Mt. Rushmore & Badlands-Must-See Suggestions

[sedwheathome]

We have only a week to visit & see the Mt. Rushmore & Bad Lands areas. Our plans also include a day trips to Devils Tower & Crazy Horse. What are other "must-see" suggestions? Like Jewel Cave National Park? Thanks for your time & stay warm.

[padredw]

Don't overlook the link in the post by Busskipper above.

I would recommend to center around Custer. In fact, we spent a week in Custer's Gulch campground and had great access to Custer State Park, the Wildlife Loop, Iron Mountain Road and Needles Highway, Rushmore and Crazy Horse, and easy drives to Deadwood, Sturges, and Rapid City.

Lots more than I can mention, but the idea is to center down in the area and drive out.

[hyattjlbb]

zb39 wrote:
Deadwood is all casinos, We did not even stay an hour.

Hardly. Lots of history there, we spent a whole day doing everything but casinos.

[johnm1]

Thanks amdriven2liv. We should be there in a few days!

[amdriven2liv]

johnm1 wrote:

amdriven2liv wrote:

johnm1 wrote:
Where is the "Wall" that y'all talk about?

South of Wall South Dakota, on S.D. 240 just before The Bad Lands National Park entrance.

Is this a non-descript dirt road that heads east off of SD 240 and the "parking" place is about a mile in?

You will see 2 towers on the eastside of the road.

Put these numbers in google maps.

43.893085, -102.238787

[RambleOnNW]

When we went to Mt. Rushmore we also went up and checked out Medicine Rocks State Park near Ekalaka MT. Theodore Roosevelt said this about Medicine Rocks: "as fantastically beautiful a place as I have ever seen".

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine_Rocks_State_Park

[zb39]

Deadwood is all casinos, We did not even stay an hour.

[jorn]

If you miss the Mammoth Site, not only will the 8-year-old be disappointed, so will the 8-year-old inside of you. 😉

[johnm1]

amdriven2liv wrote:

johnm1 wrote:
Where is the "Wall" that y'all talk about?

South of Wall South Dakota, on S.D. 240 just before The Bad Lands National Park entrance.

Is this a non-descript dirt road that heads east off of SD 240 and the "parking" place is about a mile in?

[Busskipper]

From an old POST always a great time in Custer, sooooo much to see and DO.

BOL,

[amdriven2liv]

johnm1 wrote:
Where is the "Wall" that y'all talk about?

South of Wall South Dakota, on S.D. 240 just before The Bad Lands National Park entrance.

[hyattjlbb]

Lots of great suggestions here but I didn't see Reptile Gardens! A great location is near Hill City as it is central to almost everything mentioned. We left the camper for the day and went a different direction each day. We have stayed at the Rafter J. Bar (wifi, pool, etc) but we have also stayed at Horse Theif campground but very small sites and on the side of a hill so I don't recommend with a larger RV.

I just remembered this one, kids HAVE TO GO on the Presidents Alpine Slide in Keystone, best ever ride!

[johnm1]

Where is the "Wall" that y'all talk about?

[amdriven2liv]

Heavy Metal Doctor wrote:
In the badlands / grassland, we really enjoyed getting a bit off the general tourist circuit and drove out to the top of the "Wall" for a picnic lunch and exploring a bit. We really wanted to dry camp for a couple of nights out there, but lacking 4x4 we decided not to risk it since it was really wet and the rangers had warned us that campers where paying $1K each to get towed out of muddy grassland back to the road. We only saw one small TT towed by a 4x4 truck who seemed to have no trouble.

That is where we spent a couple days. We had wild goats come visit us on top of the "Wall".
Great view. And as you stated. make sure it is going to be dry a few days before and after. We only had a little area that was "moist" when we drove in.

Here is a video I did of our stay there.

The "Wall"

[Heavy_Metal_Doc]

In the badlands / grassland, we really enjoyed getting a bit off the general tourist circuit and drove out to the top of the "Wall" for a picnic lunch and exploring a bit. We really wanted to dry camp for a couple of nights out there, but lacking 4x4 we decided not to risk it since it was really wet and the rangers had warned us that campers where paying $1K each to get towed out of muddy grassland back to the road. We only saw one small TT towed by a 4x4 truck who seemed to have no trouble.
Also visited the Minuteman site and then went down to see the "Wall" from the bottom of that landscape. It was like driving on another planet.

As others said, Mt Rushmore was a bit of a let down -- they always post greatly enlarged pic's that make it seem much more impressive then reality is.

On the day trip over to Devils Tower, we returned back to our campsite near Custer by way of 585 / 85 from Sundance to Newcastle. I thought it seemed much more a real view of the Wyoming ranch life with no touristy stuff.

We barely stopped in Deadwood - that whole town just reminded of way too much of a beach boardwalk -- junk shops and junk food and way too many people.