Yellowstone Road Trips
By Kimberly Graf. Published on March 24, 2025
Yellowstone National Park is one of the most popular, if not the single most visited, National Park installation in the country. Home of Old Faithful and a lot of other popular attractions, it's not surprising that it's on most peoples' bucket list. But the journey, not the destination, is the point of a road trip – today, we're looking at two road trips with Yellowstone as a final destination.
Salt Lake City to Yellowstone
We're starting in Salt Lake City because it feels fairly underappreciated, and starting here will allow us to see the vast landscape that makes up northern Utah. It's a part of this country that is often overlooked for the sake of all of the parks in the southern part of the state.
We'll start off in Salt Lake City and travel about 40 minutes to Park City. It's a resort town for the most part, with tons of ski resorts and even a summertime luge sliding installation, so that you can get the full range of winter sports practiced even in the warmer weather! There are also a lot of great museums and other tourist attractions here.
Logan, Utah is nearly two hours away; it's on the way and would make a worthwhile place to stop and stretch your legs after the drive. It's a small town with many outdoor parks as well as a small, exotic animal zoo where you can see animals that are native to the area, as well as some that are not. When you're finished there, head on to Blackfoot, Idaho.
Blackfoot is another small town that just happens to be on the way to Yellowstone. Another two hours will put you in this local gem, whose claim to fame is the Idaho Potato Museum. If that's not your thing, order up some spuds for lunch at any of the great local restaurants.
Jackson, Wyoming is another two hours and fifteen minutes away, and will take us into the state where Yellowstone resides. It is home to Jackson Hole, a famous sinkhole that you can still go and see, camp around, and take dips in. Incredibly deep and beautiful, this is a famous place among road trippers of all ages and types.
And when you're done dipping your toes into the Jackson Hole (and checking out the elk refuge in town), it's finally time to finish the drive to Yellowstone. It's only an hour and a quarter from Jackson, and will present a nice close to your travels.
You will quickly see why Yellowstone is so beloved; unique geyser features like Ol' Faithful make the park famous. We've heard that Old Faithful erupts so frequently and predictably, you should be able to set your watch by it. Check out the wildlife, hiking opportunities including miles of trails, and the volcanic landscape. The whole area smells a bit like sulfur because of the previous eruption.
This trip will take you on some wonderfully scenic drives and spans a total of 447 miles, or just under 8 hours just in drive time!
Mount Rushmore to Yellowstone
Mount Rushmore is another monument that road trippers might want to see. In fact, even people who aren't road trippers have this location on their bucket list. Mount Rushmore features the heads of four of our nation's presidents carved into the side of a mountain. It's a huge display of patriotism, and there's nothing quite like it. It's an image that is almost synonymous with America.
You're going to want to spend a minute here looking at exhibits and gazing up at the huge stone faces of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt for a moment before heading on.
Our next sight is Devil's Tower. It's a huge rock butte that you can see for miles; it sits high and proud on the plains. It's 2 hours and 15 minutes from Mount Rushmore, it's a great place to get out and take some pictures.
Beyond Devil's Tower is the Little Bighorn Battlefield. This was, of course, the sight of Custer's Last Stand and his battle against the Sioux and the Cheyenne that refused to leave their land during the Indian Wars. We have all heard the stories; now you can visit the place and imagine what it must have been like for either party. There's even a museum with actual items from the battle that have been recovered, and there is a cemetery on site as well.
When the history buff in you is satisfied, you can move on to Yellowstone. Make sure you prepare, because the drive this time is 3 hours and 20 minutes long before you reach the front gate.
This is an extremely scenic route that goes west from South Dakota instead of coming up from some source on Interstate 40. You can see all of the different features of these different states in the comfort of your own car.
This route is a total of 525 miles, through some of the best sights to see in the area. It clocks in at about 9 hours of drive time. Take a long weekend and enjoy yourself!
It's no secret that Yellowstone is one of the most popular parks in America, and these road trips will certainly get you there, using the most scenic and beautiful way as a guide.
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