Retired fat guy with a camera Loc: Colorado

I live in Colorado.
Vail, take the gondola to the top, great mountain pictures. On the way to Vail, Lookout Mountain,in Golden. Buffalo Bills grave and museum. Good buffalo burgers. I-70, exit 254 (Genesee Park) lives a herd of Buffalo.
In Denver there is the Unsinkabe, Molly Brown museum, she survived the sinking of the Titanic. Boulder's [I grew up there] Pearl Street Mall. Street buskers and street photography. Flagstaff Mountain. straight up Baseline Road. Good vista shots of Boulder and Denver below. Up above is the Crows nest and father up is Gross dam. Nice place for a picnic.
Estes Park is fun. The Wheel on the main street has good Bloody Mary's. If people are pulled over to the side of the road, stop, it is probaly some elk. The rocky Mountain National Park is always good for a shot or two. Take the Peak to Peak Hi-way from Estes to Nederland. It is the highest contentiously paved road in the world. come down Boulder Canyon and stop at the Boulder Falls. It is a little bit of a hike.
We have legal pot in Colorado. If you indulge, stay in the lower altitudes. Smoking dope above 8,000 feet will turn you into Gumby, and impair you motor skills, such as driving a car. It is the same as a DUI. Please, do not kill the natives.

kathyk Loc: Worth, IL

In Colorado Springs is the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. You can feed the giraffes and elephants. Also, when you enter zoo you can go to the Will Rodgers tribute. There is a tower and you can get some really great shots from there. Walking around downtown Manitou springs is also a good place for street photography. Have fun.

DMGill Loc: Colorado

You have received a lot of good advice from Colorado natives but there are a couple of ideas I'd like to add. Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) runs between Estes Park and Grand Lake is the highest paved road in the State. Both Estes Park and Grand Lake are 'tourist' spots, but Grand Lake in particular is a good place to stop for a bit of walking and lunch. There are many trails in RMNP of various lengths and difficulty. Bear lake is right by the road and has a level hiking trail around it. Dream Lake is a little bit more of a hike, but well worth the effort if you have the time. RMNP is the closest 'real mountain' experience to Denver and I'd suggest you spend some time there. I like to look for back roads and particularly those that go over some of our high passes, but you need to be careful as some that are on the map aren't navigable in a family car and some of them aren't passable except by powerful, high clearance, 4x4 vehicles and then only when conditions allow. If the road you are thinking of driving isn't paved, inquire before you attempt it. Another spot worth a visit is Mt. Evans (one of Colorado's 14ers) off of I-70 near Idaho Springs. There is a road that takes you nearly to the top. As has been said previously and I repeat because it is important, watch for symptoms of altitude sickness and head to a lower elevation immediately if a member of your party starts to show symptoms. It will just get worse if you don't. Trail Ridge Road goes over a high pass and both Pikes Peak and Mt Evans are slightly more than 14,000 ft at the peaks. Bring your camera, some long lenses for critters, your tripod, and have fun.

Nitroclimber Loc: Nebraska

I would second the Badlands which is within a couple of miles of Wall Drug. The Deadwood cemetery is well worth a visit to see where Wild Bill Hickok (who was shot during a card game in Deadwood) and Calamity Jane are buried as well as the grave of a lady who was buried with her pet parrot!

If you are into steam trains you can ride the 1880 train from Hill City to Keystone. Great for train photos!

The Needles Highway and the Cathedral Spires in South Dakota provide prime photo ops. Go to https://www.allblackhills.com/nature/cathedral_spires.php#content

DK Loc: SD

Harney Peak is now named Black Elk Peak because Harney, a military officer was not a native of SD and killed Native Americans. Black Elk was born in South Dakota, well respected Native American Holy Man.
I was born in South Dakota and yes, I am very lucky to have lived on both sides of the state. My suggestion is if you are driving from Denver, enter the Black Hills on SD Hwy 18, go through Edgemont and could stop to view the wild horse sancturary north of town, then Hot Springs where there is a dinosaur dig and a natural hot spring pool. Then drive north through Wind Cave National Park. Take the road to Custer State Park I believe it is Hwy 87 and do the wildlife loop. From there you can go to Custer, take Hwy 385 north and see Crazy Horse Memorial. Take 385 north to Hwy 244 which takes you to Mt. Rushmore. From there, you can take the Iron Mountain Road which offers scenic views of Mt. Rushmore through tunnels on the highway and pigtail bridges. Or you can go to Sylvan Lake, then through the Needles hwy which will take you back to Custer State Park and make a loop to connect with Iron Mountain Road and run it the other way to Mt. Rushmore and go back to 385 on 244, through Hill City and take 385 north to Deadwood, then to Spearfish and take Spearfish Canyon south to Cheyenne Crossing. From there take Hwy 85 to Wyoming and back to Denver. If you want to go to the Badlands, instead of going through Hill City, go to Keystone from Mt. Rushmore and into Rapid City. Take I 90 to Wall and do the Badlands Loop. Then you can go back to Rapid City and to Spearfish on I 90 to do the canyon. Study the maps and see which way you want to go. Spearfish Canyon is beautiful in the fall.

