Salt Lake City to Sturgis & return - is my plan possible

I%26#39;m planning a trip to Sturgis this year for a group of Aussie bikers. After reading for months I%26#39;ve come up with a possible trip but I have some holes in it and I%26#39;m not sure if some of the timings are possible. Any help appreciated thanks.

Trip is basically fly into SLC, collect bikes and ride a loop to Sturgis and back, 3 days out and 2 days back with a week in Sturgis. Only must-do is Cody overnight and riding the Beartooth Hwy.

Day 1. SLC to Jackson via Hwy 89 to see Bear Lake on the way. Google wants to send me via Idaho Falls to Jackson but Hwy 89 looks shorter route?

Day 2. Jackson/Yellowstone Park/Cooke City (to get the start of Beartooth Hwy)/Red Lodge (to get end of US-212/Cody. Google tells me its about 8 hours. Is there a better way to travel the Beartooth and still stop at Cody than doubling back from Red Lodge?

Day 3. Cody/Sheridan/Sturgis. Google says 6 hours.

Return from Sturgis to SLC.

Day 1. Sturgis/Newcastle/Casper/Rawlins. Google says about 8 hrs.

Day 2. Rawlins/Rock River/detour thru Vernal %26amp; Uinta Mountains/SLC. Google has 7 hours.

Should we be adding another stop on return trip?

Salt Lake City to Sturgis %26amp; return - is my plan possible

Google does not have a moose-jam allowance built in to in-park travel times... Traffic stops or, at best slows, for rubber-necking delays when animals are near. The roads are not wide and they just get packed. Are you planning to stop at anything in the park or just make tracks?

The most direct route is by Lake and over Dunraven Pass. Right now, Google Maps won%26#39;t let you use the Beartooth Highway because it is snowed in at this time, but it will be open in July.

Jackson/Yellowstone/Cooke City/Red Lodge/Bearcreek/Belfry/ Cody will be a heckuva day,and is borderline impossible. This would be stopping at nothing in either park. Is there a reason you want to go back to Cody?

Consider staying in Red Lodge. This will still be a marathon day. Be sure to have daylight as you go down the far side of the pass. You wouldn%26#39;t want to miss the views, and taking these extreme switchbacks at night would not be fun.

From Red Lodge, you can proceed the next day to Billings/Crow Agency/Lame Deer/Belle Fourche. That%26#39;s how the locals get to SD. You can stop at the Custer Battlefield in Hardin for something interesting to see instead of Cody.

Salt Lake City to Sturgis %26amp; return - is my plan possible

If you stayed in Red Lodge on Day 2, you could drop down to Cody via Bearcreek and Belfry in the morning. That would be more doable. But you%26#39;d have plenty of miles to cover later in the day. Going through to Dayton is a very pretty ride. Try to get to the Bighorn Canyon overlook near Lovell, too. It%26#39;s worth it.

The sun does not set until 9pm so you have a lot of daylight to burn. You%26#39;ll need it!

On the way back, I%26#39;d stay in Thermopolis. You could postpone going to Cody until that day (since you haven%26#39;t said what it is you need to do there). Thermop is a town of natural hot springs, so it is a great place to stop, folksy and fun. Then drop down through Lander and the Wind River Mountains to Rock Springs. You can do it in two days.

I%26#39;ll agree with the 6 hour time from Cody to Sturgis--maybe just a little longer. You%26#39;ll pass through the Bighorn Mountains which are scenic but don%26#39;t slow you down too much.

Time seems to evaporate when driving through Yellowstone so plan accordingly. The thing to remember about much of Yellowstone is that just driving through isn%26#39;t really sufficient. Driving through the nearby Tetons, the Beartooth Highway and the Chief Joseph Highway is amazing. Simply driving through Yellowstone isn%26#39;t really that great--you need to stop to see all of the great things the park has to offer and those stops take time.

If you put an extra day into the Yellowstone area touring, I don%26#39;t think you%26#39;ll find yourself getting bored. Maybe stay in Cooke City or somewhere near the northeast end of the park. The next day riding the Beartooth in both directions and the Chief Joseph Highway to Cody plus some time in Cody will be a pretty full day.

Keep in mind that the area you%26#39;ll be riding is high country. Yellowstone is 8-9,000 feet and the Beartooth Highway almost tops out at 11,000 feet. It will get cool (downright cold on a bike) early and later in the day (if not all day). Mountain thunderstorms are pretty common in the afternoons so you might end up having to spend time taking cover.

If you do stay in Thermopolis, WY, I highly recommend the Best Western Plaza.

If stopping at Thermopolis consider grabbing a great hamburger (with real slab of ham on the burger) at Butch%26#39;s Place in Kirby, Wy. Aboiut 7 miles (10k) north of Thermopolis. A real small town country tavern American experience. Cheap beer and great Rocky Mt. Oysters too. Note...if memory serves they may be closed on Sunday or Monday.

If hot springs are of interest a great alternative to staying at Rawlins on the way back would be Saratoga. A bit south of the freeway but worth it. The Wolf Hotel is cheap and historic with great food. The ciy pool (Hobo Pool) has free access to the hot springs there. And it would not be sretching the day too much to divert at Laramie on WY 130 and go over Snowy Range Pass. Spectacular scenery and would avoid backtracking from Saratoga to the freeway.

Thanks to all for your replies. I%26#39;ve had computer issues so have been unable to reply before now. I%26#39;ve been off and checked out maps and I now have a workable ride, which by the way, still includes Cody as one of the lads has a burning desire to visit the museum there. Still a couple of ques though.

I keep coming across the ';Needles Hwy'; I think it is as a must do ride.Can you tell me what this is?

Sequim88 mentioned stopping at Saratoga on the way back as an alternative to Rawlins and diverting to Laramie and over the Snowy Range Pass.

At the moment, the plan is to ride Sturgis/Newcastle/Cheyenne on day 1, stopping at Cheyenne as the ride is going to be 310 miles. Would going on to Saratoga be too long a day?

Day 2 is Laramie/Rawlins/Rock Springs/Vernal to take in the Flaming Gorge Byway. This ride is 370 miles. Would it be possible to divert at Laramie to Saratoga and back on to I-80 and on to Rawlins etc? Does this route take in the Snowy Mtn Pass?

Thanks again

Sturgis, via Newcastle, to Saratoga would add about 140 miles over Cheyenne. Unfortunately because the pass is closed at this time of year GoogleMaps won%26#39;t calculate that route. Perhaps too long on bikes. Cheyenne would be a good stopping place.

Just riding the Snowy Range Pass route would add about 18 miles (93) over taking the freeway (75). Slower of course, not being freeway but very much well worth it for the scenery. Divert at Laramie onto Wyoming 130. Rejoin the freeway at Walcott. This would definitely be a great ride, especially at the summit wher the road loops back %26amp; forth. If it is clear you can see well down into Colorado to the south.

Link to a photo I took just over the pass:

tripadvisor.com/…16989608

Two other thoughts...

1. Morning would be better to go over the pass as less chance of thunderstorms than afternoon. So stopping in Cheyenne works well for this.

2. If the weather does happen to be bad up on top you can always decide at the last minute to take the freeway.

Thats great. Thanks. Will stay with planned stopover in Cheyenne and take Snowy Range route next morning and as you say, if there%26#39;s weather, then the freeway is an alternative.