Help w/visiting Rushmore,Yellowstone and Tetons?

X3 on what other posters have said. My suggestion would be to take exit 131 from I90 and make a drive through of Badlands National Park. The other end of the Badlands loop road takes you right to the little town of Wall, where you can spend an hour or two at Wall Drug.

When you leave the Black Hills after your 1-1/2 days (lots more there than just the Mt. Rushmore monument) you can make the side trip off I90 to Devil's Tower for an hour or so, longer if you want to hike the one mile trail around the base of the tower.

Spend your time sightseeing, not just driving back and forth.

Good info....

We actually have more than 1 day scheduled for Mount Rushmore area. I wasn't clear about that. So we can follow all of your advice and spread it out no problem.

As far as Yellowstone and Tetons....I'm looking for the must see attractions and if there are any lesser known things we must see.

It's tough giving advice without knowing your focus and what your goals are. We just got back from the South Dakota area. What you are planning is going to be lots of driving and backtracking. My advice is Wall drug, half day. Rushmore half day. See devils tower on your way to Yellowstone. The major attractions in yellowstone are located on the figure 8 roadway inside the park, and will take at least 5 days. Tetons are south and 2 days to see those attractions. Most people do not realize how much driving is often involved in all of these areas. In the summer, you need to add in massive traffic volume. And in yellowstone you need to stay flexible. It is not unusual for animal stings to back up traffic for 20 to 40 minutes. Enjoy your trip.

John & Christine wrote:
On our list is Rushmore for a few hours during the day, then Wall drug. Then check out Devils tower. That night back to Rushmore.

This is way too much to do in one day. Not going to happen. We spent three days in this area last year and even that was too short.

On our list is Rushmore for a few hours during the day, then Wall drug. Then check out Devils tower. That night back to Rushmore.
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That's more driving than you think it is. I'd guess Wall Drug is at least 2 hours drive from Rushmore, mainly because of the narrow busy roads around Rushmore. And it's back east directly away from Devil's Tower. You may want to visit Wall Drugs when you pass it coming in from the east, the Interstate passes within a mile of it.

I'd schedule DTNM as a side trip when you leave the Black Hills area for Yellowstone.

It's hard to give suggestions about YNP and GTNP without more info from you. I suggest a search for yellowstone here in the forums it's one of the most frequent questions here and there are many threads describing it in great detail.