Planning trip to Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone in 2018

[inmygardn]

I think we did most of your trip this Sept! Try to stay in the Tetons. The traffic going in and out ofJackson is a mess. We have stayed at both Jackson Lake and Colter bay and enjoyed them both.

 

[wyecrabber1]

Once again, thanks to everyone for the suggestions. Looking forward to a wonderful trip. My wife, her twin sister and husband have never been. It's been almost 30 years since my son's Boy Scout troop did a 3 week cross country camping trip.

 

[ReadySetGo]

My two cents..

The tram in Jackson hole is neat but the town of Jackson proper was more interesting to me for walking around in. You might consider staying in park city instead of Salt Lake City - i would also skip Vegas completely and spend an extra day in the Tetons and yellowstone and fly out of Salt Lake City. Save Vegas for another time

We loved Crazy Horse. The museum is great, with lots to learn. It’s an amazing spot, and I had not heard about it before our trip. Enjoy!

 

[ears20]

So much here that I would agree with, so I won’t rehash (we skipped Rushmore; the views from distance while driving were plenty for us).

Re: Custer. We found a log home business right outside of town that also rents cabins called Gold Camp Cabins. Affordable, comfortable and yet rustic without being primitive. Highly recommended!

If you’re interested in seeing wildlife on the circular drive through the park, go at sunrise. The animals will be much more active and visible, with less traffic to boot.

 

[StephieJean]

Mt. Rushmore

We toured Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone and loved it. We went in the winter and it was very beautiful. Mt. Rushmore was my personal favorite. You cannot appreciate those heads until you see them in person and how amazing it is to know they were carved.

 

[Biff Steele]

Iron Mountain Road

One thing I may add...Be careful not to get onto Iron Mountain Road near Mt. Rushmore if you're in an RV (or in a hurry!). My wife and I drove from Charleston to Seattle a couple of Augusts ago in her conversion van and one stop was Mt. Rushmore. At the welcome center in South Dakota, the ranger warned us NOT to get onto Iron Mountain Road if we were in a large vehicle or if we had a timeframe for the day's travels. We thanked him, then promptly took a wrong turn out of Rushmore and found ourselves on it after all. It is a winding, switchback road up and down the mountain (though it IS beautiful!) that can get crowded, but there were also two or three square tunnels carved through the mountain where our relatively small van barely made it through. The bikers (there for Sturgis) all stopped to watch, clapping after we made it to the other end. After we were finished, we agreed it was actually fun, but it took us about 1.5 hours end to end because of the traffic. I agree that Mt. Rushmore was worth it, as were our side trips to see the Badlands and Devil's Tower.