Black to yellow road trip 6-Day itinerary

Head to Badlands National Park

This striking South Dakota landscape boasts a maze of buttes, canyons, pinnacles and spires. Skeletons of the sea-living Mosasaur remain from the days when the park was once a shallow sea. You can also see other fossilized species, including three-toed horses and saber-toothed cats. Wildlife abounds in the park’s 244,000 acres and can often be seen while hiking, camping and traveling the Badlands Loop Scenic Byway.

The Ben Reifel Visitor Center is now open. Please note the park’s roads, overlooks and trails will remain open as conditions permit.

Drive to Wind Cave National Park and See Wildlife Up Close

The first cave to be designated a national park, Wind Cave National Park features the world’s largest concentration of rare boxwork formations along with 33,970 acres of forest and prairie on the surface that act as a natural sanctuary for wildlife.

The park visitor center and Elk Mountain campground are now open.

*Cave tours currently unavailable.

Drive to Pactola Marina and Go Kayaking

At first glance, it may look like nothing more than a lake. Well, not just a lake — a beautiful lake located in the Black Hills, partially surrounded by trees and often occupied by various waterfowl looking for a relaxing spot to float and eat. In this 785-acre reservoir located about 18 miles west of Rapid City, the shimmering water attracts residents and visitors alike to come swim, relax on the beach, do some boating or stand-up paddleboarding, or cast into waters that anglers swear make for the best fishing in the state.

Visit Keyhole State Park

Keyhole State Park is between Sundance and Moorcroft on the edge of the Black Hills. It is within sight of Devils Tower. The reservoir offers excellent fishing for walleye, catfish, small mouth bass and northern pike.

Keyhole State Park takes its name from Keyhole Reservoir near Moorcroft. The reservoir offers a variety of fishing and water sports opportunities in addition to camping, picnicking, hiking and bird-watching. Keyhole also offers some of the best snowmobiling in the state during the winter. The mountains that surround Keyhole form the western boundary of the famed Black Hills.

Antelope, whitetail deer and wild turkeys are often seen in the area. The lake is one of the better places in the state to go after the elusive walleye and northern pike. For easy access, a road leads to Keyhole State Park eight miles from Interstate 90 between Sundance and Moorcroft.

Drive to Bighorn National Forest via Bighorn Scenic Byway

The Bighorn National Forest surrounds the Bighorn Mountains which are an isolated range rising from 5,500 feet to 13,175 feet at the summit of Cloud Peak. It consists of 1,107,671 million acres with 189,000 acres dedicated to the Cloud Peak Wilderness area. Wildlife is abundant in the diverse landscape which includes short grass prairies, evergreen forests, mountain meadows, rugged alpine peaks, dramatic canyons, arid desert lands and cascading waterfalls. There are 3 National Scenic Byways, 30 modern campgrounds, numerous picnic areas, a visitor center, 4 cross-country areas, 8 lodges, 3 historic fire lookouts and 1200 miles of roads and trails

Depart from Wyoming or experience the Yellowstone adventure.

This is the place you’ve always heard about. Yellowstone: the iconic American park that’s also our country’s very first national park. Home to rugged wilderness, majestic peaks, abundant wildlife, the world’s largest concentration of geysers — and two million acres of thrilling, year-round adventure. It’s hiking, horseback riding, fishing, wildlife tours, camping and more. It’s humbling. It’s enthralling. It’s Yellowstone.

Should your 6-day adventure need to end before experiencing Yellowstone National Park, you can depart from Yellowstone Regional Airport (COD).