Vacation in the Black Hills of SD

we vacationed there last year, we went right at the beginning of June, so places were just opening "all the way" for the season after memorial day. Reptile Gardens is great, as is Old McDonalds farm. There is a place that was right in Rapid City I believe called Storybook Island. It's actually free, we could've spent the whole day there, its basically this giant playground that has all these storybook themed things to play on. It was GREAT.

The Harley-Davidson Sturgis Rally is held August 9-15th. I strongly suggest you avoid that week, the week before and the week after.

The Black Hills are absolutely beautiful! You should definitely take the drive to see the Badlands. Deadwood is fun to see, although it has been very commercialized over the years. I also recommend visiting Custer State Park. You might be able to camp there.

I think June is a good time because it is cooler in the mountain region but not quite so hot on the plains.

Here is a link to the attractions in Southern Minnesota, as you travel towards I-90 and Souix Falls you have lots of things to pick that your whole family can find fun.

http://www.exploreminnesota.com/regions/41369/map/region-...

Once you enter South Dakota you have some lots of options. Here's a link to the official travel guide for the state.

http://www.travelsd.com/

Click on destinations and you can click on the different areas of the state and see what is there. Mitchell is in the SE geographic region, you can do the Corn Palace at Mitchell, it wasn't open when we went because it was late May. We found most tourism attractions don't even open until during Memorial Day Weekend or after Memorial Day.

The Badlands are just so awe inspiring, it brings back memories of black and white Westerns from when I was a little kid. It is America in the raw. there is a lot of options for camping and park areas there. It would be a good overnight destination if you are camping, even spending a couple of days.

We stopped in Wall SD and visited Wall Drug Store, it was fun, can be expensive because, well, let's face it, it is just a tourist trap but it is definantly fun to see, plus the food was really yummy too. I took several rolls of film on the dinosaur but Jurassic Parl jad been out and I had just seen it, so maybe that explains my facination but it really shook the ground!

http://www.walldrug.com/

We stayed the night in Custer across the street from Flinststone Bedrock City and although we didn't go to it, we were interested in going back sometime.

http://www.flintstonesbedrockcity.com/

We left the hotel and drove North and the took a state highway East and then winded back around to the South and eventually came up to Mt. Rushmore from the back (North). It was such a surprise when we turned around and the hills we had been seeing for a while suddenly had faces on the other side.... There were lots of white mountain goats and they just wandered around eating grass and watching us. We didn't do the whole museum thing because we had seen all the specials on the History channel and didn't feel the museum was worth the money, it is rather expensive to me. I did enjoy looking at Crazy Horse though, it was much more interesting to me.

Here's another site that focus' on Western SD.

http://www.blackhillsbadlands.com/home/planyourtrip/maps/...

I know this was long but I enjoyed my vacation to South Dakota. The travel guides I got in the mail were totally helpful plus I checked out travel guides from the library, I think they were Frommers and Fodor's and maybe another one or two that I found the format to be easy to read and interesting, they had lots of pictures too.

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/southdakota/

We took our two boys to the Badlands and Black Hills last summer and had a wonderful time. Our kids are older though, 10 and 13, so it is probably a different experience than you might have. I agree with the poster who said avoid the weeks before, during and after Sturgis. We went the week before thinking it would be o.k., but a lot of the bikers arrive early. It wasn't a problem for us, but there was a lot of increased traffic and there were bikers EVERYWHERE. My boys turned it into a game--counting helmeted riders vs. non-helmeted. You would probably have trouble finding camping sites during those times. I've heard it gets really, really hot in the Badlands in August, but we actually had record-breaking cold temps when we were there. The last week in August they lower prices, but some of the attractions close early.

We also live in the Twin Cities. On the way there, we stopped in Sioux Falls to have lunch with a friend and there is an amazing park on the Falls that was a fun break and opportunity to stretch. We ate lunch in downtown Sioux Falls in a diner that's a converted old train car. That is fun for the kids. We spent the night in Mitchell to further break up the drive. My boys really enjoyed the Corn Palace and Corny the mascot, but you don't need to allow a lot of time for that stop. It's quick. They work on the palace throughout the summer so it might not have much decoration completed early in the summer. They were still working on the sides of it in early August last year.

On our second day we had lunch at Wall Drug. I think it's overrated and a tourist trap, but the kids enjoyed it. It is really crowded. Be prepared for lots of souvenirs and tacky stores. The boys did have a lot of fun crawling around in a relatively newer area in the back (a little park with a jackelope statue, an old covered wagon, etc.) and enjoyed "mining" for jewels (at an extra cost). We spent the afternoon driving through and hiking around the Badlands. There are both easy and difficult hikes. If you want to hike, I would recommend a sturdy backpack for one of you to carry the baby.

