Yellowstone National Park Travel Answers

There's not many options out there for "best route" so I'd just go with Google (or AAA)... Driving directions to US-191 S/US-89 S/S Entrance Rd This route has tolls. Grand Rapids, MN 1. Head west on NW 5th St toward NW 2nd Ave 0.2 mi 2. Take the 2nd left onto NW 4th Ave 390 ft 3. Take the 1st right onto NW 4th St 1.6 mi 4. Turn left onto Co Rd 63 9.7 mi 5. Turn left onto MN-6 S 15.0 mi 6. Continue onto MN-200 W 31.4 mi 7. Turn left onto Ah Gwah Ching Rd NW 0.2 mi 8. Take the 1st right onto 73rd St NW 1.2 mi 9. Turn left onto MN-34 W 57.3 mi 10. MN-34 W turns slightly right and becomes 182nd St 0.4 mi 11. Continue onto MN-34 W 7.7 mi 12. Turn left onto US-59 S 0.3 mi 13. Take the 1st right onto US-10 W 38.4 mi 14. Exit onto MN-336 S/​70th St N toward I-94 2.3 mi 15. Take the ramp onto Interstate 94 W/​I-94 W Entering North Dakota 247 mi 16. Take exit 110 for N Dakota 49 toward Glen Ullin/​Beulah 0.3 mi 17. Turn left onto N Dakota 49 S (signs for North Dakota 49/​Glen Ullin/​Lake Tschida) 3.2 mi 18. Turn right to stay on N Dakota 49 S 3.1 mi 19. Turn left to stay on N Dakota 49 S 31.4 mi 20. Turn right onto N Dakota 21 W/​N Dakota 49 S/​Railroad Ave Continue to follow N Dakota 21 W/​N Dakota 49 S 6.6 mi 21. Turn left onto N Dakota 49 S/​74th Ave SW Continue to follow N Dakota 49 S Entering South Dakota 30.4 mi 22. Turn right onto S Dakota 73 S/​U.S. 12 W/​Highway 12 W 10.6 mi 23. Turn left onto S Dakota 73 S 64.1 mi 24. Turn right onto US-212 W 71.5 mi 25. Turn left onto S Dakota 79 S/​Dartmouth Ave Continue to follow S Dakota 79 S 21.8 mi 26. Turn right onto S Dakota 34 W/​S Dakota 79 S/​206th St Continue to follow S Dakota 34 W/​S Dakota 79 S 3.7 mi 27. Turn left onto Junction Ave 1.6 mi 28. Turn left to merge onto S Dakota 79 S/​I-90 E toward Rapid City Continue to follow I-90 E 25.3 mi 29. Take exit 57 to merge onto I-190 S/​US-16 W toward Mt Rushmore 1.5 mi 30. Turn left onto Omaha St 0.2 mi 31. Turn right onto Mt Rushmore Rd 1.7 mi 32. Turn right onto Walpole Blvd 66 ft 33. Continue onto Fairmont Blvd Destination will be on the right 335 ft 690 mi – about 11 hours 59 mins Mt Rushmore Black Hills Gold 2707 Mount Rushmore Rd Rapid City, SD 57701 34. Head east on Fairmont Blvd toward Mt Rushmore Rd 466 ft 35. Turn left onto Mt Rushmore Rd 1.7 mi 36. Turn left onto Omaha St 0.2 mi 37. Take the 1st right onto I-190 N (signs for Interstate 90) 1.3 mi 38. Take exit 1A on the left to merge onto I-90 W toward Gillette Entering Wyoming 256 mi 39. Take exit 9 for US-14 W toward Ranchester-Dayton/​Greybull-Lovell/​Yellowstone-Teton National Parks 0.4 mi 40. Turn left onto US-14 W 80.0 mi 41. Turn right onto US-14 W/​US-16 W/​US-20 W/​N 6th St (signs for Wyoming 789 N/​Lovell-Cody/​Yellowstone) Continue to follow US-14 W/​US-16 W/​US-20 W 52.9 mi 42. Slight left onto Sheridan Ave 0.9 mi 43. Continue onto 8th St 0.5 mi 44. Continue onto US-14 W/​US-16 W/​US-20 W/​Yellowstone Ave Continue to follow US-14 W/​US-16 W/​US-20 W This road may be seasonally closed 76.6 mi 45. Turn left onto US-20 W This road may be seasonally closed 20.6 mi 46. Turn left onto US-191 S/​US-89 S/​S Entrance Rd Toll road This road may be seasonally closed 9.6 mi 501 mi – about 8 hours 25 mins

While you are in the area, Wind Cave National Park is not too far South from Mt. Rushmore, and is an enjoyable area to explore. As long as you are coming all the way from Michigan, it might be worth your time to travel a little farther and visit Deadwood, which is a small town that is filled with historical buildings and reminders from the town's early gold-rush boom years. Famous people, such as Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane, Wyatt Earp, and Dock Hilliday spent time in Deadwood. In 1964 Deadwood became the only city in the United States to be named a National Historic Landmark. It seems like most of the historic buildings along main street now house gamboling casinos, but these earn money to preserve the history of the area. I am not a gambler, but have stopped in Deadwood a number of times just for the rich history of the area. Visit this link to learn more about Deadwood: "Step Back Into History in Deadwood, South Dakota" - Deadwood by KimberlyAnn

With a 40' rv, you should not try to go through the park with this vehicle. Just park in one of the close towns and rent a car to go explore for the day. The distances alone make driving a vehicle like this prohibitive because of fueling points and clearance issues. Most pullouts just were not made for such large vehicles. Your RV, while great for the open road is not so agile in mountains or on curvy roads. Leave the RV in Rapid City, South Dakota when you explore the "Black hills". Just take I90 to Buffalo, Wyoming and north on I25/I90 to Sheridan, Wy. and to Billings, Mt. OR south from Buffalo, WY. to Casper, WY to Shashoni and up the Wind River Canyon to Thermopolis, Cody, and west into Yellowstone national park. The reason that I say this is because large vehicles have a hard time crossing the Black hills and are just plain dangerous crossing the 9,000ft+ passes from buffalo and sheridan westward. If you have never driven a Semi-tractor trailer in the mountains, don't even try it!