South Dakota, July 2020

2x Fort Welikit in Custer. Stayed there the first of October with the daughter and granddaughters. The girls loved the fort and the deer and turkeys wandering the campground. Staff and facilities were great. I would stop at Devils Tower on the way to SD. If you have kids, 2 things I would recommend are the Mammoth Dig in Hot Springs and the fish hatchery in Spearfish. The Spearfish City campground is next to the fish hatchery and is a nice campground we have stayed at before. Wall Drug is a couple hour stop. If you not hiking, the Badlands is a half day visit. We enjoyed the trip so much we want to go back in the summer with better weather.

rvshrinker wrote:
At Rushmore I understand there is some hiking you can do just out of the memorial itself which gives unique views and is very uncrowded.

The main viewing area at Mt. Rushmore is indeed crowded, at least when we were there in August, due to construction. I do not know the expected duration of the construction job.
I would not take a RV in there during the tourist season due to parking availability (lack of availability)

Devil's Tower is a great stop. Our family loved it more than Rushmore.

The SD Black Hills are gorgeous too.

My wife and I just came through there last month on our way home from an eight week trip. We were coming the other way back from Minnesota. We drove through North Dakota and then came south to get to the Black Hills. What a gorgeous drive.

Wyoming is amazing, but she's a tough lover. (Two of our kids went to college at the University in Laramie, so we've spent plenty of time there.) Don't underestimate the distances and the weather. We got caught on a windy day (even by WY standards) and the wind somehow cut through one of our slide-outs and blew out the bedroom window on the opposite side. I've never seen anything like that before. And that wasn't the first time Wyoming took a swing at us. The rest of the trip was crazy cold with just plastic duct-taped across where the window should have been.

Everyplace in WY is awe inspiring except for the drive across the 80 in the south. The 80 is bleak and windy. Avoid it if you can. The rest of the state is mind blowing.

Your time frame and distances are very reasonable. You'll love your trip.

We did this earlier this month. I suggest you defintely do this with your RV and not hotel it. Try to drive the Needles Highway (w/o the trailer of course). The way the tunnels line up with Mt. Rushmore is amazing. Spend some time in Deadwood. Couple of great museums.

rvshrinker wrote:
Driving from the PNW we'll make Devil's Tower and Deadwood a 1-2 day stop one way or the other, eh? Yes we'd enjoy hiking around base of the Tower. So maybe the rest we can base out of Custer SP or similar? At Rushmore I understand there is some hiking you can do just out of the memorial itself which gives unique views and is very uncrowded.

Since you are in to hiking, a must do would be Black Elk Peak, formerly Harney Peak, which is the highest point (at 7244ft) in South Dakota. It's not a difficult hike and well worth it for the vistas when you get to the summit. This could consume a goodly portion of a day. There are various accesses, so a query of Black Elk Peak will give you several choices. One of the hikes starts at about 6200ft with an elevation gain of about 1100 feet in 3.5 miles. There's also a loop trail hike.

Driving from the PNW we'll make Devil's Tower and Deadwood a 1-2 day stop one way or the other, eh? Yes we'd enjoy hiking around base of the Tower. So maybe the rest we can base out of Custer SP or similar? At Rushmore I understand there is some hiking you can do just out of the memorial itself which gives unique views and is very uncrowded.

rvshrinker wrote:

We want to see:

The Badlands
Wall, SD - Wounded Knee Museum
Custer SP
Mt Rushmore
Crazy Horse
Devil’s Tower
Deadwood

We went to SD this August and saw all these things except Wounded Knee (though we went by Wall since it is right by the west entrance to Badlands NP). We stayed in Custer (the town, not the SP) at an RV park and did day trips for all. I am not sure Devil's Tower is worth an overnight stay, unless you are hiking around the base. We stayed 6 nights at Custer. All of these are easily reached by drives from there. Devil's Tower consumed a day since it is about 110 miles from Custer. You might consider one relocation up to the Deadwood/Sturgis area to have a closer base for the Devil's Tower trip.

Mount Rushmore is worth seeing, but does not consume an entire day. We saw it the same day as Crazy Horse.

Given more time, we would have probably spent it at Custer SP or visiting one or more of the caves/caverns in the area. The wildlife loop, the Needles Highway (check tunnel clearances) and Sylvan Lake are the must see items, in my opinion.

I admit my bias may be that I come from Texas where 100-mile each way round trips in a day are not out of the ordinary.

Several of the campgrounds at Custer State Park have electric hookups. Badlands NP has a few electric sites that can be reserved. Look around and get ready to make your reservations soon if you want electric hookups.

Great tips everyone!

We are really into hiking and outdoor stuff. We would also like the kids to see and learn about Native history. I just learned that Custer SP is not where the Little Bighorn site is!

Do I need a generator for AC? Staying in Forest service would obviously save some money and we love the low impact settings, but can do full hookups urban camping if necessary.

Spearfish Canyon, Lead, Deadwood, Ice Box Canyon - need to be added to your list.
City of Spearfish has a very nice CG but it might be a bit far north to use as a base camp for the Black Hills visit