The basecamp play
Yellowstone one way. Mount Rushmore the other.
Sheridan is the hinge.
Sheridan sits almost exactly halfway between Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore, right on I-90 — and nearly everyone drives past it. Base here instead: gateway-town drama without gateway-town prices, the Bighorns out your back door, and every icon within a day's drive.
Big Day Trips & Road-Trip Stops
Mount Rushmore National MemorialSD
~250 mi · ~4 hr
The face of America, ~4 hours east through the Black Hills. Sheridan is almost exactly halfway between Rushmore and Yellowstone — which is the whole point: do both from one Wyoming basecamp. Best as an overnight loop with Custer State Park, Crazy Horse, and Deadwood; doable as a very long day for the determined.
Rushmore one direction, Yellowstone the other — Sheridan is the hinge of the Great American West road trip.
Full guideCrazy Horse MemorialSD
~255 mi · ~4.25 hr
The largest mountain carving in the world, still in progress, honoring Lakota leader Crazy Horse. Pairs naturally with Mount Rushmore on a Black Hills overnight from Sheridan.
Add it to a Black Hills loop out of your Sheridan basecamp.
Custer State ParkSD
~230 mi · ~3.75 hr
71,000 acres of granite spires, the famous Wildlife Loop with free-roaming bison, and the white-knuckle Needles Highway. The best of the Black Hills in one park — anchor an overnight around it.
The Black Hills wildlife loop, from a Wyo Stays basecamp.
DeadwoodSD
~150 mi · ~2.5 hr
The Wild West town of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane — gold-rush history, saloons, and gaming, only 2.5 hours east. An easy add-on to a Devils Tower or Spearfish day.
Wild West by day, back to the quiet of the Bighorns by night.
Spearfish Canyon & WaterfallsSD
~120 mi · ~2 hr
A jaw-dropping limestone canyon with roadside waterfalls (Bridal Veil, Roughlock) and blazing fall color — the prettiest 2-hour drive to a day trip you can make east of here. Easy stops the whole family can do.
Chase waterfalls in the Black Hills and be home for dinner.
Full guideBadlands National ParkSD
~290 mi · ~4.5 hr
A surreal moonscape of striped spires and prairie, ~4.5 hours east — best paired with Wall Drug and a Black Hills overnight rather than a single day. Stunning at sunrise and sunset.
Part of the great eastern loop from your Sheridan base.
Wall DrugSD
~275 mi · ~4.25 hr
The world's most famous roadside stop — free ice water since 1931, a 5-cent coffee, jackalopes, and endless kitsch at the doorstep of the Badlands. Pure Americana and a guaranteed kid-pleaser on a Badlands run.
The classic Great Plains road trip — start rested in Sheridan.
Yellowstone National Park (East / Cody entrance)WY
~200 mi · ~4 hr to the East Entrance (via Cody)
The big one. The East Entrance via Cody is one of the most scenic approaches in the system. Doable as a long day to the Lamar Valley/NE via Beartooth, but far better as an overnight — and Sheridan is the crowd-free, better-value place everyone else drives past on the way. Ask us about routing over the Bighorns and through Cody.
Yellowstone without Yellowstone prices — base in the Bighorns and drive in.
Full guideBeartooth Highway (US-212)MT/WY
~180 mi · ~3.5 hr to Red Lodge
Called the most beautiful drive in America — a switchbacking climb to nearly 11,000 feet on the way to Yellowstone's NE entrance. Open summer only (roughly late May–early Oct). An epic full-day drive-and-return, or the scenic route into the park.
Take the most beautiful road in America into Yellowstone — from a Sheridan basecamp.
Thermopolis Hot Springs (Hot Springs State Park)WY
~150 mi · ~2.5 hr (via Ten Sleep & the Bighorn Basin)
The world's largest mineral hot spring, with a FREE state bathhouse — soak for nothing in the middle of Wyoming. Add the Wyoming Dinosaur Center and the drive down through Ten Sleep Canyon and it's a superb, underrated day trip. Deeply relaxing after a few days on the trails.
Soak in the world's largest hot spring for free, then home to the Bighorns.
