Mount Rushmore Vacation

Hi M.,
My husband and I rented a house outside of Rapid City a few years ago when we vacationed there. It was pretty centrally located to everything and it did have all the aminities (washer/dryer, shower, fully stocked kitchen) We got a pretty good deal on it, but I can't for the life of me remember the website now. Good luck with your planning and make some wonderful memories for your family!

In the past few years we traveled to Mt. Rushmore many times with different friends and family members (my husband did an intership in SD). Our favorite place to stay was in the cabins at Custer State Park. It was especially nice for my mother in law who wasn't realy into camping because she had a hot shower and bathroom right there. We also liked having a kitchen to do our cooking. Mt. Rushmore is wonderful. Be sure to take keystone highway (from Custer to Keystone) so you can see specially cut out parts of the mountian that give you sneak peaks at Mt Rushmore. An hour's drive away are the badlands which are great for hiking (our 11 yr nephew loved them). Custer state park is great too. We enjoyed boating on the lake, hiking, picnicing and of course looking for animals (buffalo, bighorn sheeo, antelope, and such) on the Wildlife Loof at Custer. Have a great trip. If you need any more info, let me know.

I stayed at Custer State Park (camping). They have both RV/trailer & tent sites. There's a restroom with shower and everything. Just google South Dakota state parks. For 3 nights we spent a total of $35 for lodging for 4 adults and a dog. That was a few years back so rates may have gone up but we certainly appreciated the price!

Hi M.-Sounds like a fun vacation. Our favorite/only way to travel with our family of four is to rent houses. It almost always ends up cheaper than hotel suites and then you get multiple bedrooms and a kitchen...but perhaps it's not as fun as a camper. If you're into checking it out, here's the site: www.vrbo.com You just click USA, then South Dakota and get more specific from there, as to # of bedrooms and other details.

Good luck planning and have fun!

There is vrbo.com, that stands for vacation rentals by owner.
We've used it a couple times for condos on vacations.
When we went to South Dakota, we stayed in Hot Springs. It is a bit of a drive to things, but we had a place that was like an apartment.

When we went to SD we camped at Custer State Park. We saw all sorts of wildlife up close, especially the buffalo.
There are a lot of things to do in the area (Mt. Rushmore was really amazing but really just a one day thing). There is some great hiking and a lake in the area (don't remember the lake, but the hiking area was Harney Peak) and several caves. We went to Wind Cave, which is a very unique cave because of the different way it was formed. Jewel cave (IIR) is also in the area. We also stayed in Rapid City (family there) which is a few hours from Custer State Park and Mt. Rushmore. We stayed in the Garden Inn Motel or something like that - it was fun little cottages with 2 bedrooms so the kids didn't have to sleep right with us. In or near Rapid City are Old MacDonald's petting farm, the Reptile Park, and Storybook Island, and an old Scandanavian church (I don't rememer what it's called), all fun family places to see.

travelsd.com is the official website of South Dakota's office of tourism. Try browsing there for more stuff to do.

We did this last summer. We had a group of 8 people total, and one of the group was very picky about where they stayed. We had a hard time finding a cost effective place to stay. Every place was very expensive. We finally found that there are several KOA camp grounds in the area that have cabins to stay in. They are one or two room cabins with rustic style beds. There were AC units in the cabins but you have to bring your own sheets and coverings. There was a pool and shower facilities, ect. I loved it. We stayed in three KOA camp grounds last summer, twice in the cabins and they were very nice. But I love to camp, and dont mind sleeping on the ground. Now the picky person in our group didnt like the cabins but he really is a jerk so I would check it out for yourself. Try KOA.com. It was cheaper than a hotel, and I loved it. Good Luck, and have fun, I loved the area!

Hi there, we stayed at the Holiday Inn Hill City (think its the only one in town) very nice, newer and everyone was so kind.

Hi there,
we went to Mt.Rushmore last year and had the best time. We stayed at a place called Bar S J ranch or something like that, they had tent camping, RV sights and cabins( the cabins are just beds, that's it, so you need bedding, we used our sleeping bags( we had to stay one night because of the rain, we tent camped the rest of the time). This place is right off the highway from Mt.Rushmore( but it was far enough to be quiet). They have a pool although when we went it was cool and a little rainy. We just love to camp, the kids love it too, it is more work than a hotel but there is no TV or other distractions! There is so much to see in this entire area, Mt.Rushmore can easily be done in a day. If you have triple A get a book from them or just go online. We had alot of fun there, I actually liked it much better than Disneyland( not so commercialized). Have fun!

