My previous posts here were asking advice for a one day whirlwind tour of the Black Hills on the way to Yellowstone, but thanks to my kids and their activities I have to shorten our vacation by a day or so, and have now decided to spend the entire time (6 days) in South Dakota...saving Yellowstone for next year. We are traveling from western Iowa (525 miles from home to Rapid City). I realize that we have 2 days of travel, so this is still not a lot of time. Our family includes kids 14, 11 and 7, so here is the itinerary I am considering:
Day 1: Home to DeSmet - Tour Laura Ingalls Wilder sites/museums (my son’s teacher read the whole series to her class this year, and I and the 2 older kids are fans also, so I figured this was a good time to do this). May stay overnight in DeSmet or go on a little further depending on how much time we spend there.
Day 2: To Rapid City – Do Badlands Loop with a short hike (should be great timing, mid-day in July..lol). Stop briefly at Wall Drug. Depending on arrival time in Rapid City, we will either do some of the free things there (have to see those cement dinosaurs I remember), or possibly do one of the nearby attractions in the late afternoon/evening (Reptile Gardens or Bear Country?).
Day 3: Rapid City to Deadwood – Start with Reptile Gardens if not already visited the evening before. Arrive in Deadwood at least by early afternoon. See some of the historic sites and let the kids enjoy the “Gulches of Fun” park at the Comfort Inn where we are staying. We just happened to hit the “Days of 76” rodeo time, so we are thinking about buying tickets to the evening rodeo (in advance, of course).
Day 4,5: Keystone 2 nights. We want to do the following things for sure:
Crazy Horse (stop or maybe just see from the road)
Mt. Rushmore (evening lighting ceremony the first night + daytime visit)
Custer State Park, Sylvan Lake, Needles Highway
Flying T Chuckwagon dinner (the second night)
Alpine slide in Keystone
Day 6: Keystone to home. We will probably make a pit stop at the Corn Palace and would like to also stop at the Lewis and Clark exhibit at Chamberlain either on the way or on the way home, whichever works better.
We could do more of the attractions between Keystone and Rapid City if time permits on any of these days. Nobody was overly excited about the “prospect” of gold mining, the caves or the horse sanctuary. I don’t’ think we will make the trip down to Hot Springs or up to Devil’s Tower (we will save that one as a diversion on our eventual trip to Yellowstone). I think we would enjoy spending time walking/hiking around Sylvan Lake and doing paddle boats or some activity like that. I’m sure we will find enough to do. I am trying to figure out a tentative agenda for days 4 and 5 just to have a starting point. Is it better to see the night ceremony before visiting Mt. Rushmore during the day or does it matter? That would determine whether we do Mt. Rushmore on Day 4 or 5. We will probably do the CSP wildlife loop on morning of Day 5 to hopefully get best wildlife viewing. Otherwise we are pretty flexible and willing to play things by ear.
I would appreciate any thoughts on the overall plan or suggestions for dividing activities between Day 4 and 5.
Thanks, as usual!
Itinerary AdviceI think your overall plan looks really good. We did the Reptile Gardens in early evening when we visited, and it was very enjoyable. The crowds were light, and our daughter got picked as the ';volunteer'; for a couple of shows. But if you decide to see Bear Country that night, you really can%26#39;t go wrong. You can check times, but I think we did Reptile Gardens because Bear Country had already closed. We were visting in late August.
As far as Rushmore, we saw it in the daylight first, but I really don%26#39;t think there%26#39;s a right or wrong way to see it.
Since you are not doing the caves/gold panning, etc. you will have plenty of time for Custer SP. The wildlife loop is best at dawn or dusk as you mentioned. You can have a picnic by Sylvan Lake and walk the loop around. The kids will enjoy climbing on the rocks. There are also other hikes along the Needles Hwy. The others can chime in that are more familiar with them.
Some additional items to add if there%26#39;s time:
Possibly the 1880 Train if anyone enjoys trains
Everything Prehistoric in Hill City--I read it%26#39;s now a $5 admission fee. It%26#39;s a small prehistoric museum for dinosaur skeletons and gems.
Cosmos Mystery Center--we didn%26#39;t visit, but the kids might enjoy it. Balls supposedly roll uphill, etc.
Enjoy your trip.
Itinerary AdviceWe were in South Dakota 2 summers ago and also had our 1st night in De Smet. In addition to touring the Homestead and driving around town, we also spend a little bit of time at the cemetary where all the Ingalls, except Laura and Almanzo, are buried.
