Need ideas for a trip out West. . .

[birchbark]

We are making a loop through Minnesota and South Dakota to Mt. Rushmore, then over to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, then down to Denver for a wedding reception, before heading back to Wisconsin. Does anyone have any "must-see's" or travel tips for this route? (It will be in mid-late September.)

[CalicoKat]

we've enjoyed Thermapolis, WY

[happi duck]

Crazy Horse Monument

[homeschoolva]

There are a number of kid friendly museums in Denver if the weather is cold, and the mountains are beautiful! We enjoy hiking. The USAF Academy has a tour and the chapel is beautiful, it is free. And Focus on the Family has a tour/program in Colorado Springs also.

[Cricket]

This past September we drove up to MN for my sister's wedding and then over to Mt. Rushmore, through Wyoming over to CA to my in-laws house.

 

Mt. Rushmore was very cool! The kids loved the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum in Walnut Grove, MN. Lots of hands-on activities. There is also a Ingalls place in DeSmet, SD. We didn't go to it because we didn't have time but I have a friend who visited and said it was fun. We liked Fort Bridger in Wyoming. We spent quite a few hours there. That is probably out of your way though. I put some pics on my blog. Just yesterday my 4 yo dd said, "I want to go on another trip." We had so much fun!

[birchbark]

:bigear:

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Garden of the God's in Colorado Springs.

Manitou Springs has a great outdoor arcade.

The Natural History Museum in Denver is awesome.

Casa Bonita is a Mexican restaurant in Denver that is really neat. There are cliff divers and all you can eat sopapillas. The food is midgrade but the atmosphere is awesome.

The Denver Zoo is neat.

Manitou Springs has the Cave of the Winds.

There is an amusement park in the mountains called The North Pole. Everything is christmas themed.

Canon City has the Royal Gorge, white water rafting and a train ride down to the gorge.

Pikes Peak is in Colorado Springs. It's fun to go to the top.

Edited August 1, 2010 by The Dragon Academy

[HRAAB]

You can follow the Laura Ingalls Wilder highway through Minnesota into So. Dakota; I think it starts around Mankato and goes to DeSmet, SD, but I'm not looking at a map right now. Pa and Ma Ingalls are buried in DeSmet, plus you can visit their homestead and the surveyor's house. We love the Black Hills. Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse plus The Wind Cave and The Jewel Cave are well worth seeing. There's a site where they're excavating mammoths in Hot Springs just south of the Black Hills. The 1880 train ride out of Hill City is fun. There's a museum in Cody, WY that we've spent quite a bit of time in. You'll have fun.

[MotherGoose]

I second Laura Ingalls Wilder. Went to DeSmet when I was 14 and I remember it well. Also Mt. Rushmore at night, the lights are nice.

[JFSinIL]

We did a loop a few years back - Cody, WY is a MUST stop for the Buffalo Bill Museum complex - plan to spend a full day there! It is a mighty pretty drive between Cody and the entrance to Yellowstone on that side of the park.

 

We also fit in DeSmet, S.D. for the Ingalls Wilder stuff. Cool!

[Momling]

My girls *loved* staying in a covered wagon on the Laura Ingalls homestead in Desmet. Badlands National Park is awesome. Stop at the pharmacy in Wall, SD for an ice cream or malt. The Jewel Caves were really interesting, but you need to make a reservation in advance. Don't forget Crazy Horse monument. At Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, and Yellowstone, kids can do the Jr Ranger program.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

we've enjoyed Thermapolis, WY

 

Crazy Horse Monument

 

 

:iagree: With both of those.

 

You will be in my neighborhood! (I live 45 mins from rushmore just over the border in Wy) I also recommend the Museum of Woodcarving (amazing!) If your kids like the Flintstones there is the Flintstones Bedrock City. The badlands are just before Rapid City, SD (if you go by there). They Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (its built in the side of a Mountain) Cosmos Mystery Spot (thats just fun! We go every year!) We have been to many similar places. When we moved out here we almost didnt go. This one is by far the BEST we have ever been to! There is a dino dig in Thermapolis also!

[Debbie in OR]

If you have the time, drive up for bbq at Dick's Hickory Dock in Kittredge, just outside Denver in the mountains. It has all this great outdoor seating by a mountain stream and the rest of the scenery is just Colorado at its best. The food is excellent as well. (Wah. I'm going to cry. It was our favorite summer place to eat when we lived in Denver).

[laughing lioness]

Don't forget the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD :001_smile:

[Jeanne in MN]

Yes, LIW in Walnut Grove and DeSmet, SD. Black Hills-really enjoyed Mammoth Site south of there where they have a bulding with an archeological dig going on inside of mammoths and numerous other animals not familiar to these parts now-a-days. The Badlands are cool to see too. Devil's Tower is in Wyoming near the SD border. Not familiar with the areas of the rest of your trip. Although if you get to CO and come back through NE, there is a lot to see across NE in regards to the wagon trains.

 

Have fun!

[creekland]

When we went on a similar route we found we loved Badlands NP much more than Mt Rushmore, but we're nature lovers much more than "man-made" lovers so judge accordingly. Badlands doesn't take all that long to see and do a couple of hikes, so we're not talking a week. We spent the night and had the better part of two days. It can be less if you aren't hikers. Be sure to stop in the visitor's center to watch the film about the place.

 

We also enjoyed Crazy Horse more than Rushmore - not for the carving as it's hardly done at Crazy Horse, but rather for the American Indian exhibit/museum that is part of it. We didn't allow enough time for it.

 

Devil's Tower can be on your way to Cody and Yellowstone from these places and it made for a nice stretch break to get out and walk around it ("hike" is just over a mile if I remember correctly).

[lynn]

We purchased this travel guide for several of our trips. http://www.amazon.com/National-Geographic-Driving-America-Rockies/dp/B001QCX4Q8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280749955&sr=8-3 It has a lot of interesting things to see and driving routes to take that are off the normal routes that you would not other wise take.