Planning trip to Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone in 2018

[kitesurfer2]

I found Wall drug to be a waste of time...
Yellowstone is big with lot's of traffic. Don't even try to be in a hurry. We camped, and did lots of walking. Custer Wy was great with Cody museum, Irma hotel/Restaurant , old west town. My favorite was the Black Hills.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We stayed in the park to save on driving time. We went the second week of June so weather would be good and not as many people. I think your trip is too big for only 2 weeks.

 

[street]

I didn't see mentioned is Medora and Teddy Roosevelt National park in North Dakota. The badlands of Dakota are a beautiful site. Some of the greatest people live in that area.

The west is a special place if you haven't been there or haven't spent time there.

 

[wyecrabber1]

Here is our travel itinerary; There will be four of us; my wife -- her twin sister and her husband. We all get along really well, good thing. However, they want creature comforts -- I voted for a tent and campsite. Rooms for Yellowstone arranged, but we may change depending on feedback. We always try to cram way too much stuff into our vacations/trips and this is our most ambitious. What are your thoughts about our plans?

We are 65, in good health. We all walk a lot and doing a 4-8 mile hike is doable. Seeing the sight in Yellowstone will be a mix of hiking and driving.

Day 1: Fly from BWI to Denver
Day 2: Pike's Peak, Red Rock -- hopefully catch a concert
Day 3: Drive to Badlands, spend night between Badlands and Mt. Rushmore
Day 4: Crazy Horse and Custer's State Park, stay close to Rushmore
Day 5: Drive to Yellowstone, eastern entrance
Day 6: 2nd day in Yellowstone, activity tbd -- spend night in Yellowstone
Day 7: Drive to western Yellowstone -- hiking, spend night in Yellowstone
Day 8: To Grand Tetons, spend night in Jackson Hole
Day 9: Day in Jackson Hole -- take the tram -- walk the town
Day 10: Drive to Salt Lake City, spend the night
Day 11: Drive to Las Vegas; Casino and shows
Day 12: Vegas, more Casino and shows
Day 13 : 1/2 day in Vegas -- Fly back to BWI

Are there places you would omit from our schedule? Places you would add?

Thanks!!!

 

[RE2Boys]

RE, day 4, Custer Battlefield (Little Big Horn) is nearly 300 miles from Mt. Rushmore/Crazy Horse. Or did you mean Custer State Park which is in the Mt. Rushmore area?

 

[RE2Boys]

We stayed in the park to save on driving time. We went the second week of June so weather would be good and not as many people. I think your trip is too big for only 2 weeks.

Fully agree, your doing very little but driving and seeing the world out of a car window.

 

[wyecrabber1]

RE, day 4, Custer Battlefield (Little Big Horn) is nearly 300 miles from Mt. Rushmore/Crazy Horse. Or did you mean Custer State Park which is in the Mt. Rushmore area?

Meant Custer State Park -- thanks!!!

 

[Callitaday2022]

If you do Pikes Peak try to drive through Garden of the Gods. Very beautiful and free. Will take 20 minutes.
I think the mammoth dig is unbelievable so I would try to tie that in when you're near Rushmore

 

[Montecfo]

Here is our travel itinerary; There will be four of us; my wife -- her twin sister and her husband. We all get along really well, good thing. However, they want creature comforts -- I voted for a tent and campsite. Rooms for Yellowstone arranged, but we may change depending on feedback. We always try to cram way too much stuff into our vacations/trips and this is our most ambitious. What are your thoughts about our plans?

We are 65, in good health. We all walk a lot and doing a 4-8 mile hike is doable. Seeing the sight in Yellowstone will be a mix of hiking and driving.

Day 1: Fly from BWI to Denver
Day 2: Pike's Peak, Red Rock -- hopefully catch a concert
Day 3: Drive to Badlands, spend night between Badlands and Mt. Rushmore
Day 4: Crazy Horse and Custer's Battlefield, stay close to Rushmore
Day 5: Drive to Yellowstone, eastern entrance
Day 6: 2nd day in Yellowstone, activity tbd -- spend night in Yellowstone
Day 7: Drive to western Yellowstone -- hiking, spend night in Yellowstone
Day 8: To Grand Tetons, spend night in Jackson Hole
Day 9: Day in Jackson Hole -- take the tram -- walk the town
Day 10: Drive to Salt Lake City, spend the night
Day 11: Drive to Las Vegas; Casino and shows
Day 12: Vegas, more Casino and shows
Day 13 : 1/2 day in Vegas -- Fly back to BWI

Are there places you would omit from our schedule? Places you would add?

Thanks!!!

Wyecrabber1-

greetings from a fellow DMV-er.

Sounds like a fantastic trip. In my opinion, you are being too aggressive for the time alotted. You are moving hotels most nights seems like.

I would expand the trip or cut down the real estate covered. You may have checked a lot of boxes, but you can't really do justice to these great sites.

