Friday, April 27, 2012

Three days and two kids in Rapid City area - where to stay?

We%26#39;ll be traveling in early June to Yellowstone. We%26#39;ll be leaving Sioux Falls in the morning, and driving through the Badlands to Rapid City. I%26#39;m trying to decide where to stay. I was going to book in Rapid City, but have read in this forum about other towns like Custer. We want to see the Badlands, Custer area, and Mt. Rushmore. Thanks for any suggestions to organize this!

Three days and two kids in Rapid City area - where to stay?

Keystone is a popular town if you have younger kids. It%26#39;s the most tourist-trap like of the towns but when you%26#39;re young, that kind of stuff is a good time. Hill City and Custer are options, too. These towns are conveniently located to Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park.

You could stay in a cabin or lodge in Custer State Park. There are lots of commercial rental cabins in the area, too.

If you want a hotel with a water park, the Watiki Water Park in Rapid City is connected to a couple of hotels.

Three days and two kids in Rapid City area - where to stay?

We stayed at a small, no frills place in Custer, which we found to be just fine. Custer Motel. The town of Custer has other nice places to stay and also has a Flintstones Bedrock City to visit! Good pizza there in town as well. Close to the state park and Mt Rushmore.


I would also recommend Keystone. It is very convenient to Mt Rushmore and other Black Hills attractions. Iron Mt Road is right nearby (part of Custer SP), as are the caves, Crazy Horse, and some of the Rapid City attractions like Bear Country and Reptile Gardens. Keystone is touristy, but it is nice for kids, as it has a gold mine tour, shops, mini golf, and an alpine slide. We stayed at the Roosevelt Inn in Keystone. I have a review on this site in case you want to check it out.

On your way to Yellowstone, try to get to Devil%26#39;s Tower on the way from the Black Hills. It%26#39;s well worth the time. The Prairie Dog Town is neat, along with the trail around the base.

Have fun planning!


We are staying at the K Bar S Lodge in Keystone which gets great reviews and has breakfast and a nice restauarant. You can see Mt. Rushmore from the hotel room decks.


Keystone and Custer are conveniently located in the heart of the Hills, and Rapid City offers the perks of a large town, but Rapid City does not offer the 24/7 BlackHills experience. You are not in the scenic heart of the Hills, it actually resembles the Badlands more than the forested Hills. But it may offer more reasonable hotel prices outside of the Hills-- we visit in the off- season so I can not comment on that.

I have often considered other areas on our numerous trips there, but find myself returning to Spearfish. It is not the most convenient area to view all the many sites that the area has to offer, as it is in the extreme northern Hills, but Spearfish feels like you are in God%26#39;s country and yet offers the benefits of a larger town and nearby I-90 acess and larger town benefits. We once again stayed at the Sperfish Holiday Inn, which offered competitive prices for quite a bit of luxury. The Spearfish Canyon Lodge is awesome and competitively priced as well if you do not mind living without a pool and being in a secluded area. Not at all rustic, but in the center of some of the most phenomenal scenery you can imagine.

Trip Advisor is a valueable source for finding your own hotel to fit your needs. with a little research, you%26#39;ll find what suits your liking.

One area I feel comfortable not recommending is Sturgis, it does not represent the area as one would imagine-- unless you are a avid biker. Bear Butte (outside of Sturgis) is worth visiting, in my opinion.

Sites like this are worth researching to make the most of your trip, it will make all the difference. Good luck.


We like staying at Palmer Gultch

  • How do I bind a quilt
  • No comments:

    Post a Comment