Mount Rushmore Summer Vacation

Hi I'm from Sioux Falls. There isn't much here except the falls of the big sioux river. but we have lots of places to eat. then mitchell has the corn palace and it is neat but teenage girls might get bored. Al's Oasis in Oacoma/Chamberlain is a very good place to stop and eat, browse the gift shop. They even have a grocery store there if you need things for the car. Between Chamberlain and Rapid is Wall Drug. That is a fun place to stop. Then down by Mt Rushmore are some fun towns...Hill City, Custer and Keystone are my favorite. Hope this helps.

Something I didn't see listed--I love Spearfish Canyon, in Spearfish. It's great hiking, very easy, and just gorgeous. And it's nice for a warm day, because the river is right there and you can wade in it!

The scenic hwy that takes you from the main interstate 80 (or is it 90?) into the Badlands is a MUST. There is a place not too far from the interstate, gift shop kinda place, where you can feed prarie dogs! You buy food (unsalted peanuts) there and they will eat right out of your hand. Kids loved it!!! And yes, Bear Country drive thru zoo!

We stayed at Crooked Creek campground in Hill City the last time we went, last summer, camping with our boys who were 8 and 4 at the time. We would for sure go back there, nice place, nice people.

Deadwood, Custer, Crazy Horse, Badlands, Keystone, Lead, Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway (this is a MUST its gorgeous!), Rushmore Caves, 1880 train ride...

These are a few things we enjoyed on our trip last summer. Many things you can do in one day like the byway takes you to Deadwood, Lead, Custer and Hill City so you can stop along the way as long as you leave earlier in the morning to head out.

HAVE FUN! THe kids had a blast and can't wait to go back. The 1880 train was very fun, and the kids enjoyed hiking and the many stops along the byway to see the waterfalls. They were SURE they'd find gold. :)

we went last year and there was a ton more stuff to do than i ever imagined. we went in april and avoided the tourist rush. missed things not open for the season yet but still had plenty to do. it was extremely windy in that state and mountainous in that area(more than iowa anyway)!! you can order a free tourism book and its full of ideas to do and where to stay. there are websites, too and you can get directions to program into a gps if you have one. we didn't camp out so don't know about that but there is wall drug, reptile gardens, cosmos mystery area, crazy horse, bear country, badlands, custer park (buffalo crossed the road in front of us!), hot springs, etc. deadwood was my favorite and my 13 yr old could go into the casinos with us! rapid city has a cool journey museum, dinosaur park, and school of mines college with a fossil museum, a life-size statue of each president on all the corners in the middle of town, and a piece of the berlin wall in a park. one day we even went to wyoming to see devil's tower because it's not that far away. tons of interesting and educational stuff for the whole family! have fun!

S. m

I don't have much to add, but I do want to also emphasize that you don't want to go during the Sturgis bike rally. You will never find a camping spot, traffic is horendous, and there are thousands of extra people in the area.

I assume you would take I-90 out. There are some long stretches with very little to see and limited places to stop. Between Chamberlain and Wall you won't find any fast food restaurants. It would be a wise idea to plan your trip so that you have lunch or breakfast in Mitchell or Camberlain.

One of the charms of a Black Hills vacation is the tacky tourist stops there and along the way. The Corn Palace in Mitchell would be one of those stops. There is also a doll museum across the street. There is a really nice little Native American Cultural Center on the campus of St. Joseph's Indian School in Chamberlain. Definately worth a stop. Your girls would like Wall Drug. They have good food and lots of laugh-outloud tacky tourist stuff. There is a really nice museum in Rapid City. I think it is called The Journey. Your girls will also like Keystone. It was one of my favorite places to go when I was in high school. I also highly recommend Crazy Horse.

Have a great time! I lived in SD for 11 years and would drive through the Badlands and the Black Hills several times a year on my way to and from Wyoming. I miss it!

We went to South Dakota and had a lot of fun. We were heading home from Billings Montana then on to Sioux City then turned South.

We stayed the night in Custer across the street from the Flintstones amusement park.
Here's a map of where it is from Mount Rushmore. This map also shows the main highways to around the variety of monuments.
http://www.flintstonesbedrockcity.com/where.html

We didn't stop and pay to go to the monuments, we had seen all the shows on the History Channel. It was still very fun to see, even if it was from the highway. We came up to Mount Rushmore from the back at first. I have looked at aerial maps and cannot figure out what we did but we came up on Mt Rushmore on our left. We parked and walked around and could see it from a lookout point. There were white mountain goats everywhere and interesting rocks. We left that area and then drove around to the main entrance and the little pull off area on highway 244.

Crazy Horse is pretty awe inspiring. I enjoyed it more than the other things we saw. Maybe because it is a work in progress.

We had a lot of fun going to Wall South Dakota. It's a tourist trap for sure but the food and break from driving is quite refreshing. The signs are fun to watch for and the kids really enjoyed it.

