dmpalena

As usual, just finished one vacation and already daydreaming about the next one! My husband and I are interested in doing a trip out west next year to Glacier, Yellowstone and South Dakota. Our initial thoughts were to fly into Kalispell to spend a few days at GNP, then drive down to West Yellowstone spending 3-4 days revisiting the highlights of Yellowstone before heading east to South Dakota. My question would be how long is the drive from Yellowstone to Rapid City, SD and could we do the trip with just a one night stopover on the way? I'm figuring on 3 days in SD to see the highlights there before heading home to the east coast.

I know that the airfare and car rental will be higher flying in and out of different cities, but it saves circling back and hence a lot of driving time. Do you think I am allowing enough time in each location? What are the "must do's" in GNP and SD? Any suggestions you have would be most appreciated.

One last question.....now that we are "empty nesters" and free to travel whenever, which month do you recommend? July, August or September....and why?

Thank you in advance for any help or suggestions you can give me.

mlm59

The car rental fee will be very expensive to rent in Kalispell and drop off in Rapid City. We went to GNP early in Sept this year and got in a late summer snow storm that really disrupted our plans. I would not plan to go to GNP after Labor Day. We have traveled in the past out west during the last week of August and generally had good weather and crowds aren't too bad. In many places schools are in session by this time.

Travelkitty

You're hitting a few of my favorite spots on that trip, but I did them in separate trips so I don't have good advice for driving between locations.

One question I'd ask is do you like to hike? You could spend a week in Glacier if you love to hike, but if you want to hit the highlights, I'd recommend at least a night at the Many Glacier area. Some nice short hikes, and the best moose spotting I found. The Going to the Sun road was closed when I was there, but I'd love to do that. The Lake McDonald area is relaxing and beautiful. It's wonderful to have some time and let the scenery and majesty absorb you, but I understand it's not always feasible.

South Dakota - I liked Mt Rushmore, but didn't feel the need to stay too long. I didn't do the night lighting, in part because I didn't want to drive on those roads at night. The drive up and down from there was wonderful, and it's great to see the monument suddenly appear when you turn a corner. Badlands National Park was interesting, but I didn't find the hiking as appealing, so I thought part of a day was fine there.

I loved Custer State Park and the wildlife loop. I could do that multiple times since I loved seeing the bison and the other animals. At least a night at one of the lodges there is wonderful, and if you want some hiking they have a number of trails ranging from casual stoll to more strenuous.

Yellowstone is fascinating because of the many different aspects of the park. The geysers in the Old Faithful region are fascinating. The sulpher pools are unique (and smelly) and the Canyon area has beautiful scenery. I wish i had more time to do some of the wolf based day tours. Be careful at Yellowstone as driving around the park can take time. People stop to look at scenery, or elk cross the roads blocking all the traffic. The lake area of Yellowstone is nice, but compared to the other regions it seems less unique to me.

You can see a lot quickly in each of the locations, but each location is full of things to see and do, and it's nice to be able to take some time to do a hike and get away from the crowds and really get the feel of the destination. I'd tend to err on the side of taking more time in a spot, even if it means leaving off one of the locations, but it's hard to sacrifice because each of the destinations is wonderful.

WhereAreWe

I would recommend going in mid-September to avoid crowds and hot weather. Plus you will be able to see some fall colors (hopefully) and the bison/elk rut.

The more days the better - especially for Yellowstone and that area if you are also going to visit Grand Tetons.

The drive from Yellowstone to Rapid City is about 7 hours, there is no need to stop somewhere along the way for a night. You could make a side trip to Devil's Tower in Wyoming if you want. I would not base myself out of Rapid City for a trip to the Black Hills, instead stay inside Custer State Park or one of the small towns in the Black Hills. I would also spend a night in Badlands as the park is much more scenic and interesting in the evening and morning. Mid-day is kind of flat and not the best time to view all the formations (or animals).

emalloy

What if you flew into Kalispell, rented a car and returned it then flew to somewhere like Rapid City and rented a car for the loop through Yellowstone and SD? It might not be too much more than the add on for drop off and the cost for gas, lodging etc. for the drive, unless the rental company wants to move cars from Kalispell to points south (if you are a smooth talker maybe you could convince them that you are doing them a favor and they should pay you to take the car south)

spirobulldog

In my opinion,
South Dakota is best early June(less crowds and cooler weather, this area can be hot in July and August)

Yellowstone is best Mid-June thru July 1(Less Crowds, not hot, lots of baby animals, the bears haven't retreated to high elevations/away from the crowds yet, better waterfall flow)

Glacier Mid-July (Going to The Sun Road doesn't open until July 1st or so, sometimes later, waterfalls are going better, not as crowded as August)

I don't think you are allowing enough time in the places you mention. Also, you don't mention The Tetons, I would think you want a couple of days there.