We have stayed at the Holiday Inn Express and reserved the suite. It has two queen beds and a fold out couch, micro, fridge and free breakfast in the morning. We love the Holiday Inn Express!!! Its about 8 miles from Mt. Rushmore. Good Luck & Have Fun.

Flying B Ranch:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g54774-d81865-...

When it comes to trips, I am a meticulous researcher. I have a 6-day sample itinerary I could send you if you'd like some ideas, based largely on ideas and recommendations from my own personal experiences, travel resources, websites such as Frommers, Frodors, TripAdvisor, etc. I am a SD native. I've lived in CO for 11 years, but recently planned a trip to Mt. Rushmore for my family, including kids ages 2-years to 10 years old.

Other accomodations we consider:
Mystery Mountain Resort
13752 South Hwy W, Rapid City, SD

Lake Park Campground
2850 Chapel Lane, Rapid City, SD 57702

Franklin Hotel
Rate It
• Address: 700 Main St., Deadwood, SD, 57732 | Map It
• Phone: 605/578-2241; 800/688-1876
• Fax: 605/578-3452
• www.silveradofranklin.com
• Price range: $-$$$
• Location: Deadwood

Americas Best Value Inn
620 Howard St, Rapid City, SD 57701

Big Sky Lodge
4080 Tower Rd, Rapid City, SD 57701

Strawberry Bed and Breakfast
Hcr 73 Box 264, Deadwood, SD 57732

We enjoy the town of custer. It has camping nearby and it is only minutes away from mt. Rushmore. A convenient place for a lot of nearby activities. Jellystone is right in town as well. We stayed at the super 8 hotel, is was real nice, we were there july 2007 before biker week in sturgis. Pool, hot tub, free internet and cable, plus hot tub, lovely people who do not restrict the pool time. They also help you get around town and find things, they have maps etc. The restraunt up the road from the hotel became a favorite place, something with the word "dakota" in it,they have a gift shop attached. We found the townfolk to be real friendly and helpful. We plan to go back this year. Mini golf, ice cream and pie shop too.
Hope you find this to be helpful. The town has a bunch of painted buffalo statues, a must see in my book, one on every corner just about, plus elk statues and deer. Also the deer come down at night,take a drive a night time through town and you will see them one block either way off the main drag. I can't say enough, it was a great experience for us!
Write back if i can be more helpful,
L. k

My family visited Mt. Rushmore on a trip to Florida when I was 8 and my best memory of the area was not just Mt. Rushmore, it was actually Reptile Gardens. I strongly recommend it! There's large tortoises (watch the little hands, they tend to want to see where that turtle head disappears!), crocs, spiders, etc. The carving of Crazy Horse is also very educational! I don't remember much about hotel/KOA's. Although we were traveling in a pop-up camper (my mom with five kids) and we stayed in KOA campgrounds the entire way. It was a wonderful time and I love looking back through my journal of the trip. Have a great time!!

I used to live in Rapid City and our family took a vacation there last year. I would say that camping is going to be cheaper than renting a room. All of the hotels there have waterslides now. There is a hotel, I think that it is called the Watiki Water Park (or something close to that) that looked pretty cool. We didn't get to stay there because it was booked.

I don't know of any vacation packages, but I don't think that I would do that anyway. Most of the attractions are out highway 16. Bear Country is great. You drive through a wild animal park and the kids loved it. When we went there was a bear that would only let one car through at a time. The Maze was fun. That is a human maze where you have to get to four towers to get a stamp of four of the presidents. There are people out there to help you in case you get lost. It is a great workout too so I wouldn't do that in the heat of the day. Reptile Gardens is pretty good. They have a croc show and bird show and I think a snake show. Evans Plunge is very fun. That is in Hot Springs. There is an indoor and outdoor pool that is naturally heated. Also in Hot Springs is the Mammoth Site. My kids had fun there and they ended up being part of the demonstration about the mammoths. On the way to Mt. Rushmore is a town called Rockerville. I did a report on the town when I was in grade school, which was forever ago, and it is supposed to be haunted. The restaurant is pretty much the only thing that is there now. There is a little restaurant there that used to be pretty good to eat at. We had to go there on our vacation because they have Birch Beer. It is a strong root beer but it is great. There are tons of caves to tour. I wouldn't pay the money to see Crazy Horse since you can see everything from the highway. My kids liked Flintstone Village. However, there really isn't that much there. It is a park that has the all of the houses from Bedrock. They got their picture taken with Fred and Barney and they got a shirt to say been there done that. Cosmos is neat. You can stand on the wall and lean forward and you don't fall down or balls can roll up hill. We spent a week there and we still didn't get to do as much as we wanted.

