wild life and scenic pictures for a 2 day trip

This summer I would like to go to the badlands for a 2 day photography trip. Can anyone give me any suggestions for the best views and time of day to get the best pictures. I%26#39;m interested in buffalo and senic views. Thanks in advance for your help.

wild life and scenic pictures for a 2 day trip

If Buffalo and scenic views is what you want you will have to travel a bit further.... to Custer State Park..

never seen any Buffalo in the Badlands.....

many many in CSP and a lot of other wildlife...and much more scenic (Black Hills)...

wild life and scenic pictures for a 2 day trip

Joeman is right. We saw no bison at the Badlands. You will find a large herd at Custer State Park, along with burros, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, deer, and prairie dogs. Custer%26#39;s Wildlife Loop is a great drive.

You will lots of scenic overlooks at the Badlands. Although I haven%26#39;t experienced it at this time, I have heard that dusk is a great time to drive, as the lighting changes the look of the landscape. Anyone else care to chime in??

Have a great trip!

While there are some buffalo in the Badlands, there are many more in Custer State Park (mainly in the Wildlife Loop area). You%26#39;ll also find some in Wind Cave National Park. Generally, those are the three areas where you%26#39;ll find public herds.

The bighorn sheep is another animal that you%26#39;ll find a few of in the Badlands but you%26#39;ll find most of them in the Black Hills. In Custer State Park you%26#39;ll often find them in the Game Lodge/Visitor Center area. There is an area southwest of Rapid City that is a popular bighorn sheep area.

You%26#39;ll find a lot of antelope in the Badlands and on the prairie--and also in the Wildlife Loop area of Custer State Park.

Elk are few and far between in the Badlands although it isn%26#39;t completely out of their range as they are found on the prairie south and west of the Badlands. The Black Hills will be where you find elk. Custer State Park has a good sized herd and throughout areas of the Hills that don%26#39;t have a lot of development. You won%26#39;t see elk everyday from a vehicle--you%26#39;ll need to get out and hike to find them. In Custer State Park, try a hike on the Centennial Trail near the southern end of the park.

Mountain Goats are common close to Mount Rushmore, on top of Harney Peak and throughout the Needles area. I%26#39;ve seen them in several other areas of the Hills, too.

Mountain Lions and bobcats are tough to find but they%26#39;re around.

Deer--both mule and white tail--are everywhere.

Prairie dog towns are in the Badlands and can be found on the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park.

Turkeys are more common in the Hills.

As far as times of day--I feel that the best colors in the Badlands are at sunrise and sunset.

We entered Badlands NP from the west on Sage Creek Road. The first animals we saw were herds of buffalo in the rolling hills of this part of the park. Link to photo,

outtrim.id.au/USA2006/鈥mages66

The herds were larger in CSP, where we went later in the trip, but they are in the Badlands at that time.

Thanks for all the great input. I guess I will be going to Custer State Park and the Badlands. I can%26#39;t wait!!!

any lodging similiar to Yellowstone cabins??

Would like to visit the area this summer for 4-5 days. We went to Yellowstone 2 years ago and spent most our of time in the park staying in the cabins. We just need beds and a bathroom nothing fancy just clean. We are not campers. We have 2 kids 11 %26amp; 14 and have never been to the area. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

any lodging similiar to Yellowstone cabins??

Cedar Pass Lodge has cabins in the Badlands. us-parks.com/badlands/lodging_in_the_park.ht鈥?/a>

any lodging similiar to Yellowstone cabins??

Will you be spending all your time in the Badlands? If not, you may want to look for lodging somewhere in the Black Hills. Custer State Park has much to recommend it.

I havent yet figured all the details, but we will try and see the entire area.

Iron Mountain Road...worth doing in the opposite direction?