Full guideTen Sleep & Ten Sleep CanyonWY
~90 mi · ~2 hr (over the Bighorns on US-16)
A world-class rock-climbing destination and a charming small town on the far side of the Bighorns via the Cloud Peak Skyway. Ten Sleep Brewing and the canyon drive make it a perfect loop-back day over the mountains.
Loop the Bighorns: up the Skyway, down into Ten Sleep, home by dark.
Gateway Towns
CodyWY
148 mi · ~3 hr (over the Bighorns via Greybull)
The east gateway to Yellowstone (53 mi from the East Entrance) and home of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West — a Smithsonian Affiliate with five museums under one roof. Nightly summer rodeo, the historic Irma Hotel, and one of America's great scenic drives into the park. A perfect long-day trip from Sheridan, or the far end of a Bighorns loop. Base with us and skip Cody's peak-season room rates.
Do Cody + Yellowstone as day trips from a Wyo Stays cabin — better value, fewer crowds.
Full guideJackson HoleWY
~335 mi · ~5.5–6 hr (via Wind River Canyon & Dubois)
The south gateway to Grand Teton and Yellowstone — world-class, and priced like it. Most travelers don't realize Sheridan is the crowd-free, half-the-price side of the same mountains. Great as the far anchor of a grand Wyoming loop; the drive down through Wind River Canyon is a stunner. Position Sheridan as the smarter first or last stop.
Bookend a Teton trip with Sheridan — same Wyoming, none of the Jackson markup.
Full guideUcrossWY
28 mi · ~30 min (SE on US-14/16)
A 20,000-acre working ranch and one of the most respected artist residencies in the country. The public Big Red Barn gallery (1882, on the National Register) is free year-round, and the Ucross Café pours espresso and fresh pastries under enormous skies. A quietly extraordinary, only-locals-know-it half-day at the confluence of three creeks.
A 30-minute drive to world-class art in the middle of a cattle ranch — pure Wyo Stays territory.
Full guideClearmontWY
35 mi · ~40 min (SE on US-14/16)
Tiny ranch-country town on the Powder River road, gateway to Ucross and the wide-open eastern half of Sheridan County. The kind of place you drive to for the drive — big skies, cottonwoods, and not another car for miles. Pair it with Ucross for a slow backroads afternoon.
The quiet side of the county, 40 minutes out — and you'll have it to yourself.
BeulahWY
~130 mi · ~2 hr (I-90 E toward the Black Hills)
Wyoming's easternmost town and the gateway to the Black Hills — home of the Vore Buffalo Jump, a natural sinkhole where tribes drove bison from ~1500–1800 A.D., holding the bones of an estimated 20,000 buffalo. The Buffalo Jump Saloon serves grass-fed bison, and Sand Creek is a blue-ribbon trout fishery. The perfect break on the run to Devils Tower, Spearfish, or Mount Rushmore.
On the road to the Black Hills? Start from Sheridan and hit Devils Tower + the Vore Jump on the way.
Full guide
Questions road-trippers ask
Where should I stay between Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore?
Sheridan, Wyoming sits almost exactly halfway between Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore, right on I-90 — about 4 hours from each. It's the crowd-free, better-value basecamp: real Western main street, the Bighorn Mountains out the back door, and vacation rentals that cost far less than gateway-town lodging.
Is Sheridan worth a stop on the way to Yellowstone?
Yes — Sheridan is the stop most travelers regret blowing past. The 1907 Mint Bar, King's Saddlery, free summer polo in Big Horn, and the Bighorn Scenic Byway are all here, and the East Entrance of Yellowstone is about 4 hours away via Cody, one of the most scenic approaches in the park system.
How many days do you need for a Yellowstone to Mount Rushmore road trip?
Seven days is comfortable: two nights near Yellowstone, two to three in Sheridan as your midpoint basecamp (Bighorns, rodeo, small towns), and two in the Black Hills for Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and Custer State Park. Sheridan's position on I-90 makes it the natural hinge of the loop.
Plan the in-between days
The concierge map routes your Sheridan days — trails, saloons, polo, byways — with drive-times from your actual front door.
Plan my days