Road Trip Midwest USA -- What to see?

You are welcome to post on the TA forum or you can PM me here if you choose! I would divide your nights in Gardiner, though. I DO stay in Gardiner/Mammoth or Roosevelt for a week on my June trip BUT I also spend a week at OF.

SML is my choice of lodging in Grand Tetons. Terrific location.

Depending on where you stay on I90 you might want to drop off the interstate at Laurel and head for Red Lodge. Enter Yellowstone via the NE entrance after you drive Beartooth HIghway.

Googlemap drive times are inaccurate for Beartooth and for the roads within Yellowstone but I can give you some times when you are that deep in your research.

DebVT, I live in Kansas City (Missouri) so have some suggestions for the I-70 route.

First, western Kansas (as you know) is pretty bleak and wide open so not much of interest until you get near KC. I always tell people west KS is best done at night so you don't see how desolate it is. In KC (you may know all these), there's the National World War I Museum and Memorial; the Truman Presidential Library and Museum; KC Royals baseball (stadium is right on I-70); Negro Leagues Baseball Museum co-located with the KC Jazz Museum; some Civil War sites (hard to find if you dont know); Trailheads for the Santa Fe/Oregon/California Trails; new KC Current stadium (women's major league soccer); and a hidden gem - the Steamboat Arabia Museum. Of course tons of BBQ, festivals and music opportunities. PM for more details if needed.

East to St Louis and the Arch, maybe a stop in Hermann, MO - German wine country. You can always cut north to I-80 from there, via Hannibal (Mark Twain-Tom Sawyer country).

The I-80 route is slightly less bleak in Nebraska, but Omaha area has the Strategic Air Command Museum (Ashland) with giant hangers of famous planes. Des Moines has the usual city attractions, and then the Amana Colonies near Iowa City, with old fashioned food and tourist things.

We just did a Jackson/GTNP/Yellowstone trip, so I'll wait for your thread on that.

For the game at Wrigley, buy tix early - they're playing the Jays and those fans TRAVEL, huge crowd a Fenway (pre covid) when I was there for a Sox-Jays game. If you can fit it in, also do a stadium tour, it's fascinating! Also in Chicago, the Museum of Science and Industry, they have a German U boat there!

A few more ideas, mostly for history buffs:

The Herbert Hoover birthplace and library at West Branch, Iowa, near I-80, and the Eisenhower birthplace and library in Abilene, Kansas near I-70. I did the Ike and Truman sites on the same day once, felt like time travel.

Mount Rushmore near I-90 in South Dakota, and the unfinished Crazy Horse monument nearby.

The Little Big Horn battlefield site ("Custer's Last Stand") in Montana, near I-90.

I agree with Pam about the northeast entrance to Yellowstone, via Red Lodge and the Beartooth Highway -- one of America's most spectacular mountain roads. A night in Laurel or Red Lodge, followed by a day along this route and through the Lamar Valley, would be a great way to go into Gardiner, but a longer drive than the straight I-90 route via Livingston.

We did a great Gate 1 tour of national parks in August and it was great.

I suggest flying into Great Falls, SD instead of Chicago. You will save a lot of time. There is a lot of empty space between Chicago and Great Falls.

Take in Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument and museum. Also, you will enjoy the Black Hills and can take in the Badlands.

Then proceed through Wyoming into Montana. in Southern Montana, in the Billings area, visit the Battle of Little Big Horn were Custer met his demise.

I am not sure which side of the mountain range that is on the east side of Yellowstone Park, but I hope for your sake that Gardiner, MT is not on the east side. We crossed the range entering Yellowstone at the NE corner (entrance) of the park. The mountain range is steep and highway is curvy and slow. You wouldn't want to do that even day when visiting the park.

Yellowstone is great, we spent about 2 1/2 days exploring the amazing park. The main things to see are the geysers (there are many as well as scenic fields; waterfalls; the magnificent canyon: huge lake on the SE corner; the many buffalo and Elk as well as other scenic places.

You plan to be there for six days. That seems like a bit much. Are you visiting other parks than Yellowstone?
Grand Teton is amazing and recommend visiting Jackson, Wy as well.

For our own road trip this summer we drove along the NPS Lewis & Clark National Scenic Trail which parallels I-90 for quite a ways, with lots of L&C related historic sites along the way. Depending on your particular interests it's something your family might enjoy.
One little hidden gem of a place that we detoured into one day was the town of Medora near the Badlands of North Dakota. Another worthwhile stop is Custer State Park in SD if you happen to be in the vicinity. It rivals some of our nicest National Parks with several beautiful lakes, a number of gorgeous hikes, and all kinds of critters running loose ... including one of the largest free roaming buffalo herds in the country.

"I suggest flying into Great Falls, SD"

@ Geovagriffith: Great Falls is in Northern MT (near Glacier) so maybe you meant Rapid City?

