Mt. Rushmore, Badlands, to Missouri River Lewis & Clark Trail (to south)

[HealthyKnees]

Hello Cyclists!
Thanks for all your good advice on the first leg of our Coast to Coast journey.  My husband and I have 3-4 weeks each summer to ride, picking up where (or there abouts) we left off the previous year.  We started our Bellingham, WA to Key West, FL trip last summer and stopped in Great Falls Montana (because of crazy heat 95-105 degrees).  It was a terrific ride.  We are fully self supported.

Next summer, we will start in Jackson, WY instead of Great Falls (because Great Falls sucked and we want to see the Tetons), ride to Yellowstone and east across WY to Mt. Rushmore (I know, I know, but its on my list).  We have a nice route to do this (thanks to you all).

Where I need help is getting across South Dakota from Mt. Rushmore, thru the Badlands, to get to the Missouri River where we will pick up the Lewis & Clark route, stopping sometime when we reach Iowa.  Any suggestions?

I am grateful for your help.  Thank you!
Robin

PS - I just had my knee replaced and am anxious to see how I do with my "new equipment" next summer.

[jamawani]

Too bad, because the ride from Great Falls to Jackson mostly via US 89 is one of the nicest out there.

Opposite direction trip -
https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/wna2005/day-45-hoback-river-to-jenny-lake/

[HealthyKnees]

I'm sure that section is beautiful - and your pictures show it.  We just have to choose where to start again and we'd rather start in Jackson than in Great Falls.

[John Nettles]

Not many paved roads in SD.  You can look at the state's Bicycle Map and/or Traffic Count maps to help you decide.

The most common route is the direct route which heads east from Rapid City on SD-14 and basically stay parallel to the interstate until you get to I-90 Exit 90 where you then ride on the interstate (legal in SD) to Wall.  Relatively, not much traffic on the interstate and you have a full-width shoulder.  At Wall, head south into the Badlands on SD-240 toward Interior.  At Cedar Pass, head north toward the interstate and go east on SD-248 (basically parallels the interstate) until SD-47 east of Reliance.  Here get on the interstate again and exit into Oacoma where you take SD-16/Business I-90 into Champlain where you join up with the L&C route.  More traffic & services, less scenic.

Another option is to start out same way but at Murdo, SD, head south on US-83 to Valentine, NE and jump on either the Cowboy Trail (the country's longest UNPAVED rail trail) or US-20 which basically parallels it to Norfolk, then continue east to Onawa, IA & the L&C route.  More rural, less traffic and services.

Whatever you choose, enjoy the ride! John

[jamawani]

I have lived in Wyoming for 27 years and biked throughout -
probably every paved mile and many unpaved.

What time of yer are you planning to do this?
Late June/early July is peak wildflower season in the high country - not too brutal yet in the Plains.
(Of course, temperature-wise, riding east-to-west works better.)

If you start in Jackson and are headed towards South Dakota, you have a couple of options.
You can either head north into Yellowstone and east via US 14/16 thru the stunning Wapiti Valley.
Or you can take US 26 over Togwatee Pass to Riverton then head north thru the Wind River Canyon.

With either of these options, you will cross the Bighorn Mountains - nothing to sneeze at.
US 14A has a brutal, death-defying climb - wouldn't be my 1st choice.
US 14 heads up thru Shell Canyon - quite lovely - then down into Dayton on crazy switchbacks.
US 16 heads up thru the magnificent Tensleep Canyon and has a more gradual descent to Buffalo.

(You can skip the Bighorns staying on US 26 to Casper - boring, hot, lots of traffic.)

US 14 and US 16 meet at Ucross and continue east to GIllette - then WYO 51 runs parallel to I-90.
At Moorcroft you can either take US 16 directly to the Black Hills - kinda meh, but with O.K. shoulders.
Or you can take US 14, WYO 24 to Devils Tower - a few challenging hills - but worth it.

<<<>>>

I'll talk about South Dakota and Nebraska later.

Photo - Bighorn Meadows in Late June

[HealthyKnees]

Thanks John N. and Jamawani,
Great thoughts and directions.

Yes, we are planning on riding from Jackson to Yellowstone then east across Wyoming.  Good to know about Wyoming 14A, that was part of our plan, but with the "Death defying climb" we will take one of the other options you suggested. 
We want to ride through the Devils Tower area if it makes sense then to pick up the Mickelson trail through the Black Hills to see Crazy Horse and Mt. Rushmore.

Its the South Dakota leg that we are unsure of - services? dirt roads?  Aggressive dogs on reservations? (we had a rough experience with that in Montana).  If you have any more ideas in addition to what John N. posted, we'd love to hear it.

We were thinking that once we got to the Missouri River that we'd hook up with the Lewis & Clark Adventure Cycling route.

Ideas on route from Buffalo WY toward Rapid City and picking up the Mickelson Trail?

[BikeliciousBabe]

Ideas on route from Buffalo WY toward Rapid City and picking up the Mickelson Trail?

Look at a map. The Mickelson doesn't go to Rapid City. In fact, it's west of Rapid City. And while it does go by Crazy Horse (You can see it from the trail.), it doesn't take you to Mt. Rushmore. Crazy Horse is located along the trail between Hill City and Custer, so if you ride past it you have already ridden south of the junction with SD 244, which takes you right passed Mt. Rushmore and then to Keystone.