Hi there!
In September and October 2021, I did a road trip from Badlands National Park to Grand Teton National Park, and beyond.
It took me 7 days to drive from Badlands National Park to Grand Teton National Park.
That is one way, from the day of departing Badlands National Park, to the day of entering Grand Teton National Park for the first time.
No, it doesn’t need to take you 7 days to drive from the Badlands to Grand Teton National Park!
Making it a road trip from Badlands National Park to Grand Teton National Park can be a perfect road trip because you can go to some of the best places to visit in South Dakota and the best places to visit in Wyoming!
How long is the drive from Badlands National Park to Grand Teton National Park?
Driving directly, it might take around 9 hours of driving time from Badlands National Park to Grand Teton National Park.
Explore the map.
Driving to Grand Teton from the Badlands, you can enter through the Moran entrance of Grand Teton National Park. (There are a few entry stations for Grand Teton National Park.)
So some people will say that it’s doable to drive from Badlands National Park to Grand Teton National Park in one day.
But you can also make your route from the Badlands to Grand Teton National Park so that there are some South Dakota scenic drives and Wyoming scenic drives along the way.
In which case, you may want to at least take a few days to drive from Badlands National Park to Grand Teton National Park.
Below will show you one driving route to start to give you some ideas… the way I did it… if you want to break up the drive and spend more time along the way!
What is there to see between Badlands National Park and Grand Teton National Park?
Explore the map.
1. Badlands National Park (South Dakota)
Badlands National Park is the most famous national park in South Dakota.
The main road through Badlands National Park is the Badlands Loop Road.
All you have to do is drive this road and you will get scenic views!
If you’re driving from the east, you’ll enter from the Badlands National Park northeast entry station. (map)
You may be quite happy with your South Dakota badlands experience just by driving through Badlands National Park.
You will also find many overlooks to stop off at along the way.
👆 You can make a quick stop at the Big Badlands Overlook while driving through Badlands National Park.
There are also popular short hikes in Badlands National Park that conveniently start along Badlands Loop Road.
👆 Hiking the Door Trail.
👆 Hiking the Badlands ladder hike. This is one of the scary trails in Badlands National Park!
There are campgrounds in Badlands National Park.
The Cedar Pass Campground is the more convenient Badlands campground because it is located almost directly off of the Badlands Loop Road.
While the Cedar Pass Campground is the most convenient, you may also want to go camping in Badlands National Park in the more remote area of the park too.
That’s where you will find the free Sage Creek campground where you have a very good chance of seeing prairie dogs.
And you also have a chance at seeing buffalo walking right past your tent!
If you are not camping, then driving towards this remote Sage Creek area will also give you a chance to see prairie dogs and buffalo.
When you are in Badlands National Park, you also have a chance to see bighorn sheep too! For that, you have a chance to see them just by driving the main area of Badlands Loop Road.
See more about planning your Badlands to Grand Teton road trip:
- Quick things to do in Badlands National Park
- Best hikes in Badlands National Park
- Where to see bighorn sheep in Badlands National Park
- Camping in Badlands National Park (with buffalo and prairie dogs!)
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2. Wall Drug (South Dakota)
Wall Drug is a complete tourist attraction.
As you are driving along I-90 in South Dakota, you will see a TON of signs for Wall Drug.
There are really just THAT many that it will have you thinking… what is this Wall Drug?!?!
Well, personally I think it’s skippable.
But it’s also kind of an all-American road trip story, and you are on a road trip yourself, so… you might want to be a part of it and stop by!
I did an overnight at a hotel in Wall SD. (Super 8 by Wyndham Wall – reviews)
From Badlands National Park, you can exit through the Pinnacles entry station to drive to Wall Drug. It will be about a 15 minute drive from there. (map)
Wall SD to Grand Teton National Park is around an 8.5 hour drive. (map)
See more about planning your Badlands to Grand Teton road trip:
3. Mount Rushmore National Memorial (South Dakota)
Mount Rushmore is one of the most popular places to visit in South Dakota from out of state… if not THE most popular.