My question is similar to some of the other ';routing'; questions posted. We will be arriving Keystone from the east through Rapid City. We have a 525 mi. drive to Rapid City and will do a detour through the Badlands on the way, so we expect to arrive Rapid City late afternoon. We are staying in Keystone to have close access to the evening lighting ceremony at Mt Rushmore. The next day we plan to tour Rushmore, drive the Needles Highway (hopefully with a stop at Sylvan Lake) and see Crazy Horse from the road before driving up to Deadwood to stay the next evening. I%26#39;m going a little nuts trying to optimize the driving route without alot of backtracking or driving in circles. I know we will not have time to experience everything in one day, but trying to plan for something reasonable.

Is Iron Mountain Road worthwile if you are driving it away from Mt. Rushmore? In order to do it in the most scenic fashion, we%26#39;d have to be traveling toward Mt Rushmore, in which case it seems like we would be driving around in circles if we start from Keystone and are going to Deadwood. And we would be making the drive AFTER having spent our time there which would be less exciting, I would think. The other option we might have is coming in that way from Rapid City on the day we arrive but it looks like that would add a good 15-20 miles to the first day%26#39;s journey. The experience would have to be pretty spectacular to justify that after a long day on the road.

Alternatively, should we go ahead and drive Iron Mountain Rd opposite the recommended direction, and if so should we drive through the northern part of Custer State Park or take the Playhouse road shortcut over to the Needles Highway? We will have to leave our in-depth exploration of CSP for another trip, but just wondering if the drive across the northern portion on Alt 16 would be worth it versus maybe spending a little more time around Sylvan Lake?

Looking for some recommended advice on these trade-offs...

Iron Mountain Road...worth doing in the opposite direction?

Yes, it%26#39;s worth it ';in reverse';--just stop at the tunnels and jump out of the car for some views of Mt. Rushmore. What traffic is there moves pretty slow so you won%26#39;t have a problem stepping out into the road for a photo or two.

Iron Mountain Road...worth doing in the opposite direction?

Are there places near the tunnel to actually pull off the road, or do you have to stop in the middle to take the pictures?

There are pullouts. It%26#39;s a road built for scenic driving and stopping.

Actually when you travel south on the Iron Mountain Rd. You actually will face Mt. rushmore heading through 1 of the tunnels. You can stop near the other 2 to get the views from reverse

motel

looking for low cost motel around mt rushmore for the first week in sept. thank you for any help.

motel

We liked the Roosevelt Inn in Keystone. It%26#39;s about 3 miles to Rushmore. Their website is rosyinn.com. Be sure to ask for the internet rate; they don%26#39;t offer it to you unless you ask. I have a review on this site; feel free to check it out. With the internet rate, the longer you stay, the cheaper the nightly rate is.

Have a great trip.

motel

Comfort Inn $62 AAA rate... Hill City

Nice Hotel and 3 blocks from the AWESOME Alpine Inn

Hill City central to alllllll.......

Car rental

We are planning to fly into SD and pick up a car at RC airport. We plan on driving thru Wyoming into Yellowstone and dropping the car off in Jackson WY since we would like to fly home from this airport without backtracking. I have been able to secure a vehicle with an on-line reservation and discount code however I have now been reading about hidden fees (drop off charges for another state, etc.) and decided to call the rental company directly and was told that this quote is the price and there are no additional fees. Do I take their word or ask for something specifically in writing in addition to the confirmation. I just do not want to be hung out to dry with additional charges when we return the vehicle. Thanks in advance.

Car rental

If it is Hertz then I would take them at their word. We rented from Hertz last year and picked up in Las Vegas and dropped off in Salt Lake City. The price they quoted me was what I ended up paying.

Car rental

Oh I might add that I booked through AAA/Hertz and they are great about doing what they say. We have been members for years and book hotels and car rentals through them if possible.

how to dealwithabreakup

Driving from Deadwood to Yellowstone

Hi. We are driving from Deadwood to Yellowstone %26amp; was wondering of somewhere to stay for 1 night to breakup the long drive. Does any one know anywhere with something interesting to do or see along the way? We will probably be staying in Cooke City.

