Parks & Canyons Spectacular — Self-Launched

Fly into Rapid City Regional (RAP) — cheapest routings are via Denver or Minneapolis. Settle into a downtown hostel or budget motel and walk the compact Main Street Square area, which covers the orientation walk the tour does by coach. Pick up your rental car today or tomorrow morning; booking 2–3 months ahead and opting for a standard SUV gets you a car that sleeps two if you want to cut accommodation costs in the parks. Stock up on a cooler, water and camp stove fuel at a Walmart or Target on the way in — food inside the parks is expensive.

🚌Airport shuttle or rideshare from RAP (~£10-15); rental car pickup

🛏Downtown Rapid City hostel private room or budget motel (e.g. around the Main Street area)

• →Self-guided walk of Rapid City Main Street Square and City of Presidents statues
• →Supermarket shop for park supplies

Drive Highway 16/385 southwest into the Black Hills. Crazy Horse Memorial charges about £10 entry and you can stay for the evening laser-light show if you like — the monument is still under construction and the visitor complex explains the story well. Mount Rushmore is free apart from the ~£8 parking fee, and the 0.6-mile Presidential Trail boardwalk loop (the tour's 'Presidential Trail walk') gets you right under the faces. Time your visit for late afternoon light, then head back toward Hill City or Keystone for the night.

🚌Self-drive ~50 miles round trip; fuel ~£8

🛏Hill City or Keystone budget motel / hostel

• →Crazy Horse Memorial entry and Native American cultural centre
• →Mount Rushmore National Memorial and Presidential Trail loop
• →Optional evening lighting ceremony at Rushmore (free)

Take the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway (Iron Mountain Road and the Needles Highway) through Custer State Park — this is the equal of the tour's 'scenic drive through Black Hills National Forest' and arguably better, with pigtail bridges and granite tunnels framing Rushmore. Custer State Park charges ~£15 per vehicle; the wildlife loop road usually turns up bison. Stop in Deadwood for a self-guided wander of the historic Main Street and the Adams House, then continue west on I-90 to Sheridan for the night. Swap the tour's family dinner for a steak or burger at a Sheridan brewpub.

🚌Self-drive ~230 miles; Custer SP vehicle fee ~£15 shared; fuel ~£22

🛏Sheridan budget motel or hostel

• →Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway self-drive
• →Custer State Park wildlife loop
• →Self-guided Deadwood historic Main Street walk

An hour north of Sheridan is Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, where the 1876 battle took place. Entry is ~£15 per person (or covered by the annual park pass) and the 4.5-mile self-drive battlefield tour road, with the Nye-Cartwright ridge stops and the 7th Cavalry monument, replaces the guided battleground tour — the ranger talks at the visitor centre are free and excellent. Then drive west over the Bighorn Mountains on US-14A (a superb mountain road) to Cody for the night.

🚌Self-drive ~200 miles; fuel ~£20

🛏Cody budget motel or hostel

• →Little Bighorn Battlefield visitor centre and self-drive tour road
• →Free ranger talk (check daily schedule)
• →Bighorn Mountains scenic drive

Spend the morning at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West — five museums in one, ~£20 and easily worth three hours. Then take the Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway through Shoshone National Forest along the North Fork of the Shoshone, with pull-outs at the Holy City and the forest's bighorn sheep. Enter Yellowstone at the East Entrance: buy the America the Beautiful annual pass (~£63 per vehicle) here, which covers every park on this trip. Camp or stay at Canyon Village or Madison for the first of two nights.

🚌Self-drive ~115 miles; Shoshone NF corridor; fuel ~£14

🛏Yellowstone Canyon campground (~£25/site) or Madison Campground

• →Buffalo Bill Center of the West
• →Shoshone National Forest scenic byway with photo stops
• →Yellowstone East Entrance and Sylvan Pass

Do the Grand Loop yourself in an anti-clockwise loop: Lower Falls and the Brink of Lower Falls trail at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone early, then Fountain Paint Pot boardwalk and the Midway Geyser Basin (Grand Prismatic — walk up the Fairy Falls overlook trail for the aerial view), then Old Faithful with its predictable eruption schedule posted hourly. Finish north at Mammoth Hot Springs for the limestone terrace boardwalk and, if you have legs left, the Beaver Ponds or Bunsen Peak trailhead. Bison jams are real — budget extra driving time.

🚌Self-drive Grand Loop ~140 miles; fuel ~£16

🛏Second night at Yellowstone campground or Canyon Lodge budget cabin

• →Grand Canyon of Yellowstone & Brink of Lower Falls
• →Fountain Paint Pot and Grand Prismatic overlook
• →Old Faithful eruption
• →Mammoth Hot Springs terraces boardwalk

Exit south over Craig Pass toward Grand Teton. Stop at Jenny Lake and walk the flat lakeshore path toward Hidden Falls and Inspiration Point (~5 miles return) — the tour's 'Jenny Lake shore walk' and more. Skip the Bar T-5 covered wagon cookout (£70+) in favour of a cheaper plate of bison chili in Jackson, then browse the Town Square antler arches after dark. Hostel beds in Jackson/Teton Village book out months ahead in summer; the cheaper play is the Forest Service campgrounds along the Gros Ventre Road (~£10).