If you want to stay for a night or 2 near Mount Rushmore, there are a few hotels near Mount Rushmore in Keystone SD.
The big city near Mount Rushmore is Rapid City SD, and this is around 30 minutes away.
Mount Rushmore is in the famous Black Hills of South Dakota.
If you want to make time for it, you might also be interested in driving through Custer State Park also in the Black Hills. For example, you can drive the Needles Highway.
If you want to stay for a few days in the Black Hills, this area is also where you will find Wind Cave National Park and Jewel Cave National Monument.
Badlands National Park to Mount Rushmore is around a 1.5 hour drive. (map)
Mount Rushmore to Grand Teton National Park is around an 8 hour drive. (map)
See more about planning your Badlands to Grand Teton road trip:
- Things to do in Mount Rushmore National Memorial
- Things to do in the Black Hills for VIEWS!
- Things to do in Custer State Park
4. Spearfish Canyon (South Dakota)
The Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway is a scenic drive that you can make along the way if you are driving from Mount Rushmore to Devils Tower. (Next on the list!)
You can make it just about the drive, or you can get out of the car for a couple of stops too.
You can make time for some Spearfish Canyon waterfalls.
Badlands National Park to Spearfish SD is around a 1.5 hour drive. (map)
Spearfish SD to Grand Teton National Park is around a 7.5 hour drive. (map)
See more about planning your Badlands to Grand Teton road trip:
5. Devils Tower National Monument (Wyoming)
Devils Tower is an iconic rock formation.
If you only want to dedicate 1-2 hours to Devils Tower, that’s completely reasonable.
There are some quick things to do at Devils Tower.
I did an overnight at a hotel near Devils Tower. (Best Western Devils Tower Inn in Hulett WY – reviews)
Then I did 1 night at the Devils Tower campground.
Badlands National Park to Devils Tower is around a 2.5 hour drive. (map)
Devils Tower to Grand Teton National Park is around a 7 hour drive. (map)
See more about planning your Badlands to Grand Teton road trip:
- Driving from Mount Rushmore to Devils Tower
- Things to do in Devils Tower National Monument
- Camping in Devils Tower National Monument
- Driving from Devils Tower to Grand Teton National Park
6. Driving through Bighorn National Forest on the Cloud Peak Skyway (Wyoming)
Driving directions: Buffalo WY to Tensleep WY
Along with being along the way to Grand Teton National Park, the Cloud Peak Skyway is along the way to Yellowstone National Park.
And it’s said to be the scenic route for the drive from Devils Tower to Yellowstone, and it’s also said to be the route with the least grade.
The Cloud Peak Skyway is a drive from Buffalo WY to Tensleep WY, and it will take you through Bighorn National Forest. You will also end up driving through the Tensleep Canyon.
The highest point you will get by driving the Cloud Peak Skyway is 9,666 feet as you are driving the Powder River Pass.
Driving from Buffalo to Tensleep without stops will take you less than 1.5 hours.
You can also take it even more slowly along the Cloud Peak Skyway by spend the night in Bighorn National Forest if you can manage to book a Wyoming national forest cabin!
There are chain hotels in Buffalo WY.
If you’re up for a solid day hike in Wyoming, the road to the West Tensleep trailhead is off of the Cloud Peak Skyway.
Badlands National Park to Buffalo WY is around a 4 hour drive. (map)
Buffalo WY to Grand Teton National Park is around a 5.5 hour drive. (map)
See more about planning your Badlands to Grand Teton road trip:
7. Wind River Canyon Scenic Byway (Wyoming)
Driving directions: Thermopolis WY to Shoshoni WY
If you will be driving the Cloud Peak Scenic Byway then you will next naturally end up on the Wind River Canyon Scenic Byway to get to Grand Teton.
Yes, this is a scenic drive along a river through a canyon!
Next up, shortly after Shoshoni WY, you will pass through Riverton WY, which is a “major” city in Wyoming.
There are chain hotels in Riverton WY… and there’s also a Walmart if you need to load up on food and/or supplies!
