Planning a Trip to South Dakota & Wyoming

[NJ6PACK]

I am in the early stages of planning a trip to South Dakota and then head into Wyoming from New Jersey.

Things I want to see:

- Mount Rushmore

- The Black Hills

- Custer State Park (I keep hearing it's a must see)

- I want to ride parts of the George S.Mickelson Trail in South Dakota

- Devils tower

Is there anything else worth seeing?

I was looking to take 2 weeks off but will do 3 if needed (Thinking of July), I have to consider the ride from New Jersey and back..... having said that is there anything else along the way in other states worth seeing to break things up?

If anyone else has done this this please give me some advice on time and things to do and see or anything else I need to know....Thanks

[garyp4951]

I went in May this year, and stayed in Custer at Beaver Lake campground for a week, then moved north to Spearfish at Chris's Campground for another week. Doing this really cuts the driving time each day to the attractions.
I bought a book on the Black Hills, and it helped in planning the day trips.

[agesilaus]

Blazing Zippers wrote:
Rapid City---Ellsworth AFB. Good museum (free) and an actual missile training silo tour (it was $8.00).
Your travel plan is a busy one. There is a whole lotta country out there.
Have fun!

Well talking about museums there is a world class gem and minerals museum at the University there in Rapid city. Probably second only to the Smithsonian's in the US.

[dodge_guy]

Your plan sounds perfect. While in the Black Hills Devils Tower is a good day trip,or half day if you leave early then you can see some Northern stuff in the BH’s! And don’t forget about Hot Springs SD. A short drive south from Custer! As was said, lots to see and do in the area!!!

[Blazing_Zippers]

Rapid City---Ellsworth AFB. Good museum (free) and an actual missile training silo tour (it was $8.00).
Your travel plan is a busy one. There is a whole lotta country out there.
Have fun!

[SDcampowneroper]

OP, Wise move to plan Yellowstone and other parts to another day. The Black Hills, all around are a months worth to see.
From our fantastic state parks, to private, to boondock in the natl forest, camping adventure is boundless.

[NJ6PACK]

Thanks for all the replies.....

I Think I will concentrate on Mount Rushmore, Black Hills and the Badlands camping and Devils Tower...... As others have said I would do Yellowstone / Tetons as another trip.

I would do a 3 week trip and figure a week and a half in the area (I know it's a big area) with 3 possibly 4 days traveling out and back. That would pretty much fill a 3 week vacation with a couple days at home at both ends. ..... does that sound doable/realistic?

CloudDriver ....... I live 1 exit south of you on the GSP right where 33 and the GSP intersect so your directions would be Gospel.... Thanks

Traveling out and back, Are there campgrounds along the way (basically CloudDrivers directions) where I can pull in for the night without reservations?.... Basically the same way I95 is going to Florida, there are places to stay all along south of Washington DC.

Anything else I need to know?

Thanks again for all the advice

FYI..... If you read my signature I no longer have my Van as a TV, it finally died and became unreliable so I replaced it with a 2016 RAM 2500 Heavy Duty Hemi 6.4L / 4.10 gears 14,000 miles ....... reliability on a big trip is no longer an issue.

🙂

(The Ford Van was awsome though)

[bukhrn]

rirish1 wrote:
We always enjoyed the Black Hills area when camping with the family. Sturgis certainly impacts the area hard, so plan your trip around it unless you like huge crowds of motorcycles and visitors. A stop we really enjoyed was Hot Springs South Dakota which has a great Mammoth dig site, Evans Plunge (an indoor hot spring fed pool which the kids enjoyed), and Wind Cave is also nearby.

Sturgis Rally is a nice time to stay away from the area, not because the bikers are bad, but 1. getting a site anywhere near the Black Hills is nearly impossible. 2. IF you can get a site, the CG prices are double, even triple what they normally are. 3. As already mentioned, it gets quite noisy.

[agesilaus]

esyers wrote:
Another fairly quick stop along I-90 in South Dakota is the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site.

Minuteman Missile Historic Site

Well it looks like they have restarted the tours, they seem to have stopped them for several years. Not much reason to stop without a tour which is rather interesting.

[esyers]

Another fairly quick stop along I-90 in South Dakota is the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site.

Minuteman Missile Historic Site

We were in Custer State Park and the Black Hills right before the Sturgis rally. There were a lot of riders in the parks and the sound seemed to keep the wildlife well back away from the roads. I'd try to time it differently if seeing the buffalo, etc. is high on your list.

[rirish1]

We always enjoyed the Black Hills area when camping with the family. Sturgis certainly impacts the area hard, so plan your trip around it unless you like huge crowds of motorcycles and visitors. A stop we really enjoyed was Hot Springs South Dakota which has a great Mammoth dig site, Evans Plunge (an indoor hot spring fed pool which the kids enjoyed), and Wind Cave is also nearby.

[bukhrn]

In Wyoming, besides the biggies, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, we found Big Horn Canyon and Cody areas pretty interesting,
SD, near Deadwood is Spearfish Canyon, nice drive, (not with the RV).
I realize that everyone is not as fortunate as us retirees, with extra time to spend, But as Texas Shadow said, you may want to save some of these suggestions for another trip, Yellowstone and Tetons are worth 2 weeks by themselves.
I'm another negative vote for Wall Drug, We stopped there, ONLY because DW wanted to stop, it proved me right, nothing but a tourist trap, just like South of The Border in SC.

[Roy_Lynne]

Second the Badlands and we also went to The Wyoming Dinosaur Center and toured an actual dig. It was awesome and the kids loved it. We toured both the museum ($10) and then toured the actually dig (anther $15) but it was wonderful and interesting. You can also actually go on a dig also for $150 per I think, but don't quote me on that. I'm not sure.

[padredw]

Here is one possibility for the time you have (3 weeks)

Based on reports from persons from your area: 4 days driving to reach Custer, SD (and 4 days back). 4 days at Custer: State Park Wildlife Loop, Needle Highway, Iron Mountain Road, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse (if you wish). For me it would be 2 days driving each way from Custer to Grand Tetons and back (for example, Colter Bay RV Park). 4 or 5 days there. You can easily drive into the southern portion of Yellowstone including Old Faithful within that time. That pretty well takes the full three weeks. I think it would be better to concentrate on Black Hills and Tetons/Yellowstone, spending about 4 or 5 days in each (Yes, one might have to be 4 rather than 5 to fit into the time).

This is just one possibility, but it does show how one must be realistic about driving time and focusing on specific destinations.

For a 2 week trip, you could just concentrate on the Black Hills.

[rbtglove]

Crazy Horse has become a little commercialized but is still worth seeing, Deadwood has also become somewhat of a tourist town after the casinos moved in, but a must see especially boot hill. Many other things to keep you busy.

[DutchmenSport]

If you are going to do it, make your campground reservations now, especially for July. We did Custer, SD 2 July's ago. We made campground reservations at Buffalo Ridge Campground Resort, which is a Good Sam campground by the way, almost a year ahead, and it was tough getting a reserved site then. We took 3 days to travel from Central Indiana, and booked reservation for overnights in November and had difficulty. The best one nighters were the KOA's along our route, although we were fortunate to get a couple one-nighters in some State Parks too, coming and going.

And by the way, 2 weeks was not near enough time to absorb it all and we were at Buffalo Ridge Campground-Resort for almost the entire 2 weeks.

There's a Camping World near Sturgis, SD too, by the way. Keep your pet dog on the road or occupied areas too because snakes have been known to get them. Also, keep yourself out of the woods too for the same reason. And oh ... please don't attempt to chase down a buffalo. You'll loose! :B