A possible suggestion: Where you plan to spend your 2nd night in Rapid City, we actually spent the 2nd night at a cabin in the park. We took a slow drive all through the park, saw the bison, the prairie dogs, went to Wall Drug for dinner, returned to the park for sunset. At night we went to a free ranger program under the stars - incredible! Then we woke up EARLY the next morning to take a hike before the 115 degree heat set in. (We also stopped at the Corn Palace on the way from De Smet to the Badlands).
AND, we also happened to be in Deadwood during the ';Days of 76';. The rodeo was great! It was not necessary to buy tickets in advance. The parade they had down the main street, right in front of our hotel was also fun, if you have time for this.
Ahhhh...thanks for letting me re-live all our wonderful memories!!
Hershey
Hershey4
Where exactly was this ';free ranger program under the stars';? Sounds appealing!
Thanks.
They have free programs every night. Just stop by the visitor center to find out what they are offering on the days/nights you are there. All you do is just show up, preferably with a flashlight, as you walk out a bit (although we didn%26#39;t have one - we just stuck close to the people who did have one!). The night we were there the ranger gave a talk on owls. The sky was so clear, shooting stars were constantly shooting on by, the milky way was clearly seen, and you could even see a satellite orbiting. Then, because we were staying in one of their cabins, after we all walked back to the visitor center, we got back in our car and drove a full minute or so to get ';home';!
You said you stayed in a ';cabin in the park'; but never have said what park I don%26#39;t think. Badlands or Custer? I%26#39;ve not been there so it may be obvious where you are talking about to others but I haven%26#39;t a clue I%26#39;m afraid. In my case if I assume one thing, it%26#39;s generally the other. %26lt;g%26gt;
We will be in the area the week of July 14. Sounds like it could be HOT!
Ahhhhh!!! Of course you wouldn%26#39;t know which park...I never said it. I was responding to the original post which had specifically mentioned the Badlands. Sorry. We stayed at Cedar Pass Lodge in the Badlands. We were there mid July and it was about 115 degrees, but, the area was experiencing record high temperatures that summer.
Arlo-Iowa,
About the Badlands and the heat.. We visited in late August and really lucked out! We toured on an overcast day and actually needed a light sweatshirt some of the time! The same might happen to you; you never know. Our spring has been unseasonably cool. I have known friends who have experienced the 100 degree heat, however, so it pays to be prepared for anything. An early morning or late day visit can help you brave high temps.
Hershey4, you make an overnight in the Badlands sound appealing! I have also heard from others that they really enjoyed the Badlands, so I am contemplating a couple different alternative plans for Day 1 and 2 and weighing the pros and cons.
Plan A: Drive to De Smet (4 hrs.) Tour for however long we want then hit the road again and drive as far as Mitchell (1.5 hrs). Stop at the Corn Palace and spend the night in Mitchell. The new Comfort Inn there has a water slide...bonus for the kids! Next day go to Rapid City with a detour through the Badlands (probably late morning).
Plan B: Drive to De Smet (4 hrs). Tour for 2+ hrs then drive all the way to the Badlands for the night (4 more hrs driving). We should be able to arrive by 6:00pm, especially gaining an hour. That puts us there for the evening and as much of the next morning as we want. Then we go on to Rapid City for the remainder of the day to visit Reptile Gardens, Cosmos, etc.
Plan C: Stay in Mitchell the first night and Badlands the second night vs. Rapid City. I%26#39;m not sure I like this option because we would have to cram the things we were planning to do in Rapid City on day 2 into one of our Keystone days and I think we will have too many things to get done comfortably.
I have polled several people about their De Smet touring experience and have gotten everything from ';2 hours is enough'; to ';we spent the whole day here and loved it';. I really think my family could go either way, so the question is, is the prospect of spending the evening/morning in the Badlands appealing enough to push ourselves the first day and forgo the waterslide in Mitchell? We don%26#39;t mind more time on the road if the overnight in the Badlands is that memorable.
To further complicate things, I could work the DeSmet stop in ';on the way home'; (pun intended for Laura Ingalls Wilder fans), but I am seriously thinking about taking a route home through Hot Springs to see the mammoth site which means we would be going across Nebraska instead of SD.
Too many options with too many trade-offs! Opinions appreciated!!!
Thought I would post an update based on our actual experience last July...hopefully it will be helpful to someone searching the forum trying to plan their future South Dakota vacation.
