Mount Rushmore

[Dlgomez]

Has anyone been to Mt Rushmore area? Looking for some advice IE: towing through the mountains, places to stay and things to see other then the Rushmore it self.

[Canyonlight]

Attached couple links to thread and posts dealing with Black Hills/Mt. Rushmore/etc.:

https://www.mygrandrv.com/fo...ght=blackhills
https://www.mygrandrv.com/fo...ght=blackhills

Please let me know any specific questions you may have after review and I will do my best to answer or steer you in the proper direction. You may also want to do a search on specific words like Rushmore (I used Blackhills) and you will several find other threads/posts of interest.


Dan

[Dlgomez]

Thanks, for leading me in the right direction.

[sande005]

The journey from Maryland to Rapid City will be very flat, except for crossing the mountains in Pennsylvania, and if you are the Interstates, that will be easy and pretty uneventful. If time allows, plan to stop in the Badlands for a night or two (max). Hill City in the Black Hills is the definition of "Tourist Trap" - which can be fun, or off-putting, depending on your outlook. Most of the major roads are RV friendly, and while there are big ups and downs, are not like "real" mountain driving further west. You should not have huge concerns about that. There can be very bad or impossible (for an RV) secondary highways that are just too twisty/narrow (do a YouTube search for "Pinnacles Highway"). So plan on getting a base camp, and exploring from there without the trailer. There can be a lot of traffic. Count on that most places will have no parking for an RV. I highly recommend getting a copy of "The Mountain Directory" which will identify all of the challenging routes across the country, so you can plan out what to avoid, or know what you will be getting in to. Find it here: http://www.mountaindirectory.com/

[JCZhome]

sande005 gave excellent information. We've been there many times over the years (usually on a motorcycle but with our Momentum last summer) and going back this summer. Many, many RV parks in the area, we're using Lake Park Campground and Cottages in Rapid City for our home base.... https://www.facebook.com/Lake-Park-C...4435429914631/ or their website.... http://www.lakeparkcampground.com/

Rapid City is not a large city but big enough that they have all the amenities close by (restaurants, fuel stations, emergency clinics and hospital, etc. etc.) but yet close enough to drive to everything for a day drive. Mt. Rushmore is a beautiful drive of less than an hour.

Also, little known, our national anthem came from Ft. Mead in Sturgis......It Started Here. A very interesting little museum there.....well worth spending an hour. http://www.fortmeademuseum.org/

Also want to visit the town of Deadwood.....where Wild Bill Hickock was shot and killed.

There is more in the area to see and do than you can do in a month so we're going back for the summer.

[D2Reid]

We have been to that area a couple of times, even worked at the book store in MT. Rushmore itself for a couple of months. Leaving Keystone there is a 9-10% grade hill just below Mt. Rushmore on 244. The other branch off that road, 16a is nicknamed the pig tail, don't even think about putting an RV on that road, nor the Pinnacles Highway.

89 from the town of Custer to Custer State Park is tight but doable. 87 North out of Custer State Park has a 10' tunnel.

We have stayed at Lazy JD Ranch about 20 miles north of Rapid City. A farmer converted some field space into a small RV park. No amenities.

We also stayed at WeLikIt RV park in Custer, SD.

You will notice that both of these are away from the main tourist areas. But a 30 minute to an hour ride will take you to all the good stuff and the roads are really fun on a motorcycle.

[Dlgomez]

I'm just starting to plan the trip. I was thinking about staying at Sheridan Lake South Campground. It looks like you take route 16 to Calumet Rd, this would be our base camp. We prefer the primitive type of camping, even though we are in a TT.

All this information is awesome!

Thanks

[offtohavasu]

We go to the Black Hills every 5 years for a family reunion. We love Hill City. Small, quiet, and very close the Mt. Rushmore. We love to stay at Black Hills Trailside Park Resort. Nothing fancy, but quiet, and has a neat little stream flowing through that kids can play in a fish from.

[Canyonlight]

I'm just starting to plan the trip. I was thinking about staying at Sheridan Lake South Campground. It looks like you take route 16 to Calumet Rd, this would be our base camp. We prefer the primitive type of camping, even though we are in a TT.

All this information is awesome!

Thanks

This will be a good choice and in a great location.....is like camping in the forest in many sites not good for larger rigs as is most often the case for older parks. We drove through the CG a couple years ago and it is very nice and a relaxed place to stay.

Dan

[Chiefblueman]

The Sturgis motorcycle rally is Aug. 3-12. Roads and attractions will be jammed with tens of thousands of bikes. There were 739,000 attendees in 2015. I was there a few years ago on a bike, it was quite the spectacle. Heavy pressure at Rushmore, Badlands, Devil's Tower, Custer State Park. It was why I went and had a great time. When I go back with the RV to camp and see the sights it won't be the week before or during bike week.

Edit - If you want to experience the rally, by all means you should go.