Thanks for ANY help,....I will also post this in the Yellowstone forum....

Lauren

Driving from Deadwood to Yellowstone

I might look at Cody, WY as it has lots of things to do. If you take I-90 to Ranchester, WY (just beyond Sheridan) and head to Cody on US 14, then take 120 to 296 (the Chief Joseph highway) then on to Cooke City it is only 440 miles. It%26#39;s about 360 miles to Cody.

Driving from Deadwood to Yellowstone

Devils Tower...well worth a visit....

Since it isn%26#39;t very far from Cody to Cooke City, you might want a slight diversion off your route. Make the trek up to Red Lodge and follow highway 212, the Beartooth Highway, to Cooke City. It%26#39;s a gorgeous drive.

On your way to Cody, stop when you get to the top of the switchbacks west of Sheridan for a look out across the plains of Wyoming.

I would stop in Cody and see the fantastic museums and the rodeo. We are stopping in Sheridan then going up to the Battle of Little Big Horn and then to Cody.

CeCeDouglasville,

Can I convince you to backtrack from the Custer Battlefield to Sheridan to take the drive over the Bighorn mountains instead of going around them by taking the route through Billings to Cody. The drive up and over is spectacular.

Agree with you on that RM

I always take rt14 not rt14a when going into Cody from the Black Hills on way to Yellow/GTetons

it is a very spectacular ride..

but nothing like the Bear Tooth highway (212)

RM-MN,

This is our itinerary:

May 27-28- Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer State Park, etc., stay in Keystone.

May 29- Deadwood, Spearfish Canyon, Devil%26#39;s Tower, stay in Sheridan.

May 30- Battle of Little Big Horn, stay in Gardiner, MT for 2 nights and tour grand loop of YNP.

June 1- Drive out NE entrance to Cooke City down to Cody, stay in Cody 2 nights for museums and rodeo.

June 3- Drive thru eastern entrance to GT and Jackson Hole.

What do you suggest differently?

We are doing Cody this way because rodeo doesn%26#39;t begin until June 1. We were in YNP and GT last year but only toured western part of YNP and did a float trip down Snake River. Thanks.

CeCeDouglasville,

With unlimited time and money, I%26#39;d lay out a slightly different route but now that I see more of your itinerary I think you have it set pretty well. If you have the time for it and if the road is open then, when you leave the Little Bighorn Battlefield, continue on I-90 past Billings to Laurel, MT and take highway 212 through Red Lodge and up over the Beartooth through Cooke City, MN on your way to Gardiner. I think this route exceeds the route up over the Bighorn mountains for beauty and interesting scenery. You will retrace part of it on your route to Cody as you make your way to highway 296, the Chief Joseph highway.

The big if is when the Beartooth Highway opens this year. It is scheduled to open about Memorial day but there has been a near record amount of snow in that area this winter and it may be impossible to get it open in time. I%26#39;d suggest calling before you leave South Dakota to see if it has opened. If not, then continue west of Billings on I-90 to Livingston and head south there on highway 89 to Gardiner.

blush eyeshadow

Week's itinerary in South Dakota

I need detailed advice on a 7-10 day itinerary for South Dakota and possibly Wyoming, especially around the Black Hills area.Two mobile adults with no children who love history. We will be flying in and out of the Los Angeles area so need help in figuring out the best routing. Like to stay in nice places that are not chain hotels and eat in local restaurants with charm. Will have rental car and will change hotels during the trip so moving around is no problem. We are flexible with dates but would like to plan the trip around the middle of June. Would love to hear all suggestions, especially those with historical value. Thanks.

Week's itinerary in South Dakota

duplicate posting and no replys back from g11,

so be it.....

Week's itinerary in South Dakota

Why so harsh with your reply? It%26#39;s only been two days since I first posted and the first response misinterpreted my travel plans to and from Los Angeles so I restated my flying in and out of the area. I do appreciate the two responses that have helped me with my plans since I have never been to this part of the country.