June 2012 Chicago > Yellowstone > Las Vegas. Suggest. of roads and what not to miss.

Hi,

Let me first shortly introduce my self and my wife, we are 52 and 53 years old, live in Stockholm, Sweden and love to travel. One favorite we discovered in may -10 was Las Vegas, my wife love slot machines and I'm quite found of them too. We stayed for 9 days and it was 9 days of a lot of walking from hotel to hotel, a heli tour to GC and a concert with Eagles. When we went back home we both felt that we had not discovered everything too see in LV and therefor we went back this summer in June but this time I also planned for a road trip. We started in Las Vegas, stayed 3 nights on Freemont street and then picked up a rental car and headed for LA. We stayed in Hollywood for 3 nights before we continued driving up to San Simeon for the next stop. Next stop was in Carmel by the sea, 1 night, unfortunately we could not drive by the sea, there had been a landslide so the road was closed and we had to do a detour. From there we did go to SF and stayed for 3 nights. The plan from there was to go to Lee Vining via Tioga trail but that road was not open yet so we had to go thru Sonora pass instead but it was great road anyway. 1 night in Lee Vining and then we drove up to Bodie and from there down to Stove pipe wells in Death valley NP. The next day back to LV via Badwater where we stayed another 6 nights before returning to Sweden.

This trip was great and as soon as we returned home I started to think about next summer. I now know what we would like to do. Since there are no direct flights to LV from Sweden we always have to change flight in either New York or Chicago and the plan now is to change from airplane to a rental car in Chicago, drive west to Yellowstone NP and from there south down to LV and fly home from there.

What I'm looking for here are suggestions of what to see on that way, what not to miss if it's nearby where we pass. I know we will stop by Mount Rushmore, Devils tower (thought Close encounters of the third kind was a great movie when I was a youth) and 2 or 3 night in Yellowstone NP. I notice there are other NP like the Badlands and Wind cave on the way, is't worth the detour to see them ? What else are there to see, specially between Yellowstone and Las Vegas ? We like to drive scenic roads and stay over night in small nice city's or villages, suggestions of roads and stops for the night are very welcome.

The length of this trip is not decided, it depends of the suggestions I hopefully get here and this time I don't think I will do any reservations in advance at hotel/motel/B&B except for the nights in Yellowstone NP. For the trip we made this summer I booked and paid every night in advance and it worked well but it did not give us any room for a change of the route or if we wanted to drive longer or shorter distance one day.

Best regards
Pelle

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

There's no shortage of places to visit along the route you've laid out, that's for sure.

First, there's never been a national park that I've visited that I didn't think was worth the time.

In South Dakota, I certainly wouldn't miss the Badlands, as it is one of my favorite National Parks. The caves (Wind and Jewel) are both worth exploring, and Custer State Park is also beautiful enough to deserve National Park status. Really, you could easily spend a few days in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Heading west, you'll drive right by Little Bighorn Battlefield, and I'd highly recommend entering Yellowstone via the Beartooth Highway.

I'd recommend you spend at least 3 days in Yellowstone, and if you can spend more time you wouldn't regret it, and from there the obvious next stop is Grand Teton National Park.

Between there and Vegas is Utah, which is home to about a dozen more National Parks. I'd recommend doing some combination of Arches, Canyonlands, Natural Bridges, Monument Valley (Tribal Park, not a national park), Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Zion. If your only visit to the Grand Canyon was by helicopter, then you likely only visited the West Rim, and a visit to Grand Canyon National Park (a quite different experience) would also be worth consideration.

Getting a National Parks pass will likely make sense. Its $80 and covers all entrance fees to all national parks, so it can pay for itself if you visit just 4-5 parks.

Hello and welcome to RTA !

You will find Lot's of info throughout the forums and in the road trip planning pages in the tool bars above. You say the lenght of trip is undecided depending on suggestions, well to be honest it could take a lifetime to visit the thousands of possibilities. What's worth it and what's not, really comes down to your own personal preferences. If time and money were no object, they would all be worth it in my opinion and as well as the main sites there is always plenty in between.

From Yellowstone to Vegas you have many options, including some great driving roads and National parks in Southern Utah like Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Zion and Bryce canyon. As you took a Heli tour to the Grand canyon it is likely that you only saw the West rim outside of the National park. If that is the case I would recommend revisiting inside the National park area, being the north or south rim. Lake Powell, Monument valley are just another couple of places you could consider visiting. Whats worth it, how far you want to venture and how much time you want to spend, are ultimately down to you. Once you have worked on it some more I am sure we can help fill in the blanks and make more meaningful suggestions.

