butte. Super 8 let me hang out with my dog in their breakfast area with wifi and cable tv. Probably spent about 4 hours IIRC--definitely get plenty of buffer because it's not an easy leg. I think Suds Hut was 80A. so a leisurely dinner was all the time I spent there. Butte is in a slightly dodgy parking lot behind a casino, so you might not want a late night arrival. One time in Butte, I charged in the morning after staying in a local hotel. It was the one time I tried to supercharger after a hard cold soak and power didn't flow for close to an hour. Don't make that mistake.
What I did to bridge the gap with I-90 from Fort MacLeod was to hit the Conrad Super 8 for a 14-50, $5 and then an HPWC at the Suds Hut in Helena. The cold and weather precluded trying to do RV parks around Glacier--most were closed for the season. So I headed to Butte. Super 8 let me hang out with my dog in their breakfast area with wifi and cable tv. Probably spent about 4 hours IIRC--definitely get plenty of buffer because it's not an easy leg. I think Suds Hut was 80A. so a leisurely dinner was all the time I spent there. Butte is in a slightly dodgy parking lot behind a casino, so you might not want a late night arrival. One time in Butte, I charged in the morning after staying in a local hotel. It was the one time I tried to supercharger after a hard cold soak and power didn't flow for close to an hour. Don't make that mistake.
SMSMD
Active Member
Thanks ohmman. Read your posts and saw the photo again of your glittering silver stream and the bug free Model X with the beautiful mountains in the background. I have three teenagers with me. I have noted down all the important info from your trip down to Alberta. Nice to hear from you.
SMSMD
Active Member
Thanks for sharing your experience. This looks challenging with my three teens .I may do the North West coast tour go upto the Tesla factory and retrace the same route.
Will start from Seattle and drive along 101.
Bighorn
Top Supercharger
purplewalt
Active Member
First: What is your time frame for this trip?
https://www.nps.gov/glac/learn/news/upload/Logan-Pass-Open-Close-Dates_Press-Kit-6-26-2017.pdf
Based on past history, Glacier NP has Going-to-the-Sun Road which opens from late May until June and sometimes as late as Mid-July.
This is completely dependent on the local weather conditions for the area.
And just as suddenly, the road closes in Mid Sept. thru mid Oct. and possibly November.
Thank Mother Nature for this quirk.
So, If you have a bit of time flexibility, you can come up through Missoula and spend an overnight at the West Glacier KOA. They have multiple size cabins, and it is a stunning facility. Nice restaurant, two pools, great flowers at many Kabins, lots of reasons to stay there. Some of the Kabins are more contemporary and are larger. When making reservations, kindly INSIST that you must have a parking space for your car with a NEMA 14-50 outlet for your car to (nearly fully) charge overnight. They will do their best to accommodate your requests. Bring either sleeping bags and pillows or your own linens or purchase some there for the Kabins.
I have stayed at over a dozen RV Parks and State Parks, this may the very BEST ONE, at least as far as I have experienced.
When I traveled to Jackson, WY in August last year as part of the Eclipse, this was nearly the route I took.
When you exit the East Glacier Park Village, then head North toward Ft. MacLeod.
There is a nice ice cream shop a short walk from the Supercharger there.
One last thing: You MUST bring your US passports to travel into Canada and then return into the USA.
If you need to make the trip toward Ft. MacLeod earlier in the season, then going strictly on the East side of Glacier NP is your other Option.
And there are a LOT of RV Parks to choose from.
Have a great trip!
I was travelling in August, so the Going to the Sun road through Glacier NP was open. I headed south from Fort MacLeod, drove through Glacier and overnighted at the Red Lion in Kalispell, MT.
They have a Tesla destination charger that worked great. Going from memory, but I believe it was 80 amp so the charge was pretty fast even though I didn't need it to be since it was an overnight stay. I did call ahead and let them know I needed to use the charger. Of course they said they couldn't guarantee it being open as it was first come-first serve, but they were eager to help and put a cone in the space to ensure it wouldn't get ICEd. The cord was long and I believe there was at least one other level 2 charger, so even if it had been ICEd, I probably would have been able to manage something. There is also a Starbucks in the same parking lot so if you are not an overnight guest, you may wish to hang out there while you charge. I'm not sure what their policy is for non-guests but I would imagine they would be able to accommodate you somehow.
Again, this route only works if the road through the national park is open and even then it isn't necessarily the fasted route, although it may be when you take into account how long you need to charge on the I-15 route. If you do go this way, you can either play it safe and head south from Kalispell to the Missoula supercharger, or you can do what I did and head directly to the Butte supercharger. You'll need at least an 85 to do the latter and be careful because the last few miles into Butte are significantly uphill!
They have a Tesla destination charger that worked great. Going from memory, but I believe it was 80 amp so the charge was pretty fast even though I didn't need it to be since it was an overnight stay. I did call ahead and let them know I needed to use the charger. Of course they said they couldn't guarantee it being open as it was first come-first serve, but they were eager to help and put a cone in the space to ensure it wouldn't get ICEd. The cord was long and I believe there was at least one other level 2 charger, so even if it had been ICEd, I probably would have been able to manage something. There is also a Starbucks in the same parking lot so if you are not an overnight guest, you may wish to hang out there while you charge. I'm not sure what their policy is for non-guests but I would imagine they would be able to accommodate you somehow.
Again, this route only works if the road through the national park is open and even then it isn't necessarily the fasted route, although it may be when you take into account how long you need to charge on the I-15 route. If you do go this way, you can either play it safe and head south from Kalispell to the Missoula supercharger, or you can do what I did and head directly to the Butte supercharger. You'll need at least an 85 to do the latter and be careful because the last few miles into Butte are significantly uphill!
