Surprise! We’re leaving the entire day open for you.
However, we are going to leave you with a few additional photos. (Oh, and if you need help finding something to do on this final day of your Black Hills vacation, check out this link: Visit Rapid City)
Badlands BisonDelta-01 Launch Control, 31 feet underground. Note the wall-size computer.Blast Door on the Delta-01 Launch Control CenterPrecious Prairie DogAnimatronic T-Rex at Wall DrugThis snake interrupted our hike at Roughlock Falls in Spearfish Canyon.Dog “driving” a red truck at Mount Rushmore.Giant short-faced bear skeleton at The Mammoth Site.
Wow! What a week! Thank you for hanging on with us through this series of blog posts. Below is a little trivia you can use to impress your friends.
If you followed our itinerary, you:
visited three National Parks (Wind Cave, Theodore Roosevelt, Badlands);
visited two National Monuments (Devils Tower, Jewel Cave);
visited one National Memorial (Mount Rushmore);
visited one State Park (Custer);
visited one National Historic Landmark (Deadwood);
visited one National Historic Site (Minuteman Missile);
visited one National Natural Landmark (The Mammoth Site);
visited three states (North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming);
saw a lot of wildlife;
saw some spectacular scenery;
probably learned something new;
can tell all your friends that you’ve been to Wall Drug Store!
Stay tuned for another series coming soon. Meanwhile, check back on our site each week for another great road trip or travel tip. We post on Saturday mornings, and we would love to have you join us on our journeys. By the way, we would love to hear about your journeys, too, so leave us a note in the comments section. Until next time…
Travel safe, travel smart and we will see you down the road.
Mike and Kellye
As always, we strive to be as accurate with our information as possible. If we made a mistake, it was unintentional. (Hey, we’re only human!) We aren’t paid for our recommendations, and we only recommend our own tried and true vendors and venues. Our suggestions are for places that we’ve heard good things about but haven’t visited personally, and our opinions are our own.
Cost: Free, but there is a $10.00 parking fee per car. Park passes are not accepted for parking fees.
Restaurant in the park.
Hotels and camping available in Keystone, South Dakota.
Great photo ops here. Plan to spend several hours.
⇒(Short route) Take US Highway 16 from Rapid City to US Highway 16A, and Keystone, South Dakota, then Highway 244 to Mount Rushmore. Look for Big Horn Sheep along this road. Drive time: 30 minutes.
⇒Recommended alternate route: (Long route) Take Highway 79 south from Rapid City to Highway 36 and Custer State Park. Just before entering the park, turn right (north) on to the Iron Mountain Road (Highway 16A). This is a scenic route full of twists, turns, and tunnels. Large vehicles and RVs will not be able to navigate this road. Drive time on Iron Mountain Road: 45 minutes to 1 hour. Drive time to Mount Rushmore from Rapid City via Iron Mountain Road: 1.5 to 2 hours.
View from the final tunnel on Iron Mountain Road. (Our apologies for the camera lens smudge.)
The musuem at the visitor center is spectacular! Plan to spend an hour in the museum alone. Learn about the sculptors, the workers, and how the monument came to be. Find out why Gutzon Borglum chose to memorialize the four presidents who are depicted at Mount Rushmore. Also visit the Sculptor’s Studio (reopening after renovations are completed in May, 2019) where Borglum worked and designed the memorial. Walk/hike the presidential trail and the nature trail then go back to the visitor center for ice cream. Watch for mountain goats in the meadows surrounding Grandview Terrace and the amphitheater. Pay a visit to the gift shop for souvenirs. Finally, stay to see the sculpture illuminated at night (year-round). An evening lighting ceremony is held during the summer months. Check the website for seasonal hours.
Avenue of FlagsView from the parking lotBlack Hills as seen from Mount Rushmore
⇒From Mount Rushmore, take Highway 16A via Keystone to Highway 16 to Rapid City. Drive time: 30 minutes.
Bonus stop: Keystone, South Dakota. Entertainment venues for the entire family from mini golf to museums to shopping to zip lines. Restaurants, hotels, and campgrounds available. Here’s a link: Keystone.
*Recommended hotel in Keystone: Holiday Inn Express.
We hope our overview of Mount Rushmore National Memorial has left you wanting to see it for yourself. While we can’t guarantee anything, we’re pretty sure you will love it as much as we did.
Visit our site next week for Day Five of our Black Hills of South Dakota vacation. Until then…
Travel safe, travel smart, and we will see you down the road.
