I think we finally have our trip planned out which is laid out below for your comments and suggestions for tweaking.
I wish we were in the position to just take a trip at our own leisure when and where we want, for as long as we want. But we just aren't there yet. And this year has proven to be even tougher than planning out any other vacation because we had a terrible time finding a 2-week stretch that we could squeeze it into and not overlap with other previously scheduled events in our lives.
We really wanted to take this trip last year, but because of the high fuel prices we opted for a mission trip to Alaska with out church (incredibly awesome trip in itself - pics are available in the link down in my signature) where we didn't have to drive or plan out anything. And now that fuel prices are remaining fairly low - though they are creeping up again - we thought we better get this in this year before they shoot back up.
Anyway, here is the general plan. The trip will have us leave out over Memorial Day weekend (not as far into the summer as we wanted, but...) and head for the Black Hills - stopping off at the FamCamps at Scott AFB and Offutt AFB - hopefully having time to stop by the St. Louis Arch on the way through (do they have RV parking?)
In the Black Hills, we'll stay in Horse Thief Campground for 3 nights. Our order of priority of site seeing is Mt. Rushmore, Needles Hwy, Crazy Horse, Wind Cave, Wall Drug and Badlands NP. (any suggestions to rearrange this are welcome).
Here's where we are really looking for advice. We can't get to Yellowstone before 29 May because that's when Bridge Bay opens. We wanted to stay in the park with showers close by and can't stay at Fishing Village with an HTT. That left Bridge Bay as our best option. Anyway we planned on leaving the Black Hills on the 28th, seeing Devils Tower on the way and stopping somewhere between there and Yellowstone. Is this a good plan? Our thoughts were we'd be closer to Yellowstone to arrive earlier in the day and maybe have extra time to sight see that day. Do you have suggestions on a place to stop in between?
Or do we stay at Horse Thief one extra night, make a side trip to Devils Tower, then drive straight through to Yellowstone on the 29th? Seems like a lot of backtracking to me.
Anyway... We'll be at Bridge Bay 3 nights (yes, I know that is short - but like I said we are under a tight window). I've seen the threads on "what to see in Yellowstone" so we'll take those under advisement.
Then to Colter Bay in the Tetons for 2 nights, getting in at least a float trip and some rainbow fishing.
Then heading back towards home, we'll swing through Colorado Springs for a 2 night stay at the USAF Academy FamCamp. I've been to the Springs several times on my own for work, and the kids really want the experience of going to the top of Pikes Peak (I guess everyone has to do it at least once in their lives). We'll really only have one solid day here (clearly not enough) but we plan on seeing at least the Academy Chapel, Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods. I'd like to squeeze in a supper at Flying W Ranch, but that's low on the priority list. I know that still leaves out a lot, so suggestions on rearranging this are also welcome.
Then its two long days of driving home, stopping somewhere in between (maybe Tulsa) on the way home.
Mike, Michele, Hannah (13) and Elijah (10)
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This is a very long way to go and a lot to see with only two weeks to spend. That being said I will offer these suggestions. I would save an early morning (we left camp at 6:00 A.M. in the dark) and drive the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park. This is where we saw the Bighorn sheep, Mountain Goats, Donkeys, and the largest Buffalo Jam imaginable, as well as huge numbers of Pronghorn and Deer. I would also try to find time to drive the Scenic Highway near Spearfish, ( "The Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway (U.S. 14A) leads you southward out of town, following lovely Spearfish Creek, which flows north. Modern fishermen, though not equipped with spears, find this stream burgeoning with trout. Waterfalls and high rock walls make this a picturesque drive.")
For us, Devils Tower was a two hour thing. It is awesome and watching the climbers through binoculars is an experience. Be sure to catch a Ranger talk about the spirituality of the region.
We made this exact trip a couple of years ago but we took 8 weeks to do it Let me know if you have more questions.
Cody Wyoming might be your best stop. The Buffalo Bill Museum is not to be missed. It is really 5 museums in one with a single admission. I will promise that you will lose track of time once you enter. Yellowstone is a short drive from there.
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Doesn't make much sense to take a day trip out to Devil's Tower from the Black Hills if you're going to Yellowstone later on, I'd cover that enroute, just allow a couple hours there, maybe a bit more if you want to hike around the tower (I'd recommend that, pretty easy)
If you want to stay on the eastern outskirts of Yellowstone, I'd suggest Cody, decent place to restock supplies. If you're at all interested in western history, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center is amazing, 5 museums, easily a day to itself. We could only spare 4 hours in 2004, planning on a full day this year.
