Hi there!
So you want to go to the Black Hills and Yellowstone National Park!
👆 Road trip destination from the Black Hills: Yellowstone National Park! There are over 10,000 hydrothermal features in Yellowstone! This includes more than 500 geysers! This means that there are truly so many things to do in Yellowstone National Park!
In September and October 2021, I did a road trip from the Black Hills to Yellowstone.
It took me 7 days to drive from the Black Hills to Yellowstone. That is one way.
No, it doesn’t have to take you 7 days to drive from the Black Hills to Yellowstone!
How long is the drive from the Black Hills to Yellowstone National Park?
Well, it will depend on where in the Black Hills you are driving from!
There are many places to visit in the Black Hills.
If you will be staying in the Black Hills for a few days before you start driving to Yellowstone National Park, then here are some possible half day or day trips in the Black Hills area:
- Mount Rushmore National Memorial and Iron Mountain Road tunnels
- Custer State Park
- Wind Cave National Park
- Jewel Cave National Monument
- Things to do in the Black Hills for VIEWS!
For places to stay in the Black Hills, you can also stay in South Dakota state park camping cabins.
Spearfish Canyon to Yellowstone
Now for the purposes of this sample drive of going from the Black Hills to Yellowstone, we will start from the last stop you may want to make in the Black Hills as you are heading west towards Wyoming.
And that last stop in the Black Hills on your way to Yellowstone is Spearfish Canyon.
So using Spearfish SD as the starting point in the Black Hills, then driving directly, it might take around 6.5 hours of driving time from the Black Hills to Yellowstone.
Although that will also depend on exactly where in Yellowstone is your first destination, since Yellowstone is also big!
Explore the map.
If you are driving from elsewhere in the Black Hills, then you will need to add on extra driving time.
For example, if you’re coming from Mount Rushmore or Custer State Park, then it might be an extra 1.5 hours without any stops or detours.
So, for many people, no matter where you’re starting from in the Black Hills, it would be doable to drive from the Black Hills to Yellowstone in one day!
But of course, there are many different ways you can do this drive depending on your time and interests!
Below will show you one driving route from the Black Hills to Yellowstone to start to give you some ideas… the way I did it!
Download offline maps before you go!
It’s quite possible that you will have minimal data in some places as you are driving on your way to Yellowstone from the Black Hills.
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!
More below for ideas on driving from the Black Hills to Yellowstone!
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Now…
Where can you stop between the Black Hills and Yellowstone?
Explore the map.
Again, we will start this drive from the Black Hills to Yellowstone in the area of Spearfish Canyon.
1. Spearfish Canyon
The Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway is one of the popular scenic drives in South Dakota.
One of the things to do along the way is to see some Spearfish Canyon waterfalls.
For reference on a map, you can think of the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway as being from Savoy SD to Spearfish SD.
Savoy is to the south, Spearfish is to the north. (map)
Once you are in Savoy, you may also want to make a little detour to drive Roughlock Falls Road.
This is another nice scenic drive.
Along Roughlock Falls Road, you can also access a nature trail that will take you to some waterfalls and a stream.
You may also be interested in hiking to Spearfish Falls.
Although parking is not very good for that. It will be best to park at the first trailhead parking lot you come across on Roughlock Falls Road, and then walk back to the Spearfish Falls trailhead.
The Spearfish Canyon drive can be just about the drive, or there are small pullover areas as you are driving along for you to stop off at.
2. Devils Tower National Monument
So your first major stop after you leave the Black Hills can be Devils Tower National Monument!
Devils Tower is famous for its iconic towering rock formation.
So if you’re in the Black Hills because you want to see amazing rock formations, then Devils Tower is way to see another iconic rock formation!
Many people make it a day trip to Devils Tower from South Dakota, and it can also be a perfect stop to make when driving from the Black Hills to Yellowstone.
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.
There is also the Devils Tower campground if you want to spend an overnight here.
