Fargo to Mount Rushmore

Hi! I am an Australian (So I should I say G%26#39;day Mate!) We are currently in Fargo, North Dakota and are wanting to do a trip to Mount Rushmore before heading back home to Sydney. We will be holidaying for about a week and wanting to know what sights we should see along the way. Also any thoughts on great places to stay. We will be driving - and we have 2 pre-school age children, so we are wanting to do the trip in lots of shorter drives. If you have any ideas of great children-friendly things to do please let me know also.

Can%26#39;t wait to get some local ideas and knowledge from you.

Thanks!

Fargo to Mount Rushmore

If you go south to Sioux Falls and then west to Mount Rushmore, stop at the Corn Palace in Mitchell. The kids should enjoy seeing a building covered with corn.

Drive through Badlands National Park.

Go to Rapid City and stop at Dinosaur Park on Skyline Drive. It%26#39;s not a real educational stop, but it%26#39;s fun. There are big concrete dinosaurs in a park with a great view of the city.

Reptile Gardens and Bear Country between Rapid City and Mount Rushmore will interest the kids.

In Custer State park drive the Needles Highway (should still be open) and the Wildlife Loop. Drive Iron Mountain Road.

Check out Spearfish Canyon.

Devils Tower in Wyoming is another stop you can make.

Finally, I should mention that you could instead drive west from Fargo and go through Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota your way. You would miss the Corn Palace going this route.

Fargo to Mount Rushmore

In addition to Accomodator%26#39;s suggestions, I would also recommend Wind %26amp; Jewel Caves, as long as no one in the family has a aversion to being underground. Both caves have some very interesting formations, and the rangers really do a great job catering to kids. My daughter was 8 when we visited, and she still talks about it as one of her favorite vacations.

The kids will also like Everything Prehistoric, a small dinosaur museum and shop in Hill City. I believe they are charging a $5 entrance fee now, but the kids will have a small fossil dig area, and there are some neat skeletons of dinosaurs. The store has a great selection also.

Bear Country, Reptile Gardens, and the wildlife at Custer are wonderful for kids. We loved it all! Prairie Dog Towns abound in Custer, Devil%26#39;s Tower and the Badlands.

Have a great trip!

The suggestions above a good. When I travelled this past summer from Custer to Fargo, I used Mitchel as an overnight stop. It%26#39;s a smaller town but a nice place to stop overnight.

The caves are very interesting but a word of caution they are very different both in out look and touring. Jewel cave is very rigid in it%26#39;s touring in that you can%26#39;t carry much into the cave and will not allow canes/walking sticks. It is not disabled friendly and the main tour is exhusting and not for the faint of heart. The Jewel Cave tour covers over 720 stairs going both up and down in an 1 - 1/2 hour tour. I don%26#39;t think it is suitable for young children. Wind Cave in comparison will offer (on Staff availablilty) a very abbreviated disabled friendly tour and they permit canes/walking sticks. They are very different and both very interesting. I know the references to canes/walking sticks in not relevent to your situation but it highlights the differences between the 2 caves and the different perspective on visitors. I felt like an intruder in Jewel Cave and a welcome visitor in Wind Cave. Reptile Gardens would be great for kids (Rapid City) and there are a lot of chid friendly options in the Rapid City area.

Have a great trip.

Kylie,

If you go to nps.gov, you will see that Jewel Cave has a Discovery Talk that lasts for about 20 minutes and is handicapped accessible. This could be a good option if you have any concerns about the hardiness of the children on the tour.

It is true that the Jewel Cave tour does have many steps, but they are metal, wide, and taken slowly. People of all fitness levels take these tours. Natually, people who need assistance walking would find them tiring, but averagely fit (or even people of below average fitness) could handle them, imo. If your children are older preschoolers (4-5 age bracket), I think they would do fine. There are no drop-offs or extremely tight spots, so as long as they don%26#39;t get claustrophobic, I think they would be ok. Advance tour reservations can be helpful, especially at Jewel Cave. There are no surface activities at Jewel.

Thanks everyone- you have all given me some fantastic ideas.

If you think of anything else that might help me out please send me another post!

Cheers, Kylie.

Wow...I did not see any date reference in the OP as far as when the week of travel would begin but the last post being fairly recent (as in not left yet, then) brings up the thought of the nasty weather out there today. Blizzard warning and all that....snow and 60Mph winds. At least the temps aren%26#39;t extremely cold like it would be later in the year. Sure hoping Kylie08 and family were pre-planning for next Spring.

Which is a caution for late Fall travel in the Dakotas and the main reason the Black Hills are so seasonal. My parents stopped in the Hills a week ago on the way to AZ for the Winter and said the motel they stayed at in Keystone was closing for the season last Friday. Sounded pretty typical of any around that area not close to a ski area or Deadwood/Lead.