Our trips to the Black Hills area in South Dakota

The Black Hills area in South Dakota is probably one of the most wholesome family vacations you can take. We have been there 3 times, actually. We even ended up going to South Dakota for our honeymoon.  I know… super romantic… right? There is no better way to test a new marriage than to be stuck in a car with your new spouse for several hours, feeling there is no end in sight. But as you may be able to tell, we made it. 

Besides for our honeymoon, we went there when we were dating, and another time with Zak’s sister. It’s a fairly reasonable road trip for us, which is why we have been there multiple times. Here are some things we did on our trip and some recommendations to note about the trip that may be useful to you.

Prop up the steering wheel and take a nap…

No, but seriously, it’s an incredibly long and borderline uneventful drive from our house to the Black Hills area.  I highly suggest you bring a book, audio book, and an incredibly long music playlist.  There doesn’t seem to be much to look at coming from the east on Interstate 90. If looking at endless fields, cows, and surprisingly flat land is your thing, then the drive to South Dakota will be great for you.

Billboards

Both times we went, Wall Drug seemed to own every billboard on the interstate.  I’m not kidding… every few miles or so there was a Wall Drug sign. To add some flavor to your trip, take bets on how many total you’ll see on your way.  I know we did… and somehow Kristen ended up guessing the EXACT number.  We should have bought a lotto ticket thereafter… but hindsight is 20/20.

Wall Drug

As I said before, Wall Drug is the clear winner of the “most billboards on the interstate” award.  However, when we got there, it wasn’t anything we thought it would be. We expected a large drug store with maybe a restaurant or something.  NOPE. It’s basically a large strip mall complex full of gift shops. There was food there, but the place didn’t live up to the hype. I’m not saying it wasn’t cool, and didn’t have cool things.  I’m just saying that it’s sort of a glorified shopping mall with great advertising. It’s something that you should stop and see at least once, though, because they have some unique things to see.

The not so Black Hills… and the Badlands

I hear they’re called the black hills because the darker trees that cover the land makes them look black.  However, the real winner here is the Badlands. You’ll know you got to the badlands because everything will suddenly turn into a rocky, sandy, cliff like geography.  I highly recommend stopping every chance you can get and take a bunch of pictures. Each layer of rock is exposed, and seems to have a different color. They’re beautiful and well worth spending time at.

Custer State Park

In our opinion, the real diamond in the rough is Custer State Park.  On top of their great welcome center that is great for people of all ages, the park itself is absolutely beautiful.  It’s not uncommon to be driving along and suddenly get into a bit of a traffic jam – and not in the traditional sense.  A few times we had to stop because a herd of buffalo decided to cross the street at that moment. You can chalk up “being in the middle of a buffalo herd” as being a moment that could make anyone feel small. 

I would also like to mention the Burros, which are a sort of Mexican Donkey. They have several herds there and they’re actually reasonably friendly. Here is a tip: Do not buy the food the welcome center sells for the Burros.  They don’t seem to like it. Here is the story on how we found out how to attract all the burros in the park to one location:

Kristen and I used to live by a park that had goats.  We used to walk out there with small bags of cracked corn we would get at a local hardware store.  Usually, you give this stuff to squirrels and birds, but the goats seemed to like it so we kept a big 20 pound bag of it in our trunk to fill our little bags with.  So when we got to Custer and found the Burros wouldn’t want the stuff that was sold there, we tried the crack corn. Needless to say, they loved it. They loved it so much that they started surrounding us, all pawing to get some.  Then more came. Then we realized we were literally dead center in a massive herd of burros. They blocked the road and people started getting out of their cars wondering what was going on. I’m not sure if Burros can talk to each other, but clearly they got on their long range Burro-Net and everyone came running.  People started asking us if we worked at the park and we started handing out the cracked corn. It was intense, but amazing at the same time. If you’re going to go, take a bunch of cracked corn. It is well worth it!

Sylvan Lake

Sylvan Lake is located in Custer State Park. We stopped by and walked the trail around the lake. It’s beautiful and we were able to take some fun pictures there. They have a nice little gift shop, paddle boats, and other activities that you were able to rent. 

No better pizza!

