From Black Hills to Yellowstone- Route Suggestion?

One day of a trip planned into a rather short time frame brings us from the Black Hills towards Yellowstone.

I want to position me, my GF, and my hooligan daughter (11 y/o) to enter Yellowstone from Red Lodge (or nearby) on Thursday morning July 9. For July 8, we%26#39;ll be leaving Custer, South Dakota, then pass through Deadwood quickly and Devils Tower more slowly. We may well see Deadwood the previous day, but I doubt it.

The questions:

How long should we linger at Devils Tower?

Is there scenic value to US 14 Alternate out of Sheridan through the Bighorn Mountains rather than continuing on I-90 into Montana? (Not to mention time to cut over to Red Lodge from Lovell)

Understand that we have two nights already reserved in Custer and two nights reserved in Gardiner. There%26#39;s only room for one night in between (our schedules don%26#39;t allow too much for longer trips). The time schedule is all but fixed for this part of our trip.

From Black Hills to Yellowstone- Route Suggestion?

Do you all like to hike a bit? Devils Tower can be a pretty short stop unless you hike around the whole way. You could easily be out of there in an hour although I%26#39;d suggest longer.

Yes there is scenic value to Us 14A. You%26#39;ll find you have a long day ahead of you with nearly 470 miles if you go all the way to Red Lodge. The days are long though and if 2 of you split up the driving, it wouldn%26#39;t be too bad. You also could make that day a little shorter and stay over in Lovell, WY.

From Black Hills to Yellowstone- Route Suggestion?

Fastest route from Custer via Deadwood and Devils Tower to Red Lodge will be via I90 and Billings and you should count on 8 hours drivingtime without stops so with the short stop in Deadwood and the longer one at Devils Tower you%26#39;ll face 9+ hours for the drive. You 11 y/o certainly want to spend some time at the prairiedogstown at the foot of Devils Tower and the visitor center is well worth visiting. From Custer you can drive a faster route via Newcastle to I 90 but you%26#39;ll miss Deadwood and Devils Tower. Getting to Red Lodge gives you the benefit of driving Beartooth early next morning and best time of the day from NE to SW and you can allow enough time for gorgeous Beartooth highway, the drive into Yell via Lamar Valley and the upper loop inside Yell. Both wy 14 and 14A are scenic drives, esp. 14A but also takes more time.

Tet

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