Winter roadtrip planning help - south dakota to utah and back.
Hello all.
Looking to take a 10 day road trip with my girlfriend from Sioux city (flying in, renting a car) across south dakota and wyoming to utah, do some hikes and see a few of the famous utah parks, then trek back to sioux city via Colorado and Nebraska. This would be December 26th to January 5th.
general initial outline of intended things to hit:
badlands (few hours take some photos)
Mt rushmore ( quick photo stop)
devil's tower (few hours take some photos)
zion national park (2-3 days overnight, at least hike the narrows, possibly more)
antelope valley (hike, get the photos)
monument valley (not sure??)
arches (not sure??)
Denver (maybe crash with friends for a night before making the long haul back to Sioux city)
Zion is at the top of my list and I've wanted to hike there for a long time. The rest of this trip is really to see a bunch of the other cool things in the general geographic vicinity that I probably won't have an opportunity to come back to.
Skipping bryce for timing unless folks think it's a must see - the weather here seems like it may be the trickiest of the bunch.
Also skipping yellowstone in general since I feel like we would only really have time to drive through it and putz around - maybe that's worth it though? I kind of feel like yellowstone isn't going anywhere and of all the national parks in this area, it's the one I'm most likely to come back for.
I am an experienced all season hiker and am not generally worried about myself. My girlfriend is a solid hiker, but has never really done winter hiking or camping. Plan is to rent an suv and either pitch a tent at most sites or just inflate a mattress and sleep in the back. If temperatures are too low though we'd stay in hotels.
Questions:
How bad is winter in south dakota? Is badlands going to be painful to even be outside in cold (were from boston, so cold is something we are pretty familiar with, but I've heard horror stories of friends from the northern half of the midwest)
What are some must do day hikes along this general route?
How is the camping in zion and some of these other parks in the winter?
any other general thoughts are welcome! Thanks for taking the time!
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