Over the summer, Patrick and I explored four national parks within a two week road trip. It was definitely one of my favorite trips we’ve ever taken so I wanted to share the itinerary I created. Of course with any big trip, plans can change so we didn’t get to everything listed on this itinerary, but most! I’m mentioning it here to give various ideas if you are planning a similar trip! We wanted to have options and back up plans which is why some days are packed. Combining these locations across a two week trip is convenient and makes for a perfect road trip! I mention the campgrounds we stayed at for reference and those that I’d recommend. Keep in mind, most campgrounds within the parks book up quickly, typically up to 6 months in advance so be prepared if you plan to camp! We also used the app campendium to find free campsites.

Check out my other blog posts to prepare and plan for a national park trip if you are looking for more tips.

Badlands National Park & Wall Drug Store, South Dakota

day one 🚐

After driving in from the East, we officially started our trip in South Dakota with the intent of spending time in Badlands National Park. We only planned for one full day within the park and while we could stayed for longer, it was doable to see most highlights within a day.

Badlands highlights in one day:

• Take a picture at the Badlands national park sign upon entering the park
• Stop at big badlands overlook
• Hike notch trail (1.3mi) *be sure to get here early if you want to experience this hike with less people!
• Hike window trail (.3mi) same parking lot as notch
• Hike door trail (.8mi) same parking lot as notch
• Stop by visitor’s center
• Drive badlands loop road and view overlooks
  • yellow mounds
  • pinnacles overlook
• On the way out of the park, stop by Wall Drug store and check out some iconic historical highlights:
  • free ice water
  • 5 cent coffee
• Drive to Center Lake campground (1.5 hr from wall drug)

🌛Center Lake Campground (Custer state park fee required as well as campsite fee)

Mount Rushmore, South Dakota

day two 🗿

• Wake up early and drive to see Mount Rushmore (30 mins from camp) *we got to the monument at 5:30am and had the place to ourselves!
• Take a photo at amphitheater/viewing deck
• Walk along the presidential trail (.9mi loop)
• Continue driving to Grand Teton NP (8hr)
• Camp at free dispersed spot

🌛 Upper Teton View – Toppings Lake Dispersed Campsites

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

day three ⛰

We spent four days in Grand Teton national park. This was by far one of our favorite parks we’ve ever been to. Since there’s so much to see and do between the park and the nearest town, Jackson Hole, I’d allow at least three days to fully explore. To save a little money, we stayed at a free campsite for a couple nights before going to a campground. The free campsites in the area are primitive and aren’t reservable so there’s no guarantee you’ll find a spot each night which can add stress, but the benefit is it’s a safe and free place to sleep!

• Sunrise at schwabacher landing (wear layers in the early mornings, it’s cold even in the summer!)
• Drive into Jackson hole and stop by cowboy coffee for coffee and breakfast
• Drive along the Teton park road and see outlook areas for wildlife:
  • Oxbow Bend Turnout
  • Cascade Canyon Turnout
  • Teton Glacier Turnout
  • Glacier View Turnout
  • *Schwabacher Landing
  • Teton Point Turnout
  • Snake River Overlook
  • Elk Ranch Flats Turnout
• Stop at visitor’s center
• Spend time exploring Jackson Hole
• Dinner in town: hand fire pizza

🌛 Upper Teton View – Toppings Lake Dispersed Campsites

day four 🏔

• Watch sunrise at mormon row
• Hike to Delta lake (9 mi roundtrip) via lupine meadows access
  • We unfortunately didn’t get to finish this hike because Patrick got altitude sickness in the middle of the hike! Learn from our mistake and prep yourself with plenty of snacks, water, and time to adjust to the altitude in the area before taking on a big hike.
• Drive along scenic highway and stop at pull off spots
  • our favorite was mountain view turnout :)
• Sunset at schwabacher landing

🌛 Upper Teton View – Toppings Lake Dispersed Campsite

🚿 Showers are available at Colter Bay, Signal Mountain, and Headwaters at Flagg Ranch.

day five 🥾

• Wake up early to hike parts of cascade canyon (we started at string lake)
  • Along the way enjoy popular spots like:
    • inspiration point
    • hidden falls
    • jenny lake loop
• Watch sunset from Jenny Lake scenic drive area
• Check into campground

🌛Jenny Lake campground, tent only

day six 🐻

• Hike around taggart lake (4 mi round trip)
• Drive into Jackson and spend time exploring and souvenir shopping
• Kayak or swim in Jackson lake
• Go back to any favorite spot for one last sunset in the park!

🌛 Jenny Lake campground, tent only

Read more:
Things To Do in and Around Badlands National Park
Two Days in Yellowstone 
Grand Teton National Park travel guide
Tips For Planning a National Park Trip

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho

day seven ⛲️

We spent a day and a half exploring Yellowstone. We definitely could have spent much more time exploring, Yellowstone is massive! However, we were able to see some nice highlights throughout our short but sweet time in park. One thing to note about Yellowstone is you will spend a lot of time driving to various spots (especially if your time is limited like ours was) but the views while driving are stunning and worth being in the car!

