I am planning an 11 day trip for my family of 4 and my sister%26#39;s family of 4 for mid to late June. It sounds like a lot of families are taking this trip! Here is my itinerary so far:
Day 1 -Arrive in Denver 12 pm/attend Col. Rockies game/see some Denver sights
Day 2 - Pikes Peak area/Garden of the Gods
Day 3- Travel to Custer, SD/Mt. Rushmore
Day 4 - Custer State Park, Crazy Horse, Mt. Rushmore
Day 5 - Deadwood/Black Hills/Peter Norbeck Scenic Highway
Day 6 - Drive to Cody, WY/visit Devil%26#39;s Tower along the way/Cody night rodeo
Day 7 - Buffalo Bill Museum/drive to NE entrance of YNP via Beartooth Hwy/YNP/stay in West Yellowstone
Day 8 - YNP/Drive to Jackson, WY
Day 9 - Jackson, WY/Grand Teton Nat Park
Day 10 - Jackson/or drive to Cheyenne, WY
Day 11 - Drive back to Denver
Day 12 - Fly home
Does this sound feasible? After writing it down it seems to me that we don%26#39;t have enough time in YNP. We tried to get reservations in Jackson for the 1Oth night of our trip, but it has been impossible to find something nice AND reasonable. I would like to add another day to YNP and possibly drive back to Denver from Jackson in 1 day. We have an 8:00 am flight the next morning. What do you think? Also, is it possible to drive the Beartooth Hwy from Cody to YNP in one day and still be able to see some of the park? Sorry to be so long-winded!! Thanks!!
Pikes Peak/Mt. Rushmore/Yellowstone/GTNP
Yes you are correct- there are a lot of us doing a similar trip this summer. We will be flying into Denver on May 27 and going to Mt.Rushmore, Cody, YNP and GT and returning on June 6 to Denver and flying into Atlanta. Here are my concerns:
Day 6- This will be at least a 7 hour drive or more depending on how long you spend at Devil%26#39;s Tower.
Day 7- The museums may take all morning and you will need the rest of the day to drive NE entrance to Mammoth and West Yellowstone. It doesn%26#39;t seem like you are giving yourself enough time to stop and enjoy the scenery and wildlife.
Day 8- If you leave West Yellowstone, drive to Old Faithful and then through GT to Jackson- you will make it by supper.(We did that last year) There are many areas of YNP that you will miss- Canyon, Lake Yellowstone, etc.
You can drive from Jackson to Denver in one long day. We are staying in Cheyenne and getting up the next day and driving the last 2 hours because our flight does not leave until 3 pm. Have you made reservtions yet? We are staying at Sundance Inn in Jackson Hole- reasonable and very clean. Hope this helps. Good luck with your trip plans!!
Pikes Peak/Mt. Rushmore/Yellowstone/GTNP
Sounds like a great trip, but it%26#39;s a lot of intense, and tiring, driving. If kids are with you, depending on ages, I%26#39;d reconsider. Though you would give up some very interesting country, I would reconsider Denver as an arrival city, and fly closer to and focus on Yellowstone and Tetons.
As you suggested, you are not giving enough time to YNP. Most would say you need at least two full days, and most who do two days, wish they had stayed for more. It is that large and that interesting.
You could fly into several Montana cities or Salt Lake City. Or, Jackson Hole. You don%26#39;t give the ages of the kids, but I%26#39;ll guarantee (well, be assured that) it is YNP that they will remember.
If you leave Cody early, you can do W. Yellowstone in one day and have some time to see only a portion of the park. But, then you won%26#39;t be able to see the Cody museums, and they are terrific, a diamond in a surprising area.
You do need more time to stop and smell the YNP roses (in this case, see the wildlife en route within the park) w/o rushing through it. Basically, I%26#39;m suggesting that you check your priorities of what must be seen, for which ages, and consider more time in YNP.
My immediate reactions -
1) skip Pikes Peak/Garden of the Gods -- Go to SD a day early (just the drive from Colorado Springs to Custer would be a miserable day of nothing but driving. As a local to this region, you would look back %26amp; wonder why you shorted Yellowstone to spend that day going south.
This moves your itinery up so you would have an extra day in Yellowstone.
2) You can definitely drive Jackson to Denver in a day - it will be a long day, but Denver is only an easy hour %26amp; a half from Cheyenne. Will you have one rental van or two vehicles? If you are all together, you will have enough drivers to trade off and the drive should be easy, just long.
3) Let me suggest you find something in West Yellowstone for a night or two and spend less time in Jackson.
It sounds like a wonderful family vacation!
Thank you everyone!! I love this site! We are definitely going to add a day to our YNP trip now. Our kids are ages 13 to 17, but they still don%26#39;t want to drive all day. I%26#39;d like to try and squeeze in a whitewater raft trip in Jackson, also. I%26#39;ll try everyone%26#39;s suggestions. Thanks!!
Barker-Ewing is great for raft trips. We did one last year with our kids and they loved it.
Thanks! I%26#39;ll make sure that I continue to update our plans and then write reviews on everything afterwards. We went on a Grand Circle trip in 2005 and had a wonderful time! I posted the trip under the Grand Canyon forum (I think). Thanks!!
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