Also consider Jackson(the town), Devils Tower, Battle of Little Bighorn, Drive thru Bighorn National Forest. Beartooth HWY.

One more thing. Personally, I think your to late for next year. I think you would be better off waiting until 2016. Lodging at Yellowstone and Glacier will be very difficult to obtain. I highly recommend staying IN PARK. In SD, I would stay in Custer State Park.

wave725

Glacier is my very favorite park and we find that late August to early September is the best time to visit. In July, a lot of the best trails are still snow covered and not open. In 2011 the Going to the Sun Road didn't even open until July 13th because of record snowfalls that winter. On the flipside, you have to be careful not to go too late in September because a lot of the services in the park and lodging start to close down about a week or so after Labor Day. You also run the risk of an early snowfall and the GTTS Road being closed.

http://www.hikinginglacier.com/glaci...e-sun-road.htm

As stated above, if you are hikers you could spend an entire week in Glacier (or longer) and still not scratch the surface of amazing hikes.

dmpalena

Thank you all so much for your input and suggestions. Our initial thought when planning this vacation was seeing "something old, something new" as we previously visited both Yellowstone and Grand Tetons in 2006. We never made it as far as Glacier, but did do the Canadian Rockies in 2008. From all that I have read, it sounds as if the scenery is different between GNP and the Canadian Rockies in that one you're "looking up", the other "looking down".

My husband and I are not hikers and are only interested in short, well traveled hikes! Yes, we do suffer from "bear-a-phobia!". LOL For that reason I assumed that two to three full days in GNP would be enough to see the highlights. I know it can be difficult to get "in park" reservations, but honestly we prefer to rent a condo or cabin from vrbo.com so not staying in the park would not deter me. The log home we rented in West Yellowstone in 2006 was absolutely beautiful with breathtaking views of the mountains all around.

As for the car rental prices, I was pleasantly surprised to find they were not too bad. The cost for a full size car for two weeks even with the difference in drop off location was under $700. I didn't think that was too horrible and frankly the thought of dealing with airports anymore is a nightmare. Flights never seem to go as well as planned and the cost of checking luggage would more than justify the added car rental costs, I think? I didn't realize that the drive from Yellowstone to Rapid City was only 7 hours though. Of course, we would probably plan on staying in West Yellowstone and wondered if that would add time to the trip.

Ultimately we may decide to skip the South Dakota end of the trip and just concentrate on GNP, Yellowstone and GTNP. But we love to see "new places" and new sights so it's still on the table, so to speak.

Any further thoughts and/or suggestions would be most appreciated!! Thanks.

WhereAreWe

Well, if you are open to other thoughts and suggestions here's mine:

Split this up into two separate trips and pick the best month for the separate areas.

Fly in and out of Kalispell and visit Glacier, then cross into Canada and visit Waterton Lake National Park. You would probably want a week or so for this trip.

Fly in and out of Denver, drive to the Black Hills (6 hours) and spend a few days there. Then drive to Yellowstone (7-8 hours), spend a few days before going to Grand Tetons for a couple days, then go back to Denver. From Grand Tetons to Denver is 8 hours. You won't do a lot of backtracking on that trip (Denver to Cheyenne and Cheyenne to Denver is the only part you would repeat). If you have a few extra days to spare then you could also visit Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. You would want 10 days to 2 weeks for this trip.

longhorn55

I've been to both GNP and the Black Hills within the past couple of years. Both trips were in late June and I think it was an ideal time for us.

For GNP: You can't expect the GTTS road to be fully open that early (although it was when we were there), but you should still be able to drive good portions of it at that time of year. On the other hand, there were no crowds wherever we went.

For the Black Hills: Everything was open and crowds were light. (Some places close right after Labor Day which can be a problem in mid-to-late September.)

I don't think you are too late to get lodging the in various national and state parks. For these June trips, I began making reservations in February and was able to get in-park lodging where we wanted. We also were able to get VBRO in West Glacier and in Custer.

Finally, I urge you not to skip the Black Hills. I've been there many times and it's one of my favorite places in the U.S. Also, despite my many visits, I always find something new to see. Allow at least 5 - 7 days to see the sights between Devils Tower, WY and the Badlands.