My personal favorite, as far as stopovers between Yellowstone and the Black Hills is the Big Horn national forest, and some of the campgrounds. Pictures of Tie Flume, off HWY 14 between Bugess Junction and Shell. Nice stream, lots of granite outcroppings to climb on, picture is taken from one of the hike/climbs. No hookups and it's still 3 1/2 hours from your site in Yellowstone.
I agree with SteveRuff - you are packing in a heck of a lot for a two week trip that includes travel time from Alabama and back. My own calculation through Streets and Trips is that you are going to spend over half of your trip in the drivers seat - before taking any pictures. If this is the way it has to be then my only suggestion would be to maximize your "leisure" time by planning a route that puts as much as you can "on the way" - for example - consider a route that hits, in this order: Badlands (camp at east side then tour on the trip out), Wall Drug, Black Hills (centralized campground for short day trips or even consider 2 campgrounds - say Custer State Park then through to Deadwood or Spearfish), Devils Tower, Yellowstone (in at Gardner and out through the Tetons) then home. This is some really terrific country you are planning on visiting - just a heck of a lot of it - try to make as much "quality" time as you can by avoiding long day trips and backtracking.
Jay
2002 Bambi 19' - the "Toaster"
2003 Nissan Pathfinder - the "Buggy"
That's a really ambitious schedule, but probably do-able.
My only advice would be to be sure you see Rushmore before you see Crazy Horse. I did, but my wife didn't, and Rushmore was just not as impressive as it should have been for her.
Bob and Honey Couch
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All very good advice. Rushmore before Crazy Horse. See both at night if possible. Yes, do Devils Tower on the way to YS. Cody is a good stop before YS. We did the same trip in two weeks from San Antonio, however it was the opposite route as yours (TX-CO-Wy-SD-TX). We have history buffs in our family so we drove through Cody without stopping (but it looked like a good place to visit) and went up to Little Bighorn in Montana to see Custer's Last Stand. I think your plan is good. I would put the extra day in Cody unless your family are diehard history buffs like my DH and oldest son. I found Little Bighorn just a grassy hill. Cody has lots of things to do. If you get there early it would be a good day to do laundry and shop for supplies. Food will be a little more costly in YS and laundry can mean waiting in lines in the park. I'm not sure all CG at YS have washers. We stayed at FB and a talked to a lady who had to come to our CG to do laundry. You might want to check before going. I think your plan is good. Don't forget to take water when you walk around Devil's tower. It's a long story, but now everyone in the family has a camelback. LOL Binoculars for all, if possible, is nice. You said May, right? Be prepared for cold/cool weather. Take layering clothing. Lots of driving in YS. You'll have a great time!
Gin & Mike + 2 TD (tax deductions)
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Rangerjay has the right idea. I would substitute Jewel Cave for Wind Cave. both are right near Custer but Jewel has more to see in the cave works. Crazy Horse is awesome. There are several chuck wagon dinner shows in the B;ack Hills if you want to make one of those. Make sure you spend the time to stop at Cody. Best museum in America. We have made this exact trip four times with the first three all in a two week time frame but the best one was two years ago when we took three weeks.
Thanks to all for the tips and suggestions - especially the one's about Cody.
Yeah, I know this is a very aggressive schedule, but there is no possible way to stretch it out any longer and we really don't know when the next opportunity might present itself. So we'll just have to plan to rest up when we get home and go back to work.
I definitely recommend a stop at Devils Tower if you can spare the time. There are a NP CG and a KOA right there, both fine (no hookups in the NP CG, and big rigs may not fit). Finding parking for your rig may be tough up at the Devils Tower visitors center, so hiking around the monolith might be best saved for next time. If you want to overnight farther on, you could loop back to I-90 west of Devils Tower (no need to backtrack) and stay overnight near Little Bighorn Battlefield. Two private CGs in that area are decent - we stayed at the KOA in Hardin & it was fine.
IMO, it's a long tough haul from the Black Hills to Yellowstone for one day's travel. You won't have time to visit Devils Tower plus get to Cody, starting out from the Black Hills in the morning. If you're going to visit Devils Tower, plan to take I-90 up through Montana, then head south on the smaller 2-lanes to Cody or leave the interstate at Livingston and go into the park through Gardiner. You'll want an overnight stay along the way on this route, probably at Hardin, Devils Tower or Billings. We just drove this route (YNP out East Entrance to Cody, north to I-90, overnight at Hardin, then to Devils Tower) last year and it was great to have that overnight along the way.
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Let me know if you have more questions.
