Black Hills/Mt Rushmore

[vanyel]

Any one here ever been there? I'm trying to plan a vacation and we want to do something different this year. Any thoughts or advice?

I do love disney but we want to see more of the country. And just think of the scrapbook opportunity!

 

[morgansmom2000]

I've never been, but I'd love to go!

 

[Sarah <3 Disney]

Ohhh, the Black Hills are absolutely beautiful! We took a trip way back when.... When I was 10ish? But I will always remember it!

Seeing Mount Rushmore is totally fun. Don't forget about the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills, when we went, he only had a nose.

All in all, I totally recommend this area!

 

[hopemax]

I was 6 when we went through South Dakota. I don't remember much, except one of the gift shops around Mt. Rushmore. When we were at Crazy Horse all there was was the hole, and there were no distinguishable features. This was back in 1981. I'd like to go back, just to see how much has changed. It's only a 6.5 hour drive from here, so maybe some day.

 

[fireplug]

We included that area in our National parks tour in 2007 . Here is a link to my trip report with LOTS of pics

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1926347


Squid

 

[vanyel]

We included that area in our National parks tour in 2007 . Here is a link to my trip report with LOTS of pics

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1926347


Squid

Thank you so much for the link and info. Your pictures are great and it makes me want to go further west than we planned. The Yellowstone and Glacier pics almost made me try to add another week but I really can't. I didn't realize how close we live either - we're in NW Indiana, practically neighbors.

We're only taking a week and we're staying three nights in keystone. We're planning some side trips while we're there, including Devil's Tower, Deadwood (my dh is a huge fan of westerns) and of course Mt. Rushmore. We're also spending a night in Wall. If you have any more suggestions or advice, I'd welcome them

 

[Cattail79]

We went on a family reunion trip 9 years ago. It was absolutely amazing! We ended up staying the the cabins at Custard Park. They were nice. Beautiful area! Bison were actually roaming free all over. In fact, a lot of times you would have to stop the care and wait for one to pass. Mount Rushmore/Crazy horse areas are relly nice also. Although MR was a lot more walking than I had expected, glad we did it. Take a water bottle with you when you go though. It's an amazing place-but VERY different from Disney. I would say it's a lot more relaxed type of vacation (as aposed to the high energy of Disney). But I love both!

 

[Mom-to-2-Princesses]

You are going to have a great time! We went the summer of 2006 with our two girls, 7 and 9.

Of course, we did Mt Rushmore and had a great day. Make sure you do ranger led tours/talks, they are free and make you understand the area so much more. If you have kids, let them do the Junior Ranger program -- it is usually free or a few bucks and they get a badge after completing the age appropriate activities. At the base of Mt Rushmore there is a small cave with a crack/crevice -- you can see part of Mt Rushmore through that crack, a different perspective!

Custer State Park is very cool and it is amazing to see all the bison/buffalo roaming. They also do a very nice chuckwagon dinner.

We also love seeing caves and the Black Hills area has two national park caves -- Jewel Cave and Wind Cave.

We stayed in the Hot Springs area, south of Mt Rushmore and it had a very cool attraction -- Mammoth Site. A new house was being built and when they started digging they bumped into a mammoth bone, and then more. They built a huge building around this sink hole were many mammoths fell and died. Today they are still excavating. My girls did the Junior Paleontologist program and had a blast (we had to sign them up before we left)

I assume when you are in Wall you are planning to see the Badlands? They were awesome. But that was the only part of our trip were the heat got to us. Do this area first thing in the morning before the heat gets too bad.

The pictures you take will be amazing! All of my Mt Rushmore looked professional with the super blue sky and natural light. And you get animals with the Bison and donkeys at Custer. And the Badlands just have to be seen to understand. We also hit Devil's Tower -- great pictures. And I picked up a postcard in the gift shop with the Legend of Devil's Tower on it -- it was great for my scrap page. Remember to take pictures by all the signs -- they make great headings for your pages!

Enjoy your trip!

 

[vanyel]

Sounds wonderful and thanks to both of you for the info/advice!

I'm amazed that in all my friends - or at least the ones I've talked to, none of them have ever been there. I've been researching online and am finding more and more things I want to do while we're there. My dh is thrilled and has chosen Deadwood and the Minuteman Missile site (in the badlands) as places he wants to see.

Mom-to-2 - sounds like your trip was similar to what I'm planning. I hope to do some of the walks with the rangers - we'll be there early June so it isn't supposed to be too hot, even in the badlands. The pictures I've been seeing on line are amazing - can't wait to take my own.

Did either of you do the train that runs from Keystone to Hill City?

 

[Mom-to-2-Princesses]

Mom-to-2 - sounds like your trip was similar to what I'm planning. I hope to do some of the walks with the rangers - we'll be there early June so it isn't supposed to be too hot, even in the badlands. The pictures I've been seeing on line are amazing - can't wait to take my own.

Did either of you do the train that runs from Keystone to Hill City?

Nope, we didn't do the train -- it looked cool but we were watching our budget. We were on a three week trip, after South Dakota we headed to Salt Lake City, Yellowstone and a family reunion on Galena by the Mississippi River.

I would also suggest going to the South Dakota tourist website and ordering their free travel guide. It was very helpful to us. And if you go on www.tripadvisor.com they have wonderful info on their forums.

 

[fireplug]

We ran out of time to take the train but we did go one morning and watch it steam up and met a few of the "characters" There is a small winery near Rapid city that has wonderful wines. A HUGE Christmas store also. Somewhere in Custer is a Flintstones Park. http://flintstonesbedrockcity.com/ It was a cute change of pace from all the Natural Park stuff when we were younger

We stayed at the Best Western Four Presidents Lodge in Keystone it was a wonderful hotel, very clean friendly staff and a good location.
Almost forgot one thing

Make sure you go at night once to see Mount Rushmore with the lights on it.............. VERY cool!

Squid