Mike and Kellye
As always, we strive to be as accurate with our information as possible. If we made a mistake, it was unintentional. (Hey, we’re only human!) We aren’t paid for our recommendations, and we only recommend our own tried and true vendors and venues. Our suggestions are for places that we’ve heard good things about but haven’t visited personally, and our opinions are our own.
→Note: this post is the first in a series as we cover a week long vacation itinerary. Our trip starts at Rapid City, South Dakota.
Rapid City, South Dakota is a great “home” base for all this area has to offer.
Rapid City has a major airport.
Excellent family vacation destination.
When to go: Anytime. We recommend May, June, July and September. (Note: the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally takes place during the first two weeks of August. We do not recommend going at this time unless you are planning to participate in the rally.)
There is so much to do in the western part of South Dakota that you could actually spend several days (or weeks) at most of the sites we’re going to talk about, however, we’re going to do it in one week. For those who want to do it all and see it all, but don’t have a lot of time, this road trip is the one for you!
Starting in Rapid City, let’s hit the road.
*Recommended hotel in Rapid City: Holiday Inn Express on I-90. (Restaurants and shopping nearby.)
*Recommended splurge restaurant in Rapid City: Minervas Restaurant & Bar – 2111 N. LaCrosse St.
*Recommended family restaurant in Rapid City: Chili’s Grill & Bar – 2125 Haines Ave.
*RV and tent camping available in many locations in and around Rapid City.
Day One:
Destinations: Devils Tower National Monument and Spearfish Canyon
Travel tip: this will be a full day, so plan to leave early in the morning. We recommend 7:00 am. Pack a picnic lunch, road snacks, plenty of water, and suitable-for-hiking footwear for this day trip.
Drive time between Rapid City and Devils Tower National Monument: 1.75 hours.
⇒Take I-90 West toward Sturgis. Bonus Stop:Sturgis, South Dakota. Even if you’re not a biker, the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame is worth a stop.
⇒Continue on I-90 via Spearfish, and then on to Sundance, Wyoming. At Sundance, the road changes to US Highway 14. Bonus Stop:Sundance, Wyoming. Crook County Museum – 309 E Cleveland St. Nice museum with history about the area and the Sundance Kid.
Travel tip:top off your gas tank in Sundance.
⇒Continue on US Highway 14, then take Highway 24 north toward Devil’s Tower. Make a quick stop at the Devils Tower Trading Post for souvenirs before proceeding to the park entrance.
Cost: $20.00 per car (as of August, 2018). Travel tip: the National Park Service will be increasing all park entrance fees during the next year.
RV and tent camping available in the park.
Picnic areas and hiking trails in the park.
Night sky programs.
Climbing is permitted with registration of climbers.
After a stop at the visitor center, we recommend taking Tower Trail for a hike around the base of Devils Tower. Just a little over a mile long, the trail is easy (stroller friendly) and has some tree shaded areas and benches. Look up to see (the very gutsy) climbers on the tower. Afterward, enjoy a picnic lunch in the park.
Devils Tower from Tower TrailAnother view of Devils Tower
⇒Take Highway 24 back to US Highway 14/I-90 east toward Spearfish, South Dakota. Bonus stop:Vore Buffalo Jump (archaeological site). Take Exit 199. Here’s a link: Vore Buffalo Jump.
Spearfish Canyon
⇒At Spearfish take US Highway (Alt)14 south (Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway). Breathtaking scenery. Can’t miss: Bridal Veil Falls and Roughlock Falls for photo ops. Plan to hike the easy, paved trail at Roughlock Falls.
Bridal Veil FallsRoughlock Falls
⇒Continue on US Highway (Alt)14 to Deadwood.
Bonus stop:Deadwood, South Dakota. This town is a National Historic Landmark, rich in Black Hills Gold Rush and Old West history. Shopping, casinos, bars and restaurants, as well as historic homes, a museum, and the graves of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.
Hotels and camping available in Deadwood.
⇒Continue on US Highway 14 to Sturgis, then take I-90 east to Rapid City.
We hope you had a fun and exciting first day of your Black Hills vacation. Check back next week for Day Two. Until then…
Travel safe, travel smart and we will see you down the road.
Mike and Kellye
As always, we strive to be as accurate with our information as possible. If we made a mistake, it was unintentional. (Hey, we’re only human!) We aren’t paid for our recommendations, and we only recommend our own tried and true vendors and venues. Our suggestions are for places that we’ve heard good things about but haven’t visited personally, and our opinions are our own.
This town is a National Historic Landmark, rich in Black Hills Gold Rush and Old West history. Shopping, casinos, bars and restaurants, as well as historic homes, a museum, and the graves of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.