La Crosse, WI to Rapid City, SD

I have crossed I-90 more times than I can recount since '78(lived in Rapid City for 9 years) and have never had a traffic problem even during bike week.

We'll See wrote:

GordonThree wrote:
Great report. It is relief to hear I-90 is not bad with a lot of traffic. I usually drive my rig at 55-60, and being on an interstate where folks want to go 80+, it gets on my nerves being passed continuously. I was looking at US route 14 instead, but I think I'll stick with I-90

In MN the speed limit is 70 I think. I don't know if it is different if you have a trailer. In SD it is 75 but most people were traveling around 70 or so. We didn't have our trailer so we set the cruise at 77-78 and made great time. I don't know if SD has a lower limit with a trailer.

There was so little traffic on this part of I-90 I don't think it will really matter if you want to travel at 55-60. Just stay in the right lane.

We also just came back on Saturday from Mt. Rushmore and traffic was real light across Sd. I did around 63 to 66 mph across the state and it seemed I got passed more on local commuter highway than it did across the dhole state of SD.

GordonThree wrote:
Great report. It is relief to hear I-90 is not bad with a lot of traffic. I usually drive my rig at 55-60, and being on an interstate where folks want to go 80+, it gets on my nerves being passed continuously. I was looking at US route 14 instead, but I think I'll stick with I-90

In MN the speed limit is 70 I think. I don't know if it is different if you have a trailer. In SD it is 75 but most people were traveling around 70 or so. We didn't have our trailer so we set the cruise at 77-78 and made great time. I don't know if SD has a lower limit with a trailer.

There was so little traffic on this part of I-90 I don't think it will really matter if you want to travel at 55-60. Just stay in the right lane.

Great report. It is relief to hear I-90 is not bad with a lot of traffic. I usually drive my rig at 55-60, and being on an interstate where folks want to go 80+, it gets on my nerves being passed continuously. I was looking at US route 14 instead, but I think I'll stick with I-90

OP here with an update. It has been a great trip so far. We are leaving tomorrow morning from Custer State Park SD back to Chicago. Very little road construction or delays all along I-90. There were a few areas in SD that are single lane but there is very little traffic. Southern MN and eastern SD is nothing but corn once you are past the Mississippi. Once you go west of the Missouri river SD starts to get pretty interesting.

A couple of thoughts on the trip. We ate dinner at the Philip Avenue dinner in Sioux Falls, SD was great. Al's Oasis for lunch in SD just west of the MO river was disappointing. The Pioneer Auto Museum was really interesting. Wall Drug was nothing special. The Badlands were amazing and I wish we had spent more time there. Overall Rapid City was a great central place to stay. We went to Mt. Rushmore, the Reptile Gardens, and Bear Country and all were spectacular. We then spent some time in Keystone, did the drive up to Sturgis, saw a rodeo in Deadwood, went through Spearfish and Lead. We then spent 3 nights in Custer State Park by the Game Lodge. Saw buffalo (lots), prairie dogs, burro, dear, pronghorn, snakes, turtles, etc. When to wind cave and then did lots of hiking. Today we did horseback riding and took the trip up to Sylvan Lake.

I can't say enough good things about our trip to SD. Essentially no crowds or gouging prices, beautiful scenery, and lots to do. Highly recommended to those with or without families.

That trip per Goggle is 350 miles and 5 hours your question is, is there anything along the way that does not take long to see. That would depend on how fast you can look, eat and use the facilities. Also how many kids you have or not.

Off of I-90 at Sioux Falls is Falls Park, in Mitchell is Cabela's and the Corn Palace, 1880s Town, The Missouri River View, At Murdo is the Museum that was on American Pickers and west of Murdo the time changes to Mountain Time, The Badlands, The Missile Silo and not to forget WALL Drug. So yep there is a lot to see a lot of tourist stuff but hey it was fun. Oh the Pageant at DeSmet is after the 4th of July I think for four week ends but that is probably another day.

JimR

We will be going past the Black Hills on our way to Montana in Oct. May even be going thru Wisconsin on the way out, not sure of route we will take yet.

We'll See wrote:
We are driving from Chicago to Rapid City, SD leaving on 7/21. First day of driving will be Chicago to Sioux Falls, SD. Day two will be Sioux Falls, SD to Rapid City, SD. Is there anything worthwhile stopping on the way that doesn't take too long to stop and see?

Post back how your drive went... I'll be doing a similar drive in August, except I'll be entering La Crosse from Michigan's UP instead of going through the Chicago Metro area.

Wind turbines

The Corn Palace at Mitchel,S.D. Wall Drug maybe. Air Force Museum at Ellsworth AFB.