SMSMD
Active Member
Thanks for the great info.
Travel on July 9th crossing US border from Canada at Abbotsford . I will be carrying my Canadian passport. Travelling in Model X 90D. 5 people. Driving along 101. Final turn around destination would be LA...
Would stop 3 days in Yellowstone and exit via Montana . Total duration of the trip is 3 weeks .
SMSMD
Active Member
Thanks . I have reversed my route plan. Don't want the wife and kids to be stressed about range at the very beginning of the trip. Will stay in Yellowstone on return journey .
MikeBur
ManualPilot
Oh, you so have to consider going to see Pat at the little A’le’inn in Rachel, NV on the extraterrestrial Highway. If you like the film: Paul this is the place where a chunk of the script was written. Google Maps
If you organized it ahead of time they’d likely let you top up for any of the extra mileage off the freeway using one of their 14-50s...
Perhaps you can even find the guys in the pickup trucks that will follow you after you take photos like:
If you organized it ahead of time they’d likely let you top up for any of the extra mileage off the freeway using one of their 14-50s...
Perhaps you can even find the guys in the pickup trucks that will follow you after you take photos like:
purplewalt
Active Member
I am a dummy.
Since you are Canadian, skip my comments about bringing your US Passport.
Cheez.
If you are going through Yellowstone, you can then head South through the Grand Tetons and into Jackson, WY. There is a Superharger there.
There are many incredible National Parks in Utah.
Arches NP is not to be missed.
Similarly, Bryce Canyon (horse-back ride down inside the Canyon) and BOTH portions of Zion Nation Park are highly worth while. Bring hiking shoes that you can get wet, because you will be hiking up a narrow chasm wadding in the water. Do not miss Kolob Canyons on the North West via another entrance for a completely different view of Zion.
Slight off the beaten path:
If you enjoy fine hand-made mid-Century furniture and the environment that the artist/craftsperson lived and worked, spend a couple of hours at the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation for Arts and Crafts, in Alta Loma.
Public Tours are available on Thursdays and Saturdays.
Awesome.
Go and visit General Sherman (tree) in Sequoia & Kings Canyon Nation Parks.
Have an great visit to the USA!!!
Best way to traverse and see this country is via an immersive road trip.
AZ Desert Driver
Rare combination
Best way to traverse and see this country is via an immersive road trip.
I like your comments - look here, see that. Is that what you mean as an immersive road trip?
I've been to many of your nooks, including wading up the Zion-Virgin river in a dry-suit.
Is there a treasure chest somewhere of these types of nooks? You mentions some - where else?
I want to do another immersive road trip. Have done much of the West. Thinking of a leaf-peep in the East and struggling to plan one out.
I like your comments - look here, see that. Is that what you mean as an immersive road trip?
I've been to many of your nooks, including wading up the Zion-Virgin river in a dry-suit.
Is there a treasure chest somewhere of these types of nooks? You mentions some - where else?
I want to do another immersive road trip. Have done much of the West. Thinking of a leaf-peep in the East and struggling to plan one out.
I suggest a couple of small side historical excursions that are along your route. When you are coming up through Utah, you pass by the site of the joining of the transcontinental railroad. It's about 27 miles to the west from Tremonton. They have a really interesting museum there about the process of building it and early railroad history, and they have real working replicas of the two locomotives that met at that point. They run those locomotives up and down the tracks several times a day, and they are open for tours 7 days a week.
Golden Spike National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)
Side benefit: You get to drive by the site of Orbital ATK Aerospace systems, which has a big display out front of the rockets and boosters that they make for NASA and the air force. (Google for photos)
And then the other cool thing is in Idaho. Between Pocatello and Idaho Falls, if you turn off at Blackfoot onto U.S. highway 26 for 42 miles, you get to Experimental Breeder Reactor 1. It's where they were figuring out the practical application of nuclear energy and was the first reactor in the world to be used to generate electricity. It was shut down in the 50's and is a museum now that has tours 7 days a week. It's only open during the summers, though--Memorial Day to Labor Day, but you're in luck.
Idaho National Laboratory - Experimental Breeder Reactor No.1 (EBR-I)
Craters of the Moon is near there too, but I don't recommend checking out fields of black lava rock in the desert in July, when it's over 100 degrees.
SMSMD
Active Member
Thank you all.
@Rocky_H @AZ Desert Driver @purplewalt @MikeBur @PLUS EV @Bighorn @ohmman
Hope to meet some nice owners during my trip.
@Rocky_H @AZ Desert Driver @purplewalt @MikeBur @PLUS EV @Bighorn @ohmman
Hope to meet some nice owners during my trip.
Let me know if you're coming through the Sonoma/Napa areas. Even if you're just stopping at the Napa Supercharger, I can totally swing by and say hi.
And I noticed it looks like you're going through Bozeman. Museum of the Rockies is pretty good (history, science, dinosaurs!!) and is about two blocks away from the American Computer and Robotics Museum, which is small but really amazing. I did both of those in a day on a trip a couple years ago. The Robotics one opens at noon, so you can do a few hours at Museum of the Rockies first.
American Computer & Robotics Museum | ACRM: American Computer & Robotics MuseumIn the Beautiful Gallatin Valley - Bozeman, MontanaSince 1990: The World’s Oldest Continually Operating Museum of its Kind!
With as much as computers and electronics have been the foundation of my life, hobbies, career, and interests, I was tearing up at some of the exhibits. They have the very first video game system. They have a hard copy of the computer journal that predicted Moore's Law. They have mainframes used by NASA for the space missions. They have an actual Nazi Enigma encoding machine(!) and a couple of rooms about the cooperative international computing effort that was developed to crack that code.
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