How long do you have for this trip?

Unless you really like long, long, long drives, I'd make two circle trips, one of which centers on Rapid City, SD to see Mr. Rushmore, and the other of which centers on Las Vegas, NV to see the Grand Canyon. However, Mt. Rushmore is a half-day visit (at most) so you would certainly be paying a high price for that visit.

http://www.nps.gov/moru/planyourvisit/directions.htm

http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/directions.htm

We could probably take a 7 day trip. Perhaps it would be better to check out Vegas, the Grand Canyon and a few other points of interest in that time and leave Mt. Rushmore for another trip? I am certainly looking to get the biggest bang for my buck and don't want to do all that travelling for a 1/2 day excursion, so I appreciate your input, Placename.

I personally wouldn't even consider combining Mt Rushmore and the Grand Canyon on the same trip -- unless it was for 5 or 6 weeks to also include several other national parks. They just aren't a realistic 'two-fer'.

The GC, + Las Vegas, Zion and Bryce -- that makes sense. But not the GC + Mt Rushmore.

> I want an enjoyable trip and not one where we're exhausted by all the driving

In that case you've got an unavoidable problem. You'll either do a lot of driving between the two sites you chose OR make three one-way flights, two of which will involve airports that will NOT be cheap.

There's no major airport near Mount Rushmore. The closest airport of any kind would probably be Rapid City, and the nearest major airport looks like Denver. Thus, you'll have to fly into and out of Rapid City (one-way) OR drive from the major airport to Mount Rushmore and back, then onto Las Vegas or Phoenix -- either flying one-way or driving quite a bit.

On the other had, you can easily fly into Las Vegas (or maybe Phoenix), rent an inexpensive car, drive to The Canyon, view other sights, and then fly back from the same airport. Far less money and hassle.
The obvious drawback -- that you won't see Mount Rushmore -- is a self-made problem. The difficulty in getting to the Black Hills is not something I can recommend if you are ONLY seeing Mount Rushmore. It's only worth the trouble if you plan to stay for several days -- something I actually do recommend, but not at the expense of missing The Canyon and other nearby sights.

I'd save Mount Rushmore for a trip when you are on your way to Yellowstone and/or Glacier NP.

Didn't see your 2nd post: W/ just 7 days the GC/LV/Zion/Bryce would be rushed but doable. Probably in/out of Vegas because rental cars are usually cheaper than in Phoenix.

Mt. Rushmore should be left for another trip. LV is a good starting point for Zion, N. Rim GC, Bryce.

Search the trip reports here to get ideas for your trip. Try to cut down on one night stays as they will wear you out quicker.

Here is a link to a trip we did several years ago. We based in St. George at a timeshare and did over nighters to Bryce & N. rim. I would not do that again but would do 2 nights Bryce, 2 N. Rim due to the long days of driving.

http://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/mys-lv-sw-utah-n-rim-grand-canyon-trip-report.cfm

Your problem is that you want to see two places that are 1000 miles apart.

A better plan is to fly into Las Vegas to visit some or all of the following: the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Arches, Death Valley, and Hoover Dam.

It is not as overwhelming to fly into LV as it is to try and see Mt. Rushmore and the Grand Canyon without doing much driving. An organized tour such as one of these may be the ticket for you:

http://www.caravan.com/tour/usa-mount-rushmore
http://www.caravan.com/tour/usa-grand-canyon

HTTY

If it is early summer I would do GC and add Zion, Bryce, Arches.

If it is July or August then I would do Mt. Rushmore/Black Hills or Yellowstone.

The GC is a very awesome sight, but unless you are hiking or rafting it can be done in a day(I would spend 1 night there). I love the hikes in Bryce, Zion, and Arches and other stops along hwy 12. I haven't hiked the GC but I have rafted a portion of it.

Yellowstone and Yosemite are both awesome places to see as well.

Mt Rushmore area you would want to include Badlands, Jewel Cave, Wind Cave, Custer State Park, and Crazy Horse. Maybe Devils Tower.

Don't try to try to over do it. These places are that great and the longer you stay the more you appreciate them. If you are able at all do as many hikes and other activities as you can. I can almost promise you that you will be dying to go to all of these that myself and others have mentioned after you see one of them.

While GC is far from one of my favorite places, I would never discourage anybody from seeing it once.

You mentioned that you're in your 50s. Is that young or old? What kind of shape are you in?

You don't want to exhaust yourselves driving but I'm not sure what you expect to do in each place.

A lot of the parks mentioned require at least some hiking around in order to see them reasonably.

Something you should consider is that these parks are in elevation. I believe GC South Rim is around 6,000ft, Zion around 4k ft, Bryce over 8k and Arches is over 5,000 ft.

Even the lower elevations will affect those not used to it. You've got to plan on walking slowly, resting often and drinking lots of water.

I love the Arches (Moab) area but it's a long drive from GC, Zion & Bryce.

If you were to skip GC you could make a nice loop starting and ending in Salt Lake. You could visit Arches, go thru Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon and Zion before returning to SLC.

If you include GC, I would start and end in Las Vegas and go to GC, Bryce and Zion.

And as a bonus, on the way from GC to Bryce/Zion you'll pass right thru Page, AZ. That's the home of the famous Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend.

All your information is helping me sort this out. It sounds like I should pick one or the other. I'm going to go with the Grand Canyon. I will probably include Hoover Dam on there.

Should/could Yellowstone be included? I will check out info on Zion and Bryce, as several of you have mentioned them.

Is 50s young or old? lol, I love the question. In our case, we are in reasonable good health. I'm not quite sure how the change in elevation will affect us. But we would be up for some hiking.

Now the other side of the coin: if flying in to Vegas, I'm thinking we would want to check some of it our for a couple days. Everyone always says to 'see a show' while you're there. Should it be Cirque de Sole? We're not gamblers. What other points of interest are a 'must see'? And what hotel to stay at?

