Featuring Attractions and National Parks of The Dakotas and Wyoming

This two week tour includes:

• Mount Rushmore
• Minute Man Missile National Historical Site
• The Badlands National Park
• Custer State Park
• Crazy Horse Monument
• The Black Hills of South Dakota
• Teddy Roosevelt National Park
• Yellowstone National Park
• Grand Teton National Park
• Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Quick Background on Our Travel Themes

We plan on a major U.S. two week vacation every 18 months or so for the next several decades, and this is the second of these outings, and our first time anywhere near these locales (coming from Southern California, and prior to this living in the NYC area).  We’re not only looking to experience all the major attractions and sights, but also ingratiate ourselves in the region(s) to obtain a strong sense of the culture and vibe at each destination.  Being mini-“foodies” and enjoying the nightlife scene to some extent helps in this endeavor.  Thus, we like to partake in the indigenous foods, local restaurants and popular bars/lounges.  We absolutely avoid tourist traps, yet will not shun major, crowded sites, destinations and attractions.  We also aim to get in a fair amount of walking/hiking at least every other day.  While we are certainly conscious of how we spend money, we are fortunately not on a tight budget, and can splurge, if warranted.  Traveling hundreds of miles by car to disparate destinations in somewhat remote regions requires rigorous planning as, in general, we are very conscious of not wasting time.  Put another way, we strive to be as productive as possible while on vacation to make the most of each day.  Thus we began researching these major vacations several months, if not a year, in advance.  Our tool kit includes the standard guide books, a bevy of internet sites, state tourist offices, word of mouth from previous visitors to the area, and articles we’ve read along the way.  At the onset of each journey, we have a detailed outline of where we’re headed and what we want to accomplish each day.  That said, we are not that highly regimented and can easily deviate from plan on the go.

A quick note – This is basically a diary of our trip; mostly so that we can remember it and mentally re-live it down the road.  It is geared toward our tastes and our way of taking a vacation, which can be vastly different from others who are in different stages of their lives, have different backgrounds, different likes/dislikes, more adventurous/less adventurous, and on and on.  That said, I provide a starkly candid and frank description and evaluation of the experiences at each destination, which is completely missing from the vast majority of guide books and internet travel sights which normally have extremely positive biases, and can be disguised marketing tools for many of these destinations.  Thus for those looking to explore these areas, while not all within here will be applicable to all travelers, it will be uniquely honest and sincere in its assessments.

The Planning Process

Not normally a part of these write-ups, for this trip it became an entity onto itself as one will shortly see.  First, where in the U.S. do you start?  We traversed New Mexico the last time out, so the Southwest was out of the equation.  We also planned a September trip when the kids are back in school – less crowds, lower pricing.  (More on this later). 

I had my heart set on visiting Mount Rushmore for reasons that to this day I can’t explain, and the spouse let me run with it.  So I got out my trusty U.S. map and discovered that Mt. Rushmore is located in Southwestern South Dakota.  We’re planning for a two week vacation –  never having been even remotely close to this section of the country, we knew nothing of this or the surrounding area – where else do you go from here?  From the perspective of this map it looked to be in the middle of nowhere.  This is where my engineering background came through (sort of).  I grabbed a compass, put the point on Mt. Rushmore and drew concentric circles.  Knowing a bit of U.S. geography, I expected sights throughout Colorado to fall within the circles.  Much to my surprise, the radius encompassed Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks in Wyoming – a “see the U.S.” vacation started falling into place (well almost).

Being somewhat of a history buff and a President Roosevelt and National Park fan, Teddy Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota also fell well within the radius.  Now the true semblance of an agenda took hold.  Mount Rushmore and the surrounding area, then onto the more secluded Teddy Roosevelt National Park in N.D., a drive through Montana takes us to Yellowstone National Park, and then just South of there to Grand Teton and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  Now the real planning begins – driving distances between stops, days/nights at each location, researching and booking hotels, then outlining a daily agenda, among others.

Here one has to, unfortunately, book this trip inside-out, or put the cart before the horse.  Why?  We quickly learned the more upscale accommodations within Yellowstone and Grand Teton N.P.’s book up a year ahead of time (in the summer months).  We were well within this year, but booking for the less crowded September timeframe, still had a chance.  Time was of the essence.  Get out the following year’s calendar and find dates in September, but remember we were starting our journey at Mt. Rushmore – that was the crux of the vacation.  We would be in Yellowstone and Grand Teton at the end of the trip.  Working with minimal information, we had to estimate how many nights we would be in South and North Dakota, and when we would then arrive at Yellowstone and then how many nights we would be at Yellowstone and Grand Teton, knowing almost nothing about these areas.  Finally, we would pick hotels inside each park and get something confirmed and in writing, as they say.  Hopefully, we would be able to tweak things later on, if necessary.

There is an entity called Xanterra that evidently has the exclusive contract for hotel bookings within Yellowstone N.P., and through Xanterra, we booked the Lake Yellowstone hotel and then quickly booked the Jenny Lake Lodge in the Grand Tetons.  (Much more on this later).  Then we backtracked, if our first night in Yellowstone is September (fill in the date) – how many days before this would we be in Teddy Roosevelt N.P., then how many days prior to that would we in the Mount Rushmore region.  Pulling all this together, we wound up at what normally would be step one – booking flights to the first destination – Rapid City, S.D.  (As an aside, one quickly learns that Rapid City is the “hub” for exploration of Mount Rushmore and the like). Finally we walked through each day at each destination coming to the final day in Wyoming and bookending the trip with a flight out of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  But now we had time, the hotels that get sold out early were set; no more rushing.  We had well over six months to do our usual, methodical planning and due diligence, and derived this rough vacation outline.

AGENDA

• Rapid City Region, South Dakota – 5 nights
• Drive to Teddy Roosevelt N.P. in Medora, North Dakota – 235 miles
• Teddy Roosevelt N.P. – 2 nights
• Drive through Montana to North entrance of Yellowstone N.P. – 420 miles
• North entrance of Yellowstone N.P. – 2 nights
• Lake Yellowstone Hotel in Yellowstone N.P. – 3 nights
• Jenny Lake Lodge in Grand Teton N.P. – 2 nights
• Jackson Hole, Wy. – 2 nights

A few comments on the agenda:  As far as the days in each location – that worked out perfectly, and we would not have changed out one day; it was just the right amount of time at each destination.  With regard to the dates we chose in September – working the vacation backwards as I spoke about at length was not ideal, and in retrospect we should’ve begun the trip 5-7 days earlier in the month as the weather turned a bit ugly (i.e. wintery) a day after we arrived at Yellowstone.  If traveling here and looking to avoid the summer crowds and kids, don’t wade too far into September for a number of reasons, not just weather, which we’ll get into in the Yellowstone section.

