Hill City will be our base. Any suggestions

Hi, all - especially locals %26amp; past visitors ~

My husband %26amp; I will be in Hill City from Mon 9/8 to Sat 9/13. We are renting what looks like a fabulous log home about a mile morth of the town.

We plan to see the obvious - Mt Rushmore (day %26amp; night); Crazy Horse, Devils Tower. Swing thru Sturgis (dust may have settled by then) %26amp; Deadwood.

Custer SP, wildlife loop, Iron Mtn Road. Have reservations @ missile silo (we are babies of the 50s - duck %26amp; cover was part of our school drills!).

One of those drive-around days may be on a rented Harley. Another thing that looks interesting is the helicopter tour (awaiting email from them re prices). Anyone done this, or familiar with the company?

We want to make full use of our 4 full days, and 2 partials (travel days), without being manic.

Feel free to pipe up with opinions or suggestions, please.

Sue Murphy

New Hampshire

Hill City will be our base. Any suggestions

Hi Sue:

Are you driving or flying into the area? One thing that I would hate for you to miss is Badlands National Park. As I recall, it is about a 1 1/2 hour drive from Hill City...so it might be a little much for a day trip, depending on what else you have planned. However, it is stunning and and was one of the highlights of our trip last year to SD.

If you were driving in, you might pass it on the way, depending on your route.

We never did any helicopter tours...so can%26#39;t help you there!

kelly

Hill City will be our base. Any suggestions

Kelly -

I failed to include the Badlands in my list - yes, that is also planned.

We will be flying into Rapid City.

~ Sue

Also Jewel and/or Wind Cave. Very interesting tours available... Check on www.nps.gov

If you like to bike ride you might want to consider the Mickelson trail. It looks fun to me. We are going to give it a try when we go thru that area. There is a trailhead in Hill City. They also rent bikes near the trail

A cave tour %26amp; bike rental both sound like good ideas.

My challenge will now be to plan adventures to make best use of our time - w/o having a hard %26amp; fast itinerary for every day!

I don%26#39;t want this to become a Chevy Chase vacation movie. :)

There is great hiking in the Sylvan Lake area. Try Sunday Gulch, Cathedral Spires, Little Devils Tower or a climb of Harney Peak. If you%26#39;re only looking for a short walk, make the loop around Sylvan Lake.

I wouldn%26#39;t miss Spearfish Canyon while you%26#39;re in the Deadwood area. You can do this on your way to Devils Tower. Spearfish Canyon is a great ride on a motorcycle--one of the best in the Hills.

There isn%26#39;t a lot to see in Sturgis when it%26#39;s not rally time. You can make it a little more interesting with a trip to Bear Butte east of Sturgis and a drive of the Fort Meade National Scenic Byway (gravel--not a good road for a heavy bike like a Harley).

Thanks, Accommodator. Last night I did a route for the day we go out to Devils Tower - up 385 to Deadwood, 14A to Sturgis, west on the highway to Spearfish Canyon Byway (and maybe a side trek up to Belle Fourche), then down 85 to cut over to Sundance. Probably return by getting back on 85 south to 16 in Newcastle, passing by Jewel Cave.

Seem reasonable? That will be a full day.

And yeah - we avoid gravel roads on the Harley - thanks for the heads-up.

I am looking forward to seeing your neck of the woods.

We stayed a few nights in Hill city recently. It is a great centrally located base. One thing to NOT do, unless you have plenty of time, is take the southern route to badlands. if you are driving, i recommend seeing badlands on the way to the Black Hills rather than spend the driving time going back. Here is a recommendation for one day of sightseeing: Head out early (around 8) to Rushmore. You will not be crowded, and the lighting is good for pictures. From there, head out the Iron Mountain Road (be sure to take photos of Rushmore through the tunnels!) and enjoy the scenery. This road will lead you to Custer State Park, which we enjoyed immensely. Take the wildlife loop (I wouldn%26#39;t have wanted to be on a bike, just as we entered the park, a herd of bison was coming down the road and walked right past the vehicles. Some of the bulls made menacing head motions towards those they thought looked threatening). You will see tons of animals, enough that eventually you won%26#39;t bother to pull over any more. We ate a picnic lunch along the way. Then head south to Hot Spring, and see the mammoth site. We didn%26#39;t stay long, but there seems to be several other places to see in the area as well as things to do. My wife was tired, otherwise we would probably have done a cave tour. On the drive back we passed through Custer and saw Crazy Horse from the road. Not much to see, really, but supposedly there is more at the center itself, though I thought $10/person was too much to pay.