You should, but with 7 days you couldn't.
Yellowstone is absolutely awesome. If I were choosing the Grand Canyon ro Yellowstone, I would pick Yellowstone every single time. You can spend 7 days in Yellowstone easily. Much more than a day in the GC you will need to do some serious hiking or rafting(which is good).

You could do Zion and Bryce with the Grand Canyon. We love those two spots. Amazing. I can't begin to tell you enough to get lodging ASAP, some of the historic lodges in the national parks are very popular and they start to fill up 12 months in advance.

I like Vegas for a day. Yes, see a cirque show, walk down the strip. That's usually enough for me.

Yosemite is great, but you don't have time for it this trip. Save it for your next trip.

As someone who is 70, I'd say 50 is very young.

We come from elevation 0 and find that a day or two is enough to get used to elevation, drink plenty of water and get enough rest. We need to take it slow if above 6000 ft , not sure that is elevation, age, or result of not enough exercize in general. We have hiked on every trip we've taken.

Near Vegas are some fantastic day trips: Valley of Fire, beautiful, interesting petroglyphs etc.; Hoover Dam, you can do a tour; Red Rock Canyon, check out the rock climbers; Death Valley, 2 and a half hours away, awesome.

If you click my name you can scroll down to links to some TR's I have taken in the area if you care to.

If you want to see a show in Vegas, do that, but there are plenty of free "shows" you can see just walking up the strip.

There are lots of options for lodging, check out prices and pick a location, cost and perks that suit your style. For the first time, you would probably want to be on the strip.

emalloy,
Yosemite? How did that get in here now too?

I think emalloy meant to say Yellowstone as the OP had asked about including that with the Grand Canyon.

You have 7 days. The Grand Canyon really deserves an overnight stay but not 2. It's about a 5 hour drive from Vegas, crossing over Hoover Dam on the way. After the overnight stay, you can do several things: 1) Go to Sedona for 2-3 days 2) Go back to Vegas and make trips from there, or 3) continue east to Page and then make a big loop back to Vegas, hitting Bryce and Zion on the way back.

I would vote for #3 as you'll get the most bang for your buck.

Whatever you decide, I would not do Death Valley as a day trip from Vegas, first because it is huge and requires 2-3 days as a minimum, but mostly because it'll be incredibly hot in summer and not very enjoyable.

You need to look at a map - and read trip reports and start a rough plan. Cirque du Soleil shows are great. Click on any of our names above and check out our reports. You will find them very helpful in planning.



MY

emallow beat me in on the age thing.
As somebody who is now in his upper 60s I'd also look at 50 as young.

I just wish I had discovered the National Parks at 50 and not once the physical issues began to crop up.

Not that it means anything but last September I gave my daughter a list of places (mostly SW) she's visited. Some with me and some with her husband (their daughter was with on some).

She had just been to GC, Hoover Dam, Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend.

We are both fairly fit and both into photography so that may have influenced the results.

This is how she rated them.

1. Bryce Canyon
2. Antelope Canyon (tie)
2. Valley of Fire (tie)
4. Willis Creek
5. Devil's Garden (Escalante)
6. Zion (tie)
6. Yosemite (tie)
8. Lower Calf Creek Falls
9. Kolob Canyons (tie)
9. Horsehoe Bend (tie)
11. Grand Canyon
12. Hoover Dam

She hasn't been to Yellowstone or Arches yet. I'll have to ask her why Valley of Fire is so high. It's possible Lower Calf Creek Falls is low because we were there around noon on a hot day that started early with Devil's Garden that's a photographer's dream and ended with Willis Creek that's also no slouch.

I just wanted to show somebody else's opinions.

As you've gathered from the responses, they are both lovely spots to visit, but given your time frame, I'd split the trips. The GC/Zion/Bryce loop would more than fill a week. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Vegas and while I might give myself a night, I'd prefer to spend more of the trip in the natural settings.

I would definitely recommend the Black Hills/Rushmore area for another trip. Custer State Park is wonderful (great animal viewing!) and Badlands National Park is very impressive. The Black Hills themselves are beautiful (but windy!).

So many lovely areas and it's hard to cut any of them from the trip, but I think you're right when you say that you don't want to spend a lot of time driving from place to place (and packing and unpacking and checking in). Staying somewhere for a few days gives you a chance to relax and really get in the mood of a place, even if you have to miss somewhere else to do it.

I think you are on the right track for a trip in and out of LV to see what has been called the Grand Circle. Zion Bryce, Grand Canyon. You could add Page AZ for a tour of the Antelope Canyon. A week isn't much but it would be enough time. For Zion stay in Springdale, for Bryce stay in the park or at Ruby's. If you don't want to change hotels then Kanab is a reasonable alternative.

LV is fun for a night. Cirque du Soleil shows are wonderful, that would be a great pick, also the Bellagio Fountains, love them at night.

I'm not sure who said Mt Rushmore is good for half a day. WHile that is true the rest of the area needs three or four. THere is so much to see and do there. I love Custer State Park, and the caves, and there are the Badlands and not too far away is Devil's Tower in WY.

The Caravan tour that happytrailstoyou posted sounds like it might be the way to go, after reading everyone's posts. Have any of you taken one of their tours? It seems to me that booking a tour like that would take a lot of the guess work out of where to go, what to see, how long to visit, where to stay, ect.

I'm so impressed by everyone's travel experiences, and greatly appreciate all of your insights.

Okay, I also might just book DH and I a flight to Vegas and take a couple different day trips to Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam. I was looking at the itinerary of the Caravan tour, and I'm not that's what I'm looking for. There seem to be some reasonably priced day trips from Vegas to explore the areas around it.