We just came back from an amazing trip in South Dakota and we loved every minute of it! We shared all our amazing photos in social media, and many of you asked me for details on the places we visited.
In this post I will share the list of places I visited with my two young girls (11 and 6 years old) and tips from our "girls trip" (mother- daughter trip). I must warn you, we did a lot in a very short period of time, which may be too much for some people. These places can be split in more days If neede.
What airport did we fly to?
We flew to Rapid City, which is the closest airport to Mount Rushmore.
Where did we stay?
We stayed overnight at “Under Canvas Rushmore”, an amazing "glamping" (glamorous camping) experience. From their site, you can see the beautiful Mount Rushmore Monument. Glamping was in one of our "experiences bucket lists" items and we loved it.
Day 1 (full day!)
1. Mount Rushmore Monument
(avenue of flags, visitor center, presidential trail, sculptor studio, gift shop, ice cream at memorial station). Time to spend: 3+ hours. Fee:$10 for parking.
So many people told me that this was probably going to be boring and that was not our experience at all... We loved our time at the monument. We arrived early to avoid the crows. You pay $10 for parking per car (since it is a flat fee, I paid right away at the machine). Once we arrived, we took a ridiculous amount of photos and videos. Once you enter, you will not miss the avenue of flags. Then from there, we did the visitor center (one level down) which has bathrooms and places to refill water bottles. Then, the presidential trail which is very easy to do with kids (very short loop hike about 0.6 miles). We went to the gift shop to get some fun gifts, which had a huge line, but moved very fast (the amount of people was controlled because of Covid restrictions). Finally, of course, we had some ice cream at memorial station (they opened around 11AM).
Tip: Go early and go down one level to visitor center - there were barely any people there so we took some amazing photos.
2. Badlands National Park
(1.5hrs from Mount Rushmore). Time to spend 4-5 hours. Fee:$30 per car. (Unlikely to have cellular signal in the park, so plan ahead)
For the second part of our day 1, we decided to visit the Badlands National Park. I promise you that this is worth every minute of your time. This place was amazing!!!! We did not do a whole lot of hiking because I was with my young kids (although if you are into that, I strongly suggest it because it is beautiful), but we drove around. We pretty much stopped in almost all the different overlooks. Once you enter through the gates, they give you a map but you could also stop anytime you want whenever you can see an open area to park in the park. We stopped at: Pinnacles Overlook, Yellow Mounds Overlook, Conata Basin Overlook, Panorama Point, Big Badlands Overlook and then we turned around, which was the closer option for our next destination.
Tip: I lost my signal in the park, so make sure you put it in your gps ahead of time (download maps). Worst case, you can follow the map they give you at the entrance.
3. Wall Drug
On the way to the Badlands (quick stop before the park). Time to spend: 30 minutes Fee: free, free water and 5 cents coffee
One pit stop from Mount Rushmore to the Badlands was at Wall Drug. We did not know much of it, but we saw the million signs on the way (hard to miss them), so we looked it up. I am glad we stopped because it was kind of wild "thing" to see in the middle of nowhere. A collections of all kinds of stores and some random "stuff" inside. We stopped to get their famous "free water", go to the bathroom and take a few photos. (We did not get their 5 cents coffee or donuts because the line was way too long for a quick stop)
4. Dinosaur Park
Time to spend: 30 minutes Fee: Free
If you are running out of time, this may be one park you could skip. We stopped here because we wanted to take a little break to stretch our legs, so I stopped at a place my kids would get excited for a quick break.
5. Bear Country USA
Time to spend: ~1-2hrs (depends on your preference) Fee: $18 for Adults, $12 for kids (5-12).
Bear Country USA is a 2 miles drive-through wildlife park. You may see elks, reindeers, deer, bobcats, and of course black bears. My 6 years old girl loved it so much that we wanted to go back the next day. We drove through the park with our own car (they have options if needed such as people driving a soft top convertible).
Day 2
1. Custer State Park
(Visitor Center, Wildlife loop, iron creek tunnel, needles eye tunnel, Sylvan lake). Time to spend 4-5+ hrs Fee:$20 per car
We started our visit with the visitors center and even that was awesome. The buffalos were all over the parking lot and the kids started super excited. If you have the time, stop at the visitor center and watch the short movie about the park. A very nice movie about the history and what to see at the park; it excited us about what to do and see. From them, we started the wild life loop which was so fun because the buffalos were all over the roads. In the wild life, you can expect to see lots of buffalos and possibly other animals in the wild. One "must stop" is the begging burros (donkeys). I am not sure if people allowed to feed the burros or not, but lots of people had carrots and apples for them. The burros are friendly and people can pet them. They have some adorable baby burros! (foals??)
The drive around Custer park is gorgeous and so different from the badlands (almost contrasting sceneries). Lots of hiking options, but we drove around and stopped whenever we wanted to enjoy the scenery. Make sure you drive through the needles tunnel (or some of the other tunnels).
We finished our drive at Sylvan lake where we rented a canoe (for my young girl and I) and a paddle board for my 11 years old girl. It was pretty crowded but we enjoyed our time in the water!
2. Crazy Horse Monument
Time to Spend (1-3 hours) Fee: $15 per person or up to $35 per car).
I cannot talk too much about Crazy Horse, because we decided not to enter. We could see the monument from the street and took photos from it. This monument is far from done, but you can see the face very well. Looks like this may be a super fun monument in the future (once it is completed). I know some people who love it and others that suggested to skip it. We chose to skip it and went back to our glamping site to enjoy our last evening there with the events planned by under canvas.
Here are a few photos of our glamping sit.
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