Enjoy the planning.

Basically, a lot like Michael was posting as I was still typing !

Thank's Dave and Michael,

I'll do a more detailed planning and then post it here for comments. But it will take a while, probably not until christmas, we fly to LV on sunday and stay for 12 nights but this time there will not be any "road trip".

I'll be back

Regards
Pelle

No problem, have a good Vegas trip ! When you have worked on next years trip and new questions crop up, just ask here in this thread.

You might find some insider tips at RTA's 'sister site', Living Las Vegas.

Dave.

Hi,

I have now planned a little bit more and what do you all think about this roadtrip?
It will take us to:
Badlands NP
Wildlife loop just north of Wind cave NP
Jewel cave
Crazy horse
Mount Rushmore
Deadwood
Devil's tower
Little big Horn battlefield
Beartooth Hwy
Yellowstone NP
Grand Tenton NP
Hells backbone rd
Zon NP
Grand canyon NP north rim

The first questions I hope I can get some help with is this ones:

1, Overall, is it a viable road trip, given the timing?

2, My choice of roads, comments and/or alternative?

3, Does anyone know the normal road conditions for Sage creek rd and Hells backbone rd? (eg. is it enough with a ”normal” car or is it neccessary with 4x4 and/or high clearance?)

4, In Yellowstone, would you recommend that we stay in one place and make day trips from that place or should we move around in the park for the nights? How would you plan the stay in the park, three nights and two full days?

5, Would appreciate comments like, skip that, it's nothing to see and only a touris trap, visit this instead when you are so close to it......

Here's a more detailed description of my planning:
Day 1
Start in Chicago at O'hare in early afternoon and drive to Madison on Hyw 90 for the first night stop (160 miles).

Day 2
Continue on 90 to Sioux falls for text stop (440 miles).

Day 3
Continue on 90 to somewhere close to Cactus flat and road 240.
Stop at Corn palace in Mitchell. (280 miles)

Day 4
Drive in to Badlands on road 240, continue on Rim Rd and then Sage creek Rd down to 44. Then Bombing range Rd / Big Foot trail / BIA Hwy 27 down to BIA Hwy 2. West on BIA Hwy 2 to BIA Hwy 4, go north on BIA Hwy 4 / Rd 40 to Hermosa. Take Rd 36 and follow Wild life loop, first south bound and then follow it north up to Rd 87, continue north to Rd 16 and continue to Custer.
Continue on Rd 16 to Jewel cave. Stop for the night somwere so we can be at Jewel cave in the morning when they open. (190 miles)

Day 5
Start the day with a tour at Jewel cave after a short drive from the night stop. Drive back to Custer and north on Rd 16 up to Crazy horse, continue north on Rd 16 and then Rd 244 to Mount Rushmore. From there, continue on Rd 244 and then Rd 385 up to Deadwood and stop for the night. (85 miles)

Day 6
A day with a long drive again. Hwy 90 to Rd 14 at Sundance for a detour up to Devils tower and then back to Hwy 90 at Moorecroft. Continue on Hwy 90 to Laurel with a stop at Little big horn battlefield. (450 miles)

Day 7
Drive to Yellowstone on Rd 212, Beartooth Hwy.

Day 8
In Yellowstone

Day 9
In Yellowstone

Day 10
Drive south out from Yellowstone thru the south entrance Rd. Continue on Rd 89 south in to Tenton and down to Tenton park Rd and then follow Mouse Wilson Rd down to Tenton pass Hwy and then east to Jackson and from there soth on Rd 89 down to Montpelier, stop for the night. (200 miles)

Day 11
Visit the National Oregon/California trail center. Driving soth from Montpelier to Evanstone and then Hwy 80 down to Rd 40, follow Rd 40 to Heber city and then turn in to Rd 18. Follow that Rd all the way down to Hwy 15 in Provo. Drive south on Hwy 15 to Nephi and then take Rd 28+89 down to Salina for the night. (300 miles)

Day 12
From Salina south on Rd 24 to Torrey and then Rd 12 down to south of Boulder and then right on Hells Backbone road and via Posey lake Rd back to Rd 12 in Escalante. Continue west to Rd 89, go south on Rd 89 and in to Zion NP, stop for the night. (270 miles)

Day 13
Drive thru Zion on Rd 9 to Rockwille, take left and drive to Rd 59 and later Rd 349 to Fredonia. Then Rd 89 to Jacob lake where we enter Rd 67 and drive downto the North rim lodge for two nights. (140 miles)

Day 14
In GC NP.

