Illinois to Yellowstone

A friend and I are planning a road trip from Chicago to Yellowstone, where we will meet up with some of our friends who are flying out. We are thinking we would like to head out on a northern route through ND and back more southerly through SD. Stops we definitely want to make: Glacier NP, Yellowstone, Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Grand Tetons.... We are definitely up for some advice and/or suggestions from any of you who have made a trip similar to this one - what else should we NOT miss? Any particular routes we should take/avoid? Anything NOT worth seeing? We are an open book with about ten days +/- to enjoy! What else should we see along the way? Good places to eat? Hotels/motels/B&B's to recommend?

All advice will be graciously and enthusiastically accepted! We bow to the expertise of this group :)
Thank you so much!

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

You seem to have a pretty good handle on what the main attractions are that also interest you, but you might be underestimating how long the driving will take. To take a northerly route out to Glacier NP and drop down through Yellowstone and the Tetons before heading back through SD would amount to about a weeks worth of drving for 9-10 hours a day. With just a couple of days spent in Yellowstone will mean you only have a day spare for a couple of hours 'here' and 'there' to enjoy the other places already listed. It's possible, but is going to be rushed and I would definitely be looking at 10 days + and no less.

Have a look around the forums and road trip planning pages in the tool bar above for more info and ideas