I did not suggest they stay in Red Lodge and use that as a base from which to tour Yellowstone. I suggested they drive Beartooth Highway on the way to their lodging in Gardiner MT.

Did the Gate1 bus actually drive Beartooth? The switchbacks on the Red Lodge end are pretty tight for a full sized bus.

"You plan to be there for six days. That seems like a bit much"

Trust me on this that a 2.5 day visit does not even get to the highlights in Yellowstone. Seriously, I spend 2 WEEKS every June and don't see everything I think I'm going to see. I also just spent 4 nights in Gardiner over the weekend of Sept 16th to do a birding course. I had 2.5 days on my own plus the full day on the bird course and I didn't even get down to my favorite thermal areas, nor did I have time to stop at any of the Canyon overlooks.

Wow, thank you for all the great replies! Very much appreciated!

Pam: You may be right, and I did think about splitting up our stay; Yellowstone is such a big park! I decided to have us stay put in Gardiner for a few reasons -- first, my family is going to be most ga-ga over the wildlife (versus the geysers), and I suspect we would spend most of our time driving around the upper loop and Lamar valley areas in search of critters regardless of where we stay. Also, our rental house is located in supposedly "prime" wildlife watching area along the Yellowstone river -- and there's fishing (I may never get my husband to leave the house). And one more reason -- my oldest daughter and her husband may fly out to join us for the Yellowstone portion of the trip (their work schedules won't let them do the whole two weeks), and staying at the house will be much more comfortable for all of us. I did check the lodgings at OF a couple of months ago, and putting all 6 of us up was going to be terribly expensive and probably not super comfortable. At this point, all of the OF lodgings are already sold out anyway. So... I get it, and ideally we could move camp midway thru our Yellowstone stay, but I think because of all those reasons we're better off staying in Gardiner.

Beartooth Highway was definitely on my list to work in somehow -- thank you for the routing suggestion, and I'll no doubt get in touch when I'm ready to dive into all those details! I just have to remember to pack a ton of Dramamine for the daughter who gets deathly carsick (I don't know why I think a road trip is a great idea -- ha!)

stan: THANK YOU for all the great KC suggestions! My husband and I, along with friends, are actually taking a long weekend to go to KC in December to see a Chiefs game and also the Jayhawks on the Saturday (my dad's alma mater!). KC in December is gorgeous with all of the lights; I'm really looking forward to the getaway. I will definitely share your list of things to do with our friends so we can plan our extra time for that weekend, and I will file it away with the rest of the info for our trip next summer. Thank you as well for your Missouri and Nebraska ideas.

skunklet1771: Yep, I'll be watching to grab tickets as soon as they are available! Can't wait to see how Wrigley compares to Fenway! (but really, nothing can compare to Fenway) Thanks on the Chicago tips.

Dick: Another thank you for the great ideas. I'll check them out. I remember going to Little Big Horn battlefield as a kid and being very impressed by the history of it -- which (at least at that time) was not well-taught in school.

geovagriffith: Thank you for your suggestions. Since one of my goals is for my family to see this part of the country, we're going to fly in and out of Chicago and do the drive. I'm sure we'll fill our 6 days in Yellowstone and probably wish for more -- we are pretty relaxed travelers. We are stopping at Grand Teton National Park only for one night and will just be able to drive the loop and enjoy the spectacular views before heading eastbound again.

Robert: I've never heard of the L&C Scenic Trail -- very cool! I will dig in to the details; sounds like a lovely alternative to the interstate. Will also check out Medora as a possible stopping point (or maybe overnight depending on drive plans) and Custer State Park. Thank you!

Pam (again! :-) ): I agree, we could fill so much more than 6 days just in Yellowstone! I went as a teenager with my family for a full week and we sure weren't bored! Can't wait to go back!

Thank you again for all the ideas -- keep 'em coming!

I thought perhaps Sioux Falls, SD rather than a non-existent "Grand Falls, SD" was intended. Rapid City makes even more sense for starting out with something to see.

It's good to know your thoughts on how you came to choose Gardiner and I think it will work for you with what you want to do!

Gardiner has got some pretty good restaurants and food trucks the last few years. If you have burger fans, the Corral is a local burger place with hand shaped patties and good milkshakes. My friend and I ate here after our hike a week ago and were disappointed they did not have the strawberry daiquiris mentioned on the menu, lol. We probably did not need alcohol anyway! BTW, she always gets a Kiddie burger and honestly it is the size of what I think of as a "normal" burger.

I'm guessing the house has a laundry but if not there is a laundromat in town.

Best ice cream is at the General Store - get the Wilcoxson huckleberry! (local ice cream company from Billings)

Early coffee is difficult to get - but Bear's brew (food truck) opens at 630 and Wonderland Cafe opens at 7. The Gardiner Market is pretty reliable and has some nice home bakery items and premade sandwiches and salads to take into the park.