See more about planning your drive from the Black Hills to Yellowstone:
- Things to do in Devils Tower National Monument
- Devils Tower camping
- Driving the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway from Mount Rushmore to Devils Tower
3. Cloud Peak Skyway
Driving directions: Buffalo WY to Tensleep WY
If you’re driving from the Black Hills to Yellowstone, the Cloud Peak Skyway is said to be the scenic route, and it’s also said to be the route with the least grade. You’ll do this drive after you pass Devils Tower.
The Cloud Peak Skyway is a drive from Buffalo WY to Tensleep WY, and it will take you through Bighorn National Forest.
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.
See more about planning your drive from the Black Hills to Yellowstone:
The Black Hills to Grand Teton to Yellowstone
From the Black Hills, you can go directly to Yellowstone.
Or, you can first go to Grand Teton National Park, and then go to Yellowstone National Park!
Grand Teton and Yellowstone are connected.
Going to Grand Teton first before Yellowstone is a detour when you’re doing a Black Hills to Yellowstone drive.
Whether or not you want to go to Yellowstone or Grand Teton first will depend on where you’re going after them.
4. Wind River Canyon Scenic Byway
So if you will be going from the Black Hills to Grand Teton to Yellowstone, and you drove along the Cloud Peak Skyway, then you will next naturally end up on the Wind River Canyon Scenic Byway.
Yes, this is a scenic drive along a river through a canyon!
For reference on a map, this is Thermopolis WY to Shoshoni WY.
5. Grand Teton National Park
Since you are so near if you are going to Yellowstone, you really shouldn’t miss Grand Teton National Park!
If you’re short on time, even a drive through the park can be worth it.
The best road to drive if you are truly short on time is Teton Park Road.
Along the way you will also pass by the turn-off for Jenny Lake Scenic Drive.
If you have more time, then you will want to do the whole 42-mile Grand Teton Scenic Loop Drive. (Teton Park Road is a part of it.)
And if you have even more time… or instead of the rest of the scenic loop… you can do a short hike with mountain views! (For example, hike to Taggart Lake from the Taggart Lake trailhead.)
For Grand Teton National Park, the most popular gateway town is Jackson WY or Jackson Hole.
See more about planning your drive from the Black Hills to Yellowstone:
- 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 to Yellowstone
6. Yellowstone National Park
And you’ve made it to Yellowstone National Park!!!
What makes Yellowstone National Park very special is the Yellowstone supervolcano!
Because of the Yellowstone supervolcano, there are tons of thermal features to see all over Yellowstone National Park.
So you must be sure to see geysers, hot springs, mudpots, and fumaroles (steam vents)! You do this by visiting the many thermal basins that are in the park.
THE best things to do in Yellowstone National Park are to see the Old Faithful geyser eruption (see from ground level and the geyser overlook) and to see the Grand Prismatic Spring (see from ground level and the spring overlook).
The West Thumb Geyser Basin is another one of the great things to do in Yellowstone, as you get to see thermal features with the backdrop of Yellowstone Lake.
And hopefully you will get to see a bunch of smaller geyser eruptions, like the Clepsydra Geyser!
See more about planning your drive from the Black Hills to Yellowstone:
- Best things to do in Yellowstone National Park
- How to spend an easy-going one day in Yellowstone National Park
And that’s one way you can drive from the Black Hills to Yellowstone!
More for your Black Hills to Yellowstone road trip planning:
- How to spend 7 days in Wyoming
- Wyoming national forest cabins
- Best places to visit in South Dakota
- Campgrounds in South Dakota
- How to spend 10 days in South Dakota
And, after Yellowstone, 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 Yellowstone maybe you want to loop back around and make the return trip from Yellowstone to the east with a detour through North Dakota to go to another national park! (map) In which case…
HAPPY DRIVING FROM THE BLACK HILLS TO YELLOWSTONE!
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