sugestions
 

My husband and I are planning to leave Sugar Land, TX (outside of Houston, TX) early on Saturday, July 1, 2017 to drive to Keystone, SD. We are planning on driving to Salina, KS on Saturday and then on to Keystone, SD on Sunday to see Mt Rushmore. We then want to head toward Yellowstone National Park and spend two days there. Then we want to drop down and see the Eastern side of the Grand Canyon. We have never been to any of these locations and are not really sure how to map this out, where we should look to stay in between and what places and things to see along the way. Ideally we would like to be heading home on Saturday, July 8, and maybe be home by Sunday evening or maybe even Monday evening. So you can see that we only have a week, a short amount of time to see things and we know we won't be able to see everything so suggestions on the highlights, routes and places to stay would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help and suggestions.

Are you aware that it is 1,000 miles from Sugarland to South Dakota, with an estimate of 23 hours of driving? Do you really want to drive more than 8 hours per day, if that much?

For mapping the entire trip, use viamichelin.com, which gives you the option of adding in-between stops. Thus you could specify Sugarland to the Grand Canyon via South Dakota and Yellowstone. It will give you an idea of total mileage and driving time.

>>Do you really want to drive more than 8 hours per day, if that much?<<

More like 12 hours per day to get to Mt Rushmore w/ just a rest stop or two. I'd rather a sharp stick in the eye. Your only saving grace is the Visitors center is open until 10PM.

But really -- you are talking a rapid paced 2 week trip, not a 1 week itinerary.

You map it out on Google.

And if you think you can do this, you're off your head. The trip is more than 4,000 miles. It'd be more than 2600 from Sugar Land to Mt Rushmore and back (not 1000 miles each way, more than 1300).

Wow, sounds painful!

I love a good road trip, but you'll find that many people do not. It is definitely doable, especially if you push it a bit those first couple days. What I do to plan a trip like this is go on myscenicroute.com and plug in my first priority stops. That way you can see the miles and time and go from there.

I live in eastern SD and I will say that the route between here and TX is going to be a long stretch of nothing too exciting. We usually do a 10-12hr day when we're not stopping. That way you get to where you want to be faster.

If you're going to Keystone, I'd recommend a stay at Custer State Park. There are a lot of lodging options and you're in a very scenic area. Do the 1880 Train from Keystone to Hills and back. You'll see beautifull territory with a break from driving.

From the Black Hills, you can cut across WY for a fast drive and go down through UT or you can go down to Denver and then cut across CO and UT on I70 and then down to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. There will be plenty of places to stop along the way. It just depends on what you like to do. We usually stop for an hour or two for a hike and then on to the next stop, with about 6-7hrs worth of driving time a day and I try to get a day where we stop early and then leave later so we can explore one spot a little more.

Best thing to do is plug in your stops and go from there though. You might find that either you need a few more days or you have to focus your trip more on one destination. It's going to be lots of drive time as is, but I've been going on driving adventures since I was a kid and those trips are some of my fondest memories. You just need to make sure you have expectations for the trip that match the reality of what you picked out and it will be a blast! Good luck!

I'm sorry...I was thinking Grand Canyon not Yellowstone...so even more doable!

Are you looking for things to do on your way to Salina? You will be driving within about 40 miles of a world class air 7 space museum in Hutchinson, Kansas.