Sorry.....you said you were going to ask separately and I keep going on and on .... and on!!

ORDtraveler -- Yes, it's a long drive, but we're still gonna do Chicago to Montana so my family can see what's there, which is one of the goals for the trip.

Pam -- Thank you again! Love the details for Gardiner, especially the food. We love to eat pretty much anything, so food trucks, burgers and milkshakes sound amazing! Huckleberry ice cream -- yum! We have friends here with family in Montana who visit every summer and bring us back some huckleberry jam. It goes fast!

I can't add anything. I just want to say I'm jealous. :-)

In addition to water parks and duck boat tours, the Wisconsin Dells has most other tourist activities like go karts and mini golf and zip lines and escape rooms.

I know the route well between Minnesota and Yellowstone. We are flying home from Norway today, but I will post some ideas in a few days. There is a planner online for the Black Hills. It's blackhillsbadlands.com

I would get off I-90 at Buffalo or Ranchester at drive on 16, 14,or 14A through the Bighorn Mountains. Maybe you'd like the rodeo in Cody. From there, the drive into the park either through the east entrance or taking Chief Joseph up to Cooke City are beautiful drives.

mnannie will have lots of ideas as you travel through that area. I took a road trip last year through Badlands and she gave me a ton of places to stop at. I just wish I could have had the time to see them all!

One place you also might want to check out on the way is Lanesboro, Minnesota. It is a gem of a town and it’s about 30 minutes south of I 90 as you’re traveling through. It is definitely worth a short detour. There are loads of trails there, a limestone cave you can tour through and the town itself is absolutely charming. It would definitely make a nice respite on your drive. https://www.midwestliving.com/travel/minnesota/lanesboro/lanesboro-trip-guide/

Also Madison, Wisconsin, would be a good place to stop for lunch. It’s about 2 1/2 hours out of O’Hare, and has a nice choice of restaurants. It’s a beautiful city, too, that sits right on the lake.

After that, the pickings get a little slim for a while until you get to the Dells. If your kids don’t want to wait till you get to Madison to eat, there’s always places like Janesville and Beloit that have some restaurants (mostly chains) as well.

Here are a few more places that might fit your interests and route:
Field of Dreams (Iowa)
Spam Museum and the Jolly Green Giant Museum (Minnesota)
Falls Park (Sioux Falls, South Dakota)
Corn Palace (Mitchell, South Dakota)
Dignity of Sky and Earth Sculpture (rest area above the Missouri River, Chamberlain, South Dakota)
The Presidents in Rapid City, South Dakota
People line up for this ice cream in Rapid City
Wildlife Loop (the burros are fun to see), Needles Highway, Sylvan Lake, and Iron Mountain Highway in Custer State Park
Roughlock Falls in Spearfish Canyon (can drive up to it)
Devils Tower National Monument
Shell Canyon in Wyoming on 14
Buffalo Bill Dam near Cody
Scotts Bluff National Monument (the drive to the top is fun) Nebraska

It looks like you will be going through the Black Hills during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. We don't mind being there when the bikers are, but you will have more motorcycle traffic and usually higher lodging rates. Watiki waterpark has hotels attached to it. There is also an abundance of regular hotels, with pools, in the area.

Thank you again for all the replies!

Trotter: Check back in after we do this trip; given the tendencies to carsickness in my family (reference my Spain trip report from 2022 and the vomiting section), you may not be so jealous any more!

PlannerMom: Thank you -- I remember the Dells as being fun when I was a kid; we'll have to figure out a way to visit on our way through.

Mardee: Awesome, I'll check out Lanesboro! and will keep Madison in mind as a lunch stop.

mnannie: WOW!!! Thank you, what a fabulous list! So many things there that grab me. We definitely wanted to see if we can catch a rodeo somewhere, so Cody might make a lot of sense (perhaps as an overnight just before getting to Gardiner). And the Spam museum -- oh my god! This is a hot topic in my house; I think it is one of the most disgusting foods on the face of the earth, and my husband would eat it every day if he could, lol! Every item on your list looks intriguing and I will check out each one. Can't thank you enough!

We did a road trip to Yellowstone from Chicago years ago. While driving near Austin Minnesota, we saw a sign for the Spam Museum. What the heck! Who ever heard of the Spam Museum? So we stopped. It was a great stop. Spam started during WWII and fed our troops. What state eats the most Spam per capita? (Hawaii)

Great and unexpected stop

Of course then there was the Corn Palace in South Dakota.. Another incredible place with an awesome story.

I also remember visiting the Little Big Horn. Once you visit the site, look at the topography, and hear the story from the Park Ranger, you know why Custer had no way of not loosing. He could have har ten Gattling Guns and still would have been slaughtered.