My husband and I are planning a trip out west for the first week of September. We have some frequent flier miles we'd like to use and our plan is to visit Glacier National Park and the parks in the Rapid City, SD area (neither of which we have seen before), with a stop in between at Yellowstone. We spent a week in Yellowstone several years ago so this would just be an opportunity to see the highlights of Yellowstone again. Neither of us hike so we would be looking more for scenic drives and short hikes in any of these areas.

We have the opportunity to fly into one airport and out of another, so our tentative plan is to start in Kalispell and end in Rapid City. We are trying to limit the number of nights to about 12. The itinerary I propose is this:

1. 3 nights in Whitefish, MT to visit Glacier

2. 5 nights in West Yellowstone to visit YNP

3. Drive to Rapid City via Beartooth Highway (a favorite drive) and spend 4 nights in SD

We realize that there will be some days of significant driving between locations, but it will be mostly scenic and that would not bother us at all. Living on the east coast we have often driven from New Jersey to Florida for vacation (16 hour days), so we used to long drives!

Does this itinerary sound reasonable? I am allowing more time in Yellowstone, even though we have been there before, but we would like to take one of those days and travel down to Jackson and see the Grand Tetons again.

I would really appreciate any help or advice you could give me on our itinerary, as well as any tips on what we "shouldn't miss" at any of these locations, especially the South Dakota area where there seems to be a lot to see (Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, Wind Caves, Black Hills, etc.). We will really only have three full days there so I would want to concentrate on the best things to do while we're there.

As usual, I thank you all for your anticipated responses. You have been an invaluable resource in planning past vacations and I thank you for taking the time to post your replies!

My favorite stop on the Empire Builder is Whitefish. My DW and I spent our 30th anniversary at the Meadow Lake Resort near Columbia Falls.
http://www.meadowlake.com/
The staff of Meadow Lake picked us up at the train station. The next day our rental car came out to pick us up from the Kalispell airport. We were allowed to leave the rental car at the train station when we left.
Depending on how much you want to hike and the weather, two days may be enough for Glacier.
Are you coming from so far away that you can't drive your own car?
I used to live in PA and drove with my family and drove to the west with my family including Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone with my own car.

Your itinerary sounds great! As far as Glacier, since you are not serious hikers 3 days in Glacier is probably enough. Whitfish is a cool little town with good shops and retaurants, but need to drive over to the east side of the park. Plan on taking an entire day to take Going to the Sun Road drive over to Many Glacier and Two Medicine - in my opinion the prettier side of the park. THere are some really beautiful short hikes you should do: http://www.hikinginglacier.com/glaci...easy-hikes.htm. One of my favorite is Redrock Falls and the other is Hidden Lake Overlook. If you do make it to Two Medicine stop in Serranos Mexican restaurant for dinner (they are not open for lunch). It's a local institution!

Sounds fine to me. The only thing I would do differently is stay "in park" at Yellowstone and Glacier. We love the historic lodges. I would probably stay @ Custer State Park in the Black Hills. If you can see Wind Cave, Jewel Cave Crazy Horse, Badlands.

Thank you all for the quick replies and great tips. The Meadow Lake resort does look beautiful, Tom and that was probably my next question....where to stay in these locations. I will check out the lodging inside the parks, spirobulldog, as we have stayed previously inside several of the Utah parks and really enjoyed being "in the thick of things".
Thanks, wave725, for the link to the various hikes in GNP. Can't help getting excited about this vacation! Please do feel free to add any suggestions that may come to mind. The "homework" is half the fun on trips like this!!

My only suggestion is that if you drive Beartooth all the way to Red Lodge that you proceed on to Billings, then make a stop at the Little Bighorn Battlefield and spend the night in Sheridan before going on to Rapid City.
Alternate, swing off Beartooh on Chief Jospeh into Cody to the Buffalo Bill Museum then to Sheridan for the night.

It is a very long drive West Yellowstone to Rapid City via Beartooh and I'd break it up.

Boom_boom, what kind of drive time are we looking at going from West Yellowstone via Beartooth to Rapid City? If we break it up and spend the night in Sheridan, how far is Sheridan from the sights in South Dakota and would we still get there in time to see anything that first day?
Not quite sure how much time we need to spend at the various parks in and around Rapid City. Can you combine a few in one day, such as Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse,etc? How far away is Devil's Tower? I think the South Dakota portion is the trickiest for us since we've never visited before and it seems like there is much to see!

You will have a wonderful time in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Overnighting in Rapid City for the four nights you will be in the area and taking day tours each day will work great. Rapid City is centrally located to all of the adventures of the Black Hills and also has a variety of lodging properties available, as well as all of the amenities visitors need while traveling. There are some itinerary suggestions on the VisitRapidCity website that may help you in planning. You could easily see Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse in one day. They are just 17 miles apart. Devils Tower might be a good option for you on the day you drive in, as it is along the Wyoming border. Other great must-see attractions include Custer State Park and Badlands National Park. Also, there are many attractions throughout the area you may wish to visit, depending on your interests, including caves, animal adventures, museums and more.

O great, now we have someone from Rapid City promoting his/her website. Of course, they will suggest only the places promoted on their website. Also, you will notice that they are a brand new member and have never offered any other comments. May not be direct advertising, but that's certainly what it is.