Itinerary help- how many days and how many lodgings?

Currently plan to fly into Rapid City late night on August 16th - can stay until August 24th. Are a family with two boys ages 7 and 11. 11 yo is content to look at things but 7 yo likes to be hands-on.

Places we want to see: Mt.Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer, Hot Springs (mammoth site), Deadwood, Spearfish Canyon, Devil%26#39;s Tower. Possible additions: Bear Country, Reptile Gardens, Badlands.

1. Can/should I stay in one central place or is it better to split my lodging stays and where?

2. How is the road to Spearfish and Devil%26#39;s Tower? My 7 yo ds is prone to motion-sickness - mostly controlled by dramamine but I don%26#39;t want to torture him if the road is long or very winding.

3. How many days do I need for these places at a relaxed pace? We are willing to get up early.

Thanks for the help!

Itinerary help- how many days and how many lodgings?

Hi,

If I read right, you have seven full days for sight-seeing, so you have plenty of time. I would suggest lodging in at least two different areas. Deadwood or Spearfish for the northern hills - Devil%26#39;s Tower, Spearfish Canyon and Deadwood. The road to Devils Tower is mostly interstate, so not too winding. The road through Spearfish Canyon is winding, but slow. There are pull-outs and picnic areas to stop at if it gets to be too much. In fact, we found a picnic area that was right by the creek. Our kids enjoyed exploring the creek-side and trying to skip rocks. You probably want to have about 1.5 to 2 days in this area.

For the central and southern hills you can stay in one central location like Hill City and have an hour drive to Hot Springs, about an hour and a half to the badlands, and about 1/2 hour to Bear Country %26amp; Reptile Gardens. Or Stay in 2 or 3 locations, say 1 night in Hot Springs, 1 night at Wall for the Badlands and the rest in either Keystone or Rapid City. For some families its easier to move often and be close to the things they want to see, and for other families (like mine) moving each day takes so much time it%26#39;s not worth it. :-)

I think you%26#39;ll find you can do all these things and a few more at a relaxed pace. Have fun.

Itinerary help- how many days and how many lodgings?

Thanks so much for your help. We also don%26#39;t like to pack up too many times. Staying around Sylvan Lake sounded attractive but not sure if it%26#39;s worth the hassle and I think most units there and in the lodge are not air-conditioned? I was thinking we might even have time for Yellowstone but perhaps that is too hectic?

Hi Singermom,

Lil has really given you good tips to follow. It is beneficial to split your time between the northern and central Black Hills regions. We stayed in Lead (joins Deadwood) to see Deadwood/Devil%26#39;s Tower/Spearfish Canyon and Keystone to see the central attractions. You can do the Northern hills region in a couple of nights, imo. When we visited, we spent 2 nights in Lead and 8 nights in Keystone. We really spent a lot of time in this area and loved every minute of it. You could also stay in Hill City or Custer and still get aground easily.

I can empathize with the motion sickness issue. Our daughter used to get this as well but luckily outgrew it by the time we went to the Hills. That being said, I don%26#39;t think your child will have much difficulty. The roads are good and not really windy. As Lil said, Spearfish is a little windy, but you will be driving slowly. The same applies for Iron Mountain Road, which, with its pigtail bridges, is the most winding road we encountered in the region. I think since you are driving slowly, it will be ok. Also just a note...Kids Bonine works great without all the drowsy side effects! WalMart sells it.

For the trail around the base of Devil%26#39;s Tower, be sure to have plenty of water. It was quite hot the day we visited. The same applies for the Badlands especially!

I would do the full time, August 16-24 here. You won%26#39;t regret it. This way, you can add the Badlands, Bear Country %26amp; Reptile Gardens. These are all must sees, especially with kids. You will have plenty of time to see all the great things of the area.

Unless you have an aversion to them, I would add the caves (Wind %26amp; Jewel) operated by NPS to your plans. These are extremely worthwhile and were some of the highlights of our trip. The rangers give excellent tours. There are also many privately owned caves as well.

Let us know if we can be of more help. BTW, we visited about the same time as you are going about 2 years ago. It%26#39;s a great time to visit, as crowds are light, and some hotel prices even start to drop.

Also..one final thing. I would save Yellowstone for another trip. You really need a week in each place to do them justice. Both are amazing vacation spots in their own right.

Thanks this great info. I am just about to book our flights. We chickened out of the 15 hr monotonous drive from Chicago and it seems the extra days we will get from flying in are really needed!

A question about the motion sickness drugs - I have been using the non-drowsy kids Dramamine - is the Kids Bonine better or have your tried both? The dramamine has worked 90% of the time so far.

We are undecided about the Caves. We did a large cave near St. Louis two summers ago and the kids were not that thrilled with it. How long are the cave tours?

Hi Singermom,

I used dramamine three years ago when our daughter really suffered with motion sickness. It did work for us. She was sooo airsick the first she flew. It took her over 2 hours to get right again. Going back was when we used Dramamine for the first time. At this time Bonine didn%26#39;t make kids medicine, so dramamine was the only ticket in town. Dramamine did work for her, but I, myself, have used Bonine and always preferred it. The following year, Bonine came out with kids medicine, and we always have her take it when flying. It has worked 100% of the time. If you have luck with dramamine and haven%26#39;t had any drowsiness issues, you can probably stick with it, or maybe you could try Bonine for a short trip.

As for the cave tours, the major tours run about 2 hours in length. Jewel does offer a very brief introductory tour that you might feel comfortable with . I think it%26#39;s no longer than a 1/2 hour. There%26#39;s quite a few steps in both tours full length at Jewel %26amp; Wind Caves , but they are pretty easily navigated as long as no one has a problem with steps. Jewel really doesn%26#39;t have many tight places, so it%26#39;s good if anyone suffers from claustrophobia. Wind Cave is a little more closed in. One person on our tour had to leave because he felt too closed in. He got a full refund for the tour and he was able to leave before he got too far into the cave. If you have any doubt, I would probably take the short tour at Jewel and see how the kids fare. You could always take a longer tour if they like it.

The tours for both caves are discussed in detail on nps.gov. (national parks website)

Let me know if I can help in any other way.

I didn%26#39;t see Custer State Park on your list--it%26#39;s certainly worth adding.

I generally say that a trip that long to the Black Hills should have two bases. Spend 75% of the time staying around Hill City and 25% of the time somewhere around Spearfish Canyon.

Yup - Custer is on my list (shortened to Custer from Custer State Park - lol!). Currently I have booked 6 nights at the Holiday Inn Express in Hill City and 2 nights at Spearfish Canyon Lodge in Lead.

That sounds like a good amount of time. The Spearfish Canyon Lodge is hard not to like.

You%26#39;ll find when you arrive that referring to ';Custer'; will mean the town, not the park.