We packed a cooler with sandwich stuff and some snacks and that really helped cut down on the lunch prices and to take away from always eating greasy food. Getting up there in age I find that I can't eat out every meal like I used to.

Since I have lived there and then vacationed there I would just pick up some of the fliers that are at the hotels or any of the tourist traps.

If you have any more questions send me a message and we can help you out. Have fun!

I forget exactly where it is, but on the way if you are from the metro Denver area...the mammoth site. Really interesting!

I don't have any ideas for hotels as we just went to hotels.com and got a reasonable rate at some hotel in Rapid City. But I did want to tell you that we LOVED South Dakota and Mt. Rushmore! My husband and I went there when I was pregnant with son #1 and still talk about how we can hardly wait to go back when the boys are older (they are now 27 and 9 months). Mt Rushmore is awesome, Crazy Horse was OK, not that great, Deadwood was a blast, we also enjoyed Sturgis. There is a fun "drive thru" zoo (Bear Country??) outside of Rapid City, oh, and don't miss Hill City if you want just a fun little town for a good lunch. Have fun!

I live in MT and have taken our kids over a couple times so far.

I don't know what would be more cost effective, but there are TONS of hotels in Rapid and in the surrounding areas! Also, you should make sure your not going during Sturges (unless thats what you've planned). Not only will everything be crowded, it will be noisey and you'll have to fight for every parking space you will need. All the hotels will be booked along with the campgrounds (and yes that is for the entire surrounding area). Call the area hotels and see what their rates are and ask if they have an interet discount.

Have you already looked up what you would like to do? I know someone already said Bear Country and if I could shout though a comp (oh wait I can use caps!) DO IT!! I'VE BEEN 3 TIMES NOW AND THE LAST ONE WAS THE BEST. We had friends with us who were so interested and they were watching another bear when one right outside passanger door of our van suddenly stood up and put his paws on the window to look in! Freaked them out!!

Also, Reptile Gardens! If you ever wanted to know how to wrestle an aligatore, they teach you! All the times I've been there and I still can't get them to wrestle the Croc! You can get so close to a bald eagle you could reach out and touch (if it were allowed) but to see it so close is amazing. Its not the biggest in the world, but so worth it even if you just went as an adult.

There are tons of things to do in the area. Way before you leave, you should call the Chamber of Commerce for Rapid and tell them what you are looking for. They will be able to point you towards a lot of their big attractions, and there are a lot of them.

And just so you know, there is a small fee for getting in the park. I can't remember what it is but its not too horrible. Plus, its good for a year. You prob aren't going to be coming back just for that, but if you wanted to you could come back before you leave for home.

I hope you have fun here! Now I want to go again! But this time I think I'll find a sitter for the kids so I can hit Sturges!! We were there during it last year but had kids and friends who wern't too impresses with all the noise.

J.

Ohhh That area of South Dakota is wonderful. We had vacationed several times there and after my divorce I moved there for quite awhile until family health issues called me home.

If you are staying at a camp ground, The Flinstones campground is a lot of fun and very cost friendly. The is a small amusement park on site for the kids (included in the cost of your stay) and yours are at the perfect age. A nice place I have rented a cabin on several occasions is No Name Camp Grounds. They are very reasonably priced and the owners are super sweet. There is an outdoor swimming pool & hot tub plus an indoor hot tub as well. The cabins sleep 6 very comfortably or toy can get the 2 cabins that ajoin if you want the seperation without the kiddos being too far. No Name is on the highway between Rapid & Sturgis.

While you are there, I highly suggest hitting Bear Country. Its a drive through wild animal park and it is just breath taking. Be careful of when you go, and avoid the last week of July & first 2 weeks of Aug. as that is when the bike rally in Sturgis is. While a ton of fun for the adults, it isnt a good place for the kids to be. Also everything is SO much more expencive.

Have a wonderful trip!!

K.

There is a KOA campground a few miles from Mt. Rushmore and it is wonderful. They have 2 pools, a waterslide and putt-putt. They also show movies at nite and have pancake breakfasts.

Reptile Gardens is worth it! And, so is Old MacDonald's Farm -take the video camera!! These are my kids' faves and "Bear Country" too.