One place we always make sure to stop to eat is the pizza place at the Roosevelt Inn. I don’t remember what it was called a decade ago, but right now it’s called Pizza Time.  It is, hands down, the best pizza we’ve ever had.  We’ve had serious discussions about driving all the way to Keystone – just for the pizza.  They make everything from scratch – including the crust. You have to wait like 30 to 40 minutes for your pizza, but it is well worth it.

Gold Flecks and Bikers

One thing we did was pan for gold.  You know, at one of those touristy places.  When we got there, it was packed, but at the very far bin was a single person.  He was big, burly, covered in tattoos and leather, and was clearly a biker. Apparently no one wanted to be around him or was intimidated by him because they were squeezing together elsewhere.  So what did we do? We walked right up to his bin and struck up a conversation. He was a really nice guy. He even gave me pointers on how to pan correctly, because I was clearly struggling. Isn’t that the point of traveling?  To meet different people? Everyone around him judged him by his appearance, but we didn’t, and met a really nice guy.

Hotels

During all of our trips, we stayed in the town of Keystone. It’s a good location, as it’s just down the hill from Mt. Rushmore. We stayed at the Travelodge hotel the first 2 times and the Roosevelt Inn the third time. We got an awesome deal at the Roosevelt Inn…around $320 for 5 nights! But, when we got there, the owner was not impressed as she said it must have been a glitch on the website because they never have rooms for that good of a price. To be honest though, I’m glad we didn’t pay anymore for it. They were remodeling at the time and the pool area, while still usable, was basically gutted. Our room was not very nice at all and they weren’t very kind to us when we saw them out and about. Hey, it wasn’t our fault their website gave us a great deal. However, I have seen pictures since that time and the rooms look very nice. I would probably give them a second chance if we ever go back.

On our way there, we stayed overnight in Chamberlain, SD at the Super 8. We would highly recommend this hotel as it has a great pool and is in a nice location. Chamberlain is a small town that overlooks the Missouri River. There’s a nice little hometown restaurant in Chamberlain called Anchor Grille that we have eaten at each time we go through.

The trip after that becomes more scenic and not so flat. If you have quite a road trip coming from the east on interstate 90, Chamberlain is a good stopping point. It’s only a few more hours to the Black Hills, so you won’t spend the last part of your road-trip driving all day and will still have time to sightsee at the Badlands, Wall Drug, and other fun little stops along the way. One time we stopped at a little 1880’s town along the way, which was interesting.

Mt. Rushmore

Of course, one of the main attractions we visited was Mt. Rushmore. This is a must see if you are in the area. There is a place to grab a bite to eat there, as well as a gift shop. We enjoyed going up there for breakfast and admiring Mt. Rushmore in the morning light as we ate. There was a loop trail that we took to get a closer look at Mt. Rushmore. It’s not terribly long and is doable for families.

Once when we were there, we had the pleasure of meeting Donald “Nick” Clifford, the last living person that helped construct Mt. Rushmore. We were sad to hear that he passed away this last November.

Other Activities

There were many other places we visited in the area including Reptile Gardens, Bear Country, and Crazy Horse. If you have kids, they would definitely enjoy Reptile Gardens and Bear Country. At Bear Country, you drive through the park and the animals are right outside of your car. They have more than bears there as well. 

Crazy Horse is another mountain monument that has been under construction for many years. Like…almost 70 years according to this article. Kristen visited Crazy Horse as a kid and it doesn’t look like they’ve made much progress since that time which was 20+ years ago. If you don’t have time for everything on your itinerary at the Black Hills, this is one thing we would recommend putting at the bottom of your list. 

In Keystone, there is a ski lift that takes you to the top of the hill that we would recommend if it’s still there. We enjoyed lunch at the restaurant at the top, along with some nice views. They have a long slide that you can buy a ticket for to come back down, but we opted to take the ski lift back down. 

One place we stopped by on our road trip there is the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. It’s described as a building or “palace” designed with corn. The outside looks cool and I think the design is changed every year, however, the inside isn’t much to write home about. We were expecting it to be a “palace” of corn inside, but there’s not a lot of corn designs inside. In fact, the inside is basically a high school gym with some tables set up that you can buy souvenirs from. It’s not probably a place we would stop by again if we went back, but it was something different to see once.

If you are looking for a fairly affordable family vacation, the Black Hills area in South Dakota is a great choice! Have questions about the area? If you have been there, what was your favorite thing about the Black Hills? Drop a comment below!