I will be making a cross country trip from the southwest corner of Michigan to Spokane, Washington with my son who will be graduating from college. We are leaving on Saturday, May 16th and hope to reach my older son%26#39;s place in Spokane sometime before dark on the Thursday, the 21st. I realize this is a quick trip but we have a mission to drive a car out and thought we should see something along the way.
Anyway, my plan so far goes like this. We%26#39;ll leave early, early on Saturday and take turns driving, hoping to get halfway across South Dakota by 10 p.m. or so. We%26#39;ll be traveling on I-90 (I did this drive two years aga with older son) and don%26#39;t need fancy accommodations. Do you think I should make a reservation at a Super 8 somewhere in SD for Saturday? I%26#39;d like to get up the next morning and take a short drive through the Badlands, see Mt. Rushmore and maybe a drive through Custer State Park. I%26#39;m not interested in caves or tunnels. Would maybe think about Crazy Horse. I realize I%26#39;m off topic here, but any suggestions there? I would like to just spend one day in that area and get back out to I-90 heading west by the end of the day. Reservations necessary? It will be Sunday night.
So then on to Yellowstone. I originally thought I%26#39;d like to drive the Beartooth Highway, but now I%26#39;m thinking it won%26#39;t be open yet. What do you think? Who do you call to find out? If we don%26#39;t do that I%26#39;m thinking a shorter route would be to come in the east side through Cody.
So here%26#39;s the heart of my question I guess. I was in Yellowstone last October early with with oldest son. We stayed at Mammoth Cabins and liked the area a lot because the elk were in rut. It was truly an amazing sight. I know people aren%26#39;t too crazy about that area though. Do you think in the spring there will be elk around with their young in that area? In any event I would like to drive Lamar Valley and see what we can see out there. And last fall we took a drive by Lake Yellowstone Hotel but that area was already closed. It did look beautiful though. In the spring will there be wildlife in that area? Anyway, we will have two days at most in the park.
I would like to spend one night at the Lake or Mammoth. We can only afford the annex at the Lake. Is it okay? I don%26#39;t care about amenities, just the area. It seems beautiful, but as I say we loved Mammoth in the fall. So that%26#39;s my dilemma. Where to stay the first night. We have a reservation for the 2nd night at Old Faithful Inn in the old part of the hotel. I really liked it there. So where should we stay?
While we%26#39;re there I%26#39;d like to visit Norris Geyser, Lamar Valley, see the falls and of course Old Faithful. If we have time I%26#39;d drive both loops. We%26#39;d love to see as much wildlife as possible but don%26#39;t have scopes and all that, won%26#39;t be getting up at 5 to drive the valleys.
What%26#39;s special about the park in the spring? What are the pros and cons of the two areas at that time of year? I was thinking about a hike to Mt. Washburn. It was snowing when we were there last year and I suppose it could be snowing in mid May as well so that%26#39;s probably out? Maybe a shorter hike? Will the pass be open then?
So I%26#39;m thinking Saturday night halfway across South Dakota (I know that will be a really long driving day) Sunday night just the west side of Rapid City. Then my dilemma also is do I try to get to Yellowstone from there by the next night, Monday, and spend my time in the park on Tuesday and Wednesday? Then we%26#39;d have the drive to Spokane and could stop somewhere overnight if we felt tired, maybe Butte or Missoula. I think it%26#39;s all beautiful country from there. Anything else we should see there?
I know this is long and I%26#39;m rambling and there are lots of questions, but I want to get my plans in place a little better. See, I can%26#39;t even wing a road trip :) So should it be the Lake Annex or Mammoth Lodge?
Tripadviser is great. Thanks for all your help.
Cindy
Yellowstone Annex or Mammoth Hotel (and other questions :)I think the annex is the building at the end of the hotel. It turns the straight line into an ';L'; as I recall. I don%26#39;t think there%26#39;s any reason to avoid it.
As to which I%26#39;d probably pick Lake. For one thing you%26#39;ve been to Mammoth. Here%26#39;s the problem.
Lake is great for the lower loop. Next to Hayden Valley and the wildlife / thermal features there. It isn%26#39;t a bad ride over to Old FAithful either. The problem is that if Dunraven Pass is closed and it may well be, its a very long drive to Lamar Valley. You%26#39;d have to go to Canyon, Norris, Mammoth and across. Lots to see but a long drive. You could do the same thing by going south and around to Old FAithful. If Dunraven is open, you just go past Canyon and continue North. Pretty simple. Dunraven was closed 3 days or so of the 7 we were there starting last June 7.
From Mammoth you have good access over to Lamar but a long drive to the southern reaches. In May, you shouldn%26#39;t need to be in the areas early to see wildlife.
Considering you%26#39;re at OFI the first night, I%26#39;d pick Lake to check out Hayden Valley, the falls and whatever else you find.
