Driving advice for October, Rapid City & Yellowstone

I will be visiting Mt. Rushmore and Yellowstone in mid-October. We will be doing

the following driving: Rapid City north to the ND border, Rapid City to

Yellowstone, and Yellowstone to Denver. I%26#39;m concerned about the possibility of

snow and advisability of renting a 4WD vehicle. Also, route recommendations and

time estimates on the Rapid City-Yellowstone trip and the Yellowstone to Denver

trip. Google maps are telling me one thing and anecdotes on this forum widely

different wrt driving times. I%26#39;m interested in the shortest time, even if I have

to miss the best scenery. THANKS!

Driving advice for October, Rapid City %26amp; Yellowstone

The only reason I can think of where snow would justify driving a 4-wheel drive vehicle that time of year would be maybe in the more mountainous terrain through the Yellowstone/Denver areas. However I imagine almost all of your driving will be highway driving and we just don%26#39;t get much accumulation of snow that time of year. Icey roads may be a factor but even that will be hit or miss. You could find that some of the mountain passes in WY or CO could have a chains only advisory or no travel but I still think October should be early enough in the year that you wouldn%26#39;t have trouble.

Sorry I can%26#39;t help you with the shortest/faster route. I%26#39;ve typically gone on a route south to Denver and haven%26#39;t taken a route up to ND and over. I%26#39;m sure someone else can help you out here.

Driving advice for October, Rapid City %26amp; Yellowstone

I%26#39;m a little confused by your route. Are you planning to go to North Dakota and over to Yellowstone from there or are you thinking of returning to Rapid City and then going to Yellowstone?

If you%26#39;re leaving from Rapid City, the quickest route to Yellowstone will be to go west on I-90, take either US14 or 16 through the Bighorn Mountains, go to Cody and enter Yellowstone.

There will be closed roads in Yellowstone beginning Oct. 14 and it could be earlier depending on weather. Check out the Yellowstone website and the Wyoming forums on TripAdvisor.

There is no right answer for the question of whether you need a 4x4 vehicle. I%26#39;ve been to Yellowstone in October a number of times. The times I had a 4x4 it was beautiful and sunny. The one time I took a car (in early October), it snowed hard in Yellowstone so we left a day early and had a terrible time coming home through the Bighorns--but we made it.

A car should be fine for the South Dakota portion of the trip although snow is possible. For the rest of your trip, you%26#39;ll probably be OK in a car but if you can afford renting and putting gas in a 4x4 vehicle, I%26#39;d consider it.

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