wistraveller

Would greatly appreciate your comments/suggestions for our (rapidly!!) upcoming (June 2016) trip to Badlands, Yellowstone, Teton, etc. I got a lot of very helpful suggestions last year when we were planning this trip and I have incorporated all those ideas.

Here is our final(?) itinerary:

Who: Family of 4 – Dad, Mom, Twin boys (7 years old)
When: Last week of June/First week of July 2016 (12 days)

Day 1: Milwaukee to Sioux Falls - about 7 hours drive (visit Falls Park in the afternoon); Stay at Sioux Falls
Day 2: Drive to Badlands; Corn Palace; Window trail and Door trail; Stay at Cedar Pass Lodge
Day 3: Badlands loop road drive; Dinosaur Park, Mt Rushmore, Wildlife Loop Drive; onto Custer Park (Stay at Legion Lodge)
Day 4: Wind Cave, Mammoth dig site, Jewel cave; pickup Grocery at Custer city (Stay at Legion Lodge)
Day 5: Drive to Yellowstone – thru Rt 16, stopover at Cody, then reach Canyon Lodge
Day 6: Upper 8 drive: Tower falls; Lamar valley; Petrified tree; Mammoth Hot springs (stay at Canyon Lodge)
Day 7: Lower 8 drive: Lower falls; Upper falls; Hayden valley; Dragons mouth, Sulphur caldron; Old faithful geyser (stay at Canyon Lodge)
Day 8: Lower 8 drive: Old faithful geyser; Morning glory pool; Grand Prismatic; Geyser Hill Look Trail; firehole lake drive (stay at Canyon Lodge)
Day 9: Drive thru Hayden valley - to Teton; Jenny Lake boat trip; Hidden Falls trail (stay at Jackson Lake Lodge)
Day 10: Jenny lake scenic drive; Jackson lake cruise?; Afternoon - drive to Casper WY (overnight stay at Casper, WY)
Day 11-12 (Return trip to MKE via Sioux Falls)

Thanks in advance for all your suggestions ....

tomfuller

Skip the Corn Palace on Day 2. Stop in Mitchell on the way back at the end of day 11. Mitchell is pretty close to halfway between Casper and Milwaukee.
Between Rapid City and Cody, try for a short visit to Devil's Tower in NE Wyoming.

wistraveller

tomfuller, thank you for your suggestions. Yes, we might opt to get down at Corn Palace/Mitchell on our way back ... will look at Devil's Tower (I have heard conflicting opinions on it) ...

Dayle

The Jenny Lake area, which means the boat trip across the lake and the Hidden Falls trail as well as the "scenic drive", will be hideously crowded. You might want to look into renting bikes and riding the road which is popular. Another alternative to enjoying the scenery on Jenny Lake and the other lakes in the area, is to rent kayaks and paddle around, especially fun on the smaller lakes like String Lake.

Another super fun way to enjoy the scenery is to take a float trip on the Snake River. They do some at late afternoon or early morning for wildlife viewing. More adventurous rafting trips further downriver on the Snake might be a highlight for your family!

Look into some of these options. They will not be as jam-packed and will offer good scenery too.

wistraveller

Dayle, thanks for the tip. We would really like to do the Hidden falls trail ... so we might opt for your first suggestion and rent bikes and go via the road. Also, perhaps if we get out very early in the morning, it will be less crowded ... I will also check out the Snake River float trip ...thanks much.

SambaChula

The not so obvious tip (from all the tourists we saw) is to stay at a safe distance from the wildlife and do not get between a mama and her young.

wistraveller

Dayle: A quick question on the snake rip float trip. There seems to be two option - one operated by the Triangle X Ranch (National Park Float) and the other by the Grand Teton Lodge Company. Do you have experience with either of these? Thanks.

SambaChula - thanks for the tip.