Road Trip to Montana: Need Advice Along the Way

Are you going through Yellowstone? What’s your ultimate destination?

Honestly, Kansas and Nebraska and eastern Colorado are pretty boring...actually very boring. So unless there are places you want to stop, I’d plan on those just being drive through as fast as possible. Maybe look up some things you are interested in like state parks or whatever.

I’d probably consider going to Denver then driving up the Rockies. It will add time but the scenery will be much better.

South Dakota - Black Hills/Mount Rushmore/Badlands - worth at a day or 2

Wyoming - Yellowstone/Grand Tetons - worth at least 3-4 days

My suggestion to just get through Kansas and Nebraska as quickly as possible

me and my family made this exact trip multiple times as I was growing up

My wife and I did a similar road trip last summer from NC but made a big loop from Kansas City. It was our first time to go to that part of the country.

As others have said there is a lot to do in SD, CO and WY.

What interest you and the kids; wildlife viewing; unusual scenery; hiking; food, dinosaurs, museums, historical sites, the old west, Indian culture?

South Dakota :
Falls park in Sioux Falls
Minute men missile silo
Badlands (notch trail is a pretty cool short hike)
Wall drug
Rushmore, Custer state park (do needles highway and iron mountain road), wind cave, jewel cave.
If you find yourself in Custer, eat at the badlands bun and burger company. The hot granny is good as are the fried cheese curds.
Devils tower in Wyoming for sure.

While I like NW Montana, I’m not sure if worth the amount of driving you’ll have to do. ‘Taking your time’ on the way to Montana, on 8 hour days, will be about 4 days of driving, one-way. 8 days of driving total for a 2 week trip does not sound enjoyable. Not to mention that the scenery on the fastest route is quite honestly some of the least interesting in the US. Going through the Rockies into Utah and Idaho would certainly be beautiful but would almost add on a whole entire day to the roadtrip, one way.

If you go to Colorado, you’ll spend about 4 days total driving. You can be in Southern Utah/Northern Arizona on 6 days of driving. You can very easily have similar experiences in those areas.

While I don’t want to sway you from going to NW MT as it is amazing, I’d strongly consider other places.

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You have Laramie as a college town, and not much else.

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I thought it was well worth taking Hwy 130 west out of Laramie through the Medicine Bow range. It doesn't get a lot of traffic and the wildlife was good (several moose esp.). The trails below Medicine Bow peak are very nice whether you go long or just short.

Anong's (Thai) in Laramie is one of the best meals I've ever had.

Are you driving north to South Dakota, and then cutting west?

I’d stop in Kansas City, it has a good restaurant scene and it’s an often beautiful city. I’d then sprint through Kansas and Nebraska.

If won’t get interesting until you get to Rushmore and the Badlands.

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According to Google Maps, it's a nine and half hour drive from Kansas City to the Badlands.

You could stop in Sioux Falls or Sioux City for lunch.

Or, you could always grabbed prepared foods in Kansas City, and plan on a picnic somewhere along the way. The last time I made that trip, I went by the Whole Foods in Overland Park.

Your stop that night would be one of the small interstate towns, like Murdo.

You then have the choice of going north through Sturgis, or going west through Wyoming towards Sheridan.

I haven't taken the Wyoming route since I was kid. And I couldn't tell you anything about it.

The Sturgis route is pretty, and but it takes you through a desolate corner of Wyoming and eastern Montana.

The last time I made that trip, I remember passing a gas station with a plywood sign. Someone had spray painted "last gas for 300 miles."

And It was true, I didn't see another station until I reached the Crow Indian reservation.

It's a pretty drive, but there's nothing there.

You need to check the areas you are planning on hitting up are open before you go. In Colorado the governor has opened the state back up but several counties are still closed. A lot of these little mountain towns only have one hospital so they aren’t ready for any sort of outbreak.

July is still a ways out so I’d imagine you’re fine but i’d confirm before you drive all that ...

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if you’ve not seen Yellowstone though, see it

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Planning to do Yellowstone and Glacier. I've seen Yellowstone but never Glacier. The kids have never been out West.

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You need to check the areas you are planning on hitting up are open before you go

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Yeah. I've thought about that. But the trip will be the last two weeks of July. Certainly things will be open by then?

I plan to bring two tents and a huge pile of camping gear. Worst case scenario we can just crash at a campground somewhere. The girls will tell their grandkids about it in 50 years. How traumatic it was