adult trip

We are planing to drive from Massachusetts to the Black Hills(we have a hybrid). We will be arriving Sept 24th, we hope, for a night in the badlands and on to the Holiday Inn in Custer for 5-6 nights before leaving for Teddy Roosevelt in ND. We will not have children with us, and much of the information I see is for people with children. We plan on spending a lot of time in the state park, and of course see Mt Rushmore, but other suggestions for people without children would be appreciated. We will be doing much of our own cooking and wonder if there are any local farm stands where you can get produce and deli like food...also we like bistro type food if there are any suggestions for that in the area.

adult trip

A tour of Wind Cave and Jewel Cave would be great for grownups. Also plenty of hiking in Custer State Park. Many activities mentioned for kids, will also work for adults. You could visit Deadwood as well, do a bit of old west gambling!

We had a nice lunch at Legion Lake Lodge. I would plan on basic groceries available in Custer. If you want a larger selection, Rapid City has Safeway.

Where will you be cooking? Does the Holiday Inn have suites with kitchens?

adult trip

Mt. Rushmore Nat%26#39;l Monument, Badlands Nat%26#39;l Park, Custer State Park w/Norbeck Scenic Byway, Black Elk Wilderness (hiking), Mickelson Trail (biking/hiking), Devils Tower Nat%26#39;l Monument, Spearfish Canyon Nat%26#39;l Scenic Byway, Jewell Cave Nat%26#39;l Monument, Wind Cave Nat%26#39;l Park, Crazy Horse Memorial, Deadwood (historic gambling, Adams Museum, Adams House Museum, Mount Moriah Cemetery), Rapid City (downtown, statues of Presidents, Prairie Edge Store, Journey Museum, Stavkirk Chapel), Wounded Knee Museum in Wall, Wounded Knee Massacre site on the Pine Ridge Reservation, Fort Meade Nat%26#39;l Scenic Byway near Sturgis, Bear Butte State Park near Sturgis....you get the idea. There are many, many places for adults.

In Custer and the central Black Hills there are not many farm stands to buy produce--especially in late September. It%26#39;s a mountainous area with a short growing season. Agricultural areas are located on the prairie on the edge of the Black Hills. There are farmers markets in Rapid City and Spearfish although I can%26#39;t remember how late in the season they%26#39;re open. The Rapid City farmers market is just west of downtown on Omaha Street and is on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 9 a.m. The westside Safeway on Mountain View Road in Rapid City probably has the best selection of organic produce/food if that%26#39;s something you%26#39;re looking for. (The eastside Safeway on Mount Rushmore Road is a smaller store that lacks the organic selections.)

For bistro style food, try The Corn Exchange in Rapid City: http://www.cornexchange.com/, Sage Creek Grille in Custer, Deadwood Thymes Cafe and Bistro in Deadwood, The Bay Leaf Cafe in Spearfish: http://www.bayleafcafe.net/.

we booked a room with fridge, microwave and balcony. We travel with a very small George Forman grill, and believe it or not, small rice cooker. We find we can stir fry great in that, or steam rice and veg. We have brought these to the Caribbean before and done very well with them. I would love to find the kind of ';market'; that usually has plants, produce, a few gift and candy items, homemade breads and pies, and frequently a deli. Not a supermarket...what we call around here a ';country market'; usually near an orchard or farm, but not always. This is not a farming area either and our growing season is mostly over by then also, but these places are usually open year round. I will check out the restaurants suggested.

I know the kind of store you are talking about--you won%26#39;t find many here that offer fresh food and a deli. If someone knows of one, please post.

If you%26#39;re looking for natural foods stores, you can try Main Street Market (themainstreetmarket.com), Staple and Spice (stapleandspice.com) or the Breadroot Coop (breadroot.com)--all of which are in Rapid City.

we do lean toward natural foods, though we aren%26#39;t fanatics and when we travel we bend some, but I appreciate knowing where we can go. We actually have a CSA farm share that we will get the evening before we leave, so we will bring the produce that will last a bit. Actually looked at the menus at the state park. They look fantastic! We will be there at the buffalo round-up time though, so they might be crowded. We are hoping to get to the Badlands in 2 days of about 14-15 hrs driving each. If there are any of these stores right off 90 on our way, that would be good to know.