We have never been even remotely close to this section of the country (as I’m sure is the same for many), and thus had zero idea of what to expect and what we were in for, making the trip even that much more exciting.

The Black Hills of South Dakota

Mount Rushmore lies within the so-called Black Hills of South Dakota, and this whole region is centered and served by Rapid City.  While we originally thought three nights here would be plenty, our research surprisingly uncovered several “must-do” attractions, and touring the black hills without having to return requires five nights, in my humble opinion.  With our dates anchored by the hotel reservations in Yellowstone and Grand Teton, we simply began the trip with a flight into Rapid City earlier than previously envisioned.  I know what many are thinking – how in the world can you spend 5 days and nights in South Dakota?  Here’s a simple answer: Mt. Rushmore, The Badlands National Park, Crazy horse memorial, Custer State Park, Minute Man missile historical site, Deadwood, and others.  Some of these are well known attractions, others not so much; but sometimes it’s the lesser known attractions that provide the biggest upside (and to some degree that was the case here).

Rather than walk through a day by day, a much more interesting and informative read would be the highlights and general impressions of our time here.  First, here’s the agenda:

Day 1 – Mount Rushmore, Hill City attractions/lunch, Rapid City walk around

Day 2 – Wall Drugs, Minute Man Missile Site tour, Badlands National Park

Day 3 – Custer State Park, Wind Cave, Custer City walk around/lunch, Evening in Deadwood

Day 4 – Sylvan Lake, Scenic drive of Needles Highway, Crazy Horse Memorial Day 5 – Drive to Northern region – Spearfish Canyon, Tour of Leads, Deadwood attractions

Some color on the itinerary:  Both Wind Cave NP and Jewel Cave NM were closed for upgrades, etc.  With that in mind, this 5 day itinerary was almost perfect in all aspects.  We hit all the majors and then some while leaving time for moderate hiking/exploring.  That said, we had exceptionally full days, starting early in the morning and ending back at the hotel late afternoon – without feeling rushed.  Then a quick refresh brought us to cocktail hour before a later dinner, then finally settling back in the room mid-evening.  So on the go all day and well into the night, spending very little time in the hotel room.  This may be too much for some, but our motto is simple:  You’re on vacation, make the most and cherish each moment.  Finally, we strategically clustered each day’s adventures close to one another as best we could to minimize driving times between sites (with our hotel in Rapid City remaining the jumping off point each day).

We had dropped Jewel Cave N.P. from the list even before we had discovered it was closed, as it was somewhat out of the way.  For wind cave, we did a hike above ground and a drive through the area, which brought us into contact with a huge herd of Buffalo – well worth it, and a bit lucky.  If both these caves were open for tours, etc., you could easily make a case for a 6th day in the black hills of S.D.  Additionally, while we avoided the hokey touristy and kid attractions like the plague, there were a small number of “B” attractions that didn’t make the cut, adding even more fuel to a 6th day.

As depicted in the map above, the minuteman missile site and Badlands N.P. are in close proximity; both about one hour or so due east from Rapid City. Obviously seeing these the same day makes good sense. Along Route 90 heading to the Badlands one passes an infamous tourist spot – Wall Drugs, which believe it or not is a must do if passing – more on this in the individual write-ups. All told, these three attractions in this eastern section of the black hills creates a nice full day of touring. We determined early on that we would use a “guide” for this day (the only time we used a guide the entire trip), believing it would be more time efficient and informative for the guide to pick us up at the hotel and do the one hour drive and the three stops for us. We chose an entity called “GeoFunTrek” and found the guide to be very friendly, informative, and helpful, though a bit too talkative. More on this in the individual write-ups on these attractions.

Mount Rushmore

Very cool to see, extremely impressive and enjoyable – what else is there to say.  Everyone has seen pictures, and it certainly doesn’t disappoint in person.  So much has been written on Mount Rushmore, I’ll keep my comments brief, after all who’s going to come all this way and not see it.  It’s always interesting to learn about the history of how it all began, the sculptor in charge, the process, the many pitfalls, the carving stories, and finally the successful completion (or in this case the almost completion).  We had the good fortune to meet the last surviving carver (by 12 years) of Mt. Rushmore in the gift shop (and purchased his book as an honorary to him).  Unfortunately, he passed soon thereafter.  One can do all that’s necessary here in a full morning.

Minute Man Missile National Historical Site

While I thought this would a fascinating few hours, the spouse was quite reticent as it had the earmarks of what could’ve been a tourist trap.  Nothing could have been further from the truth.  It turned out to be one of the highlights of the black hills.  Once manned 24/7 by specially trained minuteman personnel during the cold war, it was decommissioned as part of a treaty with Russia. 

It remains as it was that day and has the early 1980’s written all over it.  More importantly, the guided tour through the underground control room was spell-binding.  As detailed by the tour guide a 2-man rotating shift was given the responsibility of manning this very small space 24-7.  If given the orders from the President to retaliate for a nuclear weapons strike coming from the Soviet Union, each would turn a key, launch the missiles and thus most likely end the world as we know it – thought provoking to say the least.  Touring the control facility, which includes the living and eating quarters and a very well done museum up the road apiece are truly must do’s in this area, and are not nearly as tourist trodden.  Most people visiting here seem to skip this – it’s a mistake.  Between the control facility tour (book in advance) and the museum plan a few solid hours here.  We passed on visiting and looking into the actual missile silos, another part of this trio attraction, as it seemed too hokey.

