Mapping out our trip to Yellowstone - help

[Mote]

The wife and I are making plans for our first trip out West next June. The first try at the itinerary is shown below. We plan on making reservations at Yellowstone and Custer. Not sure where to stay in Cody thou. Let me know what you think?

Leave June 13
Saturday – leave home, spend night on road

Sunday – drive to Wall Drug then to Custer State Park, spend night at Custer

Monday – tour Custer state park and mount rushmore, spend night at Custer

Tuesday-drive from Custer State park to Cody Wy, spend night in Cody

Wednesday – look at the sights around Cody, spend night in Cody

Thursday – Drive from Cody to Red Lodge Mt, Beartooth highway and end up at Canyon Campground

Friday – tour Yellowstone, spend night in Canyon

Saturday – tour Yellowstone, spend night in Madison

Sunday – tour Yellowstone, spend night in Madison

Monday – tour Yellowstone, spend night in Grant

Tuesday – tour Yellowstone, spend night in Grant

Wednesday – start trip home

[Gary_Gadget]

The tour buses get on the road at 10:00am and are usually back to the motel by 3:00PM. We get up early and do not have a lot of other people it deal with early in the day. With Yellowstone, being the number one Natl. park in America, plan on a lot of tour buses with people to match.

[TexasShadow]

If you think of this trip as an appetizer, it will be ok. For Cody make reservations at the Ponderosa RV park in town or out at Bill Cody State Park north shore campground electric site.
For your final day and night go down to Grand Tetons and stay at Colter Bay RV park make reservations as early as possible o
At EVERY campground.

[Two_Hands]

I don't think you should spend all that time changing campgrounds in Yellowstone. Maybe stay at only one, or at most two different campgrounds giving yourself more sightseeing time instead of setting up breaking down camp time. What ever you decide, make reservations now. Yellowstone is big and beautiful. Have a great trip.

[Dick_B]

We took the two guided bus tours when in Yellowstone; the North loop, a day off, then the South loop. The day between and after let us follow up on the areas of special interest.
You can drive around and around and put on lots of miles and not know what you are looking at. Much better to take the tours.

[rr2254545]

You also missed Badlands National Park, the western entrance is right in Wall.

If it was me, I would save Mount Rushmore and Custer for a future vacation - that area deserves more time

Ponderosa Campground in Cody is the best we stayed there , KOA looks nice when were there a few months ago put is to far east of town to suit me

[Flapper]

Pretty aggressive trip - assuming you only have 2 weeks to do it?It can be done as you have laid out - but you will be very rushed, with several very long driving days in front of you.

You'll for sure have to skip the Badlands just outside of Wall. May have to skip Wall Drug, too. Your first two days will be 17 hours of driving, without breaks! After Rapid City, driving can be MUCH slower than you anticipate, so you'll probably get to Custer very late. Better check on what the late check-in policies are.
Custer to Cody is another slower than anticipated drive. Bighorn Mtns are fantastic, but you won't be crusin' fast, or stopping to see the sights. Is a one day trip, but there won't be a lot of free time in Cody. Same for the next day - you'll need to get going early.

If you can free up more time, your trip out will be so much better. Something like: Home to Sioux Falls (still very long day), SF to Badlands and Wall, Wall to Custer - then on with the rest of your agenda. Add time as you can to Custer, Cody, Yellowstone, Tetons, the return, etc.

The curse of limited time off and living in a big country! We finally did a month from Minnesota to Calif/Oregon this past summer, and there STILL wasn't enough time!

[tsetsaf]

Problem solved... See the campgrounds for yourself

[outdoorlovers]

Don't forget the Grand Tetons. Right next door to Yellowstone.

[Mandalay_Parr]

Not enough time at Custer. More to see.