I followed a similar route last year at the same time (mid-September) only I was travelling from Buffalo, NY and made stops in Cincinnati, Nashville, Memphis, and St.Louis before heading out to Denver. The autumn colors will be appearing during your trip, the weather should be highs in the 70's and low's in the upper 30's (we had a few snowflakes in the air on the 24th in Yellowstone, but I never felt that I needed all-wheel drive on the trip), and the crowds aren't bad at all in September (it is mainly the over-60 crowd in owned and rented RV's).

I stated by going South of Denver to Pike's Peak, which you can drive to the top of for amazing views and I camped at Mueller State Park, a beautiful campground and park about 20-30 miles from the road to the top of the mountain. While in that area, I visited Cripple Creek (about 30 miles further South) a great old restored mining town. The mountain drives in this whole area are spectacular.

The next day I headed Northwest to Breckenridge and then to Leadville and camped in the Twin Lakes, Colorado area. Again the mountain drives are spectacular and kind of tiring because of all the hairpin turns with steep dropoffs.

I then headed West to Moab, Utah and Arches National Park for a different kind of surroundings, desert, rock formations, and the Coloradio River running through.

I then headed North to Salt Lake City area before going through Logan, Utah (another beautiful area) and into Wyoming and up to the Tetons. Grand Teton is spectacular, but is more of a hiking park than a drive through park like Yellowstone. The mountain peaks in the Tetons are the most magnificent I saw the whole trip. I saw a family of moose on one hiking trail and deer and other animals on other hikes.

Yellowstone is VERY spread out. I spent one whole day just on the roads between the main junctions. The wildlife is amazing as is the diversity of geography.

The trip across Wyoming towards Mount Rushmore is rather bland compared to the mountains but Rushmore itself is magnificent. I was there early on a Tuesday morning and nearly had the place to myself righht after they opened. The exhibits and films at the facility are also excellent.

I had a great time and I'm sure you will as well!!!!!