Fun Driving experience from Minnesota to Wyoming
This is was our first road trip after the pandemic started in 2020. We decided to take off from our daily jobs for a full 10 days in June 2021 . Our plan was to embark on a road trip exploring 4 national parks as we drove through 5 states enjoying the summer. Here is our itinerary for the drive from Minnesota to Dubois , Wyoming.
We started on Friday at 12 noon after eating eating a wholesome lunch at home.Our plan was to detoxify from the laptop world for the next 10 days. All we had in mind was to reach Dickinson, North Dakota by end of the day. Dickinson seemed as a natural stopping point to our way to Dubois. It is literally a fork between going towards Billings vs Rapid City.
Our drive all along the North Dakota was pretty straight. So though we had 8 hours of drive, it did not seem like one. For dinner we stopped at Schlotzsky's. We had tried at this sandwich joint back in our Austin trip ,so we thought this would be a safer choice. But the Schlotzsky's at North dakota branch was not worth it as it was in Texas. We called it for then night in Quality Inn. Dickinson has a a lot of motels and hotels if you are looking for a one night stay on your road journey. To be honest I would not recommend Quality Inn as the AC system truly sucked and my husband struggled to sleep because of the fan of the A/C that kept restarting every 15 mins. Me on the other hand was snoring peacefully. I consider that as one of my talents.
The breakfast however is good and we started the next day with a good note. Dickinson is also a good stop if you are visiting Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We spoke to folks from Minnesota who stayed in Dickinson to visit the park. The park from Dickinson is within 30 minutes of drive.
So leaving Dickinson today our goal was to reach Dubois WY. One of our options was to go towards Devil Tower via Spearfish and enter the traffic at Rapid City, South Dakota. Given we had already visited Black Hills in 2019 , we decided to take the scenic Highway 16 and visit our first National Forest, BigHorn National Forest. As we started early, we drove straight to Sheridian, WY. Sheridian is a small town but a place to stay if you are planning to visit BigHorn National Forest. This forest is a hidden gem of Wyoming in my opinion. Yellowstone and Grand Teton get a lot of attention from tourists but if you are looking for a place to camp and enjoy nature , look no further than Bighorn. We had our lunch at Bagels & Beyond in Sheridian and we truly loved it. [Pro Tip : You will get a eagle view of the town, if you stop at the rest area just before you enter Sheridian 1514 WY-336, Sheridan, WY 82801
Next we drove through Highway 16 (This is also called the sweet sixteen Highway) taking in the forest full of pine trees and green hills with mountains in the backdrop. The lookouts here will most involve you driving on dirt roads before you get rewarded. So after some argument , we decided to take the dirt road Sheep Mountain Lookout. This was our opportunity to stretch our legs while enjoying the forest. I any SUV could easily do this drive , our Mazda CX-5 did it. The drive was fun . We had lot of photo ops at glacial creeks lined with beautiful wild flowers. We also saw a lot of people who had camped their RVs besides the creeks. But on a whole it is a good secluded place away from the crowds unlike other national parks. We had the entire lookout at the top all to ourselves and the feeling to be one with nature in the cold winds is irreplaceable. I am very grateful to that moment.
BigHorn River at Thermopolis
From there we drove through highway 16 cutting the gorgeous Ten Sleep Canyon. This is the mecca for climbers out there. We had 3 hours more of driving to Dubois , but if you dont then do stop at Ten Sleep Brewing Company. The Bighorn river that cuts through Thermopolis made our drive more spectacular. If you have time you can also take a dip at the HotSprings state park.
Our View nearby Rocky Mountain Lodge
We finally made it to Dubois. Dubois is a small town and does not have many options. It has one grocery store , a dollar general and a few local restaurants. Be sure to book ahead if you are planning to have a good dinner here. We called it a successful drive from home Rocky Mountain Lodge.
