Wyoming and South Dakota Road Trip in Photos

The weather chased us out of Yellowstone National Park. Between heavy rains and excessive melting in the mountains, roads were being washed out. We drove along this road, US Highway 14-16-20, about an hour before they closed it. And, yes, we wondered why there was so little traffic, but park officials knew we were leaving the park in that direction so we didn't think there was a problem. The route remained closed for almost two weeks.

Traveling east out of Yellowstone National Park, we took Highway 16 through Wyoming and into South Dakota.

In these states, it was the landscape that was most striking. Since landscape is best appreciated through photos, that's what I'm sharing in this post, along with my commentary in the photo captions.

If you have not been following this trip, I need to let you know that this is my annual trip with my husband. The rest of the year, my travels are solo. Here are the posts so far:

Now, Wyoming and South Dakota, from west to east, in photos.

Leaving Yellowstone National Park, the first major attraction is the Buffalo Bill Dam. This is the reservoir formed by the dam.

The visitor center at the Buffalo Bill Dam with displays and a documentary on the history of the dam is well worth seeing.

buffalo bill sculpture in cody, wyoming — The first town reached is Cody, Wyoming. It was founded in 1896 by Colonel William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, seen here in this sculpture located downtown.

the cody nite rodeo on our wyoming and south dakota road trip — The Cody Nite Rodeo is held every night. For me, being from a large diverse city, the event was culture shock from the opening ceremonies to the bronc riding and calf roping.

Heart Mountain World War II Japanese Confinement Site is located just outside of Cody. The interpretive center is well worth a visit to learn about the internment of Japanese during World War II and the reparations that were made in the 1980s.

Seeing a toy AR-15 being sold at a KOA store in Cody was another jab of culture shock. I find this disturbing and have been in touch with KOA about it.

We stayed in Cody for a few days because the wind was gusting up to 60 mph. It wasn't safe to take on the mountains fighting such gusts. Here's a view of the pass along Highway 16.

highway 16 in wyoming — More of Wyoming Highway 16. This is near Ten Sleeps, so named because it was 10 days of travel to either Fort Laramie in the southeast or Yellowstone National Park to the west.

the crazy horse memorial in south dakota — South Dakota is famous for Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial. Having read up on the history of the Battle of Little Big Horn, also known as Custer's Last Stand, in which Crazy Horse was a leader, we went to the Memorial. I was disappointed that the museum focused on the sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, and provided little about Crazy Horse, the battle, or the Indigenous people of the time or since.

the south dakota badlands — East of Keystone, which is the closest town to Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial, are the South Dakota Badlands. Badlands National Park includes canyons and spires, bison, and big horn sheep.

Wall Drug in South Dakota — Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota, is a popular stop for tourists. It's a quirky one to be sure. Begun in the 1930's, Wall Drug still offers free water and 5 cent coffee. Thanks to an abundance of signs, you have no chance of missing it when approaching on either Highway 14 or the I-90.

From Wall, we aimed our RV toward Minneapolis. Unfortunately, our timing was wrong, making it a city I will have to return to. We wanted to go to the Weisman Art Museum but discovered that it was in the university district and most parking was underground–not an option for the RV. Then we tried to take a boat cruise on the Mississippi and just missed its departure. From there, we tried the Mill City Museum and Mill City Market, both of which were closed. And, of course, there was no theater that night either.

It's strange how some days travel just doesn't work out.

That's it for the Wyoming and South Dakota section of our road trip. Watch for my next post on this trip when I share all the good travel luck we then had in Wisconsin: Wisconsin Highlights: Milwaukee, the Great River Road & Door County.

Last updated: 11th April, 2023

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Wyoming and South Dakota Road Trip in Photos

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