Mount Rushmore to Yellowstone: 14-day road trip itinerary

Name: Mount Rushmore to Yellowstone: 14-day road trip itinerary
Brand: Étaperia
Price: 39 EUR
Availability: InStock
Author: Kylian

Bison of the Badlands, granite presidents, the geysers of the world's first national park, and the loop closing back on Seattle.

Compiled by Kylian, updated on Aug 23, 2026

The Yellowstone National Park entrance sign among the pines

14 days
31 places
13 nights
fast pace

Start: Estes Park, Colorado
End: Seattle (Seattle-Tacoma airport)
Main transport: Car, with three crossings of more than 310 miles (500 km)
Recommended season: Late May to September: the roads and lodges of Yellowstone and Grand Teton only open in the warm season, and the North Cascades Highway closes under snow

What you get

The complete itinerary: 14 days sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening / Hotel
The card of every hotel, with the address and a direct booking link
Quota tickets, fixed-date tickets and surcharges flagged in advance
The country quick guide: weather, transport, formalities, budget
A PDF file of 21 pages

What the price does not include

Flights
Hotel nights
Tickets and admission fees
Travel insurance
On-the-ground assistance during your trip

The itinerary preview

The free day in full, with its hotel card. This is the sample.

Day 6

Jenny Lake and the barns of Mormon Row

Morning

Jenny Lake, Hidden Falls, Inspiration Point and Cascade Canyon

The shuttle boat crosses the glacial lake in ten minutes and drops you at the foot of the mountains: Hidden Falls (98 ft / 30 m), then Inspiration Point on its promontory, and the walk up Cascade Canyon between two 3,940-foot (1,200 m) granite walls, in a perfect U-shaped valley (8.1 mi / 13 km, about 3 hr). Moose in the willows and pikas in the scree. Without the boat, allow 2.5 miles (4 km) more around the lake.

Afternoon

Mormon Row, Schwabacher Landing, Snake River Overlook and Signal Mountain

The Moulton brothers' barns, built by Mormon settlers between 1908 and the 1950s, have become the most reproduced image in Wyoming: gray timber, meadow, and the Tetons behind. Then Schwabacher Landing and its beaver dams that make the water perfectly still, the Snake River Overlook (Ansel Adams's viewpoint in 1942), and the switchback road up Signal Mountain for a bird's-eye view over the whole Jackson Hole valley.

Evening

Wildlife watching on the Moose-Wilson Road

A narrow, slow road at dusk, the best in the park for moose in the willows and black bears in the chokeberries at the end of summer. Stay in the car, at least 100 yards (91 m) from bears.

€39 incl. tax

that is €2.79 per day of travel

Billed in euros. If your card is in another currency, your bank converts at its own rate.

Secure payment through Stripe, bank card, Apple Pay and Google Pay
Available immediately in your customer account: online reading with clickable booking links, downloadable PDF for offline use
Method: what is checked, and when

A hotel in the itinerary closed or impossible to find, a place to visit permanently closed?

Within 12 months of purchase, email contact@etaperia.com

Itinerary corrected within 7 days, or refunded in full. Terms in article 12 of the terms of sale, on top of the legal warranty (new tab)

€39 incl. tax · 14 days

Buy

A question before buying? Email Kylian, reply within 2 business days.

The day-by-day rundown

13 stops, 2,070 km as the crow flies

Day 1 On to the Great Plains The road from Estes Park to Wall, and the Wall Drug Store Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 2 The Badlands, from west to east The Badlands Loop Road Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 3 The Black Hills, granite and bison Mount Rushmore Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 4 Devils Tower and cowboy Wyoming Devils Tower and the Tower Trail Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 5 The Bighorns and the arrival at Grand Teton Powder River Pass, Ten Sleep Canyon, Thermopolis and Wind River Canyon Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 6 Jenny Lake and the barns of Mormon Row Jenny Lake, Hidden Falls, Inspiration Point and Cascade Canyon Free
Day 7 Yellowstone, the land of geysers West Thumb, Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 8 Norris and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Norris Geyser Basin, Artists Paintpots and Gibbon Falls Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 9 Lamar Valley and Mammoth Hot Springs Lamar Valley at dawn Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 10 The long road across Montana From Gardiner to Spokane by Bozeman, Butte and Missoula Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 11 Winthrop and the North Cascades Winthrop and the Washington Pass Overlook Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 12 Whidbey Island and the return to Seattle Deception Pass Bridge, Whidbey Island and the Clinton-Mukilteo ferry Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 13 Last day in Seattle Woodland Park Zoo and Green Lake Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF
Day 14 Flight home Flight home Day reserved for buyers, unlocked in the PDF

1 day is free to read above. The other 13 unlock when you buy. Buy the itinerary, €39

Found an error in this itinerary? Report an error

Country quick guide and logistics

The essentials of the country, scannable in ten seconds.

