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Great trip to S. Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Utah

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We had a great Gate 1 tour of National Parks, starting with Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of S. Dakota, also the Crazy Horse carving. Then on to Wyoming and Montana, visiting the site of The Little Big Horn in southern central Montana.
The best part was then in Yellowstone National Park, fantastic and we did it well, then Grand Teton, ending in Jasper, Wyoming.

After than we visited cousins in Idaho Falls, Idaho, which is growing like crazy. We visited the Craters of the Moon National Monument, which was amazing, and a site of one of the original nuclear power plants.

Then on to Salt Lake City for three days. This city is way understated. Loved seeing the Tabernacle Choir on Sunday Morning, but also did a lot of the city using tours.

One thing, just don't use a taxi to go to the airport, since there is a flat rate of $40 which is about double what it should be for a 10 minute ride. I need to sign up with Uber or Lyft.

Posted by
9230 posts

Other than the airport taxi pleased to know you enjoyed your trip.

Yellowstone has so much to offer.

Been nearly 40 years since seeing Mt Rushmore. Remains one of my favorite road trips.

The brilliant Bernard Herrman theme from North By North West is playing in my head.

Posted by
14743 posts

Glad you had a lovely taste of the West!! Let me know when you want to come back to Yellowstone and I’ll be happy to help you plan.

You probably actually ended in Jackson? Hop and a skip over Teton Pass to Idaho Falls.

Arco is an interesting little town but that sere sagebrush-high desert landscape is not my fav. Still, it’s different as is Craters. Hope the temps were reasonable the day you visited!

Thanks for your trip report!

Posted by
3562 posts

Thanks for your report. We are doing the Utah 5 next June and I was debating on whether to spend any time in Salt Lake City. I need to do more research.

Posted by
8020 posts

Tammy, Salt Lake is a wonderful city with so much to see and do! My brother lives there so I get out there regularly, and always have a wonderful time. I think you would enjoy it!

geovagriffith, glad you had a good trip! I love all those places!

Posted by
14743 posts

"We are doing the Utah 5 next June and I was debating on whether to spend any time in Salt Lake City. I need to do more research."

To me it depends on how much time you are spending on the Big 5. If SLC time takes away NP time, then I'd say no. If you have plenty of time for the parks and can add time in SLC I'd say yes. On TA I see people shorting Grand Tetons/Yellowstone for time in SLC and to me that is just not an equal trade.

Posted by
776 posts

Did you happen to start at the Holiday Inn Rushmore Plaza in Rapid City? Whenever we stay there in the summer, there is at least one Gate 1 bus in the lot.

Posted by
8248 posts

We stayed at the old historic hotel in Rapid City named The Alex Johnson Hotel (a Hilton). It was very nice, just had an elevator shortage (only two small elevators), however, they were installing a third elevator when we stayed there.
This hotel was in a great location, right in downtown.

Rapid City was a very nice city, clean, with little trash on the streets and many beautiful historic buildings. There were attractive statues of most of the US Presidents on street corners.

Posted by
776 posts

The Alex is my favorite in RC. It was guest headquarters for our son's wedding 10 years ago, and we able to rent the Presidental Suite for $265. Several Presidents had stayed in it, and from the looks of the decor, it hadn't changed much since their stays;) It's remodeled now, and the suite is way above our budget. I love everything about the Alex from Paddy O'Neil's on the ground floor to the Vertex on the top after dark with the fireplace going.

The artist, Jim Maher, is working on Trump's statue. My favorite is of Lincoln and his son.

Sounds like you had a great trip!

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