Black Hills / Tetons / Yellowstone

[Conguero]

I’ve taken the 28BH on many local (southeast) trips. But I’m excited to take the RV on a trip west.

Next summer we are taking the kids to the Tetons / Yellowstone then hitting the Black Hills on the way home. I’m taking 28 days off work , which is the most I’ve taken in 29 years at my company.

Please keep in mind, it will take 4 days to get there, and 4 days to get back.

I’ve never been to any of these locations, but my wife spent a summer on a Ranch in the Tetons. While I am open to suggestions, we can probably figure the Tetons / Yellowstone portion of the trip ourselves.

I’m curious to hear some advice on the Black Hills.
A cursory glance at the map had me camping in Spearhead and taking a few day trips into the hills.

Would you do this, or find a camp inside the hills?

Any recommendations for RV camps inside the hills?
Our 5ver is 35 ft long, and I understand there are some narrow/low tunnels on some roads.
Any roads I should avoid if hauling the camper in the hills?

I probably won’t be going to Rushmore. I like natural wonders better than man-made. Custer State Park looks awesome.
Where else do you suggest?

How many days in the Black Hills is good for seeing some cool sites, but taking a day or two to chill at the RV?
Keep in mind, more days in the Hills = less time at the Tetons / Yellowstone.

Advice is appreciated!

 

[Bungy]

I’ve taken the 28BH on many local (southeast) trips. But I’m excited to take the RV on a trip west.

Next summer we are taking the kids to the Tetons / Yellowstone then hitting the Black Hills on the way home. I’m taking 28 days off work , which is the most I’ve taken in 29 years at my company.

Please keep in mind, it will take 4 days to get there, and 4 days to get back.

I’ve never been to any of these locations, but my wife spent a summer on a Ranch in the Tetons. While I am open to suggestions, we can probably figure the Tetons / Yellowstone portion of the trip ourselves.

I’m curious to hear some advice on the Black Hills.
A cursory glance at the map had me camping in Spearhead and taking a few day trips into the hills.

Would you do this, or find a camp inside the hills?

Any recommendations for RV camps inside the hills?
Our 5ver is 35 ft long, and I understand there are some narrow/low tunnels on some roads.
Any roads I should avoid if hauling the camper in the hills?

I probably won’t be going to Rushmore. I like natural wonders better than man-made. Custer State Park looks awesome.
Where else do you suggest?

How many days in the Black Hills is good for seeing some cool sites, but taking a day or two to chill at the RV?
Keep in mind, more days in the Hills = less time at the Tetons / Yellowstone.

Advice is appreciated!

Definitely stay away from Needles Highway, somebody always gets stuck in the eye!

 

[ajg617]

@Conguero The Black Hills are beautiful and there is so much to see, I want to go back. We spent about ten days split 5 and 5 there in 2022 with two nights at Devils Tower and two at Garryowen (Custer Battlefield) in between. If you are interested in staying in Custer State Park, there are some state campgrounds that can accommodate your 35' with reservations in advance (might be another with same day check-in) most if not all elec/water only. I think Game Lodge, Bluebell, Stockade North, and Grace Coolidge (small but where we stayed in the latter part though I would have preferred Stockade with the water access). Park campgrounds go very quickly (a year in advance or so) but there are a lot of commercial ones in the area also.

As said you don't want to be on Needles with any camper, though yes we passed a towable that fit through the needle - but my mirrors were retracted. Iron Mountain Road is also beautiful - but vehicle only. We parked the RV and drove the Wildlife Loop Road several times and went off the paved roads onto some of the dirt roads and were immersed in herds of Bison. Highly recommend the new Bison Center which is off the Wildlife Loop. If you happen to be there in early Sept, some of the herds will already be gathering at the center (which is the site of the yearly auction). Also highly recommend the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs which is just south of the lower end of the Wildlife Loop. Custer is a neat town but all of the local towns are tourist oriented -still fun though.

We came into Custer on US 16 but you can take 16 through the park to SD79 which is an easy ride up to Rapid City and I-90 or in our case we headed south to Scottsbluff. The following season when at Yellowstone, we took US 16 through Cody, the Bighorns (beautiful), Buffalo and then on east. If there had been time, I would have taken 16 right back to Custer - but that was a 70 day trip for us already. 11 days at Yellowstone was too short - there is just so much to see. Keep in mind that the Grand Loop road is 140 miles long. We stayed in West Yellowstone and it was a good half hour drive just to get to the loop. If I were to do it over, I'd stay inside at Fishing Bridge to avoid the travel time in and out. All worth it though and another place I want to go back to.

