Mt. Rushmore and possible Yellow Stone Park

We are driving from Pittsburgh to South Dakota in late August early September.

Does any one know of a tour that takes you to Mt. Rushmore and other sights and Yellow Stone Park?

Mt. Rushmore and possible Yellow Stone Park

There%26#39;s probably a tour somewhere that incorporates both areas but if you%26#39;re already driving all the way from Pittsburgh, I%26#39;d highly recommend driving though both places yourself. With a little bit of planning, you%26#39;ll see what you want to see on you schedule with less hassle and likely less expense.

If you do need to take a tour, there%26#39;s a good possibility you%26#39;ll have to take one tour of the Black Hills area and one of Yellowstone with your own transportation between the two.

Keep in mind that Yellowstone is about a day%26#39;s drive past the Black Hills.

Mt. Rushmore and possible Yellow Stone Park

The only tour you do here is yours.

To drive from Pa and then look for a tour of this fantasic area is questionable.I also drove from Pa to here and NEVER ever considered a tour.Too much to see here to try and hook up with a tour.If you were looking for a tour you should have flown from Pa with a touring outfit...

The Black Hills should be done at your pace....

No place for a tour here......

Do some planning.......

Thank you for all the information.

We do plan to drive and get our own lodging. I think I meant an excursion and not a tour; a bus that drives through the area. But I really do like the idea of driving, stopping at our convenience. It is also good to know that I have to book a separate hotel for Yellow Stone.

Question

How easy is it to drive through the Black Hills and Yellow Stone Park; is it well marked etc?

Any suggestions on things to see on the drive up?

Black Hills SD and Yellowstone National Park are about 8 hours apart. Before taking this long road trip, I would get a road atlas (about $5) and study the routes. Google Maps is great for directions, but it is nice to have a paper map to refer to. (I guess I%26#39;m just old fashioned.)

The Black Hills area has Mt Rushmore, Custer State Park, Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave Nat Mon, a number of small towns, beautiful hiking as well as some gambling towns etc.

www.travelsd.com/regions/bhbl.asp

Visit www.nps.gov/yell for Yellowstone to get ideas of what to do while there. You really need at least 3 days to see the park.

Have fun planning.

Turtle,

I%26#39;ve been to both places, and to me, they are separate vacations unless you can devote 2 weeks to touring (not including drive time). A week in each area will serve you well, or you could allot 5 days in SD and 10-11 in Yellowstone/Grand Teton. With 10-11 days here, you can visit Devil%26#39;s Tower and the museums of Cody. The museums look excellent; I am looking forward to including them for the first time on our summer trip to Yellowstone.

You won%26#39;t find one tour that takes you to both places once you get in the area. As the others have said, they are too far apart.

The Black Hills has so much more to see than just Mt. Rushmore. Many people don%26#39;t realize this. Casa hit on a few of the things the area has to offer. When you go to the site she referred you to, be sure to order a vacation planning guide. I think it will be very helpful to you.

There are tours of sights in the Black Hills area (bus tours), but I%26#39;d highly recommend driving yourself so you can go at your own pace. I understand you probably want to take a break from driving after coming in from Pittsburgh, but it%26#39;s actually easier driving here than back East, IMO. Sites are well marked, and with a map, AAA trip tik, or GPS, you will be fine. There%26#39;s no ';scary'; roads in the area.

Be sure to add Grand Teton National to your itinerary. When in Yellowstone, you will be very close,and you can%26#39;t miss the jaw dropping scenery here!

Once you have done a little more research, please come back with more questions.

I%26#39;m getting some great advice.

Sorry, I was actually wondering if the parks are well marked, not the roads from Pittsburgh to SD. Let me know if I%26#39;m wrong, but I%26#39;m assuming the Black Hills is a type of National Park off the beaten path. We are planning to stay about a week, so Yellow Stone may have to be another trip. I do map quest as soon as we get our lodging.

Turtle,

The Black Hills is a region in western South Dakota that includes national parks and monuments, along with state parks, historic sites, caves, and a few tourist traps. :) Years ago, very close friends of ours visited here and showed us the tour guide (www.travelsd.com) that we referred you to. I was absolutely shocked at the number of things to do and immediately put it on my list of places to go. Here%26#39;s my usual must sees of the area:

Mt. Rushmore

Custer State Park

Badlands National Park

Devil%26#39;s Tower

Crazy Horse

Wind Cave National Park

Jewel Cave National Monument

With only a week, I%26#39;d definitely focus on one area--either the Black Hills or Yellowstone. Since you are driving, I%26#39;d plan on going to the closest place--SD.

The attractions are in close proximity of each other, and roads and attractions themselves are well marked.

When you say you have a week, does this include drive time from the Pittsburgh area? You will need a minimum of 2 days to get there, and they will be long driving days at that (about 10-12 hours per day to do it in 2). You also, of course, need at least 2 days to return. I hope you have more than just a week to do something like this.

If you verify how much time you actually have, we can tell you realistically what you will have time to do. Thanks.

Also, the best towns in the area to stay in are: Keystone, Hill City or Custer. Any of these will put you in close proximity of attractions. You will have a wide variety of lodging choices.

I always say if you want good advice regarding travel go to the expert travels on tripadvisor.

The week is only the hotel stay, does not include travel days.

Since it takes about 20 hours. We are thinking of leaving about 5am and taking a hotel about 8pm; where ever we end up. We should get to SD sometime around noon the next day. ...or we can shorten our 1st day drive if there is anything really interesting along the way and then start our SD adventure on the 3rd day; any suggestions??

Thanks for the infor on the Keystone Hill Area. I pulled up several motels and found an Econo Lodge in that area just 2 miles from Mt. Rushmore.

I did go to the web site provided. The vista looks spectacular; lucky people that live there. I also really like the 2nd page Newsroom. Will poke at that until August.

I have never driven from the east coast, so I really offer much in the way of suggestions on things to see along the way. Once you get to SD, I do recommend stopping at the Badlands on your way to your final lodging destination. Some people also like to stop at the Corn Palace in Mitchell. I have not seen the Corn Palace, though a friend of mine has. He described it as quirky but worth seeing.

With a week%26#39;s worth of touring time, you might also consider staying in the northern Black Hills area for a night or two so you can have a shorter commute to Devil%26#39;s Tower if you decide to visit. The best places to stay in the northern area are Deadwood, Lead or Spearfish. You can do a daytrip from Hill City, Keystone,or Custer, but you will have a longer drive to get out to the tower and back.

As for lodging in Keystone, I really don%26#39;t know about the Econo Lodge. The ratings on this site seem to be ok, but I think you might be able to do better. I have personal experience at the Roosevelt Inn--very nice place with Big Time Pizza on site. We stayed in one of the family suites there where we had plenty of room. A small continental breakfast is included. Big Time Pizza has some of the best pizza you will find anywhere. I don%26#39;t know about other Keystone lodgings, but I know the Roosevelt%26#39;s prices decrease toward the end of August, so you should be able to take advantage of lower off season rates. Check out their website..rosyinn.com. If you see the internet rates and like them, be sure to mention that you want the internet rate when you call. They don%26#39;t give it to you unless you ask.

Also, K Bar S Lodge in Keystone gets fantastic reviews on this site. Their website is kbarslodge.com. It looks very nice based on the site, and I have read their rates are competitive/reasonable. They don%26#39;t have a pool, so if that%26#39;s important to you, you might prefer the Roosevelt, which does have a small indoor pool. When I return to SD, I will definitely consider staying at K Bar S.

Let us know if you have more questions.