Wondrous National Parks

Day 1: Arrive in Denver

Welcome to Denver, Colorado’s Mile High City. The State Capitol has a brass cap positioned at 5,280 feet above sea level, to let you know when you’re exactly one mile high. The 16th Street Mall connects the Capitol Building with LODO, the cultural district. The Colorado State History Museum, featuring the dramatic geology of the region, the Denver History Museum, the Denver Visitor Center, and the Molly Brown House, home of the “unsinkable” local heroine with a really interesting story, are all nearby.
Standard Hotel: Best Western Gateway Inn and Suites
Deluxe Hotel: Loews Denver Hotel

Day 2: Explore Denver

If you explored the Golden Triangle Museum District yesterday, today you may want to get out into one of Denver’s great neighborhoods. The Santa Fe Arts District has Denver’s largest collection of art galleries. Cherry Creek has the best shopping and dining in Denver. Quaint Old South Pearl Street has a Farmer’s Market every Sunday. The Highlands neighborhood was recently featured in National Geographic Traveler and Travel + Leisure Magazine. Golden, Colorado, the state’s first capital city, is a great western town nestled at the base of a mountain surrounded with huge buttes. It’s also home to Coors Beer.

Day 3: Denver to Scottsbluff, NE

On your way between Denver and Scottsbluff, be sure to stop at Cheyenne which began as a rowdy town of the Wild, Wild West. You can still stroll the streets where the most famous of outlaws made their way. An overnight in Scottsbluff will have you well positioned to explore the South Dakota Badlands area tomorrow. Enjoy the last portion of your drive on the Western Trails Historic National Scenic Byway outside of Scottsbluff.
Standard Hotel: Best Western Candlelight Inn
Deluxe Hotel: Barn Anew Bed and Breakfast

Day 4: Scottsbluff to Rapid City, SD

On your way to Rapid City, you’ll be passing Mammoth Hot Springs, where the remains of wooly mammoths are still discovered daily, Custer State Park and Wind Cave National Park. Once in Rapid City, the Journey Museum is world class. Most dramatic at night, Mount Rushmore is illuminated in a short ceremony that includes a short movie and the National Anthem. It’ll be a dramatic end to a day of dramatic visual landscapes.
Standard Hotel: Best Western Town and Country
Deluxe Hotel: Hotel Alex Johnson

Day 5: Explore Rapid City Area

Today, you’ll have the whole day to travel the Peter Noorbeck National Scenic Byway to and through Badlands National Park which preserves 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, spires, and other dramatic landforms sculpted by wind and water.

Day 6: Rapid City to Sheridan, WY

On the way to Sheridan, be sure to visit Devil’s Tower, a solid rock mass that shoots 1,000 fee straight into the air. Sheridan is one of Wyoming's jewels, where fabled Western history has settled comfortably into the New West, still surrounded by dramatic mountain vistas and wide open spaces.
Standard Hotel: Best Western Sheridan Center
Deluxe Hotel: Holiday Inn Convention Center

Day 7: Sheridan to Yellowstone National Park

It’s hard to find words to describe Yellowstone, America’s first National Park. As big as the state of Rhode Island, Yellowstone is a driving park with miles of roads and multiple visitor centers connecting vast geologic wonders. There are over 10,000 hydrothermal features, including 300 geysers, boiling springs, hot springs bubbling up in many colors, an 800-foot thick lava flow and of course, Old Faithful. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is 20 miles long and up to 1,200 feet deep with waterfalls up to 300 feet high.
Standard Hotel: BW Desert Inn
Deluxe Hotel: Lake Yellowstone Hotel/In Park Accommodations

Day 8: Yellowstone National Park

Spend one more day exploring this vast geologic wonder.

Day 9: Yellowstone to Grand Teton National Park

Travel the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway National Scenic Byway to the Grand Tetons and get prepared. This scenery is spectacular! The 40-mile mountain range juts straight up over Teton Park Road, with 12 peaks more than 12,000 feet and Grand Teton rising to 13,770. Jenny Lake Scenic Drive skirts Jenny Lake, clear, blue and dramatic! Signal Mountain Summit Road gives you panoramic views of the Teton Range, Jackson Lake and Jackson Hole.
Standard Hotel: BW Lodge at Jackson Hole
Deluxe Hotel: Jackson Lake Lodge/In Park Accommodations

Day 10: Grand Teton National Park

Spend one more day enjoying the spectacular scenery.

Day 11: Grand Teton to Casper, WY

Casper was founded as Fort Casper, built during the mid-19th century mass migration of land seekers along the Oregon, California and Mormon trails. Emigrant tracks are still visible along the North Platte River north of town. Learn this story and other dramatic tales at the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center.
Standard Hotel: Best Western Ramkota Hotel
Deluxe Hotel: Parkway Plaza Hotel

Day 12: Casper to Rocky Mountain National Park

Just north of Denver, Rocky Mountain National Park is a living showcase of grandeur with countless breathtaking vistas ranging from 8,000 to 14,259 feet. You’ll also see delicate alpine flowers, clear lakes, rushing mountain waters, bighorn sheep, ptarmigan, coyote, and elk. There is one major loop road through the park and every square inch is scenic. A great way to end your exceptionally scenic journey.
Standard Hotel: Best Western Silver Saddle
Deluxe Hotel: The Stanley Hotel

Day 13: Rocky National Park to Denver

Devote one more day to Rocky National Park or to Denver.
Standard Hotel: Best Western Gateway Inn and Suites
Deluxe Hotel: Loews Denver Hotel

Day 14: Depart Denver