Yellowstone to Mount rushmore whats in between?

yrusoslo wrote:
Go up to Custard's Last Stand, down to Devil's Tower, over to Crazy Horse's Memorial before going to Mt. Rushmore.

X2 - some of the places we went to. Our trip was in August of this year.

Did the Mount Rushmore area - including Mount Rusmore, Crazy Horse and Devils Tower - walked around the base - about 1.5 mile walk. We stayed at the Rapid City KOA - - 3010 East Highway 44 Rapid City, SD


Then went to Yellowstone and saw Custer's last stand on the way - very small parking area but made it in and out.

While in the Yellowstone area we stayed at Rocky Mountain RV Park & Lodging, LLC 14 Jardine Road Gardiner, Montana. We wanted full hook ups and close to the North Entrance because Glacier was our next place to visit.


Make sure you go see the boiling river while in Yellowstone:
Not too far past the Yellowstone North entrance a sign north of where the road crosses the Gardner River marks the 45th parallel of latitude. A little distance south of the sign, a parking area on the east side of the road is used by bathers in the "Boiling River." Bathers must walk upstream about a half mile from the parking area to the place where the footpath reaches the river. This spot is also marked by large clouds of steam, especially in cold weather. Here, a large hot spring, known as Boiling River, enters the Gardner River. The hot and the cold water mix in pools along the river's edge. Bathers are allowed in the river during daylight hours only. Bathing suits are required, and no alcoholic beverages are allowed. Boiling River is closed in the springtime due to hazardous high water and often does not reopen until mid-summer.

From Yellowstone we went on to Glacier - red bus tour on the going to the sun highway was great.

It's not "Custard's Last Stand," it is the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.
Several things happen there in June. The Crow Tribe has its Crow Native Days activities at their tribal headquarters just outside the entrance to the Battlefield, and there are two re-enactments of the battle. These activities take place usually in the last half of June. The anniversary date of the battle is June 26th.
7th Ranch RV park is located right next to the park and is a pretty good place to stay. There are two RV parks in Hardin, about 20 miles north of the battlesite - Grandview and Hardin KOA. If you plan to be there during these activities, reservations are a must.

GM

If lake swimming is important, there's Keyhole State Park just NE of Moorcroft, WY (Devils Tower area). If we have a dry winter and spring here the sandy beach is nice; if not there won't be much beach. Elevation is somewhere around 4K feet, so it does warm up enough for swimming. We used to water ski there regularly without wetsuits, and when my son was in high school he and his buddies would skip school to go swimming and diving off the cliffs.

(That worked until the cops caught them with their beer. Everyone else took off, but my son, being a friendly chap, walked up to the cops and offered them a couple beers. They weren't friendly back.):h

Keyhole is a popular spot with the locals, mostly for fishing and boating. There are plenty of camping spots during the week, but my wife and I prefer camping in the Bighorns or Devils Tower. The Bighorns have plenty of lakes, but the water is cold, cold, cold. Good for trout, bad for swimming.

Cody and the western museums - plan two days.
Dinosaur museum and tour in Teutopolis. Really a great stop. Take the ride up to when they dig for the dino's.

Great trip ... enjoy your time

Cody, WY
Crazy Horse Monument
Custer State Park
Jewel Cave
Wind Cave
Devil's Tower

There is a spectacular drive on highway 14A....NOT recommended for towing up or down) up to the top of the pass. There is an archaeology site, an ancient Indian astronomical ring of stones called the Medicine Wheel up there, but you have to hike the last mile up hill unless you have a handicap sticker on your car and then you can drive up. It's very interesting if you have the time.
From Burgess Junction, you can reverse your course and take highway 14 back down, a bit easier than 14A but still pretty hard on towing up or braking down.
if you choose to cross the Big Horns on highway 16, there are several pretty nice national forest campgrounds across there. Sitting Bull has a nice view.
South Fork (closer to Buffalo) is very shady and tidy.

Cody - nightly rodeo, Buffalo Bill museum, wild west shootout at Irma's

Definitely good for a couple of days!

You can swim in Yellowstone in the Firehole River swimming hole. Its one of the few "official" places you can take a dip inside Yellowstone. Its not too far from the west entrance as I recall.

Supercharged wrote:

83trekker wrote:
Never been to Yellowstone before, so next vacation going there and also want to see Mount rushmore too. Is there any other sights to be seen in between the 2 places? Also is there any good camping with good swimming lakes in between or somewhere around the area?

Did you say swimming lakes. No one swims in Wyo. or Black hills, just in side building, maybe bears do.

Didnt know that. that sucks