Arizona to Utah to Wyoming
Dec 17th, 2003, 07:11 PM
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Arizona to Utah to Wyoming
Two Adults No Children Planning a 15 day trip in May 2004. Wanted thoughts on if this is possible. Any suggestion welcomed. Working trip planner below:
5/8 arrive Phoenix drive to South Rim G.Canyon - Bright Angel Lodge
5/9 Bright Angel Lodge
5/10 leave Grand Canyon Area
5/11 Lake Powell Area
5/12 leave Lake Powell Area to Zion Natl Pk
5/13 Bryce Cannon to Salt Lake City
5/14 Jackson - Grand Tetons
5/15 Yellowstone
5/16 Yellowstone
5/17 Yellowstone
5/18 Leave Yellowstone to Cody - Little Bighorn
5/19 Little Bighorn to Sheridan & Devil's Tower
5/20 Mount Rushmore
5/21 Mount Rushmore
5/22 Fly out of Rapid City, Utah
5/8 arrive Phoenix drive to South Rim G.Canyon - Bright Angel Lodge
5/9 Bright Angel Lodge
5/10 leave Grand Canyon Area
5/11 Lake Powell Area
5/12 leave Lake Powell Area to Zion Natl Pk
5/13 Bryce Cannon to Salt Lake City
5/14 Jackson - Grand Tetons
5/15 Yellowstone
5/16 Yellowstone
5/17 Yellowstone
5/18 Leave Yellowstone to Cody - Little Bighorn
5/19 Little Bighorn to Sheridan & Devil's Tower
5/20 Mount Rushmore
5/21 Mount Rushmore
5/22 Fly out of Rapid City, Utah
Dec 17th, 2003, 10:54 PM
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IMHO, you only need a few hours at Mt. Rushmore and definely not two days.
On the 12th you visit Zion and I take it you will spend the night in Zion.
On the 13th you visit Bryce and spend the night in Salt Lake City. So really you will be driving from Zion to Bryce, visiting the park and going on to Salt Lake city which is almost 400 miles from Zion. That's a long day.
I would take the extra day from Mt. Rushmore and spend the time on the 13th driving from Zion to Bryce. Visiting Bryce and then driving Scenic Hwy 12 to Torrey, Utah. Spend the night in Torrey, Utah.
On the 14th visit Capitol Reef National Park before driving to Salt Lake City.
I believe you meant you will fly out of Rapid City, South Dakota...not Utah!
Otherwise the vacation plans look good.
Utahtea
On the 12th you visit Zion and I take it you will spend the night in Zion.
On the 13th you visit Bryce and spend the night in Salt Lake City. So really you will be driving from Zion to Bryce, visiting the park and going on to Salt Lake city which is almost 400 miles from Zion. That's a long day.
I would take the extra day from Mt. Rushmore and spend the time on the 13th driving from Zion to Bryce. Visiting Bryce and then driving Scenic Hwy 12 to Torrey, Utah. Spend the night in Torrey, Utah.
On the 14th visit Capitol Reef National Park before driving to Salt Lake City.
I believe you meant you will fly out of Rapid City, South Dakota...not Utah!
Otherwise the vacation plans look good.
Utahtea
Dec 22nd, 2003, 08:40 AM
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Have not been to Mount Rushmore. Only suggestions I might have would be 1 less day in Yellowstone, and a bit more time in either Jackson, Grand Teton, or Cody @ the Buffalo Bill Museum or whatever it is called
Dec 22nd, 2003, 10:15 AM
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I guess it's all personal opinion, because I think 3 days in Yellowstone if the bare minimum. There is so much to see and do with so many different areas. I've been to Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody, but only after being to Yellowstone a number of times.
Utahtea
Utahtea
Dec 22nd, 2003, 01:19 PM
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I am with Utah Tea on the whole issue.
Rushmore to me rather than a monument represents the defacement of a perfectly good mountain.
Yellowstone is great.
I think you should allow more time for Bryce. And you are excluding Capitol Reef, one of the beauties of Utah if not the United States. Besides the drive along Utah 12 from Bryce to Torrey, Utah, is a wonder in its own right.
I should do it again!!
I also think you are cutting the GC a little short as well. Certainly Bryce and the Gc are worth Rushmore times infinity.
I don't think the Little Big Horn is all that great unless you want to see where some Indians shot up the US Cavalry. But two days at Rushmore and a full day for a rock pile and a grass field in lieu of Bryce, Capitol Reef, Yellowstone et. al. stikes me as a not so good investment of time.
But, I do have my prejudices.
