Road Trip to Yellowstone

In the midst of the pandemic in summer 2020, my family and I decided to take advantage of the downtime – no kids’ sports and activities – and take a road trip to Yellowstone National Park!  With just a couple weeks of planning, I mapped out our roundtrip adventure beginning just outside St. Louis, Missouri, that would span fifteen days, nine states, four national parks, and more than 3,500 miles traveled!

Some of our highlights included visiting the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, Rocky Mountain National Park, and so much more on our two-week journey.  It was an incredible, unforgettable trip!

Our first stop in South Dakota was the corniest place on Earth… that’s right, the World’s Only Corn Palace.  We went on to spend a night at a cabin in Badlands National Park, which we absolutely loved.  We made a fun stop to feed the prairie dogs – fun fact – the wilderness area of the Badlands is the largest prairie wilderness in the U.S.  After leaving the park, of course we had to stop at another popular South Dakota tourist attraction, Wall Drug.

We then spent two nights in Keystone, S.D., exploring the town and nearby sites including Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial… we also toured an old gold mine, enjoyed summer tubing, an alpine slide, and ice cream!  From Keystone, we took the scenic route to Cody, Wyoming, passing through Deadwood, Spearfish Canyon, Devils Tower, and the Big Horn Mountains.  Such beautiful views all around!

Just outside Cody, we did a little glamping and stayed in a deluxe tepee (or tipi) at the Wheels of Wonderment campground – this was one of our favorite stops.  Right behind our tepee there was a rushing stream and even more amazing views (there were also goats and llamas on site and bonus massage chairs in the bathroom).

We had lunch in Cody before arriving at our ultimate destination, Yellowstone National Park!  We arrived at Yellowstone’s East entrance and made our way across the park to the West entrance stopping at sights along the way.  The following day we spent our first full day in the park hitting all the highlights on the lower loop (Firehole Falls, Grand Prismatic Spring, Old Faithful, the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone) and seeing lots of wildlife along the way.

Traveling can be exhausting so we spent a more relaxed day in West Yellowstone visiting the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center, a not-for-profit wildlife park and educational facility.  We enjoyed seeing the grizzly bears, gray wolves (and wolf pups!), river otters, and more… all from a safe distance.  We also made the short drive to Mesa Falls in Idaho and crossed another state line.  Plus, we got in some pool time!

We left Yellowstone through the South entrance and made our way to Grand Teton National Park.  We visited the park, took a boat ride across Jenny Lake, and hiked up to Inspiration Point.  The boys trekked even further and spotted a moose!  We spent the night in Jackson Hole and had a taste of the Old West… we took a covered wagon train (ours was pulled by incredible horses Johnny & June) into beautiful Cache Creek Canyon for a delicious chuck wagon dinner and show.  

From Wyoming, we headed to colorful Colorado for our final adventures.  We saved one of the best adventures for last… whitewater rafting!  This is the one thing we were all super excited about and it was EPIC.  We had a great guide and, best of all, no one fell out of the raft!  We spent our last day in Estes Park visiting Rocky Mountain National Park and hiking beautiful Bear Lake, one of the most popular spots in the park. 

Some of the most amazing scenery we came across on our road trip was on the scenic byways.  While it may have added a little extra drive time to our trip, it was so worth it!  From South Dakota to Wyoming to Colorado, we drove the Badlands Loop, Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway, Cloud Peak Skyway, Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway, and the Snowy Range… there were more that I just can’t remember or name.  When it’s the end of June and you can pull over to have a snowball fight, you know it’s a good route!

Some of the most amazing scenery we came across on our road trip was on the scenic byways.  While it may have added a little extra drive time to our trip, it was so worth it!  From South Dakota to Wyoming to Colorado, we drove the Badlands Loop, Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway, Cloud Peak Skyway, Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway, and the Snowy Range… there were more that I just can’t remember or name.  When it’s the end of June and you can pull over to have a snowball fight, you know it’s a good route!

If you’re interested in visiting Yellowstone or some of America’s other national parks, let our agents at Pineapple Escapes help you make it happen!

So are you ready to jump into the fun? Contact your favorite Pineapple Escapes agent or email us at info@pineappleescapes.com to get started!

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