In August our family will be loading up in the Tri-Pacer and will be departing Nampa, ID for the Twin Cities area in Minnesota. This trip is more about the journey than the destination so we will be taking our time and going each way over 3 or 4 days, Flying only in the morning, and not more than 3-4 hours a day to keep Mom and the kids sane. No set schedule of where we have to be or when.

I have the way there planned out since we wanted to spend a day at Mt. Rushmore. The way back is undecided, though I am thinking about spending the last night before the final leg near Bozeman since we have family there.

If anyone has any places they would recommend in the Montana or Dakota areas let me know. We're looking for good places to burn a day/evening, eat, spend the night, etc. Will not be carrying camping gear, so pretty much has to be near hotels and such. Kids are young, 3 and 6, so kid-friendly destinations are welcome. Thanks!

West Fork Lodge south of Hamilton, The Calf-A at Dell MT, and West Jellystone are some that come to mind. The Grand Prismatic Pool and the Grand Canyon of Jellystone are neat to see from the air. Devils tower would be a neat fly-by, too plus Rushmore and Crazy Horse.

If you stop at KRAP, the self serve folks have good pricing on rental cars and are good people. The other car rental agencies on the field are price gouging bastards, IMHO and experience. Badlands looked like a neat stop but I haven't spent anytime on the ground there.

Thanks for the suggestions. Some friends also mentioned Devil's Tower. I found it on the sectional, and it says "For reasons of national welfare pilots are requested to avoid flights within 3 NM of Devils Tower National Monument."

Seriously, 3 miles, and "national welfare"? I am all for not disturbing the public but if there ever were a landmark meant to see from the air this would be it.


devils_tower_vfr_sectional by scottf, on Flickr

I don't know what "national welfare" has to do with it, but in recent years there's been a hubbub from some native Americans to the effect that their culture has been impinged by climbers on the Tower, which is probably true--some folks have no consideration for others. I hadn't heard that they were complaining about flights over or around--and frankly I've flown over and around it several times in the past, when my folks lived in Sundance.

At the time, we regularly flew into a ranch strip just outside of Sundance--only a few miles west southwest of town--but after the owner died, it's been closed. Too bad--it was a nice strip and handy--only 2100' long at 5000' elev., and sloped, but plenty usable by just about any single and even a couple of twins used it, although if they lost an engine on take-off, it wouldn't have been pretty.

I haven't flown into Hulett yet--no real reason to, and there isn't much at Hulett--one of Wyoming's non-towns. If you wonder why it has such a fancy airport, look to local politics.

The airport at Spearfish, SD, is nice, and it's a nice little town with some good restaurants and places to stay. If you borrow or rent a car there, a drive up Spearfish Canyon is well worth it--really pretty. The restaurant at the top of the canyon has been problematic in the past, sometimes good, sometimes really marginal.

Gillette, WY, is OK, but I've never been too impressed. Sheridan, WY, farther west of Gillette, is a really nice town with a decent airport, several restaurants and motels. But if I were to pick a town in northern Wyoming to spend some time in, it would be Cody. It has a good airport, and the world famous Buffalo Bill museum is really worth spending time in, there're several good motels, and several good restaurants.

Cary

Interesting, was looking at Hulett in the A/FD and it has a more seasonal approach to Devils Tower:

VOLUNTARY 2 MILE FLIGHT AVOIDANCE RADIUS IN EFFECT JAN-MAY AND JUL-DEC. VOLUNTARY 3 MILE FLIGHT AVOIDANCE RADIUS IN EFFECT IN JUN.

No destinations I have any experience with...but wanted to say...Cool! Love it when people do something fun with their plane...sounds like a great trip.

Yeah I am pretty excited. We've been talking about doing this for 2 years. Last piece to make it happen was getting a plane. Well, now we have a plane so no excuses and all of a sudden the trip is less than a month away.

Got the way there mostlty planned out.

Friday evening: depart Nampa, ID and fly a few hours to Driggs, ID and stay the night. This will give us an early start crossing the Rockies the next day. I contemplated just leaving home before sunrise the following day but it is too hard to get our whole family out the door on time that early in the morning. Overnighting at the base of the Rockies will give us a little more time to eat breakfast and get the kids taken care of.

Saturday morning: Get through the Rockies day. Eat breakfast then get out early. Fly northeast to Yellowstone Lake, then follow the road over Cody. Keep all that precious altitude, then stop for a break and fuel up as soon as we are done crossing the high stuff in Buffalo (BYG). After fueling, keep going east and fly by Devil's Tower, then land at Custer. Spending the day and overnighting at Custer, will be renting a car to drive to Mt. Rushmore.

Sunday morning: Depart Custer for Minnesota. Fuel / bathroom stop halfway around Huron, SD. Should be at our destination around lunch time where friend will pick us up.

I'll finalize the way back while we are there, but will generally be staying further north and overnighting near Livingston, MT.

We were driving, but on the way back from the Northwest, we stayed in Livingston overnight a few years ago, then headed to Yellowstone. The motel was one of those Ma and Pa places, very western motif and very old, but very comfortable. If they had wooden sidewalks in Livingston, they would roll them up at night. It's as quiet as a tomb.

Cary

Sounds like a very fun trip. Just a couple of things, three years ago when my son started his FBO he started it in Custer. When I was there for two weeks as he was off taking training, I saw two ground loops on landing 26. The biggest reason for this is about a thousand feet from the threshold of 26 there is a bit of a valley coming up from the north, so if there is any kind of cross wind it gets funneled to this spot. The wind can get extremely strong, and it hits very suddenly. So I would suggest that if you are landing 26, to touch down a bit west of the taxiway, that puts you just past this valley.

The other thing is if you want some of the cheapest fuel in the SE South Dakota / SW Minnesota area stop in at KLYV in Luverne, MN. That is where my son has his FBO now, and I'll even help you fuel up as I'm there most everyday. Right now fuel is at $5.41 and this week It's supposed to drop again.

Have a safe flight and Blue Skies,

Marty

A few years ago I flew over the Little Bighorn National Monument in the early morning, when the shadows accentuated the topography and illustrated how Custer was cut off. It was really interesting, and may be of interest to your kids, too.

The closest airport is Fairgrounds (F02), a bit northwest.

I agree with the recommendation to visit the Bill Cody museum. Top notch artwork there. I visited it as a boy, and despite my young age I found it interesting.

For large stretches of your route you will be flying over huge ranches. The homes can be very far apart, and it can be fun to imagine what it's like to live so far from your neighbors, schools, and shopping. It definitely takes a special, and capable, person to make it out there.