Hi, folks, a friend and I are planning to take an impromptu one-week trip and decided that we would fly into Billings, Montana, drive through Wyoming, and fly home out of Rapid City, South Dakota. We have traveled more populated ares of the US extensively, but have never been to this particular area of the country. I became interested after seeing so many gorgeous photos of national parks in the western US, plus reading a fair amount of mustachian/frugality stories of people driving through similar areas. Anyhow, we will definitely hit up Devil's Tower, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, and the Badlands. We'll probably also try to hit up Red Lodge and Deadwood.
To folks who have visited these areas, are any of these points especially worthwhile or not? How about other points in this pathway that I've not listed, but you'd recommend we stop? We're pretty much doing this on a whim, as we leave in less than 2 weeks from now. We figure we'll see plenty of natural beauty no matter what.
Oh, secondary question, my friend is convinced that we should rent an SUV for this excursion, but I don't know if that's really necessary. We will do basic hikes and such, but we're not experienced in much "adventure" and are unlikely to go off the beaten path.
Thanks in advance!