Summer Road Trip with Son

[sulross]

I am planning a summer road trip in July to fly fish with my sixteen year old son.  We've never taken a long road trip with just the two of us and I want to give him this experience and memory before he gets older and goes off on his own.  We plan to leave Fort Worth and go up through Colorado, then into Wyoming and up to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone.  From there we want to drive up into Missoula, then across the state into South Dakota to see friends in Rapid City.  We originally thought about adding New Mexico, but I think we are already biting off a lot.  We are giving ourselves 2.5-3 weeks.  We are going to camp as much as possible and fish each state as much as we can while traveling onwards.  We have access to a condo in Copper Mountain, CO., so we could base there a couple of days, but after that, we are on our own until Rapid City.

I appreciate any thoughts from those who have taken a trip like this, or have fished these areas.  We need all the feedback/help we can get.  The one thing we cannot change is the month we can go - we both have coaching/playing schedules that make this the only window.  We like these areas because we can fish some famous places, but also get to see areas that we've never seen, like Yellowstone.  We've been up north to Kalispell, so this part of Montana will be new to us.  As for the rest, it will be also.  I would like thoughts on the section from Fort Collins to Jackson - do you recommend going up through Casper, or across through Laramie and Rock Springs, then up?  Is it worth going up to Missoula, or should we just go to Bozeman and then eastward?  

I appreciate any, and all, thoughts!

[breeden3]

Lake City, Colorado offers great access to the Rio Grande, The Gunnison, the Taylor, and the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River, among smaller streams and creeks. It is a beautiful area with world class fly fishing. Definitely worth a stop in my opinion. Several of the guys on this forum have experienced Lake City. PM me if you want more info.

[TAStockton]

The only problem that you may run into is how much snow pack the rockies get this winter. If it dumps 140% of normal again this year, most of the rivers from colorado all the way to canada will be so high, you may not be able to safely fish them until late July. The Snake river is a raging beast well into sept, on a normal year. But it has many smaller side channels that fish really well. Make sure you both carry bear spray in Wy and Mt. That sounds like a great trip though.

[slim]

If you will be in Yellowstone try Cave Falls on Falls River in South Yellowstone.
There is Beckler and Falls River that can be fish together.  We caught a lot of fish below the falls late August.
There is a park ranger station to get a license and camping there as well.  Bring bear gas.
Many other places in and out of the park in this area.
Message me when you get close to going and I will send you maps and fly suggestions.
slim