Wall Drug

Originally a drug store for the local population, to keep business and attract people as the local population dwindled, the owners advertised free water for tourists traveling along route 90 – this worked extremely well and Wall Drugs has grown into an entity unto itself. This super kitschy must do tourist stop is a sprawling cafe/souvenir shop/restaurant/bakery and everything tourist that is also renowned for its donuts. We quickly walked through the surprisingly crowded cavernous shop purchasing only the donuts, which were downright awful. Checking this off the list it was off to the Badlands

Badlands National Park

A super cool geologic formation that as the name implies has the look of an inhospitable moonscape.  We hiked many of the smaller and one of the larger trails through here.  For those not so walking inclined, several of the smaller hikes will do just fine.  It is such a unique environment and landscape, pictures simply don’t capture the awe inspiring rock formations, cliffs, valleys and mountainous regions over a 365 degree panoramic.  Here, the guide came in extremely handy.  The castle trail, approximately 5 miles long, took us through a main section of the Badlands.  He dropped us off at the trail head, and picked us up around the other side.  Five miles one way was fine, the 10 mile round trip would’ve been out of the question.

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Custer State Park

Not one of the well-known attractions outside this region, the scenic ride turned into a Bison viewing bonanza.  Twice the road directly in front of our vehicle was literally overrun by herds of Bison.  Not one or two in the distance, but dozens, if not close to one hundred, that at one point skirted our rental car.  Enough said – this alone was more than worth the drive.  To this day, not sure if we were lucky or this is an everyday occurrence.

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Wind Cave National Park

Closed for renovation,we did a moderate length hike (obviously above ground), which was quite scenic but nothing extraordinary.  Bad timing for us as far as viewing both this and Jewel Cave (which was also closed for upgrades).  Located just South of Custer State Park, the drive back into Custer State park brought us in contact with a second herd of Bison (as alluded to above, and, on the contrary, quite good timing here).  All said, touring these caverns would’ve likely added even that much more to our days in South Dakota

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Sylvan Lake

An offshoot off Custer State Park and similarly a much lesser known attraction, this is a picturesque lake with a famous long hike to the highest peak in the black hills.  Coming off a big uneventful hike the previous day in lieu of exploring Wind Cave, we (and especially the spouse) just weren’t motivated for a 7.6 mile round tripper with a somewhat steep climb to the top.  So we hiked this main trail a few miles then turned back toward the lake.  Overall, Sylvan lake was beautiful and the walk/hike circling the lake was delightful.  That said, the overall vibe of the area screamed of a half day outing for the working class locals.  In that vein, a true state park type of feel.  Nevertheless, a half day here is truly warranted – go early.

Needles Highway Scenic Drive

Wow!  An amazing drive next to and through mind-blowing rock formations.  We pulled over a few times to to get out of the SUV and snap pictures from all angles (as does almost everyone else).  While there were a number of sight-seers when we were there, we could still navigate this drive without feeling too hemmed-in.  One tunnel at the heart of the drive only allows traffic in one direction.  I cannot imagine the back-up during high season, it would certainly take away from the experience.

Crazy Horse Monument

Before I begin, here’s an important tip to viewing the Crazy Horse Monument.  And this may be the most important take-away from this entire guide.  If one joins the Crazy Horse Monument society for a charitable tax-deductible gift of $100/person, one receives tickets for a special van ride up to the top of the mountain and stands literally in front of Crazy Horse’s 87 foot tall face.  After experiencing this monument, we would’ve paid double to do this, its worth every penny and it goes toward a great cause.

Now, seeing Crazy Horse from the viewing platforms at the base is absolutely fantastic, especially knowing how much more there is to carve (which may not be completed in my daughters lifetime).  That said, words simply cannot describe the sense one feels seeing the carving directly in front of your face.  It overwhelms the senses.  I was awestruck, speechless and it literally took my breath away.  When I could finally muster words, “oh my god” is all that came out of me.  My wife dropped to her knees and sat for several minutes on the rough rocky ground, overcome by it all.  It’s simply impossible to describe how the 87-foot tall face of the carving moves you.  You just have to go to the top and experience it.  The guide was quite prepared for our mesmerized, transfixed, spell-bound response – he had seen that many, many times before. As far as the agenda, we got lucky that we scheduled Crazy Horse at the end of our time here and after we viewed Mt. Rushmore.  It was the highlight of our trip to the Black Hills.  While we expected a great afternoon at the monument we never would have envisioned it surpassing Mount Rushmore and becoming an awe-inspiring, transformational moment in our vacation.  Once again, please remember to donate to Crazy Horse well in advance of your trip here and receive the special tickets to the top – it’s the only way to do it.  Money well spent.

Deadwood/Spearfish/Leads

About an hours drive north of the main attractions in the Black hills and Rapid City are these three adjacent towns.  We hit them on the drive up to North Dakota.  Let me spend a few minutes on each.

Deadwood.  We visited twice, once in the evening and two days later as I mentioned on the
 way North.  Back in the gold rush days, Deadwood was the central town housing the miners and its main thoroughfare included saloons, hardware stores, motels, brothels, diners, etc. all catering to these adventurers.  It lives in infamy for Saloon No. 10 where Wild Bill Hickok was shot dead at a card game.  Indeed a replica of the bar at the same location is a tourist attraction to this day.  As a testament to its past, the town was granted a casino license and is trying to become the nightlife hotspot of the region, hence our evening visit.  Look, as a Vegas veteran I was not expecting anything close to that sort of experience compounded by the fact that we were there during the week and a bit off-season.  That said, it’s a tough proposition.  The local population is just too small to fill it, even though its just a handful of establishments on a small main road, and I’m not sure visitors to the region are the right demographics (aside from the infamous Sturgis motorcycle rally week, which if your not a motorcycle enthusiast, you avoid at all costs).  Nevertheless, on a weekend during the height of summer, one could imagine more action when night falls.  The place for dinner is the deadwood social club above the saloon where Hickok was shot.  We got a bad vibe from this restaurant for a number of reasons, which brevity precludes me from getting into here.  We got up and left, opting to sit at the bar at the Legends casino down the street, where we grabbed a wonderful steak dinner and had quite a nice time there.

Deadwood during the day was a different matter.  There are two main attractions; the Adams House and Adams Museum, which we enjoyed thoroughly and would highly recommend.  You never know what you’re going to get when you hit these small museum and house tours; but these were top notch attractions.  Through the family who lived in the house and governed the town for several generations from the late 1800’s one gets a sense of the real history and dynamics of the area, especially during the gold rush times.  If we weren’t on our way to North Dakota, we could’ve spend even more time here.