Also, unless you cruise Lake Powell, there is not much there to see at the marina. I took the boat cruise up to Rainbow Bridge. The canyon is interesting and beautiful. But, I wonder what it was like before it was flooded!? I will never know.
Rushmore to me rather than a monument represents the defacement of a perfectly good mountain.
Yellowstone is great.
I think you should allow more time for Bryce. And you are excluding Capitol Reef, one of the beauties of Utah if not the United States. Besides the drive along Utah 12 from Bryce to Torrey, Utah, is a wonder in its own right.
I should do it again!!
I also think you are cutting the GC a little short as well. Certainly Bryce and the Gc are worth Rushmore times infinity.
I don't think the Little Big Horn is all that great unless you want to see where some Indians shot up the US Cavalry. But two days at Rushmore and a full day for a rock pile and a grass field in lieu of Bryce, Capitol Reef, Yellowstone et. al. stikes me as a not so good investment of time.
But, I do have my prejudices.
Also, unless you cruise Lake Powell, there is not much there to see at the marina. I took the boat cruise up to Rainbow Bridge. The canyon is interesting and beautiful. But, I wonder what it was like before it was flooded!? I will never know.
Dec 22nd, 2003, 02:35 PM
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I agree with a mixture of above posts. You can easily spend 1/2+ day in Zion and 1/2+ day in Bryce. Long drive Bryce to SLC in one day.
Three days at Yellowstone is sufficient to "get the idea" and still cover most of the park.
Your day at Jackson/Grand Tetons will be full. Lots to do/see in both the town and GTNP & SLOW driving speeds in the area & through the park.
I assume you will be leaving Yellowstone on BEARTOOTH HWY? towards Cody? Don't miss that. & CHIEF JOSEPH HWY to Cody.
Little Bighorn IS interesting to many, even if not history buffs. We did the drive through it to stop & read the signs in one evening though.
In the Mount Rushmore area, you'll also want to see some of the following if not all (we did all these in 1 1/2 days no problem):
Crazy Horse Memorial (an hour's stop)
Mammoth Site (an hour guided tour)
Jewel Cave National Park and/or Wind Cave National Park (we did one cave tour at Jewel)
Custer State Park (2-3 hours drive thru - lots of buffalo roaming).
Overall - your trip sounds do-able to me. Sounds like the way I travel. Go, go, go!
If you do have any leeway, BRYCE & ZION are spectacular & if you can get more time there into your schedule, I recommend it. The 1/2 day horse/mule ride down into Bryce Canyon is great.
Sylvia
Three days at Yellowstone is sufficient to "get the idea" and still cover most of the park.
Your day at Jackson/Grand Tetons will be full. Lots to do/see in both the town and GTNP & SLOW driving speeds in the area & through the park.
I assume you will be leaving Yellowstone on BEARTOOTH HWY? towards Cody? Don't miss that. & CHIEF JOSEPH HWY to Cody.
Little Bighorn IS interesting to many, even if not history buffs. We did the drive through it to stop & read the signs in one evening though.
In the Mount Rushmore area, you'll also want to see some of the following if not all (we did all these in 1 1/2 days no problem):
Crazy Horse Memorial (an hour's stop)
Mammoth Site (an hour guided tour)
Jewel Cave National Park and/or Wind Cave National Park (we did one cave tour at Jewel)
Custer State Park (2-3 hours drive thru - lots of buffalo roaming).
Overall - your trip sounds do-able to me. Sounds like the way I travel. Go, go, go!
If you do have any leeway, BRYCE & ZION are spectacular & if you can get more time there into your schedule, I recommend it. The 1/2 day horse/mule ride down into Bryce Canyon is great.
Sylvia
Dec 27th, 2003, 10:45 AM
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First, Little Big Horn was great, very windy. Go to the museum first, not in the park, then to the battlefield, I felt the same way I felt at the Vietnam memorial in DC. If you read the story in the museum first you understand how galantly these troops fought under unbelievable circumstances. We spent 5 days in the Rapid City area this past June, please click on my screen name and read my trip report. I thought Devil's Tower was a waste of time but my husband loved it. When you return, leave a trip report for us, please.
Dec 28th, 2003, 07:12 AM
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Arkansasnurse,
I clicked on your name and brought up your postings, but when I click on the posting nothing comes up. I tried this on a couple of your replies and both times the screen was blank. Maybe a problem with my computer.
I have questions about your trip to the Rapid City area. We are planning a 4 day trip to this area over Memorial Day weekend. Unfortunately cannot get an extra day off except Tuesday following Memorial Day.
