YellowStone – BigHorn National forest – Devils Tower – Mt Rushmore – Badlands – 7 days itinerary

Here is our 7 days itinerary from our 2022 Summer vacation to YellowStone – BigHorn National forest – Devils Tower – Mt Rushmore – Badlands.

Prep before travel:

Cell service and internet service is limited inside YellowStone park. Book all reservation in advance. If park entrance is booked online (@ www.recreation.gov), print and carry hard copy or download the digital pass on mobile device prior entering park. A 7-day pass to Yellowstone National Park costs $35/non commercial private vehicle.
Download map and install NPS app from YellowStone map
We planned for multi city tickets from Home→Bozeman airport, Wy and returning from RapidCity, South Dakota.
After reaching Bozeman, there are 2 option to start, either from north entrance or west entrance.
Option 1- Staring from north entrance: You can either stay in Bozeman and next day morning, directly drive to N entrance YellowStone which is 80 miles 1.30 hrs drive. Alternate, from Bozeman airport, drive to Gardiner, Montana. Stay in Gardiner , MT. Next day morning, start from north entrance.
Option 2- Start from west entrance: From Bozeman airport, drive to west entrance YellowStone, MT.

Day 1 
Reach Bozeman and drive to West Yellowstone, MT , taking scenic drive via US 191 S (Big Sky). It's scenic drive with mountainous backdrop and beautiful emerald-hued flowing streams.

Day 2:
On day 2, we entered park from west and covered north part of the park. 
We took left deviation at Madison Area to cover North loop first. Stops includes Artist Paint Pots, Norris Geyser Basin, Mammoth Hot Springs, Roosevelt Arch - Tower Fall, Canyon Village, skipped Lamar Valley and reached Madison back covering north loop. Follow NPS App for stops and attractions.

We stayed in Grant Village. Point to be noted is, there is only 1 restaurant in Grant Village area which needs prior reservation (no walk-ins) and is busy most of days. Its better reserve for dinner prior to travel dates. Email was sent to book table after booking lodge, that we ignored and landed with no dinner. Other option for staying, is lodges around Old FaithFul area and it has plenty of eating outlets.

Day 3:
Start your day early at Old Faithful, which erupts every 1.5 hours. Check the geyser prediction schedule instead of waiting. Explore the rest of the Upper and lower Geysers, Grand Canyon,. Drive through Hayden Valley.
By mid afternoon we covered YellowStone lake. We wanted to exit park via east exit and reach Sheridan, WY crossing Cody and BigHorn national forest route. Before its get dark we wanted to cross BigHorn mountains, so skipped West-thumb and headed back.
Here is the east exit Cody→ BigHorn national forest → Sheridan route via US 14. Be prepared to at lookout points
* Cody
* Shell Canyon
* Shell Falls Interpretive Falls
* Granite pass
* Burgess Junction
* Sand Turn Interpretive Site, US-14, Sheridan, WY 82801
* Dayton, Wyoming
* Sheridan, Wyoming 82801 (Stay at Sheridan)

Day 4:
Head from Sheridan → Devils tower → Rapid City, South Dakota. Kids, take Junior ranger passport for devils Tower stamping. We attended Mt Rushmore evening event on that day.Adress: Mount Rushmore National Memorial, 13000 SD-244, Keystone, SD 57751 35 min from rapid city.

Day 5:
Head from Rapid City to Minuteman Missile national historic Site. Spend 30 min here and head to Badlands. From Rapid City, Badlands National Park is about 1.30 min drive (84 miles). Address The Ben Reifel Visitor Center, south from Interstate 90 via Exit 110.
Badlands Loop is 38 miles one way or 58 miles loop of South Dakota Highway SD240 between the towns of Cactus Flat and Wall without stopping.

Day 6:
Visit Jewel Cave monument or Wind Cave National Park. Prior reservation is required for guided tour for both at https://www.recreation.gov site.