🚌Self-drive ~90 miles; fuel ~£12

🛏Jackson hostel dorm or Gros Ventre / Shadow Mountain dispersed camping

• →Jenny Lake shoreline trail to Hidden Falls / Inspiration Point
• →Grand Teton viewpoints (Snake River Overlook, Schwabacher Landing)
• →Jackson Town Square and Million Dollar Cowboy Bar

Self-book the tour's optional extras direct rather than through a coach operator: a Snake River scenic float (class II, family-friendly) runs ~£55-70 with operators like Barker-Ewing or Dave Hansen, bookable on GetYourGuide or direct. Cheaper and just as good: the Jackson Hole Aerial Tram (~£35) to Rendezvous Mountain for ridge hiking, or rent a bike on the paved pathway toward Jenny Lake. Wander the galleries around Town Square in the afternoon.

🚌Local shuttle or bike hire (~£15)

🛏Second night Jackson-area hostel or campground

• →Optional Snake River scenic float raft trip (~£60, book direct/GetYourGuide)
• →Optional Jackson Hole Aerial Tram and ridge hike (~£35)
• →Gallery browsing and Town Square

A long but scenic drive south on US-89/26 through Star Valley and the Wyoming Range to the Utah line. On arrival, do your own loop of Temple Square, the Utah State Capitol and the foothills viewpoint above the city — the equivalent of the tour's sightseeing drive. Salt Lake has the best hostel stock of the trip (downtown hostels ~£25 dorm); use the evening to do laundry and restock.

🚌Self-drive ~280 miles; fuel ~£26

🛏Downtown Salt Lake City hostel dorm or private room

• →Star Valley and Wyoming Range scenic drive
• →Self-guided Temple Square, State Capitol and Ensign Peak walk
• →Laundry and resupply

Drive south on I-15 to Bryce (4 hours). Rather than peering from the rim, hike the Queens Garden / Navajo Loop combination (~3 miles, ~£0 beyond park entry already covered by your annual pass) — this is the single best thing you can do in the park and the tour leaves it optional. Watch the light change on the hoodoos from Sunset Point into the evening, and keep an eye out for pronghorn and mule deer. Stay in Bryce Canyon City or camp at North Campground right on the rim.

🚌Self-drive ~270 miles; fuel ~£25; optional park shuttle free

🛏Bryce Canyon North Campground (~£15) or Bryce Canyon City budget motel

• →Queens Garden / Navajo Loop hike among the hoodoos
• →Sunset Point and Sunrise Point viewpoints
• →Optional ranger-led astronomy program (Bryce is a dark sky park)

Scenic Highway 12 to Zion, then park at the Springdale visitor centre and take the free park shuttle up the canyon — the equivalent of the tour's coach entry, and the only way in during peak season. Walk the Riverside Walk and, if the Narrows conditions allow (check the flash flood forecast at the visitor centre), hire canyoneering shoes and a dry-bag from a Springdale outfitter (~£20) and wade upstream. Pack your own picnic instead of the Zion Lodge lunch. Drive east through the Carmel Highway tunnel to Page, Arizona for the night.

🚌Self-drive ~150 miles; fuel ~£18; free Zion shuttle

🛏Page budget motel or hostel

• →Zion Canyon free shuttle and Riverside Walk
• →Optional Narrows wading with rented gear (~£20)
• →Canyon Overlook Trail at sunset
• →Carmel Highway scenic drive

Book Antelope Canyon direct with the Navajo Nation operators (Ken's Tours or Antelope Canyon Navajo Tours) about £80-100 for the Lower Canyon — reserve online weeks ahead as slots sell out. Monument Valley is a 2-hour detour east and worth it: the 17-mile self-drive Valley Drive is ~£8 per person, or take a Navajo-guided jeep tour (~£70) for the backcountry loops. Then push south to the Grand Canyon South Rim for a first view at sunset over Mather Point. The tour's 'sunrise Jeep tour' can be replaced simply by being at the rim for dawn — free.

🚌Self-drive ~300 miles; Monument Valley entry ~£8; fuel ~£28

🛏Grand Canyon South Rim campground (~£20) or Tusayan budget motel

• →Antelope Canyon guided slot canyon tour (book direct, ~£90)
• →Monument Valley self-drive Valley Drive (~£8) or optional Navajo jeep tour
• →Sunset at Grand Canyon Mather Point

Spend the morning on the Rim Trail or walk a few miles down the South Kaibab Trail for views without the full descent. Then exit south and follow the old Route 66 stretch through Seligman (Angel Delgadillo's barber shop and the classic diner strip) before joining I-40 to Kingman and US-93 into Las Vegas. Skip the coach 'flightseeing' add-on unless you want it — if you do, Grand Canyon Scenic Airlines books direct from ~£150. Drop the car at the airport and hit Fremont Street instead of the Strip for a cheaper farewell night.

🚌Self-drive ~280 miles; fuel ~£26; car drop-off

🛏Downtown Las Vegas budget hotel or hostel

• →Rim Trail / South Kaibab Trail to Ooh Aah Point
• →Route 66 stops at Seligman and Kingman
• →Fremont Street Experience in the evening

Give yourself a relaxed morning — a pool, a proper breakfast and a final wander downtown before heading to Harry Reid International (LAS). If your flight is late, the Mob Museum or Neon Boneyard make good final stops. Return any camping gear you hired and confirm your park pass didn't auto-renew.

🚌Local bus or rideshare to LAS (~£8-12)

🛏None (departure day)

• →Optional Mob Museum or Neon Museum
• →Downtown breakfast and last-minute souvenirs