The Black Hills, South Dakota
On Day 16 of our National Park Road Trip out west, we left Cody, Wyoming and headed for the Black Hills in South Dakota. We hated leaving Cody since we had such a great time there, but were excited to see South Dakota. We headed east on Highway 31 and it took us through small towns and beautiful scenery. We had about a 6 hour drive to Hill City, South Dakota, but we felt like we were on the road much longer.
From Highway 31 we took Highway 16, which is a 47 mile stretch of the Scenic Byway, through Ten Sleep, Wyoming. This part of the drive took us through the Bighorn Forest with a lot of turnouts to get awesome views.
Unfortunately, we had some rain and heavy fog in the Bighorn Forest.
Coming down the mountain, the sun reappeared and we started seeing Moose crossing signs. We were very hopeful to see a moose, but we had no such luck.
We had planned on stopping at Devils Tower, but after driving for almost an hour in the opposite direction of our destination, Hill City, we stopped before we got to Devils Tower and took some pictures of it from the highway. I was disappointed to not get up close to Devils Tower, but at least I got to see it from a distance.
About 45 minutes after leaving Devils Tower, we entered into South Dakota.
From I-90 we took Highway 385 Scenic Drive through Deadwood and then on to Hill City. We stayed in a great cabin at Mountain View Lodge and Cabins in the Black Hills.
Our cabin couldn’t have been any better. It was beautiful and comfortable.
After getting settled into our cabin, we headed 5 minutes down the road to Hill City for dinner. We decided on Pizza Mangiamo. We had a short wait and then enjoyed excellent wood-fired pizza.
The next morning we headed back into Hill City and had breakfast at Hill City Cafe. We didn’t love Hill City Cafe, but the salad bar and breakfast bar were good.
After our meal, we headed to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, which was about a 15 minute drive.
There is no entrance fee for Mount Rushmore, but it’s $10 to park.
We walked through the Avenue of Flags to the Grand View Terrace and took some great pictures.
We walked downstairs to the Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center. They have a wide variety of displays showing the techniques used to create the carving of the presidents. I also got my ink stamp for my National Park Passport Book. To read about the National Park Passport Book, click here. We also checked out the very large gift shop and passed a couple of food trucks. We went in to Carvers’ Marketplace for some food.
Logan and Lindsay had ice cream from Memorial Team Ice Cream and I had a latte from Rushmore Roasters.
We left Mount Rushmore and drove about 10 minutes to Crazy Horse Memorial. The cost to visit the Crazy Horse Memorial is $35 per vehicle.
We walked around for a while on the campus which includes The Indian Museum of North America, The Native American Educational and Cultural Center, and a gift shop. There is also a restaurant called Laughing Water Restaurant. The Indian Museum was very impressive.
We saw the Wall of Windows and then went outside and had a great view of the carving. Buses are also available to take visitors to the top of the mountain and it is included in the price of admission.
You can also see a sculpture of what the mountain will look like when completed. I personally don’t think the monument will ever be completed since it’s been 24 years since the face was finished. Not even the finger of Crazy Horse pointing forward has been completed. The Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation has educational and humanitarian interests and I believe most of the donations to the Memorial are going towards the Foundation’s philanthropic endeavors rather than the monument itself.
While in the Black Hills, we also decided to go to Custer. It’s a great little city and was only a 15 minute drive from our cabin.
We spent some time checking out all the cool shops like Dakota Territory Trading Post, Claw Antler & Hide Co, and the Custer County Candy Co. Then we went to Frontier Photo and had a western, old-time photo done. We loved how our picture turned out.
From Custer, we drove about half an hour to Custer State Park.
The Custer State Park entrance fee is $20, but there was no one at the entrance so we didn’t have to pay admission. We took Wildlife Loop Road which is about an 18 mile road through the park. I was excited when we came upon a buffalo herd.
We got to see and get close to the famous and very friendly Custer State Park burrows.
We also got to see a pronghorn and some prairie dogs.
The next day we drove about an hour to Deadwood.
We found a public parking lot just behind the Deadwood Visitor Center off Pine Street and walked a couple blocks to Main Street. We spent all day exploring places on Main Street like Deadwood Old West Trading Post, Broken Arrow Trading Company, Miss Kitty’s Mercantile, and Stagecoach Gifts.
Our favorite shop was The Lucky Horse Livery & Shiloh Horse Rescue. I bought several gifts there and part of the proceeds go to the Shiloh Horse Rescue.
We stopped for lunch at Mustang Sally’s. It was a nice sports bar and the food was really good.
We made our way to Saloon No. 10, where Wild Bill Hickok was killed. We watched the re-enactment of Wild Bill’s assassination that takes place daily at 1:00, 3:00, 5:00 and 7:00. Get there early because it fills up fast.
After seeing the Adams House and the Franklin Hotel, we drove about 5 minutes to Mount Moriah Cemetery. We walked up the hill and saw the gravesites of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.
From Mount Moriah Cemetery, we drove about 10 minutes to Tatanka Story of the Bison. This is a museum founded by Kevin Costner and is inspired by his time spent with the Lakota people while filming “Dances With Wolves.” The exhibits focus on the relationship between the Lakota Nation and the North American Plains Bison.
Outside behind the museum is the 3rd largest bronze sculpture in the world and depicts 14 bison being pursued by 3 Lakota riders.
We started the next day with a 4 hour self-guided trip in Polaris RZR’s through the Black Hills. We booked our tour through Adventure Rentals the day before. We were given iPads with an interactive map and we drove all over the area.
Logan and Lindsay were in one RZR and Tom and I were in another. The RZR’s were pretty muddy by the time we were done.
We had the best time and being able to explore the beautiful Black Hills was incredible.
We got cleaned up and drove half an hour to Rapid City. Our first stop was Bear Country U.S.A.
We drove through the park and saw Rocky Mountain Elk, Arctic Wolves, Big Horn Sheep, Timber Wolves, Mountain Lions, Mule Deer, Buffalo, Bears, and a handful of other species. Admission is $20 per person for adult, $18 per person for seniors and military members, $15 per child aged 5-12, and children under 5 are free.
We visited the Gift Shop and Art Gallery and then made our next stop a great candy store called Rushmore Candy. We bought some candy apples, chocolate covered cherries and non pareils.
Our next stop in Rapid City was Fort Hays. Fort Hays has a chuck wagon dinner and show and a movie set from “Dances With Wolves”. There is no admission fee to see the movie set.
We got to see the inside set too!
We headed back to our cabin and spent the evening around the campfire.
The next morning we packed up, said goodbye to the Black Hills, and headed to Wall Drug. We had about an hour and a half drive to Wall, South Dakota. About 30 miles from Wall, we started seeing the numerous billboards along the highway advertising Wall Drug.
Wall Drug is an amazing place. It was originally known for it’s free ice and then free ice water. Wall Drug offers food, gifts, souvenirs, and activities. The store is really like a mall and sells handcrafted items including Black Hills Gold jewelry, western apparel and hats, leather boots and belts, and Native American jewelry.
Wall Drug is definitely very touristy, but I loved it. Tom and Logan bought cowboy hats and I got my free coffee and donut for being a veteran.
We left Wall Drug and drove half an hour to Badlands National Park. We entered the park via the east entrance, Pinnacles Entrance Station.
Badlands National Park was incredible. To read my article about our time in Badlands, click here. After exploring the Badlands, it was time for us to start the long journey home to Virginia.
