Accommodations

After getting our itinerery set, my first concern is lodging in the national parks. As I suspected, lodging is at a premium. I was able to book four nights in Yellowstone and five nights in Banff. 

Last night, I booked two nights just near Glacier National Park. I am not concerned about Thunder Bay or Saute Sainte Marie. Neither of these cities are tourist towns and hotels and rooms are plentiful. We are only staying one or two nights. 

My next concern was the Blackhills of South Dakota. It seems there are plenty of hotels in the cities of Sturgis, Deadwood, Spearfish  and Rapid City and the area. Hubby doesn't want to book anything ahead of time. Even Fodor's guidebook says "Towns with services are plentiful, so you needn't worry about how much gas you've got in your tank or where you'll find a place to stay at night."

Also from the guidebook:

This region has the highest concentration of parks, monuments, and memorials in the United States qualifying the Blackhills and badlands as more than just a stopover on the way to and from the huge national parks of western Montana and Wyoming. 

So, we are probably set with accommodations for now. Next, planning our stay in each region.... what to do, what to see, where to hike.  Which book should I look at first? Yellowstone, Glacier, Banff, Jasper, Black Hills? So many trails, so much to see!