I think it is actually 2 trips: one to Yellowstone, Tetons, town of Jackson (which is in Jackson Hole), Salt Lake, Vegas (maybe open Jaw with those two cities)

One to Custer state park, Black Hills, Crazy Horse, Mammoth Site, Custer battlefield, Badlands (if you wish) flying into and out of Denver (Pikes Peak, Red Rocks).

If i take your itinerary as you state it, I would not do Badlands since there are many other places to see "badlands" in the US. I would put that day back into Custer/Black Hills.

I would bag the either the Vegas leg or Pike's Peak/concert, and expand time in Yellowstone/Tetons. You will be seeing lots of mountains as is (Denver) and the Vegas leg is a lot of travel and out of the way.

Logic is you can easily get to Denver and Vegas, but Black Hills/Custer and Yellowstone/Tetons are places you do not get to by accident.

I hope this is somewhat helpful.

Enjoy!

 

[REWahoo]

We always try to cram way too much stuff into our vacations/trips...

And you've succeeded once again.

 

[wyecrabber1]

We always seem to make it work. My greatest concern is my group likes all inclusive resorts -- but are adventurous. I'm sort of the odd man out, so camping is not going to work. Although, renting an RV would been possible -- however, we have never done that.
Hiking, biking, zip-lining are good. But at the end of our trips everyone seems to agree it would be nice to have slowed down a little.

Keep the comments and suggestions coming. Thanks!!!

 

[ocean view]

My reaction upon first read of your itinerary is that your trip is really a drive from Denver to Vegas and you just happen to pass through some national parks, as opposed to the trip you describe in the thread’s title.

I’d cut Vegas altogether and spend more time in the parks, fly home from SLC.

As someone else suggested you can do Vegas anytime, as nearly all medium sized airports have a direct flight to Vegas.

 

[Sunset]

My reaction upon first read of your itinerary is that your trip is really a drive from Denver to Vegas and you just happen to pass through some national parks, as opposed to the trip you describe in the thread’s title.

I’d cut Vegas altogether and spend more time in the parks, fly home from SLC.

As someone else suggested you can do Vegas anytime, as nearly all medium sized airports have a direct flight to Vegas.

And there are often packages including hotels for trips to Vegas, which would be better.

 

[meierlde]

Rather than Pikes Peak why not do Mt Evans it is about 150 feet higher and the road is paved all the way up. (sort of paved at least). Much closer to Denver, just west on i -70 to the proper exit.
I would tend to agree about going to Vegas, as you will be driving right by Zion and Cedar Breaks and close to Bryce Canyon in Southern Utah. Better to do as suggested and turn around there and go back to SLC.

 

[OldShooter]

... We always try to cram way too much stuff into our vacations/trips and this is our most ambitious. ...

That's not a vacation, it is a forced march.

I suggest that you spend an afternoon with Google Maps and get driving times for every leg adjusted for the speeds you expect to drive, then add time for things like meals, gas/potty stops, finding/checking in to lodgings, etc. and see how much time is left on each day. I think the answer will be "not much" or "not nearly enough."

 

[wyecrabber1]

Here's the revised itinerary:

Flying from BWI to Rapid City, picking up a rental car -- seeing the sights Mt. Rushmore, Custard's State Park, CrazyHorse and other sights over three days.

Driving to Yellowstone and spending 6 days in the Park & Grand Tetons

Then to Jackson Hole -- turn in the rental car and fly to Las Vegas

Spending three days in Vegas.

Flying home.

Driving time is a 1/3 of the early plans. A little slower pace.

Thanks for the input.

 

[REWahoo]

Much better plan - far more enjoyable pace I think.

 

[Ronstar]

Oh I like that plan. Make sure you have time to sit on the horse saddle bar stools in that bar in Jackson. Sorry can’t remember the name. But everyone in town will know it.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Here's the revised itinerary:

Flying from BWI to Rapid City, picking up a rental car -- seeing the sights Mt. Rushmore, Custard's State Park, CrazyHorse and other sights over three days.

Driving to Yellowstone and spending 6 days in the Park & Grand Tetons

Then to Jackson Hole -- turn in the rental car and fly to Las Vegas

Spending three days in Vegas.

Flying home.

Driving time is a 1/3 of the early plans. A little slower pace.

Thanks for the input.

That looks better. Your first itinerary was a bit busy. In 1997 we rented an RV and did a 3000 mile circle round trip, which included Las Vegas, Mesa Verde and the Black Hills area. We stayed 3-4 days in each place, which you are doing. If you love swimming, check out Evans Plunge in Hot Springs SD in the Black Hills. We went there on a lark and didn't drag ourselves out of the water for 5 hours. We had the place 100% to ourselves midweek in April. Perfect clean spring water coming out of the ground at 87 degrees and filling a huge indoor pool. There's a couple of water slides too. No chlorine or anything.

