yellowstone/Mt. Rushmore
 

I am beginning to think of next summers vacation. I can't decide between Yellowstone and Grand Tetons and/or Mt. Rushmore.

I was wondering is it too much to do both Wyoming and South Dakota on one trip?

Thanks

The obvious question: How many days?

A more pertinent question: are you driving, and if so, what is your mileage?!

I assumed they be driving!

From the east entrance of Yellowstone Park to Deadwood, SD is about 425 miles or about an 8.5 hour drive without stopping.

Depends on how much time you have.

We flew via Chicago and Denver into Billings, Montana late in May this year, rented a car there, and drove all around Wyoming, Montana and into South Dakota in 2 weeks.

We spent time in Yellowstone (THE most fabulous spot on the entire tour), down into Jackson's Hole, Wyoming, to see the Tetons (absolutely gorgeous views over Jenny Lake); over to Cody, Wyoming (fabulous western museum there); along Rte 14 (amazing sights in the rocks there) into South Dakota to see Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, etc.; up to Devil's Tower, Wyoming; Spearfish, South Dakota (very nice town in the Black Hills -- which are also lovely); and eventually back to Billings for our flight home.

We felt that late May and early June were optimum because tourists were still minimal, motel and B&B prices were far cheaper; and we got to see many "little ones" (baby animals like bears, eaglets and more) in Yellowstone at that time of year! Be warned, however, that you can have snow on Memorial Day. We drove through a snow storm from West Yellowstone up to Bozeman that weekend! (Make sure your rental car still has snow tires on it if you go then!)

You can make great time out there because speed limits are generally 75 (and people go faster in the wid eopen spaces). We drove 300 miles back to Billings, MT from Spearfish, SD, for example in a morning -- easily.

If you want something unusual, check out "The Howlers Inn" outside Bozeman, MT. It is a lovely B&B, with a 3-acre enclosure housing a pack of WOLVES -- fascinating to watch, and we had a big room upstairs overlookinhg the enclosure next to the house.

Enjoy the trip!

Vermonter

Time permitting the answer is yes. You could easily spend several weeks in either place and still not see it all.

While pondering your choices here is an interesting site to help you make up your mind..

http://www.yellowstone.net/

i drove thru south dakota and found BADLANDS to be aweseome and otherworldly, and really enjoyed the ride thru the Black Hills. didn't stay in the area though.
we passed Mt.Rushmore, and my personal opinion is that it's silly and over-rated. take a look if you're gonna be there, but i wouldn't plan a vacation around it. but if you do come thru the area, i highly recommend a drive thru Badlands.
sorry i cant be of more help.

There is much more to the Black Hill than Mt Rushmore. Just driving thru the area is not going to do it justice. Granted some of the places are a bit cheesy (IMHO) as is Mt Rushmore since they built the monstrosity of a parking garage out front. There are other things that make up for those shortcomings.

http://www.blackhillstouristinfo.com/

If all you would have time for is a quick trip to Mt. Rushmore, spend the time seeing more stuff in YNP.

Rushmore is interesting, but 3 hours is plenty, and Keystone is one of the most depressing tourist towns I have ever seen (I was there in the off season). If you have lots of time to see the Black Hills, Custer NP, the badlands, etc, then it would be worth the drive.

IMHO

I already posted, but I chuckled at Spokaneman's post and I echo his comments!

I'd spend time in and around Yellowstone National Park AND go south of there to Jackson's Hole (and the town of Jackson, which is touristy but interesting); maybe see the National Museum of Wildlife Art, just north of Jackson; visit Cody, Wyoming and go to the terrific museum of the west there; and, if you have plenty of time, maybe drive to see Devil's Toiwer, Wyoming, and also go see Mt. Rushmore, but I'd put that way down the list of priorities!

In all fairness, the area around the Black Hills of South Dakota is lovely (IMHO) and we enjoyed a very nice B&B in Spearfish, SD. However, we drove to see Mt. Rushmore, took some pictures, and agreed that "Yup, there it is -- just like other pictures we've seen! What's next?"

Then we went to see the nearby Crazy Horse monument, under construction (or carving) and saw the face and the hole blasted through under where his arm will be one day -- and that was that. Another non-event, in our opinion! Some day, maybe 20-50 years from now, it will be truly spectacular, but now? (shrug)

Those places are wonderful, I guess, but if you've seen the pictures, you've seen them!

********However, we drove to see Mt. Rushmore, took some pictures, and agreed that "Yup, there it is -- just like other pictures we've seen! What's next?"
**************

that was our feeling exactly. we sort of just chuckled and kept on driving.

I was intrigued by Retired/Vermonter's post on the Howlers Inn so I booked a reservation there for next week. Interesting how a someone from Vermont can recommend stuff to those of us who live just around the (Montana) corner.

Spokaneman:

I hope you enjoy the Howler's Inn as much as we did! The wolves are fascinating -- with quite a "society" of their own.

One room has a king size bed and overlooks the wolves; that's the room we had. Gorgeous "log bed". The couple who run the place are neat people. She was in marketing, I believem and he is a professor of chemistry (as I recall) at the college in Bozeman.

See if they remember the couple from Vermont -- the big guy with the beard! ;)

Enjoy -- but watch out for snow!

Vermonter

We had a very nice stay at the Howlers and yes tje wolves did howl several times during the night. Mary-Martha gave a lot of good information on the pack and alas, Ninja had recently been kicked out of the pack and was going through a pretty bad bout of wolf separaton anxiety.

They did not remember the Vermonter specificly, but apparently they had been 80% full for most of the summer so they met lots of people. I only met her husband briefly as he was busy with his college teaching work.

No snow in Bozeman but a bunch in YNP our last day (10-9). I was glad to have my wife's AWD Subaru. There were a few icy places in the high country.

Just have to butt in here to say that I strongly disagree with tlf18 and RetiredVermonter!:D

While Mt. Rushmore itself may not be worth the trip, the area certainly is. I'm a huge fan of Custer State Park and highly recommend staying in the park. And I also think it's well worth spending a night at Cedar Pass Lodge in the Badlands.

Spokaneman:

Glad you enjoyed the Howlers Inn and wolves! Yes, we saw that poor "girl" isolated from the rest of the pack when we were there, too. They have quite a "society", don't they?

Regards,

Vermonter (no snow here yet)

CAPH52:

You said "Mt. Rushmore itself may not be worth the trip" and I agree. However, we LOVED the Black Hills, and Spearfish, SD.

Vermonter