Day 15
Drive from the north rim to the south rim and then down to Williams and Stop for the night.

Day 16
Drive to GC Caverns and after a stop there continue to Hoover dam, take a tour, drive to LV and that's the end of the road trip.

I think it's a little bit urgent for me to set the dates for the trip so I can make reservations in Yellowstone and Grand canyon NP's a.s.a.p

I want to thank you all in advance for your comments and suggestions of changes in our planned roadtrip.

Best regards
Pelle

Quote:

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3, Does anyone know the normal road conditions for Sage creek rd and Hells backbone rd? (eg. is it enough with a ”normal” car or is it neccessary with 4x4 and/or high clearance?)

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If a road is unpaved, you are not allowed to drive any rental vehicle on it, even if it's a high clearance 4x4, unless it's a local rental that gives you specific permission to drive it "off road". Both those roads are unpaved.

Hi all,

I'm looking for advices how to spend our time in Yellowstone best, where to stay for the nights in the NP.
Our planning so far looks like this:
Around August 20th, start from Billings or Laurel in the morning and drive Beartooth Hwy in to the park for the first stop. Staying in the park for 2 full days and on the third day leave the park by the south entrence (exit).

What we want to see in the park during out stay are:
Old Faithful area
Norris area incl Artist Paintpots area
Mammoth area
Mud Volcano area
Lower an Upper falls area
Drive North Fork Hwy to Cody (to see town and visit Buffal Bill's museum)
(have I missed any "must see" areas ?)

I have tried to plan stops for the night so we can see all those places and at the same time drive as many different roads in the park as possible, but I think it's hard when we have no experience at all how long it takes to drive in the park and the needed time at each area.

Due to the time we have in the park maybe we have to skip some of the mentioned areas, in that case what should we skip, what is less worth spending 'expensive' time to?

It might be possible to extend the stay in the park with one day but only if it's well worth it and highly recommended by you.

All advices and suggestions about our stay in the NP are very welcome.

Best regards
Pelle C
Sweden

Note. Please keep all questions about this trip in one thread. It makes it easier for everyone to follow and as you can see, might provoke a response from your earlier questions that in turn might help with the overall planning. Win Win !

You seem to have a good idea of what you want and how to go about it, and it's great that you have obviously been researching. Knowledge is not a burden to carry, but don't overplan every moment of the day, or you risk thinking more about your next stop instead of enjoying the one you are at.

As lovely as Utah Scenic Byway 12 is, with the time you have, I personally would take a direct route from Salina to Bryce canyon to view the fascinating rock formations, before heading to Zion NP.

Yellowstone is on my 'to do' list and will let someone else respond to your specific questions. The thing I will say is that when you arrive you will be given lot's of leaflets and the park rangers are always happy to talk about their favourite areas of the park. You can learn lots form the Yellowstone nps site, but once you are there, it will all unfold before you.

Yellowstone is a huge park. And it takes much longer than you might think to drive between the various attractions because of the low speed limit and various wildlife you'll encounter. There are frequent traffic jams because of buffalo crossing the road, and even because of vehicles pulling over to view wildlife near the road. Of course, the wildlife spotting is half the fun of being in Yellowstone (in my opinion!).

If you haven't booked somewhere to stay in the park, do it as soon as possible or you'll find yourself with very limited options. The NPS has a park map on their website to help you see where everything is in relation to where you'll be staying.

We did a very full (and exhausting) day that included Mammoth, Old Faithful (and all the surrounding geysers), and several geyser fields in between the two (which could include Norris). I don't know that I'd recommend that anyone do all of this in one day, unless you were just doing cursory looks at most stops and not walking all the boardwalks to see everything up close.

You can comfortably do the Upper and Lower Falls and Mud Volcano in a day. How long you spend at the falls depends upon whether you do the climbs down to the viewpoints.

The drive to Cody is longer than it looks (I think we spent a good 3-4 hours, but that did include a stop for picnic lunch, stops to view wildlife, and a stop at the Buffalo Bill dam). I'm not sure how long it would take if you just drove it straight through. If you want to spend time in the town, I suggest devoting an entire day to it.

