USA–Canada Overland Part 2: Badlands, Yellowstone and Glacier

The Loop hairpin turn on Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana

With Storm Trooper serviced in Wall, we continued the July 2018 drive begun in USA–Canada Overland Part 1. Part 2 carried our first-generation Ford F-150 SVT Raptor through South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana before the Canadian border came into view.

The six-day route covered about 1,300 miles through Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, Yellowstone and Glacier National Park. Our original route map records the long arc from Wall to Browning.

USA–Canada Overland Part 2 — Post Summary

Part 2 follows Storm Trooper from Wall through the Badlands and Black Hills, across Wyoming to Devils Tower and Yellowstone, then north through Montana and over Going-to-the-Sun Road to Browning.

What's Covered
1	Wall to Badlands National Park — dawn drive, prairie dogs and bison
2	Mount Rushmore and Hill City — Black Hills history and lunch
3	Devils Tower and Sheridan — Wyoming monument and overnight stop
4	Bighorn Mountains and Cody — mountain byway and Yellowstone approach
5	Yellowstone — geothermal basins, canyon, rivers and wildlife
6	Earthquake Lake to Flathead Lake — southwest Montana road
7	Glacier National Park to Browning — Going-to-the-Sun Road and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation

From Wall, Storm Trooper ran west through Badlands National Park and the Black Hills, crossed Wyoming through Devils Tower, the Bighorn Mountains and Yellowstone, then turned north through Montana to Glacier National Park and Browning.

Route Summary
Journey: USA–Canada Overland, Part 2
Date: July 2018
Start: Wall, South Dakota
Finish: Browning, Montana
Distance: approximately 1,300 miles
Duration: six days
Vehicle: Storm Trooper, first-generation Ford F-150 SVT Raptor
Route: Badlands, Black Hills, Devils Tower, Bighorn Mountains, Yellowstone, Flathead Lake, Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation

Route at a Glance

Wall to Badlands National Park
Badlands to Mount Rushmore and Hill City
Hill City to Devils Tower and Sheridan
Sheridan through the Bighorn Mountains to Cody
Cody through Yellowstone National Park
West Yellowstone to Earthquake Lake, Bozeman and Flathead Lake
West Glacier over Going-to-the-Sun Road to Browning

Wall to Badlands National Park

We left the Wall campsite at 4:30 AM and reached Badlands National Park before the RV traffic gathered. Dawn softened the eroded ridges for a few minutes; the park soon returned to its normal business of looking like geology had misplaced the instruction manual.

The exposed layers preserve a long record of changing rivers, floodplains and animal life. We began at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center, named for the first Lakota person elected to the United States Congress, then followed the park road between striped buttes and open prairie.

Eroded buttes and spires in Badlands National Park, South Dakota

The panorama gave us the Badlands at its widest before the next stop narrowed the scene to a prairie-dog burrow. We moved only a short distance, but the scale changed from miles of eroded country to one watchful resident at the edge of its colony.

Prairie dog at a burrow in Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Prairie dogs stood at their burrows and passed alarm calls across the colony. Their communication can distinguish broad categories of danger, and the colony still sounded organized enough to make our own road communications look amateurish.

Bison grazing changes the height and density of prairie vegetation, while their wallows create shallow depressions used by other plants and animals. The bison in front of us appeared more concerned with breakfast than ecological job titles.

American bison grazing in Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Bison returned to Badlands National Park in 1963 after decades of absence. The present herd descends from animals brought from Theodore Roosevelt National Park, a practical conservation success involving trucks, paperwork and very large passengers.

Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills

Mount Rushmore began with South Dakota historian Doane Robinson, who proposed a large carving to attract visitors to the Black Hills. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum shifted the concept to four presidents, and the work continued from 1927 until 1941.

Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the Black Hills, South Dakota

Jefferson was first started on Washington’s right, then blasted away when the granite proved unsuitable. The Hall of Records behind Lincoln’s head was never completed as Borglum planned, but a repository installed in 1998 preserves documents about the memorial.

