From Cody to Jackson? If you go from the East Entrance to Fishing Bridge and then to West Thumb and south to Jackson, then yes.

But why go all the way the heck down to Jackson? It is a *very* expensive town, full of pricey restaurants and art galleries. And I guarantee you won't see Han Solo or Dick Cheney. But if you want to have a beer on the saddles at the Million, that can be a fun photo op. Jackson is quite a bit south of the Grand Tetons. If you just want to see GTNP, you really don't need to go further south than Jenney Lake. I'd only suggest going to Jackson if you plant to go south and into UT or CO or west into ID (the ride over Teton Pass is a good one!)

If you want to ride all the roads in YNP, it will take two days. If you know what you want to see in YNP, then focus your time there. The eastern half of the Park (the part closest to Cody) will not disappoint (Hayden Valley, Dunraven Pass, Canyon, Lamar Valley, Soda Butte, etc.). If you plant to get off the bike and hike, well, add more time. Some of the best hiking and fishing you'll find anywhere. You might be able to squeeze in all the roads in YNP if you just want to ride and have no intention of stopping anywhere. But, still, traffic in YNP is unpredictable, or I should say, predictably slow.

BTW, I go down to YNP all the time to fish or go backcountry for a few nights, and I face the same traffic as anyone else As for the rest of your non-YNP riding, you'll be pleasantly surprised how early you arrive at your end-of-the-day stop. That's what all the flatlanders say every summer when they get here. No worries. Always good food and drink to be found.

 

Alright, this is the plan so far.... 1st night Wall, 2nd Sheridan, 3rd Cody, 4th Yellowstone, 5th somewhere between Yellowstone and Black Hills, 6th & 7th in the Black Hills.

 

You 2 are going to have a great ride...enjoy and let us know how it went.

 

Threads like these make me angry that I'm on the East coast lol.

 

I used to live in WI and know the I-90 haul across SD well (all those fishing trips to MT before moving out here). It's tough to find a place to stop. Wall is something to see, if for nothing else than to see what all those dang signs are getting on about. I preferred stopping in Chamberlin, which is right on the Missouri River. Nice little town that will be cooler in the summer than the rest of the state. It is before Wall, though. I dunno....if you're going to make it as far as Wall, maybe you just ought to push on to the Black Hills or at least Rapid City. Remember that you get an hour back when you pass Murdo and cross into Mountain time. The riding in SD goes pretty fast. No traffic, flat, and a 70mph limit, IIRC.

If you can make it to Rapid City or the Black Hills on Day 1, then you can easily make it to Cody on Day 2 and won't need to stop in Sheridan. Sheridan is a nice enough place, though. After the dry high plains of WY, Sheridan (and Buffalo) is a nice, green, lush place in the shadow of the Bighorns. You'll find that it is a fairly easy haul from the Black Hills to Yellowstone country. Quicker than you think.

If you can make it to Cody by Day 2, you really should try to devote a day to going down to Grand Tetons National Park. YNP is amazing, but not very mountainous, actually. It is in the mountains, but remember that the Park is actually a volcanic caldera (and about 10,000 years overdue to blow!). So the Park itself is scenic for its geothermal features, river valleys, etc. Only a couple of road-accessible mountainous areas (Dunraven Pass between Tower and Canyon, and the mountains close to Cooke City). You need to go backcountry to see the rest.

If you think you can make it down to GTNP, you really do not need to go further south than Moose/Jenny Lake. No need to go all the way to Jackson, which is a haul, unless there really is something you have your heart set on there.

You could just go from the Black Hills to Red Lodge (take US 212 from Belle Fourche to Crow Agency back on I-90--this will shave an hour off your time as opposed to staying on I-90 the whole way. Look at a map, you'll see why. Gas up in Belle Fourche, though). Wake up in Red Lodge, do Beartooth Pass, ride half of YNP. Stay in Old Faithful as you said. Wake up and go down to GTNP, and stay somewhere down there. Then head back up to YNP and out to Cody.

If you do find that you want to stop between the Yellowstone area and the Black Hills, Sheridan or Cody will be the best choices.

You'll have a great trip, whatever you do.

 

One more curve to throw at you. You might go across North Dakota through Medora (ND Badlands) and hit Wall on the way back with the Black Hills. This might be more direct to Billings or Sheridan without having to go south to I-90 and back up to Sheridan. Most of Wall can be seen in an hour. Make sure you see the SD Badland as you leave Wall. The loop (about 1 hour) will take you right back to I-90.

 

Thanks everyone! I guess we have alot of options to consider. I just hope this rain stops sometime soon..... there are no plans for rain in the plan!

 

Faber is it reasonable to get from Red Logde to Moran in a day? The route I figured is around 197 miles.... Totally changing plans and trying to figure out new plan!

 

Hey N2Y,

Im from the Mpls area myself. If your still looking for suggestions, try taking US 14 across to Wall instead of I90. A lot less traffic and really neat samall towns to go through. If you have the time try out the Badlands loop just south of Wall.

Be Safe!

 

New plan is to zoom across ND, stay in Medora, zoom across MT to Red Lodge, then enjot time in Yellowstone, Tetons..... trying to figure plans for that area, then on to SD and Black Hills. Just making a very large loop!