Give Yellowstone at least three full days. It covers 3,472 square miles, more than Rhode Island and Delaware put together, and its main loop road alone is about 142 miles. Two days lets you see Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Three lets you add Lamar Valley for wildlife without spending the whole trip in the car.
Add Grand Teton (directly south, one day) and Mount Rushmore (about 430 road miles east, two days with the Badlands), and you have the classic 7-day route below. We plan it most often from Rapid City to Jackson, flying in to one and out of the other.
Road dates and park facts checked against the National Park Service on October 25, 2026, by the Private USA Tours planning team.
How big is Yellowstone?
The National Park Service gives the area as 2,221,766 acres, or 3,472 square miles. About 96% of it is in Wyoming, 3% in Montana and 1% in Idaho. Inside that area are more than 10,000 hydrothermal features and more than 500 active geysers, which is over half the geysers in the world, according to the NPS park facts page.
There are 392 miles of paved road. The main Grand Loop is a figure eight, and driving the full upper and lower loops without stopping takes about seven hours. Nobody does that. Speed limits are 45 mph at most, bison stop traffic regularly, and every pull-off has something worth getting out for.
The park ranges from 5,282 feet at the North Entrance to 11,358 feet at Eagle Peak. Most of the roads you will drive are above 7,000 feet, so it can snow in any month.
How many days to tour Yellowstone
- 1 day: possible only on the lower loop (Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, West Thumb). You will see a lot from the car.
- 2 days: lower loop plus the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Hayden Valley.
- 3 days: the two above plus Lamar Valley or Mammoth Hot Springs. This is what we recommend.
- 4 or more: time for longer hikes, wolf watching at dawn in Lamar, or a day on Yellowstone Lake.
Stay inside the park if you can, or in two different gateway towns. Staying in one town for four nights means driving the same 50 miles in and out every day.
The 7-day route: Mount Rushmore to Grand Teton
| Day | Route | Approx. driving |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrive Rapid City; Badlands National Park | 150 miles round trip |
| 2 | Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills; drive to Devils Tower | 130 miles |
| 3 | Devils Tower to Cody, across the Bighorn Mountains | 280 miles |
| 4 | Cody to Yellowstone's East Entrance; Lake and Hayden Valley | 100 miles |
| 5 | Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone; Lamar Valley | 120 miles |
| 6 | Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, Midway Geyser Basin | 80 miles |
| 7 | South Entrance to Grand Teton; Jackson; fly out of Jackson Hole | 100 miles |
Days 1 and 2: Badlands and Mount Rushmore
Badlands National Park is about an hour east of Rapid City. Drive the Badlands Loop Road (SD-240) and stop at the Door Trail, a short boardwalk into the eroded formations.
Mount Rushmore is 30 minutes southwest of Rapid City. The four faces are each about 60 feet tall, carved between 1927 and 1941. There is no entrance fee, just a parking fee. Go early, then drive the Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road through Custer State Park; the tunnels on Iron Mountain Road are lined up to frame the monument.
Day 3: Devils Tower and the Bighorns
Devils Tower became the country's first national monument in 1906. Walk the 1.3-mile Tower Trail around its base. The long drive west over the Bighorn Mountains on US-14 is the most scenic stretch of the day, and it takes you down into Cody for the night.
Days 4 to 6: Yellowstone
Cody to the East Entrance is about 50 miles along the North Fork of the Shoshone River. Inside the park, base yourself near Canyon Village for days 4 and 5 (Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Hayden Valley at dusk for bison, Lamar Valley at dawn for wolves), then move to Old Faithful for day 6.
Old Faithful erupts roughly every 60 to 110 minutes, and the visitor center posts the next predicted time. Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest hot spring in the US, is best seen from the Fairy Falls overlook trail rather than the boardwalk, which puts you in the steam.
Day 7: Grand Teton
The South Entrance road runs straight into Grand Teton National Park. Stop at Oxbow Bend and Snake River Overlook (where Ansel Adams took his 1942 photograph), then Jenny Lake. Jackson Hole Airport is inside the park itself, the only commercial airport in a US national park, so you can drive almost directly to your flight.
Grand Teton from the Snake River Overlook. Photo: Frank Kovalchek via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
When this route works: 2026 road dates
Most Yellowstone roads are closed to cars in winter. For 2026, the NPS projected these dates on its park roads page:
- West Entrance, Madison, Old Faithful, Norris and Canyon: April 17 to October 31
- East Entrance over Sylvan Pass: May 1 to October 31
- South Entrance to West Thumb and Old Faithful: May 8 to October 31
- Dunraven Pass (Canyon to Tower Fall): May 22 to October 12
The only road open to regular cars all year runs from the North Entrance at Gardiner to the Northeast Entrance at Cooke City, through Lamar Valley.
That means this exact route, which uses the East and South Entrances, works from about the second week of May to October 31. As of this update, there is under a week left in the 2026 season. For 2027, the best windows are June and the first three weeks of September, when the roads are open and the summer crowds are thinner.
Fees for overseas visitors
Yellowstone and Grand Teton are both on the list of 11 parks where visitors from outside the US have paid a $100 per-person surcharge since January 1, 2026. On this route that is $200 per person, plus the regular entrance fees. The $250 nonresident annual pass covers both parks and Badlands with no surcharge, so for anyone from abroad doing this trip, the pass is cheaper. US residents use the $80 annual pass as before.
FAQ
How many days do you need in Yellowstone?
Three full days. Two is the minimum to see Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone without rushing.
How big is Yellowstone National Park?
3,472 square miles (2,221,766 acres), larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined.
How far is Mount Rushmore from Yellowstone?
About 430 miles from Mount Rushmore to Yellowstone's East Entrance by way of Cody, or roughly seven to eight hours of driving. Split it with a night near Devils Tower or in Cody.
When does Yellowstone open?
The first roads open to cars in mid-April (April 17 in 2026) and most close for the winter on October 31. The North to Northeast Entrance road is open all year.
Can you see Yellowstone and Grand Teton in one trip?
Yes. They are next to each other; a short parkway of about 8 miles links the South Entrance of Yellowstone to the northern edge of Grand Teton.
Plan it with a specialist
This route is part of our American Horizons journey from Chicago to Los Angeles, which takes in the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone and Grand Teton. We also build it as a standalone 7 to 9-day private trip with lodges inside the parks. Talk to a USA specialist.
Sources: Yellowstone park facts, NPS; Yellowstone park roads and 2026 dates, NPS; Mount Rushmore, NPS; Devils Tower, NPS; Grand Teton, NPS.
Cover photo: Jim Peaco, National Park Service, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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