Chute Rooster restaurant exterior in Hill City, South Dakota

We stopped at Chute Rooster in Hill City for lunch before turning west again. A buffalo burger fit the route, though the restaurant required fewer permits than the monuments and did not expect us to stare at it from a viewing terrace.

Devils Tower and Sheridan

Devils Tower National Monument rising above the Wyoming plains

Devils Tower became the first United States national monument in 1906. Its fluted columns rose abruptly from the Wyoming plains, while geologists continued debating the precise underground process that formed the intrusion.

The Tower Trail circles the base through ponderosa pine and close views of the columns. Several Indigenous nations regard the formation as sacred, and prayer cloths in the trees were part of an active ceremonial place rather than roadside decoration.

The drive through northern Wyoming also crossed country associated in popular culture with Longmire. The television connection made a brief roadside aside; Sheridan, dinner and the next morning’s mountain crossing remained the actual route.

The Pony Grill and Bar interior in Sheridan, Wyoming

Dinner at The Pony Grill and Bar ended the day in Sheridan. The city grew with the railroad and regional coal economy, while King’s Saddlery still ties the town to working ranch culture without requiring anyone to arrive on horseback.

Bighorn Mountains to Cody

The Bighorn Scenic Byway climbed from open prairie into forest and exposed rock. The change came quickly enough to make the plains feel like a previous chapter, although Storm Trooper had not received the memo and continued using the same fuel.

Big Horn Mountains Scenic Byway in Bighorn National Forest, Wyoming

The Bighorn Mountains rose during the Laramide orogeny, exposing old basement rock and tilting younger sedimentary layers along their flanks. The road translated that geology into grades, curves and repeated reasons to use a lower gear.

Mountain view from a pullout on the Bighorn Scenic Highway, Wyoming

Cody supplied fuel, food and a Fireworks Factory Outlet that treated explosives as retail décor. Wyoming’s roadside economy can combine practical errands with enough combustible merchandise to make the shopping list feel legally ambitious.

Fireworks Factory Outlet in Cody, Wyoming

Buffalo Bill Cody helped establish the town that bears his name. From Cody, the road followed the North Fork of the Shoshone River toward Yellowstone, with the plains giving way to a narrower mountain corridor.

We entered Yellowstone from the east after following the Shoshone River valley. Steam, mineral color and the smell of sulfur soon replaced the dry Wyoming road, which was one way for the planet to announce that the plumbing beneath us was complicated.

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone Lake appeared calm from Lake Butte Overlook, although hydrothermal features continue beneath parts of the lake floor. The water occupies a high basin within the Yellowstone caldera and makes a broad pause between the park’s forests and geothermal areas.

Yellowstone Lake from Lake Butte Overlook, Yellowstone National Park

Mud Caldron, Dragon’s Mouth Spring and Sulphur Caldron supplied noise, steam and names that seemed selected by a committee of medieval chemists. The features differ in temperature and chemistry, but all make standing on stable ground feel like a temporary arrangement.

Yellowstone Valley Inn exterior near Wapiti, Wyoming

We spent the night at Yellowstone Valley Inn near Wapiti. Darkness settled quickly beyond the developed areas, leaving the mountain edge and sky to do most of the evening’s work.

Old Faithful and Yellowstone Canyon

Grand Prismatic Spring overlook in Yellowstone National Park

Geyser Basin	Primary Vibe	Must-See Feature
Upper Geyser Basin	Predictable and Crowded	Old Faithful (erupts roughly every 90 minutes)
Midway Geyser Basin	Bright Colors and Steam	Grand Prismatic Spring (largest in the United States)
Norris Geyser Basin	Volatile and Acidic	Steamboat Geyser (world’s tallest active geyser)

Upper Geyser Basin

Primary Vibe: Predictable and Crowded
Must-See Feature: Old Faithful (erupts roughly every 90 minutes)

Midway Geyser Basin

Primary Vibe: Bright Colors and Steam
Must-See Feature: Grand Prismatic Spring (largest in the United States)

Norris Geyser Basin

Primary Vibe: Volatile and Acidic
Must-See Feature: Steamboat Geyser (world’s tallest active geyser)

Old Faithful does not erupt on a fixed 90-minute clock. Rangers publish a prediction window based partly on the duration of the previous eruption, which is more reliable than standing beside the geyser and trying to negotiate with it.

