I've been saying it for a while, but 2020 is The Year of the Road Trip. So, it was time for me to put my money where my mouth is and plan an EPIC National Parks Road Trip for me and Will, which we dubbed our Dances with Wolves Road Trip. We....well I.....invited Kevin Costner to join us. Oddly, he declined. But, our ten days spent seeing America by Road were truly wonderful! Here's how it all went, the good, the bad, and the awesome. Plus, all the details of our National Parks Road Trip Itinerary! Buckle up!!!!!
National Parks Road Trip
Over the course of 10 days, my husband and I drove over 4000 miles. We started in Dallas, and experienced so many fun days as we explored America by Road, including the states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. See why we dubbed it our Dances with Wolves Road Trip?
Here's my logic for mapping our our trip:
- Neither Will nor I had ever visited Mount Rushmore National Memorial or Yellowstone National Park. Our National Parks Road Trip had to include those two locations, so the big question was.....go West and loop back to Texas, or go North and then West and loop back to Texas. We decided North and then West, because at the time, Colorado was experiencing major wildfires, and we wanted to avoid any overnights in Colorado. And, on our second tier of "must see" National Parks was the Badlands National Park, which is East of both Mount Rushmore National Memorial and Yellowstone National Park. Decision made. Go North to go West.
- A second consideration was: it takes a LONG time to get to where you want to go from Texas. Just getting out of Texas takes a while, and the end of a road trip is always harder than the beginning. So.....I stacked the pain at the end of the trip. And, this actually turned out to be perfect, because at the beginning of our National Parks Road Trip, we saw the landscape change from the Oklahoma prairie, to the Kansas and Nebraska corn fields, to the Black Hills of South Dakota, to the mountains of Wyoming and southern Montana. If you are singing, "From the Mountains....to the Prairies...to the Oceans, white with foam!!!!" trust me....I did that the WHOLE time!
- The final consideration was the size of Yellowstone National Park. It's not a one day deal, y'all. And, I really wanted to spend the night at the historic Old Faithful Inn, and accommodations in National Parks typically book up MONTHS in advance. So, I booked that hotel first, and then backed into the remainder of the trip. I was able to book this entire trip with VERY short notice, but in more normal times, if you want to stay in any National Park Property, I'd plan at least six months in advance!
Planning the Itinerary
I know my threshold of pain, and my limit per day of driving was eight hours in total. So as I planned each leg of the trip, I got us as far as eight hours would take us. Some days we stopped several times to see sites along the way. Some days we drove for 4-5 hours before reaching a particular destination.
I can get REAL deep in the details given the opportunity, and since Will was super flexible, other than seeing the two major National Parks I mentioned in the beginning, I fired up my trusty spread sheet and got to work.
I relied on several sources of information as I worked.
- The app Roadtrippers, which I discussed in a prior Blog Post. Bottom line, this app is populated with information submitted by other Road Trippers. From restaurants, to hotels, historic sites, to clean bathroom stops. There's LOTS of good info to comb through. Think if it like Trip Advisor for the road.
- Speaking of....Trip Advisor was very helpful. Things have changed so much in 2020, and change daily, it seems, Trip Advisor is an excellent resource for up-to-date info, such as crowds, mask policies, hours, etc.
- Google Maps is incredibly helpful in understanding the distance and driving time between two points.
- And finally, blog posts written by other Travel Bloggers like myself. You can find hundreds of Blog Posts about every location under the sun on Pinterest. A wealth of information!
While we MIGHT do a similar road trip in the future, I approached planning as if we will never pass this way again, so I wanted to make sure we saw everything we could, within reason.
Here's the exact itinerary we followed, and more detailed blog posts are coming, with deep information about some of the biggest sites and places we visited:
Day 1: Dallas to Oklahoma City. Then West along I 40, and some stretches of the old Route 66 through Hydro, OK and Clinton,OK, home of Lucille's Roadhouse Lounge and Diner and the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum, respectively. Then North through Freedom, OK with a quick stop and tour of Alabaster Caverns State Park, finally ending our day in Dodge City, Kansas. We spent the night at the Hampton Inn adjacent to the Boot Hill Casino, which was a great location for a quiet night, and just a short 5 minute car ride to the Historic part of Dodge City.
Day 2: Breakfast at the Dodge House Restaurant (awesome old-school steak house), and then we spent the morning in the Boot Hill Museum, exploring its darling recreated Old West Main Street, as well as great artifacts from Dodge City's colorful history. I especially loved seeing reruns and costumes of the TV show Gunsmoke, which was set in Dodge City. Back on the road, and an impromptu lunch stop at the Dairy Barn in Alma, Nebraska. There were ten people standing in line as we drove by, so we figured it was worth a u-turn...and it was!!!!
Then, on to a MUST-STOP MUST-SEE in Minden, Nebraska! The Harold Warp Pioneer Village was so amazing, it deserves it's own Blog Post. Then a long drive through a whole lot of corn fields, crossing the Missouri River into South Dakota, and stopping for dinner at JoDean's Steakhouse, before finally making it to Sioux Falls, to spend the night.
Day 3: Breakfast at Cracker Barrel, ’cause would it REALLY be a road trip without at least one breakfast there, and then we headed West toward the Badlands National Park.
A MUST STOP between Sioux Falls and the National Park, along I 90, is the legendary Corn Palace, in Mitchell, South Dakota. It’s the most amazing, weird, kitschiest place, and you just have to see it!
We arrived at the East Entrance to the Badlands National Park. Another MUST DO. It’s like driving through sand drip castles on Mars. Seriously. It’s amazing. We got out and took pictures along the way, but the Scenic 240 Loop Road took about two hours to drive, going VERY slowly and through VERY twisty roads. The day we visited, it was 107 degrees. That’s hot, even for this Texan!
The 240 Loop Road takes you right back to I 90, and to the famous Wall Drug Store. You will see a zillion billboards advertising this spot. It’s a huge series of buildings selling every kind of souvenir you can imagine, there’s food, restrooms, etc. There were a LOT of people there, in fairly crowded conditions, so we did not linger long.
Now….this is where the road trip got a little illogical, in terms of the shortest distance between point A and point B…..but I had a method to my madness. We drove past Rapid City (which is where Mount Rushmore National Memorial is located), all the way to Spearfish, South Dakota. Probably added 90 minutes to our drive, but I had a reason!
We spent the night at the Spearfish Canyon Lodge. It was nice, and the Latchstring Restaurant nearby, was UNREAL. Probably the best meal we had the whole trip. Spearfish Canyon is very well known for rock climbing, hiking, off roading and fly fishing. It’s located at the north end of the Black Hills National Forest, and it’s gorgeous.
To read the rest of this Epic American Road Trip Itinerary, click here to read the FULL Blog Post: https://thecuriouscowgirl.com/united-states-travel/national-parks-road-trip/