Spearfish  There are a plethora of hikes/trails/scenic drives/walks and various other outdoor attractions filling guide books of these types of locales.  Similar to the Deadwood attractions, you never know what you’re really going to get.  The Spearfish canyon scenic byway drive and hikes was a hugely pleasant surprise, featuring picturesque streams and waterfalls.  Some of the scenery here easily rivaled what we had seen throughout the black hills.  A complete unknown to us and I would guess most others who’ve never explored this region of the country, we would rate it a “must do”.  We arrived in the morning, there were few people around, and the scenery, peacefulness, vistas and nature walks along the streams were a highlight of the entire visit to the region – who would’ve thunk!

Leads  Being a semi-geek, I was intrigued about the only real attraction here – an abandoned, extremely deep underground gold mine, that is now being used for cutting edge theoretical
 physics research.  We had enough time to catch this tour in between Spearfish and Deadwood while still being able to arrive at T.R. national park in Medora, North Dakota well before dark.  Unfortunately, the research we conducted misrepresented what this tour was all about.  It was a bus tour of the small town of Leads and its gold rush history, with the last stop being a look at the giant machines that now lower scientists (not gold miners) into this deep underground lab.  What I expected was just a tour of this cutting edge particle research lab.  After witnessing what’s involved in getting down to the lab, I quickly realized it would be simply too dangerous to lower a tour group that far underground (if the giant machine broke, you’d never get out 😟).  For most I would recommend leaving this attraction out.  Enough said here, off to Deadwood, then our final stop of the day in North Dakota.

Food & Nightlife in Rapid City, S.D.

Those reading our blogs know we like to partake in the regional foods and hit the local establishments, avoiding the touristy spots and chain restaurants one can find anywhere.  In this region bison and elk comprise much of the local fare, and we partook enthusiastically.  Through our disparate research we honed in on a few places both in Rapid City and the surrounding environs, and thoroughly enjoyed the regional hearty cuisine.  I will say this, several restaurants ran out of a few items on the menu including the signature dishes.  We chalk this up to: 1) It was nearing end of season and some restaurants either close or slim down to skeletal staff early fall through mid spring, and 2) There was simply a larger influx of visitors in Sept. 2019 then there had been historically, (we heard this bantered about by the locals several times).  Either way, the inability of restaurants to keep up with demand paints a stereotypically poor picture of small town America, and left us a bit scratching our heads.

As far as nightlife goes, there was slightly more than I expected, with the bar at the base of our hotel, the Hotel Alex Johnson, and the rooftop lounge, being two of the hotspots at opposite ends of the drinking spectrum.  Again, nothing monumental, but we weren’t looking for or expecting that either.  The one night of the five we went out looking for nightlife – the drive up to Deadwood, we found it somewhat cheesy and uneventful, as detailed earlier.  All in all, Rapid City is certainly more than a one horse town, and there a few upscale (relatively speaking) restaurants and a small handful of bars and cocktail locations to be had.

Rapid City Reflections

We had some late afternoons to explore this city heading towards dinner or just wandering about.  This is not a a one main street town like we had seen traveling through southern New Mexico during our last domestic vacation.  It spans about 3-4 streets long by 5-6 streets wide.  The city is clean but aged and more sprawling then we expected.  There a few historical sites, but nothing to go out of your way for.  There’s some nightlife here and the restaurants are open late.  That said, we didn’t come to Rapid City to party and sight see – its just home base for Mt. Rushmore and the like.  In that vein, the city seems to use Mt. Rushmore as a cornerstone to build a patriotic, all-American theme to the downtown area including placing bronze statues of each president on a different street corner.  But this theme falls short as its not fully embraced, and has a sense of a work in progress though there’s nothing new about it.

While not wanting to go off on a socio-economic rant, I’d like to make a few observations.  On these “see the heartland” trips, we go to small town America with an open mind and the hopes of finding quaint, charming, local undiscovered places and expect wholesome, friendly, heartwarming, salt of the earth service.  Yes, we’re here to see the grand spectacles, of course, but we also look to uncover unique local experiences and to learn about the area from stopping in a local shop/restaurant/lounge/outdoor market, etc.  While we do have these experiences at times, it can be unrealistic – sometimes it’s simply small town America and we’re looking too hard to find the charm, the quaintness that just isn’t there.  There’s a reason why it’s a small town – few people want to live there and many that do are looking to get out.  You can get inexperienced, unsure, go-through-the-motions service because there’s not proper training, and the people simply don’t have experiences outside of their secluded areas.  (Sorry to be so harsh).  Portions of Rapid City fall into this latter bucket.  Not fully, but portions.  But that’s ok, we expect too much.  Interestingly, we didn’t see many young people – it’s a middle aged and older group here.  Some of that may have had to do with going in September when you run into the traveling motor coaches dropping off herds of senior citizens.

The Black hills region sees a huge summer influx of tourists and then almost nothing October through May, requiring massive seasonal hiring.  We learned that this is accomplished via international college students looking to earn some money if they can’t go home during summer break.  Indeed the local ranchers who live around the area would bristle at their kids working as a cashier or the like at one of the tourist spots.  One unfortunate conclusion from this dynamic is that much of the tourist money that comes into this region seasonally doesn’t create as many jobs for the local population as one would expect.  Hence, the idea of turning what would normally be long forgotten gold rush towns and wilderness into a tourist destination (which was the original idea behind Mt. Rushmore) to create new jobs and build up the local economy is really not having the desired effect.

Summary

I’ll be extremely brief – our time here was spectacular.  There’s multiple top tier attractions to be had.  Anyone looking to explore America’s heartland must put this region at the top of the list.  Remember the tour to stand directly in front of Crazy Horse Monument for a charitable donation is transformational.  Overall, an unforgettable, remarkable, truly amazing experience.

Teddy Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

The 218 mile drive from Deadwood to Medora, ND was as just as expected.  Medora is a 1 1/2 street town that seems to have the National Park as its sole source of existence.  When we arrived in mid September about half the town was shut down for the season, including the main row of stores.  There were three eating establishments open and I believe just 2-3 hotels.  The Americinn hotel by Wyndham where we stayed was basic but absolutely fine given the middle of nowhere area – we upgraded to the suite which gave us a sitting room and some nice extra space.  We would spend two nights here and one full day exploring the park, starting early in the morning at the main South Unit entrance, going back to town for lunch, and hitting the Painted Canyon visitor center entrance in the afternoon.  One explores the park via a convenient 36 mile interior loop drive (a portion of which was unfortunately closed for repairs during our visit, requiring us to backtrack along the route).  The sites here were spectacular and mostly mimicked and even a few times surpassed the Badlands in South Dakota.  Not surprisingly, this region is also referred to as the Badlands.  Not wanting to wander too far into the wilderness, we did several of the shorter hikes along the drive and loved it.  A scenic drive slightly off the main loop took us literally on top of an enormous herd of Buffalo.  A few snapshots below capture these amazing moments.