We will arrive in Rapid City around 10:00 Saturday morning. Planning to tour the Badlands on Saturday and stop at Wall Drug, then return to Rapid City to spend the night. Daughter wants to visit the Journey Museum. Have you visited it? She also wants to shop at the Black Hills Gold outlet. We are staying at the Comfort Inn next door.
On Sunday we will visit Mt. Rushmore, then Crazy Horse, and then on to Custer State Park. We plan to return to Rushmore for the lighting ceremony at 9:00. I saw that Crazy Horse also has a lighting ceremony at 9:00. Did you go to both? I thought if we have time and aren't too tired, we might drive down to Rushmore on Saturday evening for the lighting ceremony and then go to the lighting ceremony at Crazy Horse on Sunday evening. We are planning to stay in Keystone on Sunday evening. Did you stay there? If so, is there any place you would recommend?
On Monday we will drive to the Wild Horse Sanctuary south of Hot Springs. We will take the first tour of the day which lasts about 2 hours and then go on to the Mammoth Site and tour it. When we finish in the afternoon we are thinking of driving to Deadwood. We know people who have been there and say we should not miss it. If so, we will spend a few hours there and then drive back to Rapid City to spend Monday night so we will be close to the airport. We have a 10 AM flight home.
Since you have visited this area, any suggestions or comments about our tentative plans would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
mlm59
I clicked on your name and brought up your postings, but when I click on the posting nothing comes up. I tried this on a couple of your replies and both times the screen was blank. Maybe a problem with my computer.
I have questions about your trip to the Rapid City area. We are planning a 4 day trip to this area over Memorial Day weekend. Unfortunately cannot get an extra day off except Tuesday following Memorial Day.
We will arrive in Rapid City around 10:00 Saturday morning. Planning to tour the Badlands on Saturday and stop at Wall Drug, then return to Rapid City to spend the night. Daughter wants to visit the Journey Museum. Have you visited it? She also wants to shop at the Black Hills Gold outlet. We are staying at the Comfort Inn next door.
On Sunday we will visit Mt. Rushmore, then Crazy Horse, and then on to Custer State Park. We plan to return to Rushmore for the lighting ceremony at 9:00. I saw that Crazy Horse also has a lighting ceremony at 9:00. Did you go to both? I thought if we have time and aren't too tired, we might drive down to Rushmore on Saturday evening for the lighting ceremony and then go to the lighting ceremony at Crazy Horse on Sunday evening. We are planning to stay in Keystone on Sunday evening. Did you stay there? If so, is there any place you would recommend?
On Monday we will drive to the Wild Horse Sanctuary south of Hot Springs. We will take the first tour of the day which lasts about 2 hours and then go on to the Mammoth Site and tour it. When we finish in the afternoon we are thinking of driving to Deadwood. We know people who have been there and say we should not miss it. If so, we will spend a few hours there and then drive back to Rapid City to spend Monday night so we will be close to the airport. We have a 10 AM flight home.
Since you have visited this area, any suggestions or comments about our tentative plans would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
mlm59
Dec 30th, 2003, 01:58 PM
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To mlm59,
We went to the lighting ceremonies (well not the "ceremonies") but went to both Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore between 8:30 - 10:00 p.m. and saw both lit up. Didn't spend long at each though. One closes at 9, the other at 10 (mid-summer).
Deadwood & Lead are both interesting little towns. The cemetery in Deadwood is where Wild Bill Hitchcock & Calamity Jane are buried. Lots of "gunfight re-enactment" type shows in the streets. Also mine tours.
You'll enjoy the Badlands. Wall Drug is just one of those "tourist traps" that you stop just to say you've been there
But nevertheless there are interesting things in there (old black & white historic photos, etc).
Your Saturday & Sunday sound good. We saw signs about the wild horse sanctuary but didn't get there.
Mammoth Site is very interesting. I wans't sure what to expect but it was quite good.
Happy travels!
We went to the lighting ceremonies (well not the "ceremonies") but went to both Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore between 8:30 - 10:00 p.m. and saw both lit up. Didn't spend long at each though. One closes at 9, the other at 10 (mid-summer).
Deadwood & Lead are both interesting little towns. The cemetery in Deadwood is where Wild Bill Hitchcock & Calamity Jane are buried. Lots of "gunfight re-enactment" type shows in the streets. Also mine tours.
You'll enjoy the Badlands. Wall Drug is just one of those "tourist traps" that you stop just to say you've been there
But nevertheless there are interesting things in there (old black & white historic photos, etc).Your Saturday & Sunday sound good. We saw signs about the wild horse sanctuary but didn't get there.
Mammoth Site is very interesting. I wans't sure what to expect but it was quite good.
Happy travels!
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