Best rt. to take? Want to see Mt. Rushmore/Badlands/Black Hills and maybe Sturges. Can have as many as 5 days....being that the first will be mostly travel. Flying from Chicago on an early flight and maybe will be in the car by 9:00 MT. Is 3 FULL days enough....is 5 total days too much?

Before anyone responds, you might want to check this posting

http://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/rmnp.cfm


These postings are a little strange.

That forum was for RMNP....this is the 2nd part of my trip. Badlands/Black Hills.

Skip the flight to Denver from Chicago. Rent a car in or near Chicago and drive I-90 to South Dakota to see Badlands and Mt. Rushmore.
From South Dakota drive through eastern Wyoming to RMNP and then Denver.
If you didn't want to drive back across Nebraska or Kansas, you could turn in the car in Denver and fly back to Chicago or wherever home is.

Tom Fuller's suggestion would be what I would do depending on drop fee. Do you need to fly? Do you have a car? No need to rent if car is in good condition. Take I 80 home. We like both I 80 and 90 but many consider them boring.