Leon S Loc: Minnesota

I'm surprised that no one has listed Deadwood SD. It is a must to walk through and visit the local bars and casinos. They even have shoot outs if you know the schedule. Boot hill is a nice walk. A few miles away is the Comstock gold mine. There are plenty of places to pan for gold or tour a cave or mine. Forget the Corn Palace because you would have to put on 500-600 miles round trip more to see it and its not that exciting. However if you are in Mitchel SD, take the time to see it. The total time you will spend there will be under one hour. Instead do the loop around the Bad Lands and make sure your camera is charged. Do go to Hot Springs just south and west of Rapid City. There is a constant dig going on there to uncover dinosaur bones and well worth your time. Have fun and bring plenty of money.

colo43 Loc: Eastern Plains of Colorado

Tony Add "Red Rocks Amphitheatre" in Morrison to your list.

TonyF Loc: Bradenton, FL

Thank you, Marilyn. I have gotten so much great info. Now to sort it all out and come up with an itinerary.

colo43 Loc: Eastern Plains of Colorado

Plan to send some time just in the driving alone to these destinations. Morrison is Due west of Denver approx 10 miles away.
I live in Kiowa and for me to travel to C. Spring would take me well over an hour to reach the outskirts of it.
I look forward to seeing your photos when you return..
:)

DJphoto Loc: SF Bay Area

I will echo several of the previous comments. We did a somewhat similar trip in late May - Early June 2012, but we drove the whole thing from the San Francisco Bay Area in 11 days/10 nights, 4,034 miles. We drove to Cedar City UT the first day (742 miles and 14 hours with a drive down the Las Vegas strip!), the next day to Vail CO via I-70: one of the most beautiful interstate drives we've ever done. We drove to Colorado Springs the next day via U.S. 24 through Leadville- a beautiful drive. We drove through the Garden of the Gods and to our hotel which proved unacceptable, so we kept driving to an overnight in Cheyenne WY. We spent the night in a beautiful B&B in Cheyenne, the Nagle Warren Mansion. The next morning we drove to Mt. Rushmore via Scottsbluff NE (and the Scottsbluff National Monument) via I-80 and NE-71, a nice drive. We went to Mt. Rushmore, had dinner in Hill City, then went to the evening presentation at Mt. Rushmore - do NOT miss it! We spent the next day driving around the Black Hills, with a couple of stops at Mt. Rushmore (morning and afternoon). When you drive the Needles Highway (which you must do), ask a park ranger which way to do it, as the vistas coming out of the many tunnels are different depending on which way you do the drive. In the "wrong" direction, the best views will be in your rear view mirror. We thought Crazy Horse was a rip-off and don't recommend it; spend more time at Mt. Rushmore instead. We drove through Deadwood (nice drive and not to be missed) on our way to an overnight in Spearfish SD. The next day we drove to Yellowstone, but didn't go direct. We drove I-90 to Buffalo WY, then took U.S. 16 through Ten Sleep to Worland WY; a beautiful drive through Ten Sleep Canyon and the Bighorn Mountains. Then it was U.S. 20 to U.S. 14 to Yellowstone and a couple of nights at the Yellowstone Lake Hotel; we would stay there again. Yellowstone is not to be missed. We then drove down to the Tetons for a couple of nights (amazing place) and a couple of days later we were home. We didn't make it to Rocky Mountain NP, but will in the future.

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I have been there three times in the past forty years. The concept appears to be good; they have made progress during that time but it is a very large project {basically trying to out-do Rushmore with little funding}. I honestly don't know whether they will finish it during the lifetimes of my daughters.

My family liked Badlands, Hill City train, Mt. Rushmore much better. We also went to Bear Butte once, but my wife and I weren't comfortable; it serves two missions at once - federal park and tribal holy ground - and we were a tad uncomfortable tromping through someone else's "church".

DK Loc: SD

Glad people are mentioning my home town, Hill City. I grew up on a ranch west of town which I still own and spend time there. Unfortunately, I now live on the east side of the state and my children and grandchildren are easterners. I always wanted to go back to live in the hills, but my husband was an easterner. The 1880 train is great and I have won awards with photos of it. As far as Crazy Horse, it is a family project and accepts no federal funds. They are entirely dependent on the admission and gift shop. Three generations of the Ziokowski family have worked on the mountain. After Korzac, the sculptor, died his wife took over directing the carving and changed his plans to finish the horse first. She went ahead with the face which really increased support of the project. She was an incredible woman and raised a large family, most of whom work on the mountain or in the restaurant and gift shop. The family has been resourceful by having their own sawmill to create much of the lumber and logs to build the buildings on the property from their own timber. There are several times a year when there is a volksmarch and you can climb up the hill to stand on the arm of Crazy Horse. I have been watching the carving since the beginning and my father who was a skeptic would be impressed with the progress made. It will be larger than Mt. Rushmore.

Rob Simpson

Our Nature Guide to Rocky Mountain National Park, Falcon Press, Ann and Rob Simpson, will give you lots of information about the park and area. Email me if you have any questions - Rob Simpson