My girlfriend and I will be in Denver for 4 days for a wedding. I figure while we are out there we might as well see all we can. I really want to see Mount Rushmore and Yellow Stone. If we add ten days onto the four (not including getting from atlanta to denver which we are doing in 2). While pretty far from each other is this doable? Is there anything else we should tack on? Suggestions please! Thanks in advance!

I would FLY to Rapid City from Denver for the visit to Mount Rushmore.

Now, you could drive from Denver to the Black Hills and drive from there over to Yellowstone and drive back from there to Denver but just remain aware of the distances you'll have to travel.

Can you do it? Yes, of course and a whole BUNCH of people here are going to go on and on about how you won't have time to do them justice, that you won't see them in depth, and blah, blah, blah.

But ask yourself, how long do you need to stare at George's image on that mountain before you can say, "I've been there?"

You can do it, but you need to get lodging in the Yellowstone area now. My first choice would be in the park. Depending on when you trip is, the in park lodging will probably be all booked. So, look in West Yellowstone,MT or Cody, WY and make a cancelable reservation and call for in park frequently.

Denver to Yellowstone will take a long hard day of driving, probably about 12 hrs. Yellowstone to Rushmore is another pretty long day, 8 or stop hours depending on where you start from. Rushmore to Atlanta will be two and a half days of driving. That takes 4 and a half of your 10 days. Rushmore can be seen easily in half a day or less, so you could spend 5 days in Yellowstone and Grand Teton NPs

Others would not want to spend that much time in the car, but I would do it in a heart beat. We drove from CT to Chicago for a wedding and then to Yellowstone and back to CT in 10 days and thought it was a fantastic trip. .

> Others would not want to spend that much time in the car

I'm one of the folks who doesn't like that much time in the car, but go for it if that's what you have. Yes, tack on the Tetons to Yellowstone.

With one caveat: what time of year? This is a big factor for this region. Winter weather can extend farther into the seasons than you might expect.

When planning add in some buffer time for the inevitable road construction or other delays.

Beyond that have a great trip. The long boring stretches of road can actually be quite beautiful, in their way.

Yes, but with the same road miles you could have a better experience exploring beautiful Colorado and some of great National Parks in Utah--with scenic beauty all the way!

If you stick with your Yellowstone plan, definitely include Grand Tetons NP and reconsider if it worth a long drive out of your way to view a mountain-side sculpture.

HTtY

If you have come to Colorado, why not see what is in the area? You are dealing with a lot of distances which means hours in the cars. Save Mt Rushmore for another trip. It really is not all that exciting about ten minutes.

Yellowstone is a solid day drive from Denver with min amount of four line roads. For the extra ten days I would lay out a loop to Yellowstone and then back through the western Rockies - maybe down through Mesa Vera and then across southern Colorado back to Atlanta. Reservations for Yellowstone should be made NOW if you want to stay in the park. It is expensive. But you can stay outside the park for reasonable and drive in.

Thanks for all your replies! We are going in July and have made reservations for lodging in the park. We are cutting out Rushmore and adding the Tetons. Thanks for all the responses you all are awesome!

Good choice.

If you want to, you can get off the main roads and visit a couple of small but interesting sites that will give you a sense of the area's history.

I'll mention a few: Independence Rock, Devil's Gate, South Pass City and Atlantic City (don't miss the bar in Atlantic), the Mountain Man Museum in Pinedale, and of course Buffalo Bill Center in Cody. The latter requires a lot of time.

Your call on stuff like that, but have a great trip.

I agree with Happytrails, I would do the Utah parks (Arches and Canyonlands at least), Rocky Mountain National Park, and if you can work it into a loop add on Yellowstone and the Tetons. I think Utah is the most underrated state from a tourism perspective.

It appears you've already made your decision.

But I'm amazed that no one pointed out there is a lot more to see in the Black Hills area than just Mt. Rushmore. Badlands National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, Wind Cave National Park, Custer State Park....there's more of course but those are the bigger ones. It's not just a place to go and look at the side of a mountain as some would say (and that is a very poor description of Mt. Rushmore because there is more to it than just looking at the actual sculpture).

How do so many people mention Grand Tetons because it's close to Yellowstone but nobody mentions anything that's close to Mt. Rushmore?

P.S. Denver to Mt. Rushmore is 6 hours, same distance or less than driving to the Utah parks.

I should also add that driving through South Dakota to get home from Yellowstone is only a couple hours longer than the most direct route. So if you want to see Mt. Rushmore on the way home and skip everything else in the Black Hills, it is absolutely doable and not does not add a lot of extra driving.

I didn't realize you were driving back to Atlanta so ignore the part about the drive from Denver to Mt. Rushmore. You would want to stop at Mt. Rushmore after Yellowstone and then continue east through South Dakota.

WhereAreWe makes an excellent point. Sometimes those small lesser known sites become the memorable highlight of a trip, the place where you wish you could spend more time.

Still, I would include the Tetons in a visit to Yellowstone.