Badlands National Park to Riverton WY is around a 6.5 hour drive. (map)
Riverton WY to Grand Teton National Park is around a 2.5 hour drive. (map) You will drive through 2 national forests (listed below!) in order to get the remaining way to Grand Teton National Park with no detour necessary!
8. Driving through Shoshone National Forest (Wyoming)
No detour necessary to drive through Shoshone National Forest if you have been following the driving route above!
But, again, if you’d like to make a stop, then you might be interested in driving to Brooks Lake!
Aside from seeing Brooks Lake, which you can drive right up to (there is also a small campground along the lake), you can also hike in Shoshone National Forest to Jade Lake.
The Jade Lakes Trail goes to 2 lakes. Going to both of them is around a 5.5 mile hike. You might want to give yourself around 3 hours for the hike.
9. Driving through Bridger-Teton National Forest (Wyoming)
And then Shoshone National Forest connects to Bridger-Teton National Forest, so once again no detour necessary.
You can drive with distant views of the Teton mountain range for your first glimpse of the Tetons!
10. Moran WY
Now, this is not exactly a “stop” to make (I did not do anything notable in the town of Moran itself, besides sleep), but Moran WY can be a reference point on a map as a gateway town of Grand Teton National Park when you are driving through the Wyoming national forests mentioned above.
The main gateway town of Grand Teton National Park is Jackson WY or Jackson Hole. The hotels there are quite expensive though.
So I was happy to find a budget room at the Hatchet Resort located in Moran WY.
*Partner website to read the reviews and look at cost.
It was also a perfect location to stay in terms of this driving route to get to Grand Teton. (map)
It was located on the main road right outside of Bridger Teton National Forest, and it’s about a 10 minute drive to the Moran entrance and the Grand Teton Scenic Loop Drive. (More on that next!)
11. Grand Teton National Park (Wyoming)
You’ve made it to Grand Teton National Park!!
The 42-mile Grand Teton Scenic Loop Drive is the scenic drive of Grand Teton National Park.
Along the way you will also pass by the turn-off for Jenny Lake Scenic Drive.
And then hiking in Grand Teton National Park is also a thing.
There are shorter hikes (hiking from the Taggart Lake trailhead for example), and there are longer hikes (hiking from the Lupine Meadows trailhead for example).
For Grand Teton National Park, the most popular gateway town is Jackson WY or Jackson Hole.
See more about planning your Badlands to Grand Teton road trip:
- Best things to do in Grand Teton National Park
- Driving through Grand Teton National Park
- How to spend one day in Grand Teton National Park
Driving from Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton and Yellowstone are connected.
So moving on from Grand Teton National Park, it can be perfect to drive to Yellowstone National Park next!
You can make your first major stop in Yellowstone the West Thumb Geyser Basin.
This is a Yellowstone geyser basin where you can see many thermal features with a lakeside walk along Yellowstone Lake.
👆 It can be perfect to drive from Badlands National Park to Grand Teton National Park to Yellowstone! There are over 10,000 hydrothermal features in Yellowstone National Park! This includes more than 500 geysers! This means that there are truly so many things to do in Yellowstone National Park!
See more about planning your Badlands to Grand Teton to Yellowstone road trip:
- Driving from Grand Teton to Yellowstone
- Best things to do in Yellowstone National Park
- How to spend one day in Yellowstone National Park
And that’s one way you can drive from Badlands to Grand Teton National Park!
And, after Grand Teton National Park, maybe you want to keep heading west to Idaho and Craters of the Moon National Monument! And then you can make the return trip back east along southern Wyoming and drive through Medicine Bow National Forest and the Snowy Range Scenic Byway!
Or, after Grand Teton National Park maybe you want to loop back around and make the return trip to the east with a detour through North Dakota to go to another national park! (map) In which case…
Download offline maps before you go!
It’s quite possible that you will have minimal data in some places as you are driving to Grand Teton National Park.
It will be best to download offline google maps before you go!
If you’ll be doing some day hikes in Wyoming, see the best apps for hiking in Wyoming!
HAPPY DRIVING FROM BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK TO GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK!
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