BlackHills of South Dakota

[JCZhome]

On my bucket list. How much time do you need to visit all big attractions? Would you say 7 days is enough?

I'm originally from California where there is plenty to do (redwoods, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Hwy. 1, etc. etc. etc.) however, in the Black Hills there is more to do in a relatively small geographical area than anywhere else in this country. We stayed several weeks our first time there (2 1/2 yrs. ago) and went back last summer for two months. We still haven't done everything that we wanted to do in the Black Hills area.

Just some things that really stood out for us, that we did do: The helicopter tour in Keystone, the 1880s train from Keystone to Hill City and back, Deadwood, Bear Country USA, Iron Mountain Road, Hwy 16A loop, Custar State Park, Deadwood, Ft. Meade Museum (in Sturgis) where our national anthem came from! So much more but that'll give you a very, very busy week.

[BB&LAB]

On my bucket list. How much time do you need to visit all big attractions? Would you say 7 days is enough?

Short answer is yes, longer answer is it depends on what you want to see and do. There is so much to see and visit in the Black Hills so it comes down to what you like to do and what is important for you to see. One place you should plan to visit is the Crazy Horse Monument, very impressive and they have a very nice and comprehensive museum.

[cmillsbl]

We spent a week at White River KOA in the Badlands and a week at Beaver Lake Campground in Custer in mid-June. Had a great time. Black Hills were awesome (and no mosquitoes or biting flies)

I wasn't very impressed with Crazy Horse (other than the museum which we spent hours exploring). My wife was there 20+ years ago and it didn't appear to her that much progress has been made with the carving. I think it is privately funded, so will be many, many years before it's completed.

Mt Rushmore was a fun hike while we waited for the sun to go down. I was hoping to get some pictures of it lit up after dark. Sunset was beautiful, but the lighting was a big disappointment. I was expecting bright white spotlights to light it up, but that wasn't the case. Was more like soft orange lights- couldn't even make out the faces.

We spent most of our time in Custer State Park hiking various trails and driving the loop.

Also, don't miss the Needles Highway drive. We did a late afternoon drive for the most dramatic lighting.

[wrp75_CO]

Second the point on Crazy Horse. At this rate nobody alive today will see it completed.

Note that the elevator at Wind Cave is out of order, so a lot of their cave tours aren’t available.

Nobody has mentioned it yet, so I’ll toss the Minuteman ICBM Heritage Site in as a must see. The museum is fantastic, and if you have enough lead time you can sign up for a tour of a Launch Control Center, where for decades USAF officers and enlisted sat ready to launch ICBMs on proper authorization. You can also visit the museum on Ellsworth AFB, and if interested (and US citizens with no felony convictions) get an on-base tour of a missile silo. That tour doesn’t require the same lead time for reservations but you would still want to look up hours and information before you go.


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[BB&LAB]

We spent a week at White River KOA in the Badlands and a week at Beaver Lake Campground in Custer in mid-June. Had a great time. Black Hills were awesome (and no mosquitoes or biting flies)

I wasn't very impressed with Crazy Horse (other than the museum which we spent hours exploring). My wife was there 20+ years ago and it didn't appear to her that much progress has been made with the carving. I think it is privately funded, so will be many, many years before it's completed.

Mt Rushmore was a fun hike while we waited for the sun to go down. I was hoping to get some pictures of it lit up after dark. Sunset was beautiful, but the lighting was a big disappointment. I was expecting bright white spotlights to light it up, but that wasn't the case. Was more like soft orange lights- couldn't even make out the faces.

We spent most of our time in Custer State Park hiking various trails and driving the loop.

Also, don't miss the Needles Highway drive. We did a late afternoon drive for the most dramatic lighting.

I was there about 20 years ago also and while Crazy Horse is far from finished I noticed some progress and then when I compared my photos between my more recent visit and 20 plus years ago, it was pretty significant. In any case regardless of the state of completion the sheer size in comparison to Mount Rushmore is amazing, which one can truly appreciate if you take the bus ride to the base of the monument (well worth it).

[offtohavasu]

We also love the Black Hills and very much enjoyed our stay in Hill City at Black Hills Trailside RV Resort.

Site 10 is awesome!