9 States and 6 National Parks in 10 Days: Yellowstone, Glacier, Badlands and Much More

June 5, 2016

Flight: Orange County, SNA –> Salt Lake City; Denver, DEN –> Orange County, SNA
Duration: 10 days
Mileage: ~3200
Starting point: Salt Lake City, UT
States: UT, ID, WY, MT, ND, SD, NE, KS, CO
Budget for 2 people: $1953 ($22.5* flight,  $500 car rental, $700 hotels, $300 gas, $330 food, $100 other)
Map

  • Day 0: flight from Orange County, SNA to Salt Lake City, SLC; night walk in the downtown
  • Day 1: explore Salt Lake City, UT; drive to Jackson, WY via Idaho Falls, ID (300 mi, 5 h)
  • Day 2: explore Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park; stay in Jackson, WY
  • Day 3: continue exploring Yellowstone; drive to Hungry Horse, MT (550 mi, 10 h)
  • Day 4: explore Glacier National Park; stay in Hungry Horse, MT
  • Day 5: continue exploring Glacier National Park; stay in Cut Bank, MT
  • Day 6: drive to Dickinson, ND (530 mi, 9h)
  • Day 7: explore Theodore Roosevelt National Park; drive to Rapid City, SD (240 mi, 4 h); explore Mount Rushmore, SD
  • Day 8: explore Wind Cave National Park and Badlands National Park; stay in Rapid City
  • Day 9: drive to Denver, CO via Nebraska and Kansas (560 mi, 10h)
  • Day 10: explore Boulder, CO; flight back home from DEN

* We had Southwest points to use thus we paid airfare taxes only