Yellowstone Annex or Mammoth Hotel (and other questions :)AKJ, thanks for your reply. I think it makes sense to stay at Lake after I read your post. We have little time so we%26#39;ll probably concentrate on the lower loop. Hopefully Hayden Valley will have plenty of wildlife for us. I just remember last year when we were in Lamar we saw just herds (is that the right term?) of buffalo, and we enjoyed that. But Lake will be someplace different and with the time of year we won%26#39;t have to worry about road closures in the lower loop hopefully. Do you think the elk will be in the lower loop area as well?
I actually made reservations for two nights at OFI, not being sure what we were doing. But I think we will stay at Lake the first night and then Old Faithful Inn the second night.
The plan is coming together. Yea! Anything special we should or see because it%26#39;s springtime? Will the young wildlife be out and about then?
Thanks
One of the things we found in Lamar was that a scope helps a lot. If you are going to keep going to Yellowstone (nothing wrong with that) you may want to invest in one. Even a cheap one can let you see things you%26#39;d miss otherwise. We watched wolves torment a bison herd and would have missed the whole thing without a scope. Also, hang around and look desperate and some one will likely let you look through theirs too.
In May, you might see bear cubs and bison calves. I think that%26#39;s too early for elk calves but am not sure. You might also see wolf cubs and who knows what else. Watch for groups of people along the road. They%26#39;re watching something interesting.
I can%26#39;t add to the Yellowstone advice you got, but in response to the South Dakota portion of your post:
we stayed at the Best Western Graham%26#39;s in Murdo, SD a couple of years ago on our way across SD. It%26#39;s not fancy, but was clean and reasonably priced. The staff was very nice and they offered a decent light breakfast. There%26#39;s not much to Murdo, but it%26#39;s a convenient stop along I-90. It%26#39;s about an hour east of the Badlands, which are spectacular. We also stayed in Sundance, WY (at another Best Western - just a coincidence) which is not too far from the SD state line. It%26#39;s not far from Devil%26#39;s Tower, but that might be too much of a detour if you have time constraints. Enjoy your trip!
Thanks for your replies. It%26#39;s kind of a coincidence we%26#39;re going to Yellowstone two years in a row. I don%26#39;t expect that to happen for a while, but I am going to enjoy it. You never know when those boys won%26#39;t want to spend time with you anymore. So I think I%26#39;ll just keep an eye out for what everyone else is doing for wildlife watching. I%26#39;m sure we%26#39;ll see a lot. I%26#39;m excited about seeing bear cubs and bison calves.
I am thinking I want to make reservations for our Saturday and Sunday nights. Murdo sounds like a good stopping place if we get left early enough. Last time we stayed in Kennebuc, a really small town, two little hotels at the expressway. We had no cell service and it was dark. It was a little unnerving. I was glad to get off. So I think a reservation is in order. I did look at Sundance as well for a stop for the next night. Thanks for letting me know that the Best Westerns look good. We just need a clean place to lay our heads.
Plans are falling in place!
Thanks,
Cindy
You would do well to take, at least, binoculars, and, as suggested, inquire of folks with spotting scopes what they see. We all tend to let people look.
For wildlife viewing and photography:
tripadvisor.com/Travel-g60999-c96653/Yellows…
I would definitely see Crazy Horse, but after you see Rushmore...puts Rushmore in perspective.
I will definitely take a pair of binoculars. We had them with us last fall and it helped a lot.
I would like to see Crazy Horse. What is Custer State Park like? Is it worth it if we%26#39;re going to Yellowstone? I have the idea there are a lot of buffalo there. Anything else worth seeing?
Hi Cindy,
I can%26#39;t offer any advice about Yellowstone (our first trip is this summer!) but I did spend 10 days in the MT Rushmore area last summer. Two of those nights were spent in Custer State Park at Sylvan Lake Lodge. We really liked the area a lot, very beautfiful. Driving the Needles highway was cool but took a while. Since you%26#39;re going to YNP, I%26#39;m not sure I%26#39;d take the time to see Custer or not. Granted I haven%26#39;t seen YNP yet but we didn%26#39;t see much wildlife in Custer. Just a lone wild donkey. :) The Sylvan Lake area was by far my favorite part of the park. If you head up there you%26#39;ll see a lot of the park and the Needles Highway.
The Badlands loop road took us about 2 1/2 hours to explore. We did stop and get out and walk short trails and looked at exhibits. That was very cool. That may be a better use of your time than going through Custer since you%26#39;re headed to YNP anyway. You can easily spend more than 2 1/2 hrs on that loop road. It was very cool!
If you can get to Mt Rushmore early in the morning, say 9 or before, you can beat the crowds a little bit and have a great breakfast in their cafeteria. It was very good and very cheap plus you can eat with a great view of Mt Rushmore.
Have a great trip!!
Breakfast at Mt. Rushmore sounds fun. I think we%26#39;ll try to do that. I think we%26#39;ll skip Custer and just spend a little time in the Badlands.
All of your help is greatly appreciated!
Cindy
No comments:
Post a Comment