Badlands and surrounding area trip advice

[boltfam]

We live in southwest MI and have to travel to Omaha for our oldest son's baseball tournament in June. The tourney is June 19-21 and we have some flexibility as far as if we can go before or after the tourney. Do you think earlier is better as far as finding lodging/being able to get into the parks (I know I'm late to the game)?

Also, my brother has a motorhome we can rent but Im not sure if that will cause more stress. My dh is willing to drive the motorhome but has never driven one before, so I'm afraid that will stress him out. We have 5 kids age 15 down to 6 and we are used to squeezing into normal size hotel rooms. Dh is also one that feels like we have to see and do everything on vacation and wants to go, go, go. I thought maybe the motorhome would give us more flexibility but my mom (who has done out West in a motorhome) thinks it will stress him out more. Thoughts on motorhome vs.hotel/cabin lodging?

Also, if we leave June 11 (earliest we can leave), that gives us 8 days to travel from Michigan, see our sights, and get back to omaha. I plan on doing the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer State Park, and Jewel Cave for sure. I would love to get to Yellowstone too but honestly that part of it is stressing me out because I'm so late in planning and lodging around there was so expensive. And I'm trying to keep the vacation simple so that dh doesn't get his pants in a bind feeling like we have to do and see everything. Will we have enough to do in just SD? Are there any other must see's? skip yellowstone? Any other places we should do without going all the way to yellostone? We are on a budget and I am trying to not stress myself out planning and not stress my husband out on the trip.

So, basically i'm wondering:
dates
rv or no
what to see and do in about 8 days?

[marinkitty]

You can easily fill 4-5 days in South Dakota. Badlands should be a full day. I've only ever camped there, but you can always base yourself in Rapid City for that (it's 1.5 hours) - but seeing sunrise or sunset over the Badlands is amazing so try to work that in. My kids really love having some extra time for wildlife spotting (big horns, buffalo, prairie dogs) and we did several short hikes. Wall Drugs is a total tourist trap but a fun quick stop to grab some donuts. I'd give yourself a full day for the Badlands.

We stayed at Under Canvas near Keystone in the Black Hills for a few days about five years ago to explore the area. It takes a surprisingly long time to get around there - the roads are very winding and slow. And things are more spread out than it seems on a map. Spearfish canyon is amazing and the little town of Spearfish is a fun stop for a lunch. Custer State Park can easily take two days. The wildlife loop is fun to drive more than once at different times of days. My kids loved feeding the wild donkeys carrots too. And drive the Needles for sure and get out to hike (parking is limited so you need to try to hit the trailheads off peak). Mount Rushmore takes a couple of hours (we did sunset/the lighting up, so were there maybe 4-7/5-8ish) - it was worth a fast stop. You'll get plenty of views from a far as you drive around the area too. We haven't done the caves or Crazy Horse yet. If you head south from the Black Hills into Nebraska, there is Fort Robinson (I think? Could be wrong in the name but that sounds right?) that also has very cool geologic formations - we camped there once on our way back from Montana.

As for Yellowstone - I do think planning now and needing to get back to Omaha (quite a bit of backtracking) makes that a hard addition. You could certainly do it, but you'll need to give up some time in SD to allow for a minimum of two full days in the park and the travel time back and forth (a day each way from the Black Hills). If you do go, consider staying in Cooke City or Cody so you are based in the east. The pass into the park from Cody is high so sometimes closes for weather into June, so Cooke City may be a safer bet and that puts you so close to the Lamar Valley for sunset/sunrise wildlife viewing. You need a day for the upper loop and a day for the southern loop, absolute minimum. If you really want Yellowstone, cut a day or two out from SD. I've only ever camped at Yellowstone with the exception of spending one night in a Cooke City motel a few years ago or we daytrip in from our place in Big Sky so I'm not much help on lodging in the area. I do know it is likely pretty booked up by now.

I love the Bighorns in Wyoming but we are major hikers and we like to wild camp, which there is an abundance of there (and not crowded). The route from Buffalo to Ten Sleep is a gorgeous drive and lots of good spots to stop and explore on the way. I've driven that route and gone to Cody into Yellowstone before. The other cool thing is Bighorn Canyon on the border of MT/WY - stunning and worth a half day stop. You can easily take that route if you are headed to Cooke City (take the Chief Joseph - which you'll have to check opening dates on as it's closed in winter/spring). I think the CJ opens before the Beartooth though.