The word “geyser” comes from Geysir in Iceland. The Icelandic original is less active now, while its name has acquired a global second career.

Upper Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone was cut through hydrothermally altered volcanic rock. Iron compounds contribute much of the yellow, orange and red coloring, while the falls provide the sound effects at no extra charge.

Madison River in Yellowstone National Park

The Madison River begins where the Firehole and Gibbon rivers meet. We followed it west through open valley country, passing anglers, thermal influence and wildlife along the way.

Madison River near Seven Mile Bridge in Yellowstone National Park

Near Seven Mile Bridge, the route shifted from geothermal stops to wildlife watching. Yellowstone still supports a wide range of native mammals, but the animals had no obligation to appear in the order printed on our map.

Yellowstone Wildlife

Between Terrace Spring and Purple Mountain, we photographed a distant canid. At that distance, the animal’s identity remained uncertain, so we enjoyed the sighting without promoting it beyond the evidence.

Canid observed in Yellowstone National Park

Wolves were restored to Yellowstone in 1995. Their return affected elk, scavengers and other parts of the food web, though the changes vary by place and cannot be reduced to one tidy chain of wolves, willows and beavers.

Elk were common across the park’s open areas. Seasonal movement changes where they gather, and every roadside herd demonstrated that wildlife can create a traffic jam without owning a single vehicle.

The Yellowstone elk differed in build and habitat from the Roosevelt elk we had seen in Alaska. That comparison was enough; wildlife taxonomy does not improve when kitchen appliances enter the discussion.

Elk in Yellowstone National Park

Bull elk shed their antlers after the breeding season. Rodents often gnaw the fallen antlers for minerals, returning the discarded bone to the food web one tooth mark at a time.

A white-tailed deer appeared near the Madison River corridor. The species favors cover near water more than the open country used by many mule deer, which made the riverbank a sensible place to see one.

White-tailed deer near the Madison River in Yellowstone National Park

The raised white tail is a visible alarm signal when the deer runs. Beyond that useful observation, it was simply a native deer moving through suitable river cover.

We left Yellowstone through West Yellowstone and stayed at Parade Rest Guest Ranch. The quiet night gave us a clean break between the park’s thermal basin and the earthquake country waiting farther north.

Parade Rest Guest Ranch near West Yellowstone, Montana

Earthquake Lake and Bozeman

The ranch stay closed our Yellowstone section. The next morning we followed the Madison River corridor toward Earthquake Lake, where the route shifted from wildlife and geothermal basins to the visible consequences of the 1959 earthquake. It was a sharp change in subject, though not in the size of the sky.

Earthquake Lake in southwestern Montana

Earthquake Lake formed after the 1959 Hebgen Lake earthquake triggered a landslide that blocked the Madison River. Twenty-eight people died, and the drowned trees still give the lake a direct connection to the disaster rather than a distant geological footnote.

View from Johnny Ridge Road in southwestern Montana

Johnny Ridge Road carried us beyond the lake through the Madison Valley. The active fault system remained part of the region’s geology, while the road stayed firmly on one side of the asphalt-versus-tectonics argument.

Pool area at Bozeman Hot Springs, Montana

In Bozeman, we soaked at Bozeman Hot Springs and let the driving day drain out of our shoulders. The water was warm enough to justify the stop, and our shoulders accepted the evidence without requesting a chemical analysis.

Bozeman combined a university town with the working economy of southwestern Montana. We replenished supplies and moved on, since Storm Trooper’s preferred academic program was still applied mileage.

Flathead Lake to West Glacier

North of Bozeman, long valleys led toward Flathead Lake. The lake’s clear water and broad mountain setting made the first view feel larger than the map, while the old Lake Missoula basin added deeper geological context to the drive.

Roadside stands near Polson sold Flathead cherries. The lake moderates temperatures along parts of the shore, helping commercial orchards in a state where winter otherwise treats fruit trees as a personal challenge.

Columbia Falls and Whitefish marked the final approach to Glacier National Park. Their older downtown buildings and railway history made the communities feel connected to the route rather than arranged as entrances to a tourist attraction.

