Are there any parks/points of interest (listed below) that aren't very accessible by car? I'm traveling with my father out west and although he wishes to visit as many parks and outdoor places as possible, he is NOT a hiker, nor much of a walker (mile at most). Are there any key sights within these locations that wouldn't be worth it if one were mostly traveling by vehicle?

SOUTH DAKOTA
• Mount Rushmore
• Wind Cave NP
• Jewel Cave NP
• Black Elk Peak
• Custer State NP
• Bear Buttle State Park
• Crazy Horse Memorial
• Mammoth Site
• Badlands National Park

WYOMING
• Devil’s Tower Nat’l monument
• Yellowstone
(Old Faithful Geyser/Upper Basin
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Hayden Valley
Mammoth Hot Springs
Yellowstone Lake
Norris Geyser Basin
Lamar Valley
Tower Fall
Lower Geyser Basin
West Thumb Geyser Basin)
• Grand Tetons NP
• Sinks Canyon SP

COLORADO
• Rocky Mountain National Park
• Flatirons

Thank you!

For car rides around the black hills I recommend: the badlands, Custer state park wildlife loop, needles highway, iron mountain highway (tunnels and views of Rushmore) and spearfish canyon.
Black elk (aka Harney peak). The hike to the peak is a half day hike. At the base is lake Sylvan which has a short easy trail. This is also the enterance to needles highway.
Bear butte: I've never been, but I do know the trail to the top is considered strenuous. So I would go only if you are interested in the education center.
Rushmore and crazy horse both should be handicap accessible (lots of parking, short walks, benches).
I've heard the minuteman middle silo is interesting. It is near the badlands but you must be able to climb a ladder (see website).

I cannot speak to ND but you should be able to see enough of Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and RMNP to make your trip worthwhile. Much of the sites are simple walk from a parking lot or are enjoyed from your car. You can get detailed information on attractions, hikes, ranger guided experiences, etc. by going to each park's NP website. There is a lot of information on these websites.

agree withbailey123's to start planning. For the NPs, study each website for info on drives, walks, etc. within the park. When you've narrowed down your list, post here again with questions for personal experience.

It is important to check with rangers when entering each park to get updated weather forecast and help making a plan. It all becomes so much clearer once you are there. Most NPs have printed itineraries for all level of activities and the rangers are most helpful. Over two cross country trips I have found that time spent at the visitor center looking over maps and asking questions is the way to go. Many of the parks are huge and this avoids wasting time making mistakes (one-way roads, washed out sections, etc.)

Anytime you see the word "cave" in a description of a park, you can count on needing to walk through that cave -- and usually more than a mile, with little opportunity to rest. Check out

https://www.nps.gov/wica/planyourvisit/guidedtours.htm

https://www.nps.gov/jeca/planyourvisit/guidedtours.htm

Thanks all! Although my father isn't disabled, he is a larger man and walking multiple miles a day would wear him down. Here's the 1st draft of my itinerary (most inclusive but might subtract a few activities).

Day 1

- Fly into Rapid City
- Rent car + eat
- Head towards Badlands
- Stay b/t Rapid City and Badlands

Day 2

- Badlands NP
- Stay in Rapid City

Day 3

- Custer SP
- Crazy Horse Memorial
- Mt Rushmore

Day 4

- Rapid City → Yellowstone area (stay outside NE side of park)
- En route: Devil’s Tower National Monument → Little Bighorn National Monument → Western Heritage Center (arrive around 3:30pm or 4pm)
- Head towards Yellowstone but stay in MT

(for example)
o 7:50am - Rapid City (SD)
o 9:30am – Devil’s Tower (WY)
o 1pm – Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (MO) {1.5 hrs}
o 3:30pm – Western Heritage Center (MO) {1.5 hrs}
o Have dinner, drive to Yellowstone through Red Lodge (sunset is @8pm)


Day 5

- 1st day at Yellowstone; possible activities (in order) via driving are:
o Lamar Valley
o Tower Fall
o Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
o Norris Geyser
o https://goo.gl/maps/umhRtVM8xi92
- Check into Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel at night (need to check on latest we can check in)

Day 6

- 2nd day at Yellowstone; possible activities:
o Hayden Valley
o Yellowstone Lake
o West Thumb Geyser Basin
o Old Faithful
o Lower Geyser Basin
o https://goo.gl/maps/nKBkqWSK3Ar
o Most likely will have to choose Old Faithful, Lower Geyser, and Yellowstone Lake given the amount of driving time and how we feel
- 2nd night at Mammoth Hotel

