Itinerary help for Yellowstone and GTNP through Black Hills

Need some advice for touring Yellowstone and GTNP in 2.5 days in late July. We are a family of 5 with kids ages 13, 11 and 7. I am jealous of the people working on 2-3 week itineraries…7 days including travel is the reality for us (and pushing it for my self employed husband), but I figure it is better than nothing at all.

I have room reservations for all but the last night on the road (not anticipating a problem with that and want to be flexible). Although I am trying to resist overanalyzing and planning our sight-seeing down to the minute, I feel that 2.5 days only in both parks warrants at least some basic planning. I am mainly worried about optimizing our plan for the Yellowstone / GTNP portion, but will include our entire itinerary for comment (and will also post on one of the South Dakota forums)

Day 1: Omaha to Keystone, SD via I-90. Will take the Hwy 240 loop through the Badlands and spend a brief time there…maybe one of the 10-15 minute hikes to stretch our legs. Unfortunately it will probably be mid-afternoon (hot and not best lighting from what I read). Will make a pit stop in Wall. Hit Rapid City for a quick early dinner and make our way to Keystone so we can get settled in, then get to the Mt. Rushmore evening lighting ceremony. (This is why I chose Keystone vs. other locations).

Day 2: Keystone to Deadwood. Tour Mt. Rushmore, drive through Custer State Park, drive the Needles Highway, see Crazy Horse from a distance? I haven’t quite nailed exactly what we will do and the order for starting in Keystone and ending in Deadwood. Staying at the Comfort Inn there so the kids can swim and enjoy the fun park in the evening (get that out of their system before the national parks). Would they enjoy seeing the town of Deadwood, or are the casinos the major attraction these days?

Day 3: Deadwood to Cody, WY. Staying at Cody Cowboy Village. Hope to arrive early to mid afternoon to allow time for museum and rodeo. Is Devil’s Tower worth the extra time vs. spending it in Cody?

Day 4: Cody to Canyon Western Cabin in YNP. I presume we should get a very early start. Should we come in NE or East entrance and what route should we follow inside the park?

Day 5: YNP to to Colter Bay cabins in GTNP. Thinking we will spend the morning in Yellowstone and head to the cabin in GTNP sometime in afternoon. In GTNP, thinking of doing the hike to Inspiration point or maybe an evening Snake River float tour.

Day 6: Early morning Snake River Float (if we don’t do in the evening on previous day). Then exit the park through Jackson. Stop there for lunch / souvenirs, then head for Rock Springs and hopefully at least to Rawlins on I-80 before stopping for the night.

Day 7: Home on I-80.

I am looking for any comments, but especially:

1. A recommended route to and within Yellowstone for the 1.5 days. I have printed out yellowstonefan’s upper and lower loop driving tours, but I think we need a hybrid solution.

2. For GTNP, please comment on whether we should do the Snake River float in the evening or next morning. Not really looking forward to getting the kids up and getting to a tour at the crack of dawn…especially if it is some distance from our cabin, but I think it would be a good planned activity to keep my husband in the park an extra ½ day and not itching to get on the road first thing :-)

Thanks! I don’t know how I would be able to plan vacations without all the advice on these forums!

Itinerary help for Yellowstone and GTNP through Black Hills

I hope you are staying at the same hotel both nights in Keystone!! We are when we tour Mt. Rushmore in late May. I would do everything that I could in the Keystone area on day 1 and 2 and have time to make the 7 hour or so trip to Cody. There is lots to see and do there. I would then make the grand loop through Yellowstone and stop at Mammoth, Old Faithful, Canyon, etc. We took a Snake River Raft Trip last year. The kids loved it. I don%26#39;t know if we will do one again this year. We will be also going to Cody, Yellowstone, GT and Jackson Hole. Float trips usually last 2-3 hours and they have a morning and afternoon one. At least that is what I found when booking with Barker-Ewing. Hope this helps!! Good luck with your planning.

Itinerary help for Yellowstone and GTNP through Black Hills

If you think you are stretching yourself too thin then I would just do one trip but it would be Yellowstone and GT. It has the most beautiful scenery and wildlife that you and your kids will ever see. One of our favorite places!!!

Hi cantw82getaway,

Here are some of my ideas(I understand the 1 week vacation too):

Day 3. I would go to Devils Tower. Add about 2 hours. We also enjoyed the prairie dog village at the entrance.

Day 4. North East entrance via Cheif Joesph and Beartooth Highway. Great views in Lamar Valley. I would go to Tower, Mammouth, Norris and Canyon and check in. If time, drive down to Hayden Valley for animal watching in the evening.

