Mount Rushmore, The Badlands, and Devils Tower Advice

1,602 Views | 12 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by Ali0308
bleeags
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AG
Getting ready to retire, and wife and I have plans to visit Mount Rushmore, Devil's Tower, and the Badlands. Any advice you may have on places to stay, scenic drives to take, and can't miss places to eat and drink would be much appreciated Ags. Thanks in advance to the advice and help.
BleeAgs81
redag06
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Hit up the Black Hills while near Rushmore.
Devils tower is pretty forgettable in my opinion.
BQ2001
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AG
When you are out at Badlands, hit up Minteman MIssle NHS. They do offer tours of a silo, but they can book up a ways out. Even if you can't get into the tour the center is worth some time, at it is at one of the exits of Bandlands.

I think it is required that you stop at Wall Drug too.

If you have time in the area, hit up Jewel Cave and Wind Cave as well, you can do those in a day and possibly tacked on to a visit to Mt Rushmore, depending on what all you want to do. Our group liked the evening program at Mt Rushmore.

But my favorite part of our trip to that area was Custer State park. Lots of wildlife watching and a very scenic drive. Got my favorite picture of my daughter at a stop on Needles Highway. If you are doing a RV, it may not be as much fun.

Side note, get a national parks passport stamp book too if you visit a lot of National Parks (or want some motivation). It's fun way to get some free souvenirs when you visit. We started a few years ago with the small blue one, but I really like our new "Colletors Edition" one.
TailG8TR
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AG
Have visited multiple times.

Needles Highway and the narrow one way tunnels. Be sure to capture views of Mt Rushmore (hah - the locals call them "The Faces") framed through the tunnels. Makes good pictures.

Iron Mountain Highway. Very scenic - a total blast on a motorbike !

Mt Rushmore night lighting ceremony - In an outdoor amphitheater they do an informative/historical video and then hit the lights on Mt Rushmore and do National Anthem/America The Beautiful. Pretty cool. Then will recognize/acknowledge any individuals who served one by one.

Wind Cave spelunking tour.

If you visit in August - be aware of the Bike Rally in Sturgis. Pretty interesting.
chris1515
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AG
I can't comment on Devils Tower, but you can fly into Rapid City and easily get out to Bandlands NP, and the Minuteman silo/museum.

Deadwood is a neat little town. Especially if you like that part of history.

There is an interesting museum at the Homestake mine right next door to Deadwood. Won't take much time to see it.

The Needles highway is very cool. It is similar to a scenic drive you'd expect in a National Park.

Custer State Park is pretty neat also for sightseeing. In either Sep or Oct they have a buffalo round up which attracts a lot of tourists and has a cool little art festival.

Rushmore is very cool.

Downtown Rapid City is also pretty cool with a lot of little shops and bars.
Fairview
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AG
Went there this summer. People have already said pretty much everything. We stayed in Rapis City which is pretty central. There is stuff in almost every direction from there so it's easiest place to stay unless you want to bounce around.

I would reiterate making sure you don't go during Sturgis.

Also I wouldn't recommend the Crazy Horse Memorial. It's far out and the whole thing felt wrong to me. Really felt like the original sculptor (he's dead now) basically set up a thing for his family to have jobs forever. Plus it won't be done for another 80 years (I don't think it ever gets done).

Mount Rushmore is awesome though. Take the time to watch the movie and walk the loop. I went into it thinking it would be mediocre and was totally wrong. Really enjoyed it. Even restored a little faith in what the country could be again.
HollywoodBQ
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AG
I was just up there in March 2018. Here are two posts about different parts of it:
Somebody asking for recommendations around Spearfish, SD
Somebody driving from B/CS to Mt. Rushmore

Since I was there in March, you couldn't walk down the snow covered trail at Mt. Rushmore. As stated, Crazy Horse was kind of strange - definitely a family employment program for the next 150 years.

Sturgis is worth a stop but definitely would avoid it in August.

Deadwood was kind of cool.

Devil's Tower was really good. Take your hiking boots for the rocky walk around it. Prairie Dog Town was hilarious considering the efforts they go to where I used to live in Colorado to vacuum them up and get rid of them.
bleeags
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AG
THANK YOU ! to everyone who posted their advice, experience, and suggestions. We will be there for 5 days and now have many ideas about side trips and scenic drive/hikes. If it is not asking too much, how about ideas on where to stay and places to eat along the way. Much appreciated AGS !
BleeAgs81
jammer262
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We actually loved devils tower. We were doing it to just kinda check it off the list and ended up staying a few hours. Hike around the base counter clockwise. The trail is mostly paved. Bring binoculars, you can watch the climbers, you can barely see them with the naked eye.