Day 7

- 3rd day at Yellowstone
- Drive south and stay at more convenient location to Grand Teton NP (e.g., Jackson Hole)
- Possibly do one activity we couldn’t the day before or some of Grand Teton NP

Day 8

- 4th day at Yellowstone
- Grand Teton NP
- Drive towards Sinks Canyon SP (need to figure out best route and where to stay)

Day 9

- Sinks Canyon SP

Day 10

- Travel to Vernal, UT (Sinks to Vernal is 4 hrs)
- Dinosaur National Monument

Day 11

- Head to Rocky Mountain NP (from Vernal to Rocky Mountain NP is ~5 hrs)

Day 12

- Rocky Mountain NP

Day 13

- More of Rocky Mountains
- Mount Evans Scenic Byway
- Flatirons

Day 14

- Fly out of Denver

Just a few suggestions to save time - SD Badlands can be seen in as little as 2-3 hrs if you're not getting out of the car to walk trails, and it's about 1 hr East of Rapid City on I-90. No need to stay "between" Rapid City/Badlands - in fact, I don't think there are even any accomodations between, since it's so close.
I would suggest staying either in Rapid City or one of the small, centrally located towns such as Hill City, Custer or Keystone. As for activities - I believe Jewel Cave has a shorter cave tour for mobility-challenged folks (bad knees, breathing, etc). The regular tour has a great deal of up/down steps - they do wait for the group to catch up, but it will give a person a definite workout! Perhaps too much for your Dad. Same for Wind Cave. Otherwise, the other local attractions are fine - just take them at your own pace.
Devil's Tower has a walkway around it that's mostly level (to view climbers scaling the sides), but there's an uphill path to get to that point. If you stop/rest along the way, it may work for you. Not much to do there, other than view the Tower.
Custer Battlefield easily seen by car/nice small museum there/interesting Ranger talks.
You can see a great deal of Yellowstone from a vehicle. The geyser basins have walkways, mostly level, with other more strenuous ones for those that have more energy. Most natural attractions are that way, as the park has varied ages/capabilities of guests.
Hope this helps - have fun! (And climb as much as you can while you're young enough to do it!!)

Thank you for your thoughts! This is most helpful.

And I certainly will hike/climb as much as I can while I can. Luckily a few of my friends are into that haha

After much discussion on what's possible on a trip of this magnitude in such a short time, I revised the CO portion and now have us flying out of Salt Lake City. Hopefully this plan is more realistic. 2nd Draft of my itinerary:

Day 1
- Fly into Rapid City
- Rent car + eat
- Stay overnight in Wall near Badlands
- Check out Wall Drug if time permits

Day 2
- Badlands NP in the morning
- Head to Black Hills
- Mount Rushmore
- Stay in Keystone or Hill City

Day 3
- Custer SP
- Crazy Horse Memorial

Day 4
- Rapid City →around Red Lodge
- En route: Devil’s Tower National Monument →Little Bighorn National Monument →Western Heritage Center (arrive around 3:30pm or 4pm)
o 7:30am - Rapid City (SD)
o 9:30am – Devil’s Tower (WY)
o 1pm – Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument (MT)
o 3:30pm – Western Heritage Center (MT)
o Stay around Red Lodge

Day 5
- 1st day at Yellowstone; possible activities (will not do all):
o Lamar Valley
o Tower Fall
o Grand Canyon of Yellowstone
o Norris Geyser
- Check into Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel in evening (already reserved for 3 nights)

Day 6
- 2nd day at Yellowstone
o Old Faithful
o Lower Geyser Basin
- 2nd night at Mammoth Hotel

Day 7
- 3rd day at Yellowstone
o Anything we didn’t get to the 1st day
- 3rd night at Mammoth Hotel

Day 8
- 4th day at Yellowstone
- Drive south and if there’s time, see West Thumb Geyser Basin
- Stay at more convenient location to Grand Teton NP (e.g., Jackson Hole or even Driggs, ID)

Day 9
- Grand Teton NP

Day 10
- Drive to Sinks Canyon SP area
- Stay overnight

Day 11
- Sinks Canyon SP
o Small trail (Sinks Area, Rise Trail, Rise Area) ~1 mile

Day 12
- Drive and fly out of Salt Lake City after returning car

Just a suggestion - if you have a tight timeline, check each state's Dept of Transportation for road construction areas to avoid.
On the Plains, there's a saying:

We have four Seasons - Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter and Road Construction!

Will do HotWheels. This is good to know! Full disclosure, I've never been farther west than PA and I know more about Mars than I do the Plains.