• Drive to Yellowstone NP (2 hr from Grand Teton)
• Explore the old faithful area
  • See old faithful erupt (you can look up predicted eruption times online) this iconic geyser does erupt every 60-90 minutes!
• Walk along boardwalks to see other geysers and pools in the area. Some of our favorites:
  • Castle geyser
  • Daisy geyser
  • Spa geyser
  • Morning Glory pool
  • Grotto geyser
  • Grand geyser
  • Beauty pool
• Stop by visitor’s center
• Drive to grand prismatic spring and hike to overlook (1.5mi)
• Drive to camp

🌛 Canyon Campground (showers included in reservation)

day eight 🦬

• Wake up early and drive to Hayden valley to watch bison! (our favorite experience in the park)
• Drive to see the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and stop by various look out points:
  • park in South Rim Rd to see view with Artist Point
  • drive to North Rim Rd to see lower Lookout Point
  • drive down the road to Grand View
  • inspiration point to see a farther view
• Drive to Lamar valley to view more wildlife. We unfortunately didn’t see many bison in this area due to the construction occurring in the park at the time.
• Drive to see mammoth hot springs to see minerva terrace
• Drive to camp for dinner
• Catch the sunset back at Hayden valley (we ended up seeing a bison herd commuting to find a place to rest for the night, such an amazing experience to witness).

🌛 Canyon Campground

Glacier National Park, Montana

We ended our two week road trip with our last few days in Glacier national park. This part of the trip offered us some of the most incredible views we’ve ever seen! Glacier is extremely popular and crowded so it requires advance planning to ensure you book vehicle reservations (needed during peak season) and campgrounds. During peak season, the park is separated into four sections that require reservation tickets to enter during designated time periods as an attempt to limits crowds. More information on this can be found on the park’s website. Also, be sure to have bear spray on every hike in Glacier!

day nine 🚐

• Drive to Glacier national park (7 hours from Yellowstone)
• Check into camp

🌛 Fishcreek campground

🚿 Showers are available at camp

day ten 🏔

• Wake up early to hike to avalanche lake
  • Walk the trail of the cedars nature trail (1mi loop) continue hiking to avalanche lake (4.5 mi round trip)
• Drive and stop along the ‘going to the sun’ road
• Stop to see look out points along the way to take pics:
  • The Loop– Hair pin turn on the road that allows views of stunning mountains
  • Weeping Wall– Named after a cliffside that has water dripping from snowmelt onto the road and your car!
  • Big Bend – Located just after the Weeping Wall, the best spot for photos or to watch the sunset :)
  • Logan Pass – The highest point on the road, also where the visitor’s center is located
  • Jackson Glacier Overlook– Pull off area to view Jackson Glacier
  • Saint Mary Falls – Trail head for Saint Mary Falls starts at this pull off
  • Wild Goose Island – Stop here to get a photograph of the famous island in the middle of Saint Mary lake!
  • Rising Sun– Cute area to stop in for a restroom break or snacks
• Get huckleberry ice cream as a reward!
• Check into camp

🌛 Fishcreek campground

day eleven 🏔

• Wake up early to drive to logan pass visitor’s center to hike the high line trail (parking lot here fills up extremely quickly!)
• Hike the high line trail (~14 mi round trip)
  • Due to extreme rainy and snowy weather conditions, we weren’t able to finish the entire hike but it was still one of the best experiences we had while visiting the park! We were hiking within the clouds at times! These kinds of weather conditions are typical while hiking in higher altitude, be sure to check the weather before hiking in some areas.
  • The high line trail is definitely worth trying even if you only plan to hike for a few miles, the views are incredible!
• Stop by lake McDonald and go for a swim to relax after a long hike.

🌛 Fishcreek campground

day twelve 🥞

• Sleep in and enjoy breakfast at camp
• Drive to Polebridge area of the park
  • Explore the area, check out the Polebridge general store (super cute and has amazing pastries!)
• Drive back up to the going to the sun road to explore pull off areas
• Watch sunset at big bend

🌛 Fishcreek campground

day thirteen 🥾

• Drive to logan pass visitor’s center to park
• Hike to hike hidden lake overlook trail (2.7 mi)
  • We were only able to hike to the overlook area and not down to the lake due to bear activity. Be sure to look up park closures in advance before planning certain hikes!
• Drive to the Many Glacier area
• Explore and stop in the Many Glacier hotel
• Hike the grinnell glacier viewpoint trail (10 mi roundtrip)
• After a long last day of exploring and hiking, get some huckleberry ice cream!
• Relax at camp for final night

🌛 Fishcreek campground