In Rapid City, we went to the Dinosaur Park. Another very quick stop, but the boys liked it and there are amazing views since it's set on top of a hill. It is just a bunch of large dinosaur statues. Our boys LOVED the Reptile Garden, which is between Rapid City and Mt. Rushmore. In fact, we went to the Reptile Garden and then Mt. Rushmore, and our youngest said at Mt. Rushmore, "I didn't realize a reptile garden could be so much more interesting than a national monument." Mt. Rushmore is beautiful and an amazing feat, but I didn't find it particularly kid-friendly. Our kids enjoyed driving by it more than actually visiting it. We had lunch in Keystone, the little town right outside Mt. Rushmore. It is a delightful little town and we found a kid-friendly deli (Teddy's?), but beware--it is adjacent to an old-fashioned candy store.

Other things we did included a tour of Jewel Cave and a drive through Custer State Park. I am claustrophobic, and I was fine with Jewel Cave because it is big and fairly well lit. However, it might be a little dark and scary and too long of a tour for younger kids. Custer State Park is full of bison who often stop traffic when they congregate on the road. I get our drives mixed up, but I think we also saw prairie dogs and wild burros. We definitely saw those things fairly up close and personal at some point on the trip!

We also went to the mammoth archeological dig site. It was fascinating and the boys loved it. Your kids might be a little too young for it, but it would depend on your older daughter's interest in archeology and that kind of thing. In the same area is a hot springs water park (Evan's Plunge). Don't expect glamorous though; it's very basic. The water feels wonderful though. There is a small, shallow play area for younger kids, but most of the water is probably too deep for your kids, unless the older one is a really good swimmer. Life jackets are an option though. I saw a lot of little kids there wearing life jackets.

Although we were very busy every day, we were unable to see and do everything in 5 days. There are a lot of fun options. I'm not as familiar with the stuff that appeals to the much younger kids. Many of these attractions do require some drive time, so you need to factor that into your plans. We stayed in Rapid City so we were fairly centrally located, but most things are a 30-90 minute drive away. Feel free to send me a message if you have any specific questions. Have fun! (Book soon--spaces do fill up since it is such a short tourist season for them.)

One thing that your 7 year old might enjoy is reading the Little House on the Prairie books and visiting the museum in De Smet. I know my niece really enjoyed that!
http://www.liwms.com/
http://www.lauraingallswilder.com/

Wow, just did that trip a couple of years ago! It's awesome. We went at the middle to end of June, I think and it was pretty hot. Wow, yes, you have to see Mt. Rushmore. And we went to the town,Deadwood. It was awesome.
We went all over, we stayed in Sioux Falls twice, they have a great park that lights up at night in the water. We stayed in Rapid City as well. There are some great places to stop on the way to Deadwood as well. The Badlands are cool.
We also went to Pierre, it's a nice side trip. Not a super bunch to see, but a great little town if you like neat small towns. It's a water town....had some nice things - an old soda fountain etc.

We were gone 2 weeks and we could have spent another week out there for sure. We drove from Indiana, so we stayed in Blue Earth, that was fun.

I think you will have a great trip. If you are a member of AAA, I would suggest you get some maps and tour books before you go and plot out your course. Although we veered off ours a bit, it was really fun.

Let me know how it went!

I enjoyed seeing the Corn Palace! The kids would like it as well, I thought it was pretty neat.

You will love the black hills. we took our kids just this year, but growing up in SD, I've been there many times. If you stay in one place the whole time, I recommend something central. We stayed more in the northern part and felt like we were in the car ALL they time. Camping is great, but with a newborn, consider renting a pop-up or staying in a cabin in a campground. The nights can get cold - or it could be 105. Plus, babies don't do great in tents in my experience.
On your way out, I would recommend going down to I-90 and through Sioux Falls. That would be a great place to spend the night. It is really too long to do in one day (around 12 hours w/o stops). There are some great hotels in SF your oldest would enjoy with waterparks. Just after you cross the Missouri River, there is a restaurant called Al's Oasis. A great place for lunch or dinner. Old cowboy themed - good food. I strongly recommend avoiding Mitchell's corn palace. It isn't that cool and it's way out of your way. When you get to the hills, you'll want to visit at least one cave. Your daughter would probably really enjoy cosmos and many many great hiking spots. Be sure to see the needles highway.
Have fun.

Cindy L. covered most of it - but I just wanted to say that my daughter was given the choice of going to China with my parents and she wanted to go back to South Dakota instead because according to her, South Dakota was the best vacation in the world! :)

Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park is fabulous - and you should definitely visit Crazy Horse, which I enjoy MUCH more than Rushmore. We loved the Journey museum, and the Museum of Natural History. My daughter also loved visiting the fish hatchery in Spearfish. We loved the Reptile Gardens and ... well, the only really stupid thing was the Mystery Spot, but my daughter (who was 6.5 at the time) LOVED it. We also went to De Smet for the Laura Ingalls Wilder site, and it was truly the highlight for my daughter and I, although camping there was less enjoyable. The zoo in Sioux Falls also great.

Make sure you avoid the Sturgis motorcycle rally. The Laura Ingalls site does a great festival in July, and that's when we went.

Have fun!