Yellowstone and Badlands Road Trip - Yellowstone, Rocky, Badlands and more!

Road Trip: This road trip takes you through some of the best that the Rockies has to offer.  From Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park on over to Badlands and Wind Caves National Parks. This is one of our longer trips but well worth it! Each park is unique and has much to offer any National Park"s enthusiast.

Mileage: Approximately 1913 miles.

Main Points of Interest: Rocky Mountain National Park, Dinsaur National Monument, Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Badlands National Park, Wind Cave National Park.

Suggested Start and End for this Road Trip: Denver, Colorado

What to Expect Along this Road Trip

Start your trip in Denver, Colorado.
We start this road trip in Denver, Colorado. If you have never visited this city before, you might want to take some time exploring Denver and nearby Boulder, Colorado. Located at the base of the Rocky Mountains, Denver is one of America"s most beautiful cities. And one of the most fun. Blessed with 300 days of sunshine a year, Denver is a lively city with a great love of the outdoors. Here you"ll find the nation"s largest city park system, 90 golf courses and an incredible 650 miles of paved bike trails. But Denver is also a cultural and sophisticated city.

Rocky Mountain National Park
After you have taken some time to visit Denver, we start our trip by heading to Rocky Mountain National Park. Established on January 26, 1915, Rocky Mountain National Park is a living showcase of the grandeur of the Rocky Mountains. With elevations ranging from 8,000 feet in the wet, grassy valleys to 14,259 feet at the weather-ravaged top of Longs Peak, a visitor to the park has opportunities for countless breathtaking experiences and adventures. There is an abundance of wildlife like elk, mule deer, bighorn sheep, coyotes, eagles, hawks and scores of smaller animals and larger animals to delight wildlife-watchers of all ages. Wildflower-lovers are never disappointed in June and July when the meadows and hillsides are splashed with botanical color. Autumn visitors can relax among the golden aspens or enjoy the rowdier antics of the elk rut (mating season). there is no lodging inside Rocky Mountain National Park but there are opportunities in nearby towns such as; Estes Park, Grand Lake, Granby and more.

Dinosaur National Monument
We continue our road trip now on to Dinosaur National Monument. Dinosaur is famous as it protects a large deposit of fossil dinosaur bones that lived millions of years ago. At the Dinosaur Quarry Visitor Center, paleontologists have carefully chipped away the rock to uncover bones and leave them in place. More than 1500 fossil bones can now be seen in this unusual exhibit for viewing. Vernal, Utah is your best bet if you want to stay near Dinosaur National Monument. Otherwise, see the lodging page for additional options.

Grand Teton National Park
After you have completed your visit in Dinosaur, we head northwest to Grand Teton National Park. Grand Teton offers gorgeous mountain scenery and an abundance of wildlife. The Teton range includes eight peaks over 12,000 feet (3,658 m), including the Grand Teton at 13,770 feet (4,198 m). For those of you interested in wildlife, elk, moose, pronghorn, mule deer, and bison are commonly seen in the park. We recommend about 2-3 days visiting Grand Teton National Park and taking in popular activities like; exploring Jenny Lake, hiking in the mountains, and taking the scenic ride through the north and south of the park. Jackson, Wyoming and Teton Village are both great places to stay if you either do not wish to stay inside the park or are unable to get reservations inside the park. For more options regarding lodging near Grand Teton, see the lodging page.

Yellowstone National Park
Our next desination on the Yellowstone and Badlands Road Trip is the world famous Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone is most known for being home to more than 10,000-plus hot springs and geysers, the majority of the planet"s total. One geyser in particular, Old Faithful, has drawn millions of visitors yearly to Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone National Park is also famous for an abundance of wildlife from bison, elk, coyote to bears and moose. Yellowstone National Park is a natural wonder and what makes this park special is that it contains more geothermal features than any other place on earth. There are a number of choices for lodging inside Yellowstone, but the lodges book up far in advance.  Plan ahead for staying both inside and outside of Yellowstone. Towns to consider near the park would be: West Yellowstone, Montana, to the west of Yellowstone. Gardiner, Montana, to the north. Jackson, Wyoming to the south of Yellowstone. For more options, see the lodging page. On this road trip, we suggest spending between 3-4 days exploring this magnificent park. Yellowstone can take several weeks to enjoy all that it has to offer but in 3-4 days, you should be able to get a good idea of the park.

Badlands National Park
After you have spent a few days exploring Yellowstone National Park, we head east to Badlands National Park. Located in southwestern South Dakota, Badlands National Park consists of 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires blended with the largest, protected mixed grass prairie in the United States. Badlands National Park contains the world"s richest Oligocene epoch fossil beds, dating 23 to 35 million years old. Scientists can study the evolution of mammal species such as the horse, sheep, rhinoceros and pig in the Badlands formations. Lodging is not available inside Badlands so we suggest trying Wall (approx 7 miles) or Rapid City (approx 50 miles).

Wind Cave National Park
The last park on our journey is Wind Cave National Park. Wind Cave is one of the world"s longest and most complex caves and 28,295 acres of mixed-grass prairie, ponderosa pine forest, and associated wildlife are the main features of the park. The cave is well known for its outstanding display of boxwork, an unusual cave formation composed of thin calcite fins resembling honeycombs. There is no lodging inside Wind Cave so we suggest Hot Springs (approx 12 miles), Custer (approx 15 miles), Rapid City (approx 31 miles). For more lodging options, see our lodging page.

End of the Yellowstone and Badlands Road Trip
We have completed the Yellowstone and Badlands Road Trip and head back to Denver, Colorado. Stay another night in Denver or take an evening flight back home.

What Should I bring on my Trip?

Depending on what time of year you are planning on taking this route, you might want to consider some of these items:

Summer Travel:

Shorts
Hats
Shirts :: Performance Short Sleeve
Shoes: Hiking Footwear
Soft Shell Jackets (Temperatures will vary day and night in these areas.  Be prepared with layers!)
Pants: Soft Shell Pants :: Trek Travel Pants

Winter Travel:

Shirts: Fleece :: Performance Long Sleeve
Jackets: Fleece :: Insulated Jackets :: Down Jackets
Shoes: Hiking Footwear
Pants: Fleece Pants :: Insulated Pants :: Rain Pants
Gloves and Mittens

Spring and Fall will also vary in temperatures so using any combo with the summer and winter ideas would be suitable.  Plan for layers to keep up with the temperature changes in the course of a day.

Road Trip Details