FL to AK Update: National Park Tour – Rapid City, SD to Kalispel, MT

We managed to tour four National Parks while traveling from Rapid City, SD to Kalispel, MT. It was exhausting but we were able to see so much history and wildlife in one place it was worth it. Â If we weren’t on our way to Alaska we could have easily stayed in this area for another two weeks and seen so much more!

Our Route from Rapid City to Kalispel

We set out of our hotel early on the first day that we stayed in Rapid City, SD. Thanks to our friend Brett and his Dad Don, we had a huge list of “must do” things in the area. We took a look at a map and decided to plan out a great drive to cover the key sites we wanted to see in South Dakota.

We started out at the closest and most obvious landmarks in the area, Mt. Rushmore. It honestly wasn’t high on either of our lists but it was on our way and completely free to see it. It turned our to be pretty cool and worth the pit stop.

Mount Rushmore South Dakota

From there we decided to take a drive through the Black Hills and make our way over to Custer National Park. The terrain was thrilling and we made lots of stops to soak in the view.

South Dakota’s Black Hills

We made it a point to take a drive along the wildlife loop at the southern end of Custer and were pleased to find an entire herd of bison just hanging our waiting for us to take their photo :-)

Bison in Custer State Park South Dakota

Once we finished up Custer we took a drive out to the Badlands and were absolutely amazed at
how beautiful they were. It was mind blowing to see such amazing terrain and even cooler to be able to drive through it!

Badlands of South Dakota

After a long day of visiting parks and taking hikes we picked up a quick dinner at a local grocery store and stayed in. After being on the road for over a week and spending every day in the car we decided to rest for a day at the La Quinta in Rapid City. It was an easy choice to stay here because our hotel was attached to an indoor water park! Needless to say we spent the next day relaxing and having fun in the lazy river and the water slides!

Our hotel’s water park

The following morning we left South Dakota and set our sights on a town called Bozeman, MT. Our original plan was to stay here two nights and visit Yellowstone National Park. Once we looked in to how much there was to see and do in Yellowstone we made the decision to come back another time and spend a week visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton. Instead we spent on night in Bozeman and and took the opportunity to enjoy the drive through Montana.

Montana Country Side

We left Bozeman the following morning and set our course North to our last stop in the USA before the Canadian border. We drove along scenic MT route 83 to a small town called Kalispel, MT. We found this great park near Townsend, MT that made a wonderful pit stop for us and the doggies!

Park in Townsend, MT

Why, Kalispel you ask? Well, I had my heart set on spending the next day driving through Glacier National Park, and another great drive on the Going to the Sun Road! The next morning we left before sunrise and took a drive to Glacier National Park!