I found the Lake Yellowstone geyser area fascinating (some of the geysers are in the lake!) with a beautiful mountain backdrop. You could work this into your day at the falls and Mud Volcano. Just another thing to consider adding to your already full list...

There isn't one part of Yellowstone I would put over another. All of it is worth 'expensive' time. The speed limits in the park are slow, from memory around 25. However, for much of the time you may be travelling much slower, or stationary. When all the traffic is held up by wildlife, relish in it. Try to avoid thinking of your next stop, and what you may have to miss. Enjoy the moment, which could even mean sitting in your vehicle surrounded by wildlife. And when you are on your way to the next point of interest, and someone spots a wolf or coyote doing what it does naturally, stop and treasure the moment, regardless of what planned site you may miss. It is that sort of park.

Enjoy Yellowstone.

Lifey

The nice thing about Yellowstone is that most of the park is set up where you can see it by driving the 'figure 8" loop through the park. You'll need to taylor your plans a bit to where you'll be staying.

We spent 3 nights at Canyon Campground. We arrived via Beertooth in the afternoon, and saw the Lamar Valley in the evening. The next day we did the lower loop, going to the mud volcano area and around to Old Faithful, the Paint Pots, and surrounding geyser areas. The second, we did the upper loop, like Tower Falls, Mammoth, and Norris. Day 3 we saw the canyon area in the morning and continued to Tetons in the afternoon.

That was a great overview, but it was also a very brief one. There are still several of the geysers that I didn't get to, including the entire lake geyser area. There were lots of hikes I wanted to take, but couldn't get to. Simply put, there's lots that was saved for next time.

I think it would be tough to do Cody without adding more time. However, if its a priority, I'd think about going from the Beartooth to Cody via the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway. You might even think about spending the night there, before heading in for your 2 days in Yellowstone.

Hi all and thank's for all inputs.

I understand that I need to make the reservation a.s.a.p. and that's why I need help to decide where to stay to get the most out of our trip.

Due to all the input here I wonder if this change of plans can be a good idea:
Skip to go into YNP via the Beartooth Highway and instead come through Cody, stopping there overnight, and go into the park via the N Fork Hwy to Lake lodge for the first night stop. Next day drive north to Mammoth for the next night and the next day head south through Norris and Old faithful to Grant village for the third night.
Is there a big difference between Beartooth and N Fork Hwy from a scenic point of view?

Best regards
Pelle

Hi,

Now everything is set. Made som small changes due to my original plans but this is what it will be.
Arriving in Chicago around 12:30 pm and drive to Mauston in Wisconsin for the first night. Next day to Sioux falls in SD. Third day to Badlands NP and we stay in the park over the night. Next night will be spent in Custer and the night after in Deadwood.

From there we drive to Cody where we will stay 2 nights. After the first night we will drive up north and go the Beartooth highway from the north to the south and then Cheif Joseph byway back to Cody for the next night. From there we go direct in to Yellowstone NP and stay the fisrt night in the Lake lodge. Next day we will drive the north loop and stop for the night in Canyon lodge. Maby we will use the evening and drive up to Lamar valley and back. The next day we take the south loop to Grant lodge where we will spend our third night in the park. Maby a drive by the lake in the evening up to Lake lodge and back. Next morning we will leave the park via the south entrance. After another 3 night we will spend two nights in GC NP at the north rim lodge. From there via Williams for one night we end up in Las Vegas.

I know it's a lot of driving but that's something I like, specially if the route is scenic but does anyone see any major errors in this plan ?

Best regards
Pelle

I'd say your plan to get off an international flight and then try to drive 3-4 hours is a pretty big potential problem.

By the time you land, you will have already been traveling for at least 11 to 12 hours, and by the time you get through custom and get your rental car, it will be about 2pm Chicago time - but your body will think it is about 9pm. That's really not the time to be setting off on a 200 mile drive.

I could see getting on the road to Rockford or Beloit, just to make sure you escape Chicago's traffic, but I wouldn't try pushing much beyond that. Even your original idea of getting to Madison was a bit of a stretch, but I think if you try to get all the way to Mauston, you're just setting yourself up to be exhausted to be on the road the next day.

Even from Rockford, you could still get to Sioux Falls in a day.