There is a farmerss market offering Iowa produce on Friday%26#39;s through the end of September on Omaha St. It is east of Mt. Rushmore Rd in Rapid City vs. the one west of Mt. Rushmore Rd which was mentioned in an earlier post. The IA produce at that market has been good this year and they have offered a good variety of vegetables and melons. The other farmer%26#39;s market sometimes seems to have less fresh produce to offer and more homemade goods types of stands. Homemade jellies and jams, salsa, candles, crafts - you get the idea. Family Thrift Center on the corner of Mt. Rushmore Rd and Omaha St has some organic and specialty foods to offer as well as the Safeway previously mentioned. It would be beneficial to stop through Rapid City long enough to at least do your grocery shopping as the smaller surrounding towns won%26#39;t have much outside of their small local food markets.

While western South Dakota does have many attractions geared towards families, there are still many, many things that are available to adults.

Wind Cave is absolutely amazing. It is the 4th largest network of underground caves in the world, and is in a very remote place. You could easily spend a half day there on a tour and wandering the area.

The Crazy Horse monument, which far from being complete, has what I believe is one of the best museums in western South Dakota. There is an amazing collection of artwork and if you are fortunate, you will be there at a time in which they are detonating a few tons of dynamite on the worksite of the monument; it is an awe-filled experience if you are lucky enough to be there!

Keystone, which is the town just northeast of Mt. Rushmore is a really nice (albeit touristy) area. It has all of your typical tourist shops and restaurants, but just at the edge of town there is a sort of ski lift which you can take up a couple hundred feet (just don%26#39;t go if you are afraid of heights)...the views from here are absolutely breathtaking!

Rapid City itself has a couple really interesting places to visit. The Journey Museum is relatively inexpensive and quite interesting. The Museum of Geology isn%26#39;t as great, but it is free! Also, taking a little stroll in the Downtown area of Rapid City is quite fun as there are some nice quaint shops there.

Hopefully this helps, good luck!

Thanks to everyone for their help. We leave a week from Tues. We might do one cave, not both. Which is the more interesting? We have been to a few cave/caverns before, so if either is somewhat unique, that would be the one we might be more drawn to. I am terrified of heights...my husband(helicopter pilot) loves them, so I always have a book handy if he wants to go to a mountain top via ski lift or gondola. Are the mammoth digs worth a sidetrip, especially if we have a rainy day? I suppose that would work for a cave too. Sure hope we get good weather because most of what we wish to do needs good weather. If we do a day or part of one in Rapid City, is there an area of the city we should focus on? Wouldn%26#39;t mind seeing the stavekirk. I have seen one and it was beautiful.

Copter,

In response to your caves question, are you claustrophobic? If you have any concerns on claustrophobia, I%26#39;d probably pick Jewel Cave over Wind Cave. It%26#39;s a very open cave with your usual stalagmites, stalactites, popcorn, crystal, etc. There%26#39;s a wonderful piece of cave bacon on the tour. Jewel has the 2nd longest network of discovered passages in the world, Mammoth in Kentucky being first.

Wind Cave is more closed in and is also notable for its length of discovered passages as the previous poster said. It is known for a formation called Boxwork, which resembles spider webs. It has the largest concentation of this formation anywhere. This formation makes Wind unique, so as long as you are not claustrophobic, this might be the tour for you. I would recommend the Fairgrounds tour at Wind Cave; however, if you take this tour, be sure to make it a point to see the natural entrance before you leave the cave area. You can walk out to it easily.

We had a person on our tour at Wind Cave who had to leave due to claustrophobia, but our family had no problems. There are some tight spaces, but it does open up in other areas.

I personally preferred Jewel Cave for its more beautiful formations, but you will not see boxwork in any other cave but Wind.

To see some images of each cave, go to nps.gov and take a look at each cave. This might help you decide which one interests you more.

Whichever one you choose, you will enjoy your tour. The park rangers do an excellent job with guiding you through. Enjoy your trip, and we%26#39;d love to hear about your vacation when you return!

Also..yes, the Mammoth site is worth seeing if you have inclement weather. They are continuously finding skeletal remains. The nearby Wild Horse Sanctuary is also worth a look despite its high admittance price tag. The tours are quite small and personalized, and the guides give you time with the horses plus an overivew of the area. Of course, you will need good weather for this.