South Dakota Badlands or Alaska?

My sister and I are trying to decide whether to go to South Dakota or Alaska this September? Is there anyone who has been to both that can let me know which they liked better or what the difference is?

South Dakota Badlands or Alaska?

Can%26#39;t tell you which to pick--however, a trip to SD would involve as much time or more spent in the Black Hills than the Badlands. They are close together but are technically two different areas when it comes time to research the area. So keep that in mind when researching and comparing.

South Dakota Badlands or Alaska?

I meant the Black Hills/Badlands. We were going to see both.

Where you go may depend a lot on how much time you have and what part of September. Some places in Alaska my be closed for the winter by mid-to-later September while autumn will be just starting in South Dakota. Alaska is huge and 3-4 days won%26#39;t give you much of a tour. 3-4 weeks would be better. 3-4 months would be still better.

We took a cruise followed by land tour to Alaska in 2005. Our land tour following the cruise was from Sept 3 to Sept 8th. We were at Denali (Mt. McKinley) Sept 5 and 6th and they said the resorts would be closing down for the season the following week. Alaska was a fabulous trip. The land portion much, much better than the cruise itself we thought. But mid to late September could be a little late to visit from our experience. We will be making our first trip to the Black Hills and Badlands in July. We think it will be wonderful too.

I greatly appreciate the feedback that everyone has given me. The time frame that I am looking at is from August 29-Sept 9. We have both trips pretty much planned down to each day as to where to stay and what to do..even have a temporary booking on the Princess Cruise Lines for Alaska...price difference is about $500 more for Alaaka and that is a 10-11 day trip instead of one week for the Badlands. I have heard both are nice and we are just torn between the 2.

In Alaska, we would visit friends in Seattle for a day or two, then take the cruise out of Vancouver, stop in Ketchican (see Totem Bright Park), stop in Juneau (see Mendanhall Glacier and Mt. Roberts Tramway), then Skagway (taking the Yukon Railway to Carcross), and then 2-3 days in Achorage and seeing Denali before flying home.

In the other trip, we would fly into Minneapolis, see Mall of America with friends there, then drive to Badlands, stopping at Corn Palace, seeing Custer, Needles Drive, Deadwood, Mt Rushmore, and possibly one of the caves. I have heard that Devils Monument in WY is worth seeing. We are also thinking about seeing the North SHore area near Duluth for a day or so when traveling back to Minneapolis..and yes, believe it or not, I can do all this in a short time.

We are just so torn between the 2. I think that the scenery would be more spectacular in Alaska, but I have heard good things about Badlands..I have no experience with being to either place.

With the time frame you have, I%26#39;d say to do the Alaska cruise. It would be even better if you had more time in the Anchorage area as there is so much to see there. The best part of making a decision like this is that there is no real wrong answer.

Be forewarned though, if you do go to Alaska, you%26#39;ll be wanting another trip there to see what you%26#39;ve missed. Then you%26#39;ll be wanting another trip there to see what you missed on your second trip. It won%26#39;t be so bad if you do South Dakota as much of what you come there for is concentrated in relatively small geographic area while Alaska is HUGE!!!

A comment about your possible Minnesota/South Dakota itinerary:

the trip ';on the way back'; to Duluth/North Shore seems quite an outlier if your main emphasis is on a South Dakota experience. Can understand that you might not think there%26#39;s 9 overnights%26#39; worth of stuff to keep you in Minnesota to South Dakota and back, but I think you%26#39;d be sick of driving (and sticker-shocked with gasoline costs) if you were to re-route or tack on Duluth and points north as well. (Google maps states 154 mi Mpls-Duluth, and the good bits of the north shore begin even further north than that.)

If you%26#39;re thinking of covering distances, let a plane or cruise ship do most of the dirty work for you.

The thought did cross my mind that by the time that I get done paying for gas in MN/SD, the Alaska trip might almost be cheaper. I have another driver to split the driving time so it will be okay. We would spend overnight in MSP area then drive out to SD spending 3 nights in that area..then back to MSP before going to Duluth. I have a friend to stay with in St. Cloud and I know that Duluth is about 3 hours north of St. Cloud. One night I will spend in Duluth so that I can see that area. The Alaska trip I will be on the ship for 7 days and then planning on taking a drive to Anchorage and Denali and spending 3 days doing that. Then flying home.

Thanks for clarifying things a bit. We just returned from a Minneapolis (SW suburb, to be exact) to Black Hills trip Memorial Day weekend, with 3 overnights-- we were constrained by school and work duties.

We found doing that trip had a high driving time:enjoying things ratio. (Disclosure: we were traveling with a 5-year-old, so traveling was less effective/efficient [plus unplanned 2 hr in the Rapid City ER for our child%26#39;s stitching and damper on some activities after that] than it might be for you two adults.) That said, I%26#39;d recommend staying a minimum of two nights in the Black Hills to not feel ';rushed more'; (couldn%26#39;t resist that pun). The Black Hills are worth seeing and worth a lot of time, especially with the time and fuel investment you plan to make getting there from Minneapolis.

I hope you really want to see that friend in St. Cloud, because that plan would turn a 2.5-hr direct trip to Duluth to a 4.75+ hr trip by going by way of St. Cloud. If you do try that, avoid traveling to St. Cloud during afternoon rush hours, as many crowd 94/694/494 north- and west-bound as they head from the metro to exurban homes in Rogers, St. Michael, Albertville, Elk River, etc.

My friend will be making the trip with my sister and I so there is probably not a need to stop in St. Cloud on the way back to Duluth.