The signs say ice water, there is no ice. Bait and switch.
Vacation in the Black Hills
- Thread starter CYdTracked
- Start date
Wall Drug and Flintstones Village being incredibly average attractions is a huge part of my family Black Hills vacation nostalgia. We knew as we built up the hype that they were going to be cornball things to visit.
KidSilverhair
Well-Known Member
We drove through the Badlands on a trip