Denver to Mt. Rushmore 400 miles and 7 hours driving time.

Mt. Rushmore to Yellowstone (Old Faithful) 500 miles and 8 1/2 hours driving time.

Yellowstone to Denver 565 miles and 10 hours driving time.

That's a lot of driving for a week vacation. If you're talking 7 days, then 3 of those 7 will be in a vehicle driving. Mt. Rushmore will take an hour or two to see. There is a lot of other things to see in the area, but if you spend two days here and need 3 days for traveling, then that only leaves you about 2 days for Yellowstone and IMHO, that isn't nearly enough time. There is a lot more to Yellowstone than just Old Faithful!!!!

My best advise would be to forget Mt. Rushmore and just concentrate on Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons. There is a LOT more to Yellowstone than just Old Faithful. I would break the visit down like this:

Day 1 Geyser Areas around Old Faithful
Day 2 Other geyser areas between Old Faithful and Norris.
Day 3 WestThumb area, Yellowstone Lake, Hayden Valley, Mud Pots and Canyon
Day 4 The Falls, Roosevelt area and the Beartooth Highway.
Day 5 Grand Tetons

Just take a look at all there is to do and see in Yellowstone!

Yellowstone National Park Web Site


I would fly in and out of Salt Lake City to minimize the driving. Salt Lake City to Old Faithful is only 350 miles and approx. 6 hours driving time. You can take different routes in and out of the park for different scenery.

If you haven't made reservations yet for in Yellowstone then I would start calling now to see if you can get in on someone elses cancellation. I'm sure the park is booked by now. If you can't get lodging in the park, then I would try West Yellowstone just outside the park. This would be the best location for seeing the park. If you are into camping, then you shouldn't have a problem getting a camping reservations. We've just shown up at the campgrounds and have gotten camping sites.

Utahtea