Yellowstone Natl Park, Blackhills, and Badlands
 

Our family is planning a camping trip to Yellowstone, Blackhills, and Badlands. We are leaving from Spokane, Wash.
These are stops we have planned so far, based on friends' advice:
Old Montana Prison
Virginia City, MT
Yellowstone Natl Park
Buffalo Bill Dam
Old Trail Town
Shell Falls, WY
Devils Tower National Monument
Belle Fourche
Spearfish
Deadwood
Sturgis
Rapid City (Mt Rushmore)
Crazy Horse Memorial
Drug Wall
Badlands National Park
Little Bighorn Battlefield
Lewis and Clark Cavern State Park
Home to Spokane

We are looking at approx 10-12 days. We would appreciate info on:
* how long to explore each site
* additional sites
* suggestions on where to camp (ex. Yellowstone, Black Hills).
* do we camp in one spot and explore all SD or should we do it from two spots?

Thank you!!

> o we camp in one spot and explore all SD
> or should we do it from two spots?

It would be a long day's drive to try to see the Badlands from a campsite in the Black Hills, so I suggest one campsite in the former (perhaps the north) and a different one on the southeast outskirts, so as to make travel to Badlands a bit less of an endurance drive.

I believe you need to re-think this trip. We spent 8 very full days in the Black Hills last summer, visiting many, but not all, of the places you propose to go in that area. Also, you have completely left off Custer State Park which is a multi-day "must see".

What you have proposed doing involves a minimum of 38 hours of just driving. I don't know how you will "see" all of these places in 10 - 12 days unless you are just seeing them from your car windows.

Yellowstone National Park is much more than just Old Faithful. I'd plan on a minimum of 3 days and 4 or more would be much better. Devil's Tower & Mt. Rushmore several hours each. You can do the Badlands and see Wall Drugs in one day.

Utahtea

Agree that Yellowstone takes the most time of all those sights, and if you want to camp in the park, which is ideal, you need to make your reservations thru the National Park Service website well in advance (6 months or preferably more), because the park is very popular with both U.S. and international visitors.

Are you tent camping, RV, or Trailer?

What month?

If you haven't seen Glacier National Park, I would pick that over Black Hills, just because you are that much closer and would cut down on the driving.

You could easily spend that much time in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, hit a few of the other places you mention and not do any of the Black Hills. Plus, I wouldn't want to move that many time camping in just 10 days or so. I would probably spend 5 days just in Yellowstone and camp in 2 different spots there.

wall drug -biggest waste of time ever -its just a giant shopping area!
Yellowstone would take up some days alone and the driving between is long. We have driven from Jackson Hole to Rapid city but stopped a night on the way (at Cody I think). Deadwood a day only -disappointing , Mt Rushmore a day by the time you get through the crowds , Sturgis a day. There is a fantastic native American museum in Wall which is really worth seeing.

agree with spirobulldog that Glacier has more to offer than the Black Hills. Just 1 persons feeling, but I'd spend my time in and around Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Glacier. That would include a day-trip over Beartooth Pass into Red Lodge. I'd consider and extra day and extend that trip to the Little Bighorn Battlefield and return via Cody.