Hershey to South Dakota

[jrlebaron]

Will be leaving soon for SD. We would to take northern route thru Ohio Indy and ill any suggestion on what to see or what to avoid on our way. Would like to stay off I 80 as much as possible. Thanks Jim

[bsinmich]

If you are using I-80 you will be going just North of Shipshewana, IN. and then Elkhart. Shipshewana is a large Amish section of IN. Fleetwood is in Southern IN and not very close. Newmar is just South of the Amish area and they depend ofn the Amosh for their workers. Das Essenhaus is a great meal stop in Middlebury. Cheese factories and bakeries abound. Fair Oaks Farm is South on I-65 where they have 32,000 cows milking on 90,000 acres. This a very initeresting stop. They have calves being born almost all of the time and you can watch. There is one toll on I-80 going West past Chicago. We really enjoyed the Corn Palace if you take the time to look at the decorations on the outside. The murals are all done with ears of corn and replaced each year. The Badlands is a nice side trip off the main road. Wall Drug is a quick stop and a nice break. We have stayed at Rafter J Bar 5 times so far. Bear Country is one stop that we make every time. It is a drive through zoo that has a lot more than bears but always interesting.

[Cbones]

rgatijnet1 wrote:
At the Badlands, besides the obvious like Mt. Rushmore, you will want to see Custer State Park and take the drive on the Needles Highway. This is best done in your toad.

I would add Crazy Horse and maybe Wall Drug (just because you will see a hundred signs begging you to stop there) to that list. My opinion is to avoid Corn Palace, as it is a large waste of time. Not sure how much time you will have, maybe a factory tour of Newmar or Fleetwood and the RV Museum.

[rgatijnet1]

At the Badlands, besides the obvious like Mt. Rushmore, you will want to see Custer State Park and take the drive on the Needles Highway. This is best done in your toad.

[TexasShadow]

in SD, you can stop at Mitchell and take a look at the Corn Palace..right on Main street, I believe.
Drive through the Badlands Nat'l Park, getting off the interstate on the east end and just driving through to the west end and Wall, SD, another tourist spot.
If you want to spend the night at Badlands, there is a pretty nice campground at the park headquarters.

[CloudDriver]

We usually take I70 across OH to Indianapolis, then I74 to pick up I80 near Davenport IA to I29 north to I90. Avoids the I80 toll roads in OH and IN and traffic around Chicago.

IMO not much to see other than corn and soy fields along the way.