 

[Recovering Workaoholic]

I was out there in 2017, road trip from KY. We didn't have a camper at the time but you do need to visit Custer State Park, highly recommend it. We tent camped at Sleepy Hollow Campground at Wall, SD. It was a clean facility from what I remember. Make sure to go to Wall Drug and get your picture on the Jackalope. I don't think I bought anything there but the picture and souvenir bumper sticker were free. Wall was convenient to the Badlands, which are a site to behold. I'd give a day to drive through the Badlands taking pictures, same with Custer State Park its large but road system isn't bad. Don't take the camper in there, the roads are narrow except for roads going to the campgrounds there. We went to Keystone too but it was more like tourist type junk from what I remember, I would pass on it. We did go to Rushmore, which was very impressive. Other points of interest if you are crossing the bottom of SD on 80 are the Corm Palace at Mitchell and the Missouri River Valley. We spent a couple of days in western SD taking in the Badlands, Custer State Park and the other sites on that side of the state and then went onto Lead and Deadwood with a stop at Sturgis just to say that we did. Entered Wyoming close to Devils Tower, then swung to the south around the Big Horn Mountains taking the southern route to Cody via Thermapolis (hot springs) and Ten Sleep (my understanding there's and RV park there now). It was nice cause you could see the Big Horns and bot have to go through them. I would recommend spending a couple days at Cody making sure to go to the rodeo. We were there one night, wish I had stayed longer there. We left Yellowstone through the South Gate towards Jackson Hole. The Tetons were magnificent. Traveled East across the southern part of Wyoming, that was also beautiful country and one of my favorite parts. If I had gone out there 30 years ago I would have stayed. Long distances between fuel though. Turned south at Cheyenne and went down the east side of Colorado. Wouldn't give you two cents for it after Wyoming. Did stop at Pike's Peak though which was worth it. Should'a gone on down to TX and turned east but instead thought that Dodge City, KS would good to see. As Johnny Cash said in I've Been Everywhere "Dodge City, what a pity".

Hope you have a good trip. Make sure you have a good GPS that you can enter the height and length for your rig and watch the cross winds, wind blows incessantly in SD and WY.

 

[ajg617]

+1 on the GPS and preferably an RV one but I'd also suggest the Mountain Directory.

 

[Conguero]

I was out there in 2017, road trip from KY. We didn't have a camper at the time but you do need to visit Custer State Park, highly recommend it. We tent camped at Sleepy Hollow Campground at Wall, SD. It was a clean facility from what I remember. Make sure to go to Wall Drug and get your picture on the Jackalope. I don't think I bought anything there but the picture and souvenir bumper sticker were free. Wall was convenient to the Badlands, which are a site to behold. I'd give a day to drive through the Badlands taking pictures, same with Custer State Park its large but road system isn't bad. Don't take the camper in there, the roads are narrow except for roads going to the campgrounds there. We went to Keystone too but it was more like tourist type junk from what I remember, I would pass on it. We did go to Rushmore, which was very impressive. Other points of interest if you are crossing the bottom of SD on 80 are the Corm Palace at Mitchell and the Missouri River Valley. We spent a couple of days in western SD taking in the Badlands, Custer State Park and the other sites on that side of the state and then went onto Lead and Deadwood with a stop at Sturgis just to say that we did. Entered Wyoming close to Devils Tower, then swung to the south around the Big Horn Mountains taking the southern route to Cody via Thermapolis (hot springs) and Ten Sleep (my understanding there's and RV park there now). It was nice cause you could see the Big Horns and bot have to go through them. I would recommend spending a couple days at Cody making sure to go to the rodeo. We were there one night, wish I had stayed longer there. We left Yellowstone through the South Gate towards Jackson Hole. The Tetons were magnificent. Traveled East across the southern part of Wyoming, that was also beautiful country and one of my favorite parts. If I had gone out there 30 years ago I would have stayed. Long distances between fuel though. Turned south at Cheyenne and went down the east side of Colorado. Wouldn't give you two cents for it after Wyoming. Did stop at Pike's Peak though which was worth it. Should'a gone on down to TX and turned east but instead thought that Dodge City, KS would good to see. As Johnny Cash said in I've Been Everywhere "Dodge City, what a pity".