Day 5. Drive to by Norris, Madison and Old Faithful. Be sure to go in the inn while there. Stop at West Thumb and then on to GT.

Day 6. Do the float trip am.

You will be doing a great deal of driving and seeing much, but I belive you already realize this.

Yellowstone is a wonderful place to visit. I hope you will be able to come back to see the places you miss.

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks for the the advice. I realized after posting that I should have characterized this vacation as a ';scenic driving tour with a variety of interesting stops'; vs. having a real destination, then everyone will know that we have the proper expectations :-)

If we take the Chief Joseph / Bear Tooth Highway route to Yellowstone, will we see a good sample of the Bear Tooth Highway or would we have to head back toward Red Lodge to experience that? If so, how far east would we have to go and would it be worth it?

If it weren%26#39;t for the kids, I probably would have elected to stay in Red Lodge vs. Cody. I thought maybe a night in cowboy land would break up the breath-taking scenery for them...trying for a nice blend of awesome scenery and activity. I would hate to look in the rear-view mirror and catch them playing nintendo in the back seat on the scenic drive! I recall stopping in Cody as a kid and remember it just as much or more than driving through Yellowstone. Just like I can picture the swimming pools at every Ramada Inn we stayed in and every town where we got to play miniature golf. Sad, but true...

I understand, from your recent post, that you are somewhat re-living your past. I understand that and yet, I%26#39;m going to get preachy (yuk) and suggest that the kids will love not the travel but the destinations, i.e., a rodeo, the geyser activity and wildlife, of YNP. You are putting a lot of time into driving, and sightseeing - a fly-by; but the kids, all ages, will remember the three items, above, more than the drive. And, these sights are photographable, with meaning, for them. And they still will play in the backseat! Perhaps you can return another time to see some of the other places you have listed. Please understand, only IMHO.

Dear Neola family, Many years ago, I worked three summers in Yellowstone and always marveled at the people who blew through the parks in a few days. It is really just a blow-by so you will have to be selective and keep the kids in mind. Definitely go to the Cody rodeo, if it available that night. However Devil%26#39;s Tower is a good trade off for Cody. The trail around the base is quite short and the tower is so unique. Also, it is full of prairie dogs. The prettiest way into the park is the NE entrance, but, remember that it will take at least five hours to get all of the way to Canyon. It is really just a nice drive to Cooke City, but the road in the park is spectacular. The Lamar valley is also the only place to see wolves, but usually at the extremes of the day. At Tower Jct, go counterclockwise and go to Mammoth to see the hot springs there. The terraces a unique and are a good way to start off. You can get a late lunch at Tower or Mammoth. Head south and stop at Norris. Take your time. I think that this basin is the most beautiful and Echinus geyser, a spurting geyser, is unique. You can then go over to Canyon by dinnertime. Evening is the best time to see the canyon. Do the northside short hikes that evening, including the hikes down to red rock pt and all the way down to the lip of the Lower falls. Remember, however that you are over 8000 feet. The next morning, get up early (you%26#39;ll need to). Go to the south rim and Artist point. Take Uncle tom%26#39;s trail to the best view of the falls. The kids will like this climb down into the canyon. Drive south through the Hayden valley. You will see hundreds of buffalo, possibly a moose and, perhaps, a bear. Stop briefly at the Mud Volcano. Drive along the lake and go west from West Thumb to the Upper geyser basin, the home of Old Faithful. Be prepared...there are a million people there. The first thing to do is to find out the next time Old Faithful will go off. It is an estimate, but you can base your visit to the time. The Upper Geyser Basin is 2 1/2 miles long and has hundreds of thermal features. Take a few hours to see as much as you can. You can see Old Faithful from almost any part of the trail. You can drive to Coulter bay and get there by dinner. You can float the river the next morning, if you wish. It will be cooler then. I would choose another idea, however. You are in the Tetons and you should experience them. Take the boat across Jenny Lake and take the beginning of the Cascade Canyon trail. It has a bit of a climb, but the views of the mountains and the lakes is spectacular. You can be done by noon and can get to Jackson for a late lunch and some window shopping. Rawlins is a long way off. It is probably better to go back to Moran and then take 287. Hope this helps. Have a nice trip.

THANK YOU everyone for your input! You have given me the type of detailed advice I was seeking given that we really have to optimize our time in the parks. I know some of you are still amazed that we would attempt this trip in 7 days. Any other advice is still welcome!