Western south dakota
Most people think of Mt. Rushmore when planning a vacation to South Dakota with their family but there is SO much more to do in this region! With five National Park units, an amazing state park, and scenic drives galore, you can stay busy as long as you’d like.
Mt. Rushmore National Monument
Long ago when we were moving across the country, we made a quick stop at Mt. Rushmore and snapped a picture of one of our dogs in front of the monument from the parking lot. It was not a very impressive stop and we completely understood why so many people never actually make it to see this monument. This time around, we had a couple extra days to explore the area and were able to soak it up a little more. The kids earned Junior Ranger badges and we hiked the President’s Trail which is a lovely boardwalk that goes to the base of the mountain where the faces are carved. Seeing it up close was way better!
Crazy Horse Memorial
17 miles down the road from Mt. Rushmore stands the Crazy Horse Memorial sculpture. It was started as a private venture and has been more than 70 years in the making. There is some controversy about how the project has evolved over time. It was originally a request from a Lakota Chief named Luther Standing Bear to famous sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski but over time, the project has changed hands. The visitor center now generates millions of dollars per year that do not appear to be going toward faster completion of the sculpture and some people are unsure whether the project will ever be finished. I digress. For $30-35 per car, the museum was incredible. There are tours available that will take you up to the mountain where you can see the face up close. We were only able to spend about 45 minutes in the museum and easily wish we would have budgeted more time. The laser show was not worth making a trip out there for it alone but was okay to stay for if you’re already on site.
Custer State Park
Custer State Park was one of our top 3 things to do in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Sylvan Lake is one of the most popular destinations in the park, with good reason! We had planned to go kayaking on the lake but kayaks were first come first served and we arrived minutes too late. Instead, we hiked the Sylvan Lake Loop which was about 1 mile around the perimeter of the lake. It was beautiful! The kids were able to do some rock scrambling and the views were just stunning.
There are several scenic drives in Custer State Park. We didn’t have time to check out the Wildlife Loop Road (another that is highly recommended from what we hear), but we did venture down the 14 mile long Needles Highway. This is an incredibly scenic road with hairpin turns and many pull-offs to enjoy the scenery. The Needles Eye Tunnel was one highlight of this drive. We managed to squeeze through in our Ram 3500 SRW, but we pulled the mirrors in and it was definitely tight!
Badlands National Park
Our family vacation to Badlands National Park actually felt out of this world! The landscape is breathtaking and so surprising compared to the scenery just outside the park boundaries. We started at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center to get our bearings and plan out the day. We were there in the summer which is the busiest season - also the hottest! Make sure you are carrying plenty of water, hats, and sunscreen. And then let loose! Badlands has an “open hike” policy which means that many of the hiking trails are suggestions and our kids were able to run and climb to their hearts desire. We started with the Door hike and Window hike, both were very short, one was a boardwalk, and it was a perfect area to spend some time. We also drove the Badlands Loop Road which took between 1-2 hours and had several scenic overlooks.
We stayed at the White River KOA Holiday that is just a couple of miles outside of the park. We were bummed that the pool was closed but otherwise it was a nice little oasis and the location was fantastic for full hookups.
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site
Sometimes it’s not the park itself that makes the memories, but the Park Rangers. This was the case for a small national historic site just north of Badlands National Park. Our kids are too young to really know what to think about the Cold War or Cuban Missile Crisis but when a ranger pulled them aside and asked if they wanted to launch a rocket? It quickly became one of the more memorable parts of our trip to this region of South Dakota. She was patient and managed to sneak in some science while showing our kids what to do and they had so much fun.
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site is split into three different sections including the main visitor’s center and several miles down the road there are the Delta-01 launch facility and Delta-09 missile silo that also offer tours.
Planning a trip to western South Dakota? Here are our recommendations if you only have a short amount of time or can spend longer in this area!
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Honorable Mentions -