Accommodations and Restaurants

While the fanciest spot in town – the T.R. rough rider hotel – seemed the logical choice from afar, it was relatively expensive given the location (lets remember we’re in rural North Dakota), and received mixed internet reviews at best.  So we stayed in an upgraded room at the more moderate and much less expensive Americinn Inn – and would recommend it to others exploring this area.  It was clean, well run, and the service was just fine.  One big drawback was the included breakfast, which was downright awful.  Indeed it will always be remembered as the worst hotel breakfast we’ve ever had.

The restaurants serving local fare were fantastic and the western cowboy and rancher atmosphere lives right up to expectations.  Night one was bison ribeye at the Little Missouri saloon and it was phenomenal.  Lunch the next day was elk burger at Boots another gem, though I was disappointed with the hometown dessert called Kuchin.  Finally, we had a blast eating at the bar at the Rough Rider Inn our last night in town (the main restaurant was short-staffed and didn’t seem to be up to the task with most of the summer help gone.  Part of the Rough Rider hotel, the poor vibe we received entering the restaurant confirmed our belief that the skipping this hotel was the correct choice).  All in all, we also discovered Medora is a good bar town (the three or so establishments that exist).  Below are a few snapshots of the town including the only row of stores which were closed for the season.

Summary and Editorial

In a sentence, this is one backwater western town with fantastic indigenous food connected to a spectacular out of the way National Park.  Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our one day and two nights here.  Going in September we ran into the same off-season issues we encountered in South Dakota, but to an even greater extent.  Indeed, almost half the town was shut down and what was open was on limited staff.  Though we didn’t mind the kidsy and super touristy stuff being closed.  While the park itself was not at all crowded, being so far off the main drag there were more people touring this national park than I had expected.  Much of this has to do with the senior citizen coaches that come through after the summer season, which we encountered in South Dakota as well – be aware of this.  The park vistas, landscapes, and hikes were exceptional, though we were disappointed in the rambling ranger talk on T.R.’s cabin – the Maltese Falcon, left early and explored this later ourselves.  While T.R. National Park and the associated town will not be a top of the list attraction on any National Park or great plains tour, it left indelible memories on us.  A great experience and the full day and two nights were a perfect amount of time – it’s now off through Montana to just outside the North entrance of Yellowstone National Park.  But first, we gassed up at the only station in town – a 1970’s era analog gas pump, where inside an antiquated station you pay the attendant an extremely low gas price.

Drive Through Montana to Yellowstone National Park

We had an early start, as always, no sense hanging around Medora, and really no use eating that breakfast.  We grabbed some to go bites, packed up the car and were off, as this 450 mile, circa 6 hour drive would be the longest, by far, of our vacation.  With an 80-85 mph limit, I mistakenly expected to see a few sports cars testing out some three figure speeds.  Didn’t see any of that, trucks were the main scenery on the road (we were also out quite early).  Here our trip will differ from most – we have a good friend who grew up in Miles city, Montana, a small town along route 94 in eastern Montana.  138 miles into the drive, we stopped here for breakfast and to explore the town.  This is another cowboy/rancher town but to the extreme, and a bit larger than I expected – having a decent size suburb surrounding a town with basically one main street.  That said, not a stop for most along this stretch.  Billings is the main “city” along this route and is about halfway to Yellowstone, most would probably stop here for lunch and to break up the drive, though Billings seems like a city of chain stores, national restaurant establishments, fast food and the like.

Not in many guide books or travel/hotel web sites, the spouse found a relatively new, upscale accommodation called Sage Lodge.  This was a real treat after spending several nights in comfortable yet very basic hotels in South and North Dakota.  Located in Prey, Montana,  outside the North entrance of Yellowstone, we arrived mid afternoon after almost a full day of driving.

Yellowstone National Park

Rather than go through the day-by-day, I’ll summarize and highlights/lowlights our 4 1/2 days and 5 nights in the park.  Two nights at Sage Lodge and three nights inside the park at the Lake Yellowstone hotel in Lake Village.

Introduction

There are a plethora of websites, guide books, travel sites and the like on Yellowstone and there is no reason to recreate another one here.  The park is huge and as such contains a whole host of areas to explore.  The shear variety, diversity and abundance of geological and geothermal features runs the gamut of ones imagination, not to mention potential wildlife sightings.  It’s just awe inspiring how many natural wonders emanate from this one small section of the earth now encompassed within Yellowstone National Park, the largest national park in the U.S.  As is our custom, we methodically planned our days in advance and tactically explored each section of the park.  Below is an outline of our itinerary, which worked extremely well.  The overriding goal was to cluster the sightseeing in specific regions to minimize driving times – both back and forth from the two hotels and intraday between sights.  This also included avoiding as best as possible driving the same route repetitively, as the scenic drives are part of the experience.  Keep in mind when perusing the itinerary, Yellowstone is enormous and there are likely several ways to effectively navigate the park.  In retrospect we believe 4 1/2 days is an optimal amount of time to see it all and following the program below will get you to all the sights and then some, efficiently.  Finally, we traversed Yellowstone using two widely separated hotels as home base.  We would encourage this strategy as well.  Not only does it optimize driving time, it also avoids the repetitiveness of traversing over the same roads back to the hotel.

Accommodations

Yellowstone accommodations run the gamut, both inside and outside the park.  From tents, campgrounds and RV hook-ups to very basic cabins to quasi-luxury hotels and everything in between.  As mentioned earlier, we found a newly opened resort about 30 miles north of the park – Sage Lodge in Pray, Montana where we stayed for two nights, followed by the Lake Yellowstone hotel inside the park for the next three.  The views from Sage Lodge were absolutely breathtaking and the room was extraordinary.  We would highly recommend this more obscure lodging, with one caveat, which I highlight below.  There are two restaurants on site, which works out perfectly for a two night stay.  Dinner at both restaurants was superb.  Without breaking tradition, we spent an hour or so each day at the bar in the main restaurant and got to know the bartender.  The service at the hotel though was spotty.  Our dinner reservations continually got changed, moved, and “messed-up” likely due to a wedding there that same weekend.  Other services, whether it be room cleaning, the front desk, breakfast, etc. would also fall at times under the amateurish moniker.  We chalk this up to two items – being a year old the hotel was still having growing pains, and more importantly just a lack of experienced luxury resort employees in this very rural, low population area of Southern Montana.  All that said, we expect the service will improve as time goes on, and it was just so beautiful and peaceful we would stay here again in a heartbeat.