We stayed in Spearfish at the holiday inn one night. It was $100 cheaper than the one in Rapid City. We also stayed at the Hampton in Deadwood. It was raining when we went to Mt Rushmore, so we just took a few pics and rolled out to the Badlands. The speed limit is 85 on I90 so getting out there is pretty quick. Worth seeing, but really after an hour it looks the same. The minuteman missile is worth a stop, we were there too late for a tour, but it's at the Badlands exit we spent 30 or so minutes there. To tour the actual silo you have to get there early, the silo is 10 minutes or so to the west.

Wind Cave was kinda a let down after seeing Mammoth and Carlsbad. It's a fracture cave so it's really tight, and there are little to no cave type structures. Custer State Park and the Needles Highway are a must do.

We stayed a night in Hot Springs. The Mammoth site there is amazing, well worth the stop, allow at least an hour and a half.
dcAg
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You might as well go to Deadwood as well.
Pro Sandy
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AG
Trip report I did on the Badlands many years ago: https://texags.com/forums/54/topics/1209461

The pics on that thread are gone, but it's a beautiful place. Lots of wildlife and weird looking scenery. Here's a few of my pics I rehosted using imgur since webshots is long gone.










Mt. Rushmore, I camped in the Black Elk Wilderness and hiked in. Neat to see, but a half day is plenty.



Custer State Park is great. Lots of wildlife and trails.



I also did Jewel Cave while there. The long tours were already booked so we just got the elevator ride down, 30 minute tour, and back up. Looked like a neat cave though.
bleeags
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AG
Wow, thanks for the advice and pics. The first week of May cannot happen enough. I am still a working stiff, but cannot wait until retirement and travel. Gig'Em and Thanks to everyone for the support and advice. Most helpful.
BleeAgs81
mpl35
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AG
Many good suggestions and I will repeat a lot of them.

Mount Rushmore - cool for a short visit. The only fee is parking which is $5 for older folks. The lighting ceremony will not be going on again until Memorial Day so you will miss that if you go earlier. The faces are illuminated still in the evening. I'd suggest going during the day and then dropping back by at night just to see it. The drive west from the Monument has a nice side profile of Washington that is also really cool to see lit up. I have never needed more than 1-2 hours here.

Wind Cave NP - go do the tour. The main feature is boxite that they seem overly proud of. Once you see it the tour gets a bit more dull because that is about all you see. Nothing compared to Carlsbad imo. Sometimes tours book up so you can drop by and buy tickets and show back up for your tour. I like the natural entrance so you can see the hole that made it "wind" cave.

Jewel Cave - Jewel cave is actually better than Wind Cave as far as variety of features. Again, get there and get tickets. Sometimes they book up early. In the summer they sell out on weekends by 9am

Devils Tower - worth a day trip over to see. Walk the loop around it - it is short (1.3 miles) and you can see all sides. ON the SW side you can see where the guys built a ladder to climb it. Pretty neat to see the pretty crappy wooden latter still clinging to the face in parts.

Badlands - worth a day trip. You can see bighorn sheep many times. Drive the length of the park on the road that runs through it. Several hikes here that are fun and provide a good view of the features of the park.

Custer State Park - lots of bison and other wildlife. Do the wildlife loop around it. I hiked to a fire tower here too. Very short and easy hike with great views to the east.

Drive the Needles highway. I have my son hanging out the moonroof as we go through the long tunnel. Drive the Iron Mountain road S to N. After you go through the 3 tunnels that frame the faces, there is a Peter Norbeck overlook. Get out and walk to the top of the rocks. You look down on Rushmore and the surrounding valley. Great views.

Spearfish Canyon state park has some nice waterfalls and is also a nice day trip.

Deadwood - I thought it was a complete waste of time. I drove over there excited to see the area but the crowds of drunk gamblers around the casinos was a major bummer. Felt commercial and trashy.

Mammoth Dig in Hot springs - one of the coolest things I saw. It is amazing the sheer number of animals preserved here. Definitely go.

Notes: before the start of the summer tourist season, many places are closed. We went once in April and 90% of Keystone was closed. Only one hotel and restaurant were actually open. The other towns that are closer to the edge had more amenities earlier.

Lodging is expensive as it is touristy. I still like the central locations in the Black hills as opposed to Rapid City. Might stay a couple of nights in each so you can save money and the trips to Devils Tower and Badlands can be done from Rapid City just as easily.

Hot Springs has a cool historic Red Rock River Resort
Custer State Park has Sylvan Lake Lodge, Custer State Park Resort, and State Game Lodge close by. You pay for location and not the best amenities but the settings of the places are very nice.

The Miner Brewing Company in Hill City if a nice stop. They have a winery next door too.

Great place to spend 3-5 days.


Ali0308
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Highly recommend EVA-Great Spirit Ranch Bed and Breakfast in Newcastle, WY. Great owners and great location.

Edit: just looked them up on Facebook, looks like they closed a few years ago.
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