Oops - on Day 7 I meant to say String Lake for the hike

IMO--forget doing RMNP on day 8--way too many miles and too much time.

Yes, forget RMNP

You are missing Badlands, Jewel Cave, and Wind Cave? The wild cave tours there are really cool, btw. You could easily spend a full day or two just in Custer State Park.

I like spending a full day at the Geysers. You can see them, but you sometimes have to wait a while for them. True, you can catch Old Faithful anytime. But the really good ones that are predictable are Riverside and Castle, IMOP. Riverside goes about every 4 hours and Castle goes about twice a day. You might be sitting there for two or three hours(totally worth it). So, I think spending a full day there is best.

I really think you would be better off doing just Yellowstone/GTNP or just Black Hills. You really only have 7 days because you are spending 2 days driving. You could spend a day in RMNP, if you just did one those options.

I assume you mean the Hidden Falls/Inspiration Point hike via the boat ride at Jenny Lake?

Day 4--Any chance of getting a spot at Roosevelt, Canyon, or Lake Hotel lodges?

Usually the best place for seeing Elk is in the Mammoth Section(my least favorite, but worth seeing. Especially during Elk Rut).

Sounds like way too much!

For example:
"Day 1
Arrive in Denver at 7:30 am
Drive to Keystone, SD area via Crazy Horse
Mount Rushmore evening lighting ceremony
Overnight – Near Mount Rushmore"

How long is the drive Denver to Mount Rushmore?

Well, my take on a road trip is setting off with a destination in mind but having the flexibility to stop and see whatever you want along the way. The destination is supposedly the goal, but really the it is just a reason to make the drive, and the drive itself is the best part. I don't see your trip in that light, it's more like a lot of driving with little time to deviate for the first 3 days, then settling down in YNP and GTNP for most of the rest of the time.

The Black Hills is enough of a destination in it's own right. From WI to the Black Hills would be a great road trip. There is a lot to see and do along the way and in the Black Hills. I would save that for a totally different trip, and make it into a real road trip.

For this time, I'd focus on YNP, GTNP and RMNP. Imagine what you could do with those 3 extra days that you are burning at the beginning of your trip - basically all you are seeing is Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer and Devil's Tower. In 3 days. You're not giving yourself time to see Badlands, Jewel or Wind Cave, no time to hike in Custer, and really not a lot of time to deviate from your plan. The wildlife you'll see in the Black Hills will pale in comparison to Yellowstone.

Take those 3 days and add some time to Yellowstone, add in 1.5 days for RMNP or just give yourself some leeway in your schedule. The light isn't going to cooperate with your schedule necessarily so be ok with switching things up if it's cloudy or perfectly clear as there is little point in being somewhere at sunrise/sunset for those conditions. An extra day would give you more opportunities for photography.

And lets hope that airplane isn't delayed into Denver and you get your rental car and get out of there by 7:30AM.

I see photography is a priority.

I'll leave the big stuff about places I haven't been to others.

In Yellowstone I would allow most of a day for the geysers. Old Faithful isn't just a tourist attraction. It's amazing. See it early before the wind picks up. There are 5 timed geysers and other than OF that erupts about every hour (or is it 90 minutes - can't remember) the others erupt at much longer intervals.

Also, you have the short Geyser Loop and the whole basin. These look very different in the morning than in the evening. The evening reminds me of Hound of the Baskervilles.

I would skip Tower Fall. The lower trail to the bottom is closed and the only reason people go to this waterfall is because it's easily accessible and gets press (living on old laurels). The tree growth blocks almost the whole waterfall. There are much better.

I was on a mission to see waterfalls. Read my report and I mention a lot of what I did.

http://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/trip-report-yellowstone-and-grand-teton-nps-oct-2-10-2010.cfm

When you go on the Fairy Falls hike there's another gem on the way. You probably will have already gone to the amazing Grand Prismatic Spring. But you haven't seen it like this.

About a mile into the Fairy Falls hike you'll come to Grand Prismatic Spring on your right. I don't think you can see it. There's an unofficial trail up a hill where you get a complete view of GPS. Spectacular. When we were there we saw a lot of people at the ground level viewing area but this trail had maybe 10 people there. Every few minutes a few people left and another few arrived.

Schwabacher Landing is excellent. You turn left (west) off the main, outside GTNP road and drive down about a half mile on a dirt road. Excellent views of the Tetons with the river in the foreground.

Right near there (just south) there's the road leading to Mormon Row. There are 2 barns one to the left and the other to the right. More great views with the Tetons in the background.

I doubt if you'll do part of Mount Washburn. Probably you'll either do it or not. The trail is very easy. It's actually a smooth, dirt road used to bring supplies up to the ranger station at the top. The hike is a little long (for me) at about 3 miles each way. Nothing steep.

So what's the problem? Well, it starts at 8,800 ft and ends over 10,300 ft. I was sucking for oxygen after the first couple of minutes. Just stop often to rest and drink lot's of water.

You can go into a viewing area in the ranger station if it's cold up there. If you're lucky you'll she some long horn sheep either on that mountain of the next one. Unfortunately we only saw them on the next one.

I describe all of this in my trip report linked above.

Also photos of it at:

www.travelwalks.com

I'm not the OP but just wanted to let you all know your replies are helping me (even though the OP never came back) so thankssss!

4sharie : Unless the flight to Denver is MUCH cheaper than a flight to SLC, fly to SLC to get to Jackson and Grand Teton NP.
I am quite sure that the rental cars are cheaper than at Denver.
The trip north from Salt Lake City may even be a bit shorter.

I can't remember the exact scenario with SLC since we've had our flights booked for several months, but it must've worked out better for Denver with our Delta Award tickets. We did look into SLC though when we were in the initial planning stages. Not only that, it kind of worked out to make a big loop ending in Breckenridge/Rocky Mts... hence Denver! But thanks for thinking of me.

Looks like you are driving the Beartooth Highway at night and I would not recommend that. It is an incredibly beautiful drive and you would miss a lot of photo ops if you went at night. Also the switchbacks might be a bit scary at night.