Inside the park, it was a tough choice between the two luxury hotels; Old Faithful Inn and Lake Yellowstone.  Both had been recently renovated.  We chose Lake Yellowstone mostly based upon location.  With off-season rates lower than normal we upgraded the room to a suite, which was quite large and comfortable.  But this was no Sage Lodge.  Staying inside the park is absolutely wonderful and of course very convenient to all the sites, but keep in mind you are inside a “government” entity and as such it’s going to have a much different feel.  Much was certainly above average, but nothing more (with the exception of the valet, which was superb).  The lounge and lobby bar were nice, but not as spectacular as what was touted in the guide books/travel sites.  The front desk and room service were barely adequate, and we had to ask several times for what were supposed to be standard room amenities.  One should anticipate a higher end mountain lodge, but nothing near a 4-5 star luxury resort.  As for the restaurant, it reminded me of dinners at one of the old time catskill summer resorts (those who grew up in the NYC area will relate to this).  One gets an impression of mass quantity food preparation in the kitchen two steps above cafeteria style with vats of mashed potatoes plated with an ice cream scoop.  Overall, the restaurant was somewhat elegant and the food was absolutely fine, but nothing to write home about. As far as the other premium hotel in the park, Old Faithful Inn, we hung out there for a bit while seeing Old Faithful.  The lobby area is huge, amazingly well done, and superbly matches the rustic surroundings.  it’s just gorgeous.  The crowded hustle, bustle, however, even early in the morning was a bit disconcerting (and we don’t shy away from action).  Not sure if this is a better choice than the more serene Lake Yellowstone hotel, just due to the frenzy going on in the lobby.  That said, we did not see the rooms at the old Faithful Inn, so can’t make any intelligent comparison.  If we ever get back to Yellowstone, I would give the hotel a shot, having already stayed at the Lake Yellowstone hotel and been somewhat underwhelmed.

Itinerary

Again this itinerary starts from the north entrance using a Northern hotel home base and moves to a more central hotel as the two starting points over the 4 1/2 days

Day 1

• Roosevelt Arch Entrance
• Mammoth Hot Springs
• Tower Roosevelt area and Tower Falls
• Lamar Valley
• Back to Mammoth Hot Springs to view elk on way out of park

Highlights of Day 1

• Mammoth Hot Springs itself
• Viewing numerous Elk up close all through Mammoth Hot Springs and Northern entrance

Lowlights of Day 1

• Drive through Lamar valley – saw absolutely no wildlife
• Tower Roosevelt Lodge was already closed for the season – guide books and internet sites said it was open and we planned to have lunch there
• Short hike scheduled in Tower Roosevelt area to tower falls impossible due to consistent heavy rain

Day 2

• Norris Geyser Basin
• Canyon Village for lunch
• Hayden valley drive and stops
• Lake Yellowstone Hotel in Lake Village – check in and lobby
• Walk around Lake Yellowstone

Highlights of Day 2

• Norris Geyser Basin Itself – we expected a lot and it was still amazing
• Lunch at diner in Canyon Village (find out name of diner)
• Walk around the edge of Lake Yellowstone

Lowlights of Day 2

• Snowed most of the day
• Less than ideal experience checking into Lake Yellowstone hotel
• Come to realize park in general was at the beginning of seasonal shut down mode
  

Day 3

• Old Faithful and Upper Geyser Basin
• Grand Prismatic Springs
• Hike to/from Fairy Falls and Fairy Falls itself
• Madison
• Gibbon Falls
• Artist Paintpots
• Hayden Valley
• Pictures by Lake Yellowstone

Highlights of Day 3

• Grand Prismatic Spring – the most amazing single sight in all of Yellowstone, in our opinion
• Fairy Falls hike and falls – off the beaten track and just spectacular – one can get right up close to the falls with very few people around
• Artist Paintpots – certainly a secondary attraction, but we loved it
• Pictures by Lake Yellowstone

Lowlights of Day 3

• Old Faithful – walked up to a high viewing point touted by the guide books – while we missed the geyser going off, it was a poor viewing point anyway.  Viewed the next eruption from an area adjacent to the geyser and it was anti-climatic
• There was no wildlife to be found along the Hayden Valley turnouts
• Dinner at the Lake Yellowstone hotel

Day 5

• Check out of hotel and drive South
• West Thumb geyser basin
• Lewis lake and short hike to Lewis Falls
• Exit park at South Entrance and enter Grand Teton National Park

Highlights of Day 5

• Serene, picturesque falls at Lewis Lake – a secondary attraction that again surpassed expectations

Lowlights of Day 5

• Hotel checkout – simply put, the hotel is just poorly run

Let me start off by saying the following is extremely difficult to write without coming across as offensive, elitist, and pretentious, but I’m going to give it a shot because I believe it’s an important part of the equation.  Yellowstone is a vacation destination for the masses and the multitudes.  it attracts an RV type, blue collar crowd – and that’s absolutely ok.  Indeed many of the accommodations are skewed towards this demographic with an abundance of camping grounds, no-frill cabins, and rudimentary, rustic lodges versus a small handful of full service, more upscale luxury accommodations.  This vibe was compounded by the fact that few places were open when we were there
.  As an example, the Lake Yellowstone hotel lobby bar area and restaurant, were touted as the most elegant in the park.  As the rabble shuffled into the hotel lobby from the campgrounds and lodges in the vicinity, the restaurant and lobby bar was overly crowded (as it was the only one open for miles) and any fine dining feel was quickly squashed.  Not that this type of crowd takes anything away from the sights of the park.  Nevertheless, it’s important to note that those looking for a more premium, luxurious, pampering feel in the evening after a full day of sightseeing, hiking, and driving will not find it at Yellowstone.  At least that was our experience.  One other item worth noting – the coaches/buses of international tourists can overwhelm a popular sightseeing spot if your timing is off.  At one site, we found ourselves almost running to get ahead of a giant coach that was about to unload.