The Plains states are wide open, either flat land or moderately rolling hills - you can literally see for miles from a high point. Not a lot of trees, but lots of farms of various crops or grassland ranches. At night, you can easily see the bright stars. Summers can be hot, with quick thunderstorms and evenings can require a light jacket at times. There aren't a lot of large cities/traffic congestion; mostly moderate-sized cities/small towns. On certain highways there' considerable distance between towns, so always be sure to have a full gas tank when starting out for the day. Roadside rest areas often have visitor information, which is also great to ask about road conditions. Or ask people in general - most people are willing to help. I hope you enjoy your adventure!

We just did Yellowstone GTNP last year and we drove down Rte 89 which was very scenic. It goes by Bear Lake and canyons.
Are you sure that you want to do a one way car rental? That can be rather expensive.
ewBtw, we skipped Tower Fall because to get there you need to take a trail and the final part is barricaded off. We spent more time in the canyon area. We did drive Dunraven Pass which was beautiful. You should consider walking at least one boardwalk around Mammoth Hot Springs.
Grand Prismatic Springs is between Mammoth Hot Springs and Old Faithful and does not disappoint. Mud Pots are also a stop on that road down.
You might want to consider walking the boardwalks near Old Faithful to get up close to the hots springs and geysers. We did that and enjoyed it. We also walked up to Morning Glory, which is long. There are bikes at Old Faithful Inn that I saw people using to go to Morning Glory.
Also, consider a lake day at Yellowstone. We did not do that, and we regret that choice.
In South Dakota, they have just opened Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. That looks interesting.

I'm from SD so maybe I can help you out.

The Minuteman site is an interesting tour if you like 50's history. It's pretty easy to do. There are two locations, one where they hold the tour in the underground bunker, and the other where the missile site is located.

I'm not sure what you'll find for lodging in Wall. Wall Drug is maybe an hour tops unless you REALLY enjoy tourist traps. It's a giant gift shop with photo ops, but fun to say you've been there.

The Badlands are amazing, especially if you can work in a sunset drive. The colors are so much better than when the sun is high. You'll easily be able to walk around short distances there. The trails are all pretty much flat with opportunities to climb big rocks or walk around them. I'd recommend the back roads out toward Mt Rushmore, rather than going back to the interstate. Some of it is gravel, but it's pretty wide and easy to drive on it.

If you want unique lodging, try to stay a night or two in Custer State Park. The State Game Lodge is great, as are the Blue Bell cabins. You could easily make one of those places a base camp for day trips to the caves or to Mt Rushmore. The wildlife loop is a must-see. Be aware that the donkeys are friendly and the buffalo are not!

Needles Highway is a must see, as is Iron Mountain Road. Both are absolutely GORGEOUS!

I would also HIGHLY recommend the 1880 Train between Hill City and Keystone. You will see some of the most beautiful scenery in the Black Hills, as well as visit a couple cute tourist towns.

Both Jewel Cave and Wind Cave are amazing, but if you do not want a lot of walking, you'll want to choose your tour carefully as one of the Jewel Cave tours has something like 700 steps. Jewel Cave is my favorite though, if I could only pick one.

I would also recommend NOT going back through Rapid City to go west. If you plan it right, you could leave from Jewel Cave and head a little west and then north to visit Devil's Tower. OR, there is a very gorgeous drive through Spearfish Canyon, where you can see Bridal Veil Falls along the side of the road as well as Roughlock Falls that is an easy walk to see.

Devil's Tower is GREAT! I highly recommend a night at the KOA right next to it and do an early morning walk around the tower. If you get there in the afternoon, there is a good chance of a thunderstorm...and that applies to pretty much all over the Black Hills. Don't plan your white knuckle, winding drives or your walking between 3-5. It doesn't last that long, but falls in that time frame.

Battle of Little Bighorn is very good. You'll be able to drive through most of that to see it. The museum is nice. I would say maybe an hour to hour to visit unless you're big history buffs.

Now, I might be biased a little, but I have to say I like the Black Hills better than Yellowstone. I will admit that we just passed through Yellowstone and did not give it the proper time, but the road between West Yellowstone and Cody was not all that interesting. We were on our way back home from a MT, WA, OR, and ID trip and had camped in the beautiful Sawtooth Mtns the night before so that route through Yellowstone may not have been a good representation of the park, but it did not inspire me to want to come back either. We did get to see Old Faithful go off, but honestly, the wait was long and the show was short and we were shoulder to shoulder with everyone else. I probably would never go out of my way to see it again. That's just me though.

Good luck with your trip planning!