Going-to-the-Sun Road

West Glacier entrance to Glacier National Park, Montana

We passed the West Glacier entrance at 6:00 AM and began the crossing of Going-to-the-Sun Road. The roughly 50-mile road took eleven years to complete and turns the Continental Divide into one of North America’s most carefully engineered drives.

Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park, Montana

Lake McDonald is Glacier National Park’s largest lake. Glacial ice shaped the basin, and wet stones along the shore reveal a range of colors that appear much less dramatic after they dry, which is the geological equivalent of good lighting.

McDonald Creek beside Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

McDonald Creek followed the road through the forest. Its clear, fast water linked the west-side lake country with the climb ahead, while Storm Trooper exchanged shoreline curves for the steeper geometry of the Garden Wall.

The west-side pullouts gave us a last chance to look back before the road committed to the climb. Cameras recorded fragments; the full scale remained stubbornly outside the frame, as mountain roads often arrange things.

The Loop on Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

The Loop solves a basic engineering problem: gaining height along a steep mountainside without making the grade unreasonable. The hairpin became the road’s most recognizable turn and a useful place to inspect the route rather than merely drive through it.

View from The Loop on Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

Stone retaining walls and bridges help the road sit within the mountain corridor. Their masonry also gives the drive a visual continuity that concrete barriers would have handled with considerably less charm.

Alder Creek bridge on Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

Distant ice remained visible beyond the road. The photographs record distant glaciers from the Going-to-the-Sun corridor, where ridges and ice overlap enough to make exact identification difficult.

Alder Creek cascades beside Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

The ice occupied high basins and shaded ledges above the road. From our viewpoint, distance compressed separate ridges and glaciers into one layered wall, which made confident map labels easier than accurate ones.

Glaciers and the Garden Wall

Distant glaciers seen from Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

Waterfalls dropped from hanging valleys along the Garden Wall. Bird Woman Falls is one of the major cascades visible from the road, dropping from a hanging valley high above the corridor.

Closer view of distant glaciers in Glacier National Park

Chief Mountain stands near the eastern edge of Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. Its isolated profile has long made it a major landmark from the plains, even when the road’s closer peaks temporarily hid it.

Mountain and waterfall view from Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

Glacier’s exposed rocks include part of the Lewis Overthrust, where much older rock was pushed over younger layers. The result is visible in the park’s abrupt cliffs and tilted bands, which provided more than enough drama without assistance from promotional geology.

Mountain view from Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

Layered rock remained visible from the upper road. The broad Belt Supergroup context remained useful, while the individual layers were best left unnamed from a moving or uncertain viewpoint.

Panoramic mountain view from Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

The climb placed old sedimentary rock, meadow and ice within the same field of view. That combination gave each pullout a different balance of color and scale, even when the road had advanced only a short distance.

Mountain detail from Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

Mount Oberlin rose near Logan Pass as the road approached the Continental Divide. Its profile supplied a clear landmark without requiring us to turn the roadside stop into a climbing guide.

Paradise Meadow beside Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

The Weeping Wall spills snowmelt across the rock beside the road. In a vehicle with open windows, the attraction can become interactive faster than anyone inside has formally agreed to.

Paradise Meadow and Mount Oberlin in Glacier National Park

Paradise Meadow held low alpine plants adapted to a short growing season. Flowers appeared wherever snow had retreated, fitting an entire summer into the narrow space between thaw and the next winter.

Wildflowers in Paradise Meadow, Glacier National Park

Beargrass added tall white flower clusters to the meadow. Despite the name, it is not a grass, which is the sort of botanical correction the plant seems content to leave to interpretive signs.

Panoramic view across Paradise Meadow, Glacier National Park

Logan Pass was named for William R. Logan, Glacier National Park’s first superintendent. The road and visitor area now make the divide accessible by vehicle, a privilege early park staff would have considered suspiciously convenient.

Weeping Wall beside Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

Snowmelt that feeds the Weeping Wall freezes into heavy ice during winter. Road crews must clear that seasonal buildup before the upper route can reopen, so the summer drive rests on months of work visitors rarely see.

