Sutherland Drugs? Haven't heard of that one.
Wall Drug is a fun 1/2 hour stop (a little longer if you have kids), if nothing else, just to say you've been there. They do still give away free cups of water too, I think (their first claim to fame, way back when).
Devils Tower definitely!! Badlands is a good drive-through; it will be quite hot in the summer. If you are going in cooler weather and enjoy hiking, spend the night at the KOA south of Interior.
The Black Hills (where Mt Rushmore is) can easily take a week to see everything. Well worth spending several days anyway - visit Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer SP, lots more stuff if you have time.
Road conditions? Depends on when you're there. Figure on road construction here & there, as we have two seasons up here: winter & road construction. Road construction is a major event in some parts of the Chicago area this summer, so you'll be quite used to it by the time you head west. Expect all northern interstates to be bumpy - those concrete seams don't last through too many winters before the frost heaves take out all the smoothness. Parts of I-90 in MN and SD (especially eastern SD) are pretty bad, but fortunately most of it is ok.
I left the Black Hills just a couple of days ago and passed through Chicago this afternoon, taking I-90 the whole way. The roads are OK .... construction in just a couple of areas where it's one lane each way. Traffic was so light, however, that you can still do 65 going through those areas. A few bumpy areas, mainly in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Chicago was bumper to bumper, even on a Saturday afternoon.
If you're looking for a decent place to overnight, there's a campground called Checkers in Welcome, MN that's about halfway between Chicago and Rapid City. It's out in the middle of nowhere, but it's easy off and on from I-90. Rate was $13.90 for a pull through, FHU site with Passport America if you have it....$26 + tax if you don't.
Oh, and make sure you have something to eat in the camper...there is NOTHING around the CG! Or stop in Fairmount (about 10 miles before Welcome) for something to eat before you get there.
If you don't have time to tour the Badlands, you can take the Badlands Scenic Loop....32 miles through the Badlands and back onto I-90 right by Wall Drug. The Scenic Loop more or less parallels 90.
Have a great trip!!
"Don't be knocking on Death's door. Ring the bell and run away - he hates that."
We spent 9 days in Hill City at Rafter J RV ranch. Great place if you like space. We personally enjoyed Custer state park more than Yellowstone. Much more wildlife with much less driving. The Spearfish Canyon is a great drive.
The Beartooth hwy from the ne entrance to YNP is fantastic. Best part, I guess, due to the economy the parks are not very busy.
We took that route a few weeks ago. We've just started week 5 of a 6 week RV roadtrip from Virginia to Montana and back. If you'd like, you can check out our blog - I'm writing about where we've been and posting pictures as well. Might give you some ideas.
www.deanroadtrip.blogspot.com
From Illinois west on Route 90, there was lots of construction, but we weren't slowed up too much. There was also some construction in South Dakota - they shut down the eastbound lanes to repave so the two westbound lanes were split to handle both east and west traffic.
We stayed one night at the KOA in Interior and went through the Badlands - I thought it was incredible. You can easily just do the loop if you don't want to stay the night. I liked seeing it in the afternoon and then again at sunset. The folks at the KOA in Interior are really nice and we liked the campground.
Wall Drug was a nice quick stop.
We stayed in Hill City at the KOA for three nights - loved it! The KOA was great. We don't have a tow car yet so we rented a car from the campground. We went to Bear Country USA, the Needles Highway and Custer State Park. From Custer, we drove down to the Mammoth Dig Site - it was interesting, and we actually saw more animals on the ride from Custer to Mammoth (by Wind Cave NP) than we saw in Custer. The Rushmore lighting ceremony was great.
We loved Cody. We were there for the Stampede the weekend of July 4, so they had parades and a street fair. We really enjoyed the night rodeo.
We did the I-90 across the US in 2007. It's a nice route. In addition to the other sites people have mentioned, you might want to check out Sturgis as well:
For those of you who have done the I-90 route across northern Indiana and through greater Chicago, how bad was the traffic? I saw one post calling it bumper to bumper even on a Saturday afternoon. I have co-workers in that area who tow trailers who have cautioned me to stay away from the whole Gary, IN to Chicago area with the trailer, find an alternate route.
Would it be worth going south to Indianapolis to avoid the traffic? I was thinking of I-80 across Pennsylvania over toward Indianapolis, then start heading diagonally north toward I-90 again. Not necessarily trying to save time, mainly trying to avoid huge traffic which makes for a miserable vacation for the driver (ME).
I always go past chicago on I-80 to I-39 and North there to avoid Chicago as much as possible. I found the Corn Palace more interesting than Wall-Drug. I avoided both the first dozen trips past but finally had to succumb. with I would have skipped Wall-Drug.
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