Seattle to Rapid City to SF

[Kenr]

Hello,
This summer my wife wants to go see Mt. Rushmore, my daughter wants to go to Seattle. A few years ago we did a trip from Vancover Canada then east and down to Glacier NP to Yellowstone and then back to Seattle through Spokane.

This trip I would like to see some new places. We will fly to Seattle pickup a car and work our way over to Rapid City. From there we will drive back home to San Francisco. We won't be driving up from SF to Seattle because I want to save some driving time and we have been up and down that route fairly often.

We have 15 days in all, any suggestions?

Thanks
Ken

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

For about 2900 miles (not that much farther than a straight shot to Rapid City and back) you can do a tour that includes the following:

The Lewis and Clark Trail
Little Bighorn Battlefield
Devil's Tower
Mt. Rushmore
Badlands National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Craters of the Moon National Monument
Bruneau Canyon
Columbia River Gorge
Mount St. Helens

and much more. At a fairly leisurely pace of 300 miles a day, which itself allows plenty of time for sightseeing, that still leaves 5 days free for Seattle or anyplace else that grabs your fancy along the way.

AZBuck

[Kenr]

Thanks for your suggestions. We will be driving from Rapid City to San Francisco. Should we work our way through Western Nebraska, Colorado, Utah and Nevada. Instead we could come back through Wyoning, Idaho and Oregon. Whats to see and do.

[AZBuck]

Well, that's completely different. Never mind.

So let's try this alternative:

The Lewis and Clark Trail
Yellowstone National Park
Little Bighorn Battlefield
Devil's Tower
Mt. Rushmore
Badlands National Park
Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area
Dinosaur National Monument
Arches National park
Zion National Park
Las Vegas

This is a shade under 3200 miles, but still on the order of my last suggestion, so the miles per day and extra 'free' day estimates still apply. Better? There are, of course, other options. You could add a 1 day trip from either Zion to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, or from Las Vegas to the South Rim. Or you could, as you noted, come across Utah and Nevada through Salt lake City and the Lake Tahoe area, perhaps including Yosemite as well, but that basic routing seems to me to offer the most 'bang for the buck' for such a tour.

AZBuck

[Kenr]

Thanks again, I will study up on it tonight.

Ken