Day 1: Stopped at Sioux Falls for lunch and found Falls Park to see it...worth a pit stop/leg stretch break. Next stop was De Smet and the Laura Ingalls Wilder museum. We all enjoyed that also (even my DH who didn%26#39;t read the books). Went on to Mitchell and stopped there for the night. The new Comfort Inn there has an awesome water slide and it was nice to visit the Corn Palace in the evening instead of as a rushed pit stop. The Corn Palace was more interesting than we expected it to be, but maybe because we are a farming family...
Day 2: Mitchell to Rapid City. Stopped at Chamberlain rest stop to see the Lewis and Clark exhibit, but it was not open for the day yet. Got to the Badlands and hiked the Notch Trail in mid-morning. Fun adventure...definitely recommend it! Weather was perfect..just in the 80%26#39;s...not sure it would be so fun 10 or 20 degrees hotter. Got to Wall Drug for lunch. Continued on to Rapid City. Relaxed for a couple hours (pool), then early dinner and Reptile Gardens in the evening. We enjoyed the shows at Reptile Gardens but the place was smaller than I remembered as a kid. We are spoiled by a world-class zoo in nearby Omaha which is much larger than Reptile Gardens, so I would rate that stop as so-so.
Day 3: Drove Rapid City to Devil%26#39;s Tower. Got there mid morning. Beautiful drive and a fascinating hike around the base. We caught up to one of the ranger-led tours which was informative. I debated about whether to even make this side trip, but it really was one of the highlights of the vacation. Traveled back to Deadwood via Spearfish Canyon. If I had to do this again, I%26#39;m not sure I would have taken the extra time to go this route. Sure, the canyon is beautiful, but so was all of the other scenery we drove through that day, and by that time the kids were so anxious to get to Deadwood (because we had reservations at the Comfort Inn Gulches of Fun) that I don%26#39;t think they really appreciated the scenery. Later, when we got the kids away from Gulches of Fun, we went to explore the town of Deadwood. Had to choose between the Days of 76 rodeo and seeing the Wild Bill shooting reenactment at Saloon No. 10. Passed on the rodeo because storms were rolling in, but wish we had time to do both.
Day 4: Drove from Deadwood to Keystone (beautiful drive on 385). Kept hearing ';when are we ever going to see Mt. Rushmore';, so we made that the first stop and stayed until lunch time. Checked into the Powder House Lodge cabins and then decided to take the 1880s train round trip to Hill City in the afternoon. We all agreed that this was our least favorite activity that we did on the whole vacation. Unless you are a train buff that is really into old trains or need a nap, I wouldn%26#39;t recommend this for families with older kids. The train only moves 10 mph and you don%26#39;t really see any scenery that you aren%26#39;t already viewing from the car. After we got back, we went down the Alpine slide a few times which was definitely more our speed. After dinner, we attended the evening lighting ceremony at Mt. Rushmore to cap off a pretty full day.
Day 5: Got up fairly early and drove Iron Mountain Road to Custer State Park. Worth doing even when driving away from Mt. Rushmore. Drove the wildlife loop in CSP and found the buffalo herd right on the road. Drove through the town of Custer and up to Crazy Horse. Paid to get up close and into the museum...worth it IMO if you%26#39;ve never been there before. Continued on to Hill City around lunch time (very crowded) then started down the Needles highway. Spent a couple hours at Sylvan Lake...kids thought getting in the water was fun and DH had a chance to do a long run/hike...everyone was happy. Continued on Needles Highway and returned back to Keystone on Iron Mountain Road. Traffic was heavier, but definitely cool to see from this direction also. Early evening we checked out the Cosmos since we were so close. It was just like I remembered it and fun in that cheesy kind of way. We really liked Keystone because of its proximity to Mt. Rushmore. It%26#39;s touristy but very enjoyable for kids.
Day 6: Drove home. Got to see the Lewis and Clark exhibit at the Chamberlain rest stop this time. Definitely worth getting off the interstate, just be aware that they are not always open if you are going by early or late.
Hope this info helps some future travelers! My kids (ages 7, 11, 14) loved this vacation. They ranked it ahead of Disney World as their favorite.
Getaway,
Thanks for reporting back to us. It sounds like you had a great time seeing the sights. I think the trip to Devil%26#39;s Tower is well worth the drive also. My daughter was 8 at the time of our visit, and she too, rated the trip over Disney World. The Black Hills has so many great attractions in a small radius.
Thanks again for your report. I know others coming to the area will greatly appreciate your taking the time to write it.
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