Logan Pass and Saint Mary Lake

Logan Pass on the Continental Divide in Glacier National Park

Logan Pass sits at 6,646 feet on the Continental Divide. Water falling on opposite sides eventually reaches different ocean basins, although individual raindrops remain famously unwilling to file route plans.

A short walk near the pass brought mountain goats into view. We kept our distance and let them handle the slopes, for which their balance was better designed and our insurance paperwork was not.

Saint Mary Lake from Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park

The east-side descent opened above Saint Mary Lake. Glacial sediment helps produce the blue-green color, while the long valley shifted the road from close cliffs to broad views toward the plains.

Saint Mary Lake and Wild Goose Island, Glacier National Park

Wild Goose Island sits near the western end of Saint Mary Lake and anchors one of the park’s familiar views. The small island held the center of the familiar view while the lake and surrounding peaks supplied the scale.

Saint Mary Lake beneath the surrounding mountains, Glacier National Park

Clear water revealed stones near the shoreline, but visual clarity did not establish an exact depth or safe swimming temperature. We stayed with the view and left the underwater measurements to people carrying instruments rather than cameras.

Pebbled shoreline of Saint Mary Lake, Glacier National Park

Writer Mary Roberts Rinehart helped popularize Glacier through her 1916 account of a horseback trip in the park. Her journey belonged to an earlier tourism era, when crossing the park required more saddle time and fewer parking discussions.

Mountain reflections on Saint Mary Lake, Glacier National Park

Wind can change Saint Mary Lake quickly, especially where the valley channels air from the divide. Its calm surface deserved attention because the same valley can funnel strong winds across the water with little warning.

Panoramic view across Saint Mary Lake, Glacier National Park

The final lake views marked the transition from the alpine road to the east-side prairie. Mountains remained behind us, but their scale continued to occupy the mirrors for several miles.

Final view of Saint Mary Lake before the east-side descent

The Continental Divide creates a strong rain-shadow contrast between Glacier’s western and eastern sides. The road made that change visible as dense forest gave way to drier slopes and open plains.

Lunch at Frog’s Cantina in Saint Mary supplied Tex-Mex at roughly 4,500 feet. After the upper road, a chair, a plate and a roof represented a perfectly adequate three-part recovery plan.

Frog's Cantina exterior in Saint Mary, Montana

Saint Mary served as an east-side staging point long before private vehicles could cross the park. Railway-era visitors continued by stagecoach or horseback, using more time and considerably more dust to reach the lake.

Dining area inside Frog's Cantina in Saint Mary, Montana

Saint Mary to Browning

The road from Saint Mary to Browning crossed the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. Browning is the headquarters of the Blackfeet Nation, and the change from park road to reservation communities shifted the trip from mountain engineering to living regional history.

Blackfeet Housing Authority office in Browning, Montana

The Blackfeet are part of the wider Blackfoot Confederacy, whose traditional territory extended across today’s international border. Glacier National Park lies within country long known and used by Blackfeet people before the park boundary existed.

Native Life Gift Store in Browning, Montana

At the Museum of the Plains Indian, we viewed beadwork, clothing and other works from Northern Plains peoples. The visit provided cultural context for Browning without reducing designs to one universal set of symbols.

View across the Blackfeet Indian Reservation near Browning, Montana

The reservation supports education, media, ranching, public services and tourism. The community’s economy and public life are broader than the energy shorthand often attached to Montana.

A local artist explained the colors and personal references in her own beadwork. Her explanation belonged to her own work rather than serving as a universal code for all Blackfeet designs.

Browning ended the American half of the outward drive. Storm Trooper turned north toward the seasonal Chief Mountain border crossing, where Part 3 begins before continuing through Alberta to Canmore, Banff, Lake Louise and the Icefields Parkway.

This 2018 round trip was Storm Trooper’s longest cross-border journey before Shehzadi took over our later overland work. The Raptor carried the route comfortably, consumed fuel with presidential confidence and left us with a useful benchmark for every long drive that followed.

Next Stop: Canada

Continue with USA–Canada Overland Part 3: Banff, Jasper and the Icefields Parkway.