Summary

Born out of a super giant volcano that erupted three times, the last one 640,000 years ago – quite recent by geological standards – the myriad of geothermal features that are still gushing and bubbling in one form or another are absolutely mind blowing.  To say what we experienced in Yellowstone is unique is an understatement, it is among the most “out of this world” sights on the planet, and the variety of these geological features boggles the mind.  From the terraces at Mammoth hot springs, to painted and mud pots, to fumaroles at Norris Geyser to the Grand Prismatic Spring to Old Faithful and all the places in-between – they were truly extraordinary.  Pictures, videos and descriptions cannot due it justice – it must be seen!  While everyone will have their own personal favorites, we found some of the secondary and tertiary attractions more exciting/fascinating/serene than some of the more hot spots (pun intended).  To be sure, we thought the most famous attraction, Old Faithful, was the most disappointing.  On this note, getting out of the car and walking towards areas not accessible by tourist bus can bring a much more pleasant experience – both the hike in and of itself as well as the falls or the like at the culmination of the trek.  While the geothermal scene in total was absolutely sensational and for sure a once-in-a-lifetime experience, after a full few days of it one gets kinda burnt out – and although each attraction is individually distinctive, it can begin to overwhelm the senses and be way too much at once.  It was geothermal overload, and near the end we were geysered out.

Our favorite attractions in the Park:

• Grand Prismatic Spring – (the spouses favorite of them all)
• Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (including several different viewing areas, the associated upper and lower falls and the hikes in between)
• Norris Geyser Basin
• Fairy Falls – (including the hike to and from the falls)
• All the elk around Mammoth hot springs
• Mud volcano area
• Artist Paint pots

Entering Yellowstone expectations were very high, and for the most part these expectations were solidly met.  Several sights will never be forgotten – and that’s just it – you see it, you never forget it and you never need to go again.  It definitely can be a “one and done” destination, but in a very positive way.  We were absolutely thrilled we went, and would highly recommend it without hesitation to anyone contemplating this type of trip.  One other item worth reiterating, going in Mid-late September we hit some pretty awful weather and the beginning of shut down mode which took away from the experience at times – this was simply our mistake – a week earlier would’ve been much better on all fronts (or we were just unlucky with the weather).  While we are not sure how much of the crowd we avoided going when we did, those experiencing better weather at the park and all venues open, will likely have an even more fulfilling experience.  Overall, a once in a lifetime event – just go, plan diligently, and don’t let the masses get in your way.

Grand Teton National Park

Connected to the Southern edge of Yellowstone National Park via the John D. Rockefeller Memorial Parkway, exiting Yellowstone from the South it’s difficult to even determine when one officially enters Grand Teton N.P.  While Grand Teton is nowhere near the size of Yellowstone, it’s a “lengthy” park from North to South, and we found the most efficient way to see all the sites is to break it into 2-3 pieces.  Entering via the North entrance determined our itinerary and the order of accommodations (if staying in more than one hotel, which unlike Yellowstone, is not necessary here).  In our case, North, then Central and South. 

At its heart, this is a park comprised of viewing Mt. Moran in the northern end, and the Teton range in the central/south, splattered with several gorgeous lakes, and the snake river running North-South along the eastern boundary.

We spent in total 4 nights and 3 days in and around the park.  Unlike the other stops along this journey, Grand Teton N.P. is associated with a more urban, lively, happening town center – Jackson, creating a completely different dynamic which I will elaborate on at some length in the “Impressions and Summary section”.  Without sounding too blasé, your day(s) at Grand Teton are filled with a combination of three activities:  Viewing the Tetons from various locations around the park, numerous hikes and trails, and lake and river activities of ones choosing.  That said, there are a few attractions, but these total a few hours, and aren’t must-do’s.  Thus a trip to this park can be quite idiosyncratic.  Those spellbound by the Tetons, will want to hit all the viewing locales. Those more adventurous, may skip some of the driving for more lake and river activities, horseback riding, longer hikes, or even mountain climbing.  Given that, this is an especially difficult write-up not knowing the audience.  Rather than go through a drab day-by-day of what we did, I’ll highlight our trip with an emphasis on the accommodations and the vibe/atmosphere including impressions and feelings that will differentiate this review from the multitude of tour books and travel websites on the Tetons.

Accommodations

At the outset, we chose to stay at two hotels, one inside and one outside the park.  But one could easily choose one location inside the park as a base and avoid the hassle of changing hotels.  Inside the park, there are two “luxury” hotels; the Jackson lake hotel, and the Jenny Lake Lodge.  With its individual cabins, Jenny Lake seemed the more appropriate fit with the locale, so we chose that latter.  As mentioned in the opening of this piece, you’ll need to book a year in advance if going anywhere near the summer months. 

The city of Jackson and Teton village both just south of the park offer a choice of upscale, high-end hotels.  Truth be told, we love a luxurious resort and we were enticed by a few.  Again, this separates Grand Teton from the other destinations on this American heartland trip.  Given that, instead of staying at Jenny Lake Lodge for the duration, we split our time in the Tetons, choosing the Amangani resort outside the city of Jackson for our final two nights. 

Jenny Lake Lodge

The lodge check in area is quite nice containing a seating area by the fireplace with the restaurant attached.  Similar to the Lake Yellowstone hotel, the room wasn’t ready (even though we didn’t arrive till mid-afternoon).  We chilled with a lemonade by the fireplace.  The cabin was adorable though quite small with a minuscule bathroom.  Nevertheless, we found it charming and loved it.  Breakfast is included with the stay – not a buffet – you choose anything you want from a full service, deluxe menu.  We ate dinner at the lodge twice as well.  Fine dining featuring local fare, and super convenient – right up our alley, though service was a bit spotty.   (find out what else is included with the lodge package). Overall, while the lodge is pricey, it’s almost a must for those exploring the Tetons for any length of time.  There’s no better way to explore and internalize the park then staying in a cabin within it. 

