Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Badlands
 

I know there is a lot of info on these places but after reading many posts, I need some insight - next summer my husband, my 12 year old son, and my parents will be flying into Jackson Hole for a 14 day road trip - I was thinking we would head over to Badlands first to see sights in that area then come back to Yellowstone via Beartooth, spend about 5 or 6 nights in Yellowstone then end up at the Grand Tetons for 3 days before flying back home from Jackson Hole - my main question is routes from Jackson to Badlands, sights to see in between and routes from Badlands to Beartooth and sights in between and how much time, good overnight stopping places during that time - any help would be much appreciated - thanks!!

We just returned from a 10 day trip to Yellowstone & Tetons and honestly I could've spent the entire time just in Yellowstone instead of just 6 nights. What an amazing place! The abundance and diversity of wildlife blew us away - saw black and grizzly bear, wolves, coyotes, antelope, bison, elk, bighorn sheep, eagles, osprey - unbelievable! But even more amazing were the thermal features - nothing like it anywhere. I spent time in the Badlands/Mt Rushmore years ago and I can't say I was very thrilled, so I'd skip it. In YNP, we spent 2 nights each in Old Faithful, Mammoth and Canyon. I'd suggest 6-7 nights just in YNP - there is so much to see. In Tetons we spent a night at Signal Mtn and really loved it - nice cabin, great food. But Yellowstone was the highlight. And the Beartooth Hwy is certainly worth seeing.

Seriously, you should plan two trips. One for the greater Yellowstone area and the Tetons. The other for the Badlands NP, Devils Tower and the rest of the Black Hills Area. Both places cover a large area and there are so many interesting things to keep you occupied. We have visited both places many times and each time we return we never lack for new and different things to do and see.

Yellowstone is indeed wonderful, but the Teton certainly deserves more than one day!

I suggest you check the milage between Jackson and the Badlands.

I would rate that area well down on the scale if I were judging it against Yellowstone, the Tetons, and the Beartooth Pass. WAAAAAAAAAAAAY down.

I respectfully disagree; I think if the people involved like road trips, Devils Tower and Badlands would be a good week, then a week for YNP and GNP (Tetons) would be more than sufficient. There are those who are so passionate about YNP (I'm one) that they could spend day after day, but variety is also nice. And, if you are trying to see a lot of the west in one trip, why not?

I did a very similar trip this summer but we flew into rapid city and flew out of Bozeman Mt. We did Mt. Rushmore and Custer State Park badlands and deadwood in South Dakota. I would suggest rather than badlands if you are limited on time I would see Mt. Rushmore and Custer State park both are worthwile. If you do Custer State Park you must do the needles highway. It's a great drive. If you do a search on the park you can read about it. On the highway there is several tunnels you go thru they have blasted holes thru the rock and you can see Mt. Rushmore quite an impressive drive. The badlands was nice but I enjoyed Custer Sate Park more. We left Rapid City area and stayed one night in Deadwood which again is worth a stop not sure if you would want to stay overnight since your son couldn't stay in the casino but interesting town you could take trolley tour up to boot hill where Wild Bill is buried. They do a good job telling his story and history of Deadwood. From there we drove to Cody the drive is about 6 hours we stayed there 2 nights and drove Chief Joseph and Beartooth Hwy. The beartooth is the most beautiful drive I have ever taken.It should be a must on your trip.Cody also has a nightly rodeo which your son might like. We only spent 3 nights in Yellowstone and didn't get to Tetons this trip.I wish we had stayed longer it is a wonderful area of the country. Enjoy

Thanks so much - now Im getting excited - I think I will take your advice and skip badlands for Mt Rushmore and Custer
thanks!!!!

Ok - this is what I have potentially mapped out - Fly in to Jackson Hole, rent a car and drive to Casper WY - stay 1 night - then drive to Rapid City - stay 2 nights - drive to Buffalo stay 1 night - drive to Cody stay 1 night - enter Yellowstone via Beartooth - stay at Yellowstone in two diffeent areas for 6 nights - drive to Grand Tetons stay for 3 nights - fly home from Jackson - what do yall think??? please advise on must do's besides the obvious at stops - cody, Buffalo, rapid city, and casper
thanks

Yellowstone is indeed a wonderful place but I can get caught up on the bubbling mud, etc. plenty in a few days. The Tetons are gorgeous and do indeed deserve far more than a day.
The Badlands were a bit of an amazement to me--REALLY interesting but we saw them on our trip east from the west, not a side trip. I think that could be a LOT to do. If you want to do all that then a RT from Jackson might not be the best. And I think airfare to Jackson is pretty expensive to begin with.
Well, I've read on down now.

why not fly into Denver.Airfare will be much less and you are certainly closer to your first destination. You could fly RT from Denver or perhaps find an open jaw to Denver and out of (even) Salt Lake City which is not a bad drive from Jackson. Or Bozeman, leaving the Park by the west entrance.
Where are you coming from.
For your trip in Wyoming don't forget the numerous dinosaur sites there.

We are flying from South Carolina well actually from Charlotte, NC a short drive across the state border - we did a trip 2 yrs ago for 2 weeks to Las Vegas and toured Death Valley, Zion, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Lake Powell, Arches, Canyonland, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam then back to Vegas - it was awesome - I know we probably did not spend enough time at some places but boy did we move with our mouths wide open! great trip - I considered flying to Denver - you think that would be better - and the 6 nights in YNP, I plan to do some touring outside the park in surrounding areas - I really want my son to experience some neat excursions like rafting Snake, fishing Yellowstone lake, rodeo in Cody, maybe horseback riding, I would love some info about great excursions
thanks for your input - much appreciated as this will be a sizeable investment - I want to get the most out of it !!

Colt: We, too, have been pricing airfare for a similar trip. We have only 8 days and cannot do all the places in that time. But, it seems that flying into Rapid City, SD and flying out of Jackson should be considered. I think Northwest and Delta both offer those routes. We are going into Billing, MT and out of Jackson. I did book a rental care before the airfare to make sure I could afford the one way rental. Just an idea and a caution. My friend did you trip in 2006 with round/trip Denver and wished they would have paid a little more for one-way, thus our reason for doing the one-way flights.

I take a day from YNP and drive through BadlandsNP; it's very easy to do, and well worth it.

If you could fly into rapid city and leave from jackson hole you would save alot of time but first look into how much the one way car rental will cost. I flew into rapid city and out of bozeman and found there was not much difference in the airfare if I did roundtrip from one city.