There's lots of pronghorn antelope in SD and WY. Custer (not custard, you're making me hungry), State park is loaded with Bison. Enjoy the drive to Yellowstone. It will be cold at night. High altitude.

 

[meierlde]

Here's the revised itinerary:

Flying from BWI to Rapid City, picking up a rental car -- seeing the sights Mt. Rushmore, Custard's State Park, CrazyHorse and other sights over three days.

Driving to Yellowstone and spending 6 days in the Park & Grand Tetons

Then to Jackson Hole -- turn in the rental car and fly to Las Vegas

Spending three days in Vegas.

Flying home.

Driving time is a 1/3 of the early plans. A little slower pace.

Thanks for the input.

One suggestion you might consider the Northeast Entrance to Yellowstone over the East Entrance that gives you the Beartooth highway which gets up to 10,947 feet. A link to the Wikipedia Article About it:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beartooth_Highway You reach this road from Red Lodge which is a short distance south of I-90. Coming in from Red Lodge there is a quite spectacular climb out of the valley that the Wikipeida article lead Charles Kuralt Called the most beautiful drive in America. (It is actually easier to reach Red Lodge, Mt than Cody Wy, as I 90 goes around the Big Horn Mountains. )

 

[kitesurfer2]

you will be driving through Cody...that's a good 2 day diversion. my wife and I both liked Cody better than Yellowstone. You might also be driving by Devil's Tower. We loved the early morning hike around it, and the campground there was top notch.

 

[HarveyS]

Sept is a perfect time to go. I was in Yellowstone the last week of Sept this year. A few tips:
1. Don't rely 100% on GPS. Make sure you have a paper map and double check GPS is correct. We drove for an hour around Custer St Park one night by blindly following GPS a few years ago.
2. Watch for road closures in Yellowstone. Pay attention to the signs at the entrance and ask at the lodge/campground each day.
3. Plan on snow at the higher elevations
4. Your average speed in the park will be 30mph...so getting from A to B will take longer than you expect. There are a surprising number of tourists, tour bus, and campers in YNP in Sept. and the roads get backed up.
5. Have cocktails on the deck at the Jackson Lake Lodge, and have an ice cream at the Old Faithful Lodge.
6. Avoid West Yellowstone, MT - loaded with tour bus groups and not much to see. Take the drive along the Madison River, just turn around before leaving the park and entering town.
7. Pack a lunch each day. You might come across something that you want to sit and watch. If you've got food you can stay all day.

 

[Teacher Terry]

The Grand Tetons was small so 2 days there was fine. WE spent 4 days in YS. Your new plan sounds much better.

 

[Steve s]

Yellowstone is huge.

It has been several years but my wife and I spent a week at Yellowstone. If you stay outside of YNP you will spend time driving over the same roads to get to new sections of the park. And while other visitors are tired and are in a hurry to get back to hotel but the buffalos are blocking the road you can sit back and enjoy because your lodging is in the park.
We spent a couple nights at the lodge and explored the southern geyser section then got a cabin in the canyon mountain section to explore that area. I remember getting up in the middle of the night and Old Faithful went off just for me with no one else around. And although Old Faithful is the most famous there are a lot of geysers that are more enjoyable. Waited for almost 2hrs for a geyser to go off on the advice of a local that said I would not be disappointed and he was right. I cannot remember the name but is was massive! Also the riverside geyser was impressive. Love Love Love Yellowstone. Have to get back. steve

 

[mh]

Here is our travel itinerary; There will be four of us; my wife -- her twin sister and her husband. We all get along really well, good thing. However, they want creature comforts -- I voted for a tent and campsite. Rooms for Yellowstone arranged, but we may change depending on feedback. We always try to cram way too much stuff into our vacations/trips and this is our most ambitious. What are your thoughts about our plans?

We are 65, in good health. We all walk a lot and doing a 4-8 mile hike is doable. Seeing the sight in Yellowstone will be a mix of hiking and driving.

Day 1: Fly from BWI to Denver
Day 2: Pike's Peak, Red Rock -- hopefully catch a concert
Day 3: Drive to Badlands, spend night between Badlands and Mt. Rushmore
Day 4: Crazy Horse and Custer's State Park, stay close to Rushmore
Day 5: Drive to Yellowstone, eastern entrance
Day 6: 2nd day in Yellowstone, activity tbd -- spend night in Yellowstone
Day 7: Drive to western Yellowstone -- hiking, spend night in Yellowstone
Day 8: To Grand Tetons, spend night in Jackson Hole
Day 9: Day in Jackson Hole -- take the tram -- walk the town
Day 10: Drive to Salt Lake City, spend the night
Day 11: Drive to Las Vegas; Casino and shows
Day 12: Vegas, more Casino and shows
Day 13 : 1/2 day in Vegas -- Fly back to BWI

Are there places you would omit from our schedule? Places you would add?

Thanks!!!

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