Amangani Resort

We discovered this resort as part of the American Express platinum program, and it is a gem.  A super luxury resort with impeccable service.  It is located in an out of the way residential neighborhood of what looks like ski vacation homes between the south entrance to the Tetonsand the town of Jackson.  With our trip nearing its conclusion, and our major Teton activities almost over, we spent more time at this resort winding down after two full weeks of almost constant on-the-go.  Nothing is perfect, and we did encounter some hiccups at the property, but overall for those looking for an upscale, luxurious stay, we would include the Amangani as a final touch.

Activities and Highlights

As mentioned earlier, this is a park centered around viewing the majestic Tetons, with outdoor activities as adventurous as one wants to push it.  Coming from the North entrance we stopped at Jackson Lake lodge around lunchtime and had some apps and drinks in the outdoor seating area at the Heron Lounge overlooking Jackson Lake and the imposing Mt. Moran (though smaller than the Tetons, it is impressive in its own right).  An absolutely fantastic experience, we didn’t want to leave – we could’ve spent all afternoon here, if we didn’t have the rest of the park to see.  The service was extraordinary and the views spectacular.  The clientele, vibe and tenor here was so completely different from what we encountered at the other stops.  A more sophisticated and refined crowd with more worldly service to match.  Please note, I’m not judging that one is better or worse – just pointing out the stark difference.

Back in the rental, we stopped at most of the turnouts, overlooks and viewing locations to see Mt. Moran, the Teton range, and all that’s in between and around – why not.  Other than the signal mountain road drive, which is a few miles up a mountain, it takes little time to stop, view, and photograph these stately splendors. We would encourage others to hit most of these as well. Below is a small sampling of pics.

We did several hikes, most notable was the hike to hidden falls and inspiration point.  We took the shuttle across Jenny Lake to the start of the hike, which is the most popular route.  The short hike to hidden falls was fabulous.  The hike to inspiration point included a 200 foot or so narrow section along the side of a mountain cliff.  Not for the feint of heart and not called out  in any of the literature or travel sites in our exhaustive research.  The spouse was spooked by it, for sure.  We made it to Inspiration Point, which was spectacular, but the hike planned from there called cascade canyon leading to the foot of the Tetons was cut short.  Thankfully, going back down everything was fine.

The few hours of horseback riding which came as a package with Jenny Lake Lodge is not something we would generally choose, but we had a go out at it, and absolutely loved it.  Getting just a bit out of our comfort zone was fantastic.  Thankfully it came free with the lodge or we would have never tried it.  The adage is so true – always be open to new experiences, especially on vacation.  Now we can add horseback riding to our repertoire on future travel.

I now have to go off on one of the few non-teton viewing attraction at the park – Mormon Row.  Just off the main road, Rte. 191, it is a homestead where a small group of Mormons lived back in the 1800’s.  A few dwellings and assorted buildings from their stint here still remain and have been preserved.  Now the foot of the Tetons and this whole area in general experiences extremely harsh winters (some of the worst in the entire country) due to not only its Northern location, but also its altitude and geographic positioning.  Winters last 7 months long with snowfall measured in feet for most of that time.  On top of this, even today, one is in almost complete solitude with the nearest town dozens of miles away and no clear path through the snow to get there.  To say that these “settlers” were in survival mode for many months is an understatement.  More importantly, why bring a group of people here?  What were you doing that you needed to be in complete isolation in life threatening conditions.  We got a weird vibe that nefarious activities were occurring here.  What – we don’t know, proof – we have none, but a creepy feeling we did get.

We also chose a guided river float tour down the snake river.  While unfortunately there was no wildlife to be seen, the river journey with the Tetons framed against the sky at every bend made for a serene, calm yet exhilarating journey.

At the Southern end of the park lies Moose Junction.  We enjoyed exploring the two small sites at this stop – Menors ferry and the church of the transformation, as well as the informative and well-done film of the Tetons at the Craig Thomas visitors center.  One of the most unique attractions though, was the mile hike to Murie Ranch, where we and about 8 or so others were given a participatory talk on the Muries, and a tour of the house.  While the talk was a bit long and hokey, Mardy Murie was an amazing woman and we were glad to learn about her rich and full life as a pioneering environmentalist and conservationist. 

On our final night at the Amangani, the hotel car dropped us off in the town of Jackson, where we had dinner reservations at the highly acclaimed Snake River Grill.  But first we explored the town.  While Jackson was the most metropolitan of the towns we had visited, it still embraced the cowboy/western motifs of the area.  The couple of downtown blocks had a hopping, hip vibe sprinkled with some shabby, kitschy western/cowboy themes and the associated clientele.  Snake River Grill was absolutely fantastic – it might have been the best meal of the entire vacation.  After dinner we stopped at a few bars/lounges to check out the scene, and it was uplifting to see several places jamming on a Friday night in downtown Jackson. 

Impressions and Summary

The Tetons struck a different chord.  Almost all activities involve viewing and in some ways interacting with the majestic mountain range.  Where the Tetons truly separates itself from its northern neighbor and the parks in the Dakota’s is the tourists that it attracts.  Rather than part of a big summer vacation, the Tetons seem more set-up as a long weekend getaway for the more well-healed traveller (be-it a ski weekend or outdoor activities in the summer).  Adjacent to the up and coming city of Jackson, the park lures more of an upscale crowd creating a distinct classier vibe much different from what we experienced elsewhere.  Please note, I’m not making any judgements on this, it’s just simply what it is.  We have wonderfully fond memories of our time here and felt three full days in the park was about the right amount, though one could certainly push it to just 2 or 2 1/2.  We could envision coming back to the Tetons for a long weekend, maybe trying a different luxury hotel, going out on different hikes, going a different time of the year (not winter!), or potentially finding a new adventure to try and push the envelope a little further.

Overall Trip Summary

If this journey would’ve just equaled our first major “explore the U.S.” trip – New Mexico, we would’ve declared victory.  By sheer volume of awe-inspiring attractions/sites/experiences it clearly surpassed it, almost to a point of sensory overload.  But that’s pretty much what you would want from this type of vacation.  Even within each region each day was so different from the previous. Add to this the disparate territories of the The Black hills of the Dakotas, Yellowstone, and Grand Teton – and you’ve rolled three vacations into one, for sure.  We experienced a plethora of attractions in the Northern heartland of America, got to know the character of these communities and built memories that will last a lifetime.  For a two week or so vacation, the itinerary and agenda laid our here works extremely well and provides very full days of adventure, almost without breaks.  Put your own twist on it, enrich your life with it and most of all just have awesome fun!