We really enjoyed the Badlands, their beauty and roughness really made me think about the Western days and how they lived as outlaws.

Further East is the Corn Palace, it is very interesting. If you go during Summer you can go inside and see the way they make everything. The tourism books will have a lot of road trips and other attractions you can see.

Here are some websites that have different aspects of South Dakota.
http://www.blackhillsbadlands.com/home/planyourtrip/maps/...

http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?v=2&cp=43.87882...

We LOVED Crazy Horse. Actually, I thought that Crazy Horse was more impressive than Mt. Rushmore! The man who began creating it now has his family doing it (he passed away), and all is done by donations only. Really cool story, and absolutely gorgeous!

I have been told that Deadwood is really great, but when we went there was a huge biker thing going on that made for a noisy, rambunctious evening. It is a neat old western town though, and supposedly there are shoot outs during the day.

Those were really the two best things that we found near Mt. Rushmore that would also appease older kids (our son was only 2 at the time, so we went to zoos, water parks, etc.). Hope this helps and have fun!

Our extended family goes out there every few years (my grandparents live outside of Custer). One of our favorite places to go, pretty much all ages, is Even's Plunge. It is a pool that is fed by hot springs. There are at least 2 waterslides, and several other activities. I avoid Reptile Gardens, since I am terrified of snakes. There is an old fashioned store, restaurant, and petting zoo just outside of Custer, I think it is called The Fort. My grandpa had animals there for several years. If you are going to Crazy Horse, you will be right by it. Depending on what your girls like, driving through Bear Country can be fun. There are some pretty neat caves, if that is something you would be interested in. Have a fun vacation!

I was there quite a few years ago and from what I recall there was hours of driving to get there and NOTHING in the area but wilderness. No towns, no attractions, for miles and miles. Expect a half day drive from anything / anywhere interesting - and unless there have been big changes over the years you can't get very close to it. BUT - it is awesome. An amazing accomplishment.

And check tripadvisor dot com - there are always comments from people like you and I who give advise from their own experience.

have fun!

Keystone is fun to go through. Check out the gold mines-can even do some panning. Crazy Horse is fun also. Drive the Iron Mountain Road for a scenic drive-maybe even swing down to Devil's Tour. It's not far and worth the drive.

If the weather is nice, there is a great water park in Rapid City.

Have fun!

I actually live in Sturgis so if you have specific questions, pm me.
If you want to camp, Custer State Park is a great option, also there are many sites within the Park to see- Sylvan Lake (the Lake that was on top of Mt. Rushmore in the movie National Treasurer 2), wilderness loop (a driving loop in the park where you can usually find the burrows and feed them from your car, as well as see many buffalo, big horn sheep, etc.). What time of year will you be headed this way? The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is August 8 - 14, 20111, so I would try to avoid that week (and the one before and after also) because lodging prices are very inflated then. Buying fresh saltwater taffy from Keystone is a must. Do you like to hike, bike or walk? Harney Peak is a nice hike, and Bear Butte (near Sturgis) is a smaller one (about 2 hours round trip). The Mickelson Trail runs from Edgemont to Deadwood, you can get on the trail at numerous locations and it is great for walking and biking.

I have not been out that way in about 40 years. However, if you belong to
AAA you can have them map out a route and give you all of the great things
to see along the way.

We've made that trip a few times; a GREAT family vacation. Heading west on 90, you'll begin hitting more large hills about half way across SD. We pulled a camper the last time. If driving on a hot day, you MUST plan extended stops to cool down the engine. Also, fill up the tank whenever possible; you'll often go awhile without seeing a gas station. And, of course, you must keep a tally of the "Wall Drug" signs you see. Speaking of Wall, total tourist trap of junk to buy but still we stop cuz its fun to see and I love the story of how it came to be a "stop". Have things to do during the drive or you'll get quite bored. Take the Badlands loop. Bear Country remains my favorite by far; all ages love it. Enjoy!

Heads Up! Try to avoid going there during Sturgis rally!

Other than that, most of the ladies have the good stuff covered! Crazy Horse does a laser light show that you might enjoy! They also do a night blast - would have to ask my son if there is one this summer.

Evan's Plunge is something to do (we did it) - tho the girls might like the waterpark in Rapid City better.

Know there is so much more - but just can't pull out anything different right now!

Reptile Gardens is a favorite place to take the kids. Bear Country was fun also. I live in Sundance, Wy so not to far away from Rapid City. This direction we have Devils Tower which is the first national monument and really cool to see. My grandaughter also liked Old McDonalds Farm right outside of Rapid City. It is a petting zoo but your kids may be too old for that. Cosmos would be fun for that age and there is a go cart place and also a big water park there. Going into Keystone there is a train ride that I always have wanted to go on and hopefully will be able to this summer. There are caves all around that they may like too.

I second Bear Country, it was so cool. One place that we stumbled upon was Cosmos Mystery Area- but I'm glad we did, it was amazing. They do a tour as well.

Have fun- I love that trip!