Hope you have a good trip. Make sure you have a good GPS that you can enter the height and length for your rig and watch the cross winds, wind blows incessantly in SD and WY.

Thank you! I’ll look into those spots.

So, I actually ate lunch in Dodge City going from Memphis to Salida, CO.
I’m a Cash fan myself, but I cannot recommend that detour to anyone .

Thanks!

 

[traveldawg]

Definitely stay away from Needles Highway, somebody always gets stuck in the eye!

Pretty sure what the suggestion here is not take the camper on that highway. You'll be fine in the truck. But if you're using an RV GPS (you should) it won't route you there anyway.

 

[traveldawg]

We'll be in the Black Hills this August. We'll be staying in Custer State park for 5 nights, but only because friends want to stay there. It isn't full hookup which we prefer.

This is our list of "attractions" so far:
> Black Hills Central Railroad
> Wind Cave
> Jewel Cave
> Mt Rushmore
> Chief Crazy Horse laser show
> Black Hills Visitor Center
> Iron Mountain Road & Sylvan Lake
> Wildlife Loop or Town of Custer
> Pig-Tail Bridges

Not included is a trip to the Bad Lands but only because we will stay a campground there after Custer State Park.

I'd suggest a subscription to RV Trip Wizard (part of RV Life's RV apps and the owner of this forum). It will help the planning a lot.

We've stayed at Heartland RV Park & Cabins before near Hermosa. It is pretty convenient to the whole area.

btw.... did you mean Spearfish, SD. Not familiar with Spearhead campground or SD.

 

[Bungy]

The OP asked about which roads to avoid if hauling his camper….

 

[Lindabf]

I would definitely stay in the Hills. We love this area. We were there for the second time this past August and stayed at Gold Valley Camp. This campground has recently changed hands and the new owner has rebuilt all the sites and hookups. It is centrally located between the two sides of Custer State Park. When driving the wildlife loop, make sure to take some of the gravel side roads. They take you back into areas less traveled and you will see some great views and wildlife not seen on the paved road. Gravel road is well maintained.

When we were there in 2021, we stayed at Sunset RV Park. This was a small, adult only park that was well maintained and very friendly. As our decision to stop in Custer was last minute on this trip, they were booked when we came through so couldn't stay. The bike trail for the area runs nearby and we road it for awhile back in 21.
 
They have balloon rides in the area. Since it was a last minute decision to stop they were all booked but we did have one land in the road right next to our camper one morning. We went out and helped pull them into the campground to get them off the road. That'll be on our list next time we pass through.

There are some nice hikes around Sylvan Lake. We did miss the turn for Sylvan Lake and ended up on the Needles. We're too wide with our dually to make it through so we had to stop traffic and turn around before entering the tunnel. There are other sections of the road where you can go through larger tunnels and see some amazing views of Rushmore as you are exiting the tunnel. We did go to the evening ceremony at Rushmore this time and really enjoyed it.

When we were there in 21 we went to The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs SD. It is an active dig site with over 60 mammoths. I wasn't expecting much but it was so much better than we both anticipated and highly recommend. While in Hot Springs, stop by some of the springs.

We only stayed 4 nights and were sad to go. We did drive around the area looking for boondocking sites so we're definitely going back though.

Don't forget to stop by The Badlands while in the area.

 

[Lindabf]

You said you are set for Tetons/Yellowstone but I highly recommend getting GuideAlong (formerly GyPSy Guide) and buying the Yellowstone + Grand Teton tour. It uses the GPS in your phone and Bluetooth with your truck to guide you through the parks making recommendations on things to see and do, and giving info on things within the parks. It looks like they now have a tour for Black Hills, Rushmore, Devils Tower and Badlands. We bought the Utah Mighty 5 tour after we had already been through Bryce Canyon. We went back through after downloading and we saw a totally different park and had a much better experience.

Also, pick up an America the Beautiful park pass, or if you are 62+, buy the Senior Pass. It'll save you a lot of money.