Thanks all! We are here now and have implemented a lot of the above. We ended up being in the badlands on the full moon which outshone the stars, at least untill we turned in. But great place and Notch,castle, door, and the overlooks were quite fun.
In Custer park For a few days starting tomorrow, and thinking of adding that mustang preserve and Jewell cave now. We are sore from hiking around Devils tower and Spearfish Canyon is quite amazing. It may be our favorite so far. Devil's Bathtub is a hike requiring crossing the stream a few times, and I did get wet, but it was worth it. As have been thre fall hikes (even though they get a bit long back to back for us, Roughlock was the better of the three).
Looking forward to Sprague Lake and Iron Mounting road. Want to do Dry gulch or Harney trails but not sure if we will recovery in time. We've already hiked more than 12 miles this week and for us that is a lot. Especially in some high heat in the badlands and Devil"s Tower.
Crazy enough, we are thinking of taking 5 more days, 2 of which being big drive days, to scoot through grand Tetons and Yellowstone in hopes of seeing moose, elk, and wolves. Sort of orient ourselves to see if we want to come back. That is a lot of driving for a short time in those parks, but man, we are so sort of close. Lol