Weather and when to go

Late May to September: the roads and lodges of Yellowstone and Grand Teton only open in the warm season, and the North Cascades Highway closes under snow at the end of the route.
Yellowstone is a plateau at 7,870 feet (2,400 m): it can freeze at night even in midsummer, and the four camping nights there call for a warm sleeping bag.
The wildlife shows itself at dawn and dusk: Lamar Valley before daybreak for the wolves, the Moose-Wilson Road at sunset for the moose and the bears.

Transport and permits

This is the longest stage of the route by distance: about 2,580 miles (4,150 km), with three crossings of more than 310 mi / 500 km (Estes Park-Wall, Buffalo-Grand Teton, Gardiner-Spokane).
No signal in much of the Badlands and Yellowstone: offline maps and booking slots downloaded before entering.
The Badlands' Sage Creek Rim Road is an unpaved track: check its state the day before, it becomes impassable after rain.
The Clinton-Mukilteo ferry links Whidbey Island to Seattle's northern suburbs on the second-to-last day.

Formalities and safety

Short tourist stay under ESTA: $40.62 per person since October 16, 2026, on esta.cbp.dhs.gov, no later than 72 hours before departure.
Sensitive bookings: the lodges and campgrounds of Yellowstone (Madison, Canyon, Mammoth) and Grand Teton (Signal Mountain Lodge) are the most contested of the whole route and open 13 months ahead on yellowstonenationalparklodges.com.
Never step off the boardwalks in Yellowstone: the silica crust is sometimes an inch or two above water at 194 °F (90 °C), and visitors die there.
Wildlife: 100 yards (91 m) from bears and wolves, 25 yards (23 m) from bison and elk. In Yellowstone, bison injure more visitors than bears. All food in the bear boxes provided, never in the tent or in the car.

Budget and meals

America the Beautiful annual pass: $80 for US residents, $250 for non-residents, valid for the whole vehicle. Without a pass, Yellowstone's entry costs $35 per vehicle, plus $100 per non-resident aged 16 and over.
Meals: $15 to $25 at lunch, $30 to $50 in the evening, plus tax and an 18 to 20% tip.
Four camping nights out of the thirteen, including Sage Creek, free, primitive and waterless, with bison in the camp.

Frequently asked questions

What exactly do I receive?

Your Étaperia itinerary, available immediately in your customer account after payment: readable online with clickable booking links, and downloadable as a PDF for the trip. Every day is sequenced Morning / Afternoon / Evening and says where you spend the night, with the address and booking link for each place to stay. Timed-entry tickets are flagged in advance.

How is this better than what an AI gives me?

A generative AI composes a plausible list in seconds, without saying what was checked or when. At Étaperia, every itinerary is compiled day by day, with the booking constraints spotted before it is too late to get them. The Method page says what is checked, against which source and on what date.

Can I adapt it to my dates and my pace?

Yes. The days are self-contained blocks: you can shift the departure, stretch a stage or skip a day without breaking what follows. Only timed-entry tickets require adjusting the dates accordingly, and they are all flagged.

What if a hotel or a place in the itinerary has closed?

Email contact@etaperia.com within 12 months of your purchase. If a hotel in the itinerary is closed or can no longer be found, or a place to visit has closed permanently, the itinerary is corrected in your customer account within 7 days, or you are refunded in full. A hotel fully booked on your dates, a seasonal closure or a change in opening hours or prices is not covered. This guarantee comes on top of the legal warranty of conformity; details in article 12 of the terms and conditions of sale.

Module, classic or complete itinerary: which one should I choose?

A classic is a short trip built to stand on its own, designed for a first visit to the country. A module covers one region in depth. The complete itinerary crosses the whole country, and buying it also unlocks each of its modules in your customer account.

Can I get a refund if the itinerary doesn't suit me?

No. It is digital content delivered right away, and you waive your right of withdrawal at checkout. To judge before you pay, every product page gives one full day for free and the list of every stop. After purchase, the guarantee applies: a closed hotel or a permanently closed place is corrected within 7 days, otherwise you get a refund.