Devil's Tower would be another cool stop and you could day trip that from the Black Hills easily. Half day is enough there - hike around the base and go.

The problem is definitely an overabundance of things to choose from. Narrow it down and then decide. I've never traveled by RV so no advice there. I do think in Yellowstone an RV without a towed car would be an issue and I think you'll be boxed out from certain roads in the Black Hills without a normal sized car.

[boltfam]

You can easily fill 4-5 days in South Dakota. Badlands should be a full day. I've only ever camped there, but you can always base yourself in Rapid City for that (it's 1.5 hours) - but seeing sunrise or sunset over the Badlands is amazing so try to work that in. My kids really love having some extra time for wildlife spotting (big horns, buffalo, prairie dogs) and we did several short hikes. Wall Drugs is a total tourist trap but a fun quick stop to grab some donuts. I'd give yourself a full day for the Badlands.

We stayed at Under Canvas near Keystone in the Black Hills for a few days about five years ago to explore the area. It takes a surprisingly long time to get around there - the roads are very winding and slow. And things are more spread out than it seems on a map. Spearfish canyon is amazing and the little town of Spearfish is a fun stop for a lunch. Custer State Park can easily take two days. The wildlife loop is fun to drive more than once at different times of days. My kids loved feeding the wild donkeys carrots too. And drive the Needles for sure and get out to hike (parking is limited so you need to try to hit the trailheads off peak). Mount Rushmore takes a couple of hours (we did sunset/the lighting up, so were there maybe 4-7/5-8ish) - it was worth a fast stop. You'll get plenty of views from a far as you drive around the area too. We haven't done the caves or Crazy Horse yet. If you head south from the Black Hills into Nebraska, there is Fort Robinson (I think? Could be wrong in the name but that sounds right?) that also has very cool geologic formations - we camped there once on our way back from Montana.

As for Yellowstone - I do think planning now and needing to get back to Omaha (quite a bit of backtracking) makes that a hard addition. You could certainly do it, but you'll need to give up some time in SD to allow for a minimum of two full days in the park and the travel time back and forth (a day each way from the Black Hills). If you do go, consider staying in Cooke City or Cody so you are based in the east. The pass into the park from Cody is high so sometimes closes for weather into June, so Cooke City may be a safer bet and that puts you so close to the Lamar Valley for sunset/sunrise wildlife viewing. You need a day for the upper loop and a day for the southern loop, absolute minimum. If you really want Yellowstone, cut a day or two out from SD. I've only ever camped at Yellowstone with the exception of spending one night in a Cooke City motel a few years ago or we daytrip in from our place in Big Sky so I'm not much help on lodging in the area. I do know it is likely pretty booked up by now.

I love the Bighorns in Wyoming but we are major hikers and we like to wild camp, which there is an abundance of there (and not crowded). The route from Buffalo to Ten Sleep is a gorgeous drive and lots of good spots to stop and explore on the way. I've driven that route and gone to Cody into Yellowstone before. The other cool thing is Bighorn Canyon on the border of MT/WY - stunning and worth a half day stop. You can easily take that route if you are headed to Cooke City (take the Chief Joseph - which you'll have to check opening dates on as it's closed in winter/spring). I think the CJ opens before the Beartooth though.

Devil's Tower would be another cool stop and you could day trip that from the Black Hills easily. Half day is enough there - hike around the base and go.

The problem is definitely an overabundance of things to choose from. Narrow it down and then decide. I've never traveled by RV so no advice there. I do think in Yellowstone an RV without a towed car would be an issue and I think you'll be boxed out from certain roads in the Black Hills without a normal sized car.

Thank you for the advice! Super helpful!

[gobadgers]

I think that if this is a 'now or never' situation for Yellowstone, it's a good opportunity - but it would be really rushed. Yellowstone is so much further, plus just driving around within the park is a lot, it's so big.

There is a lot to see in the Badlands and Black Hills - I'm pretty sure we spent 5 days in the area when we went. I was completely smitten with the whole area. We went to Custer State Park, Badlands (we did a couple short hikes that were definitely worth it, plus the fantastic drive), Mt. Rushmore (quick stop, like PP said), Devil's Tower, Wind Cave. We also went to the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs. Really cool if your kids are into that kind of thing.

I wouldn't want to drive an RV, but I know lots of people do it! I think there's lots of reasonable lodging in Rapid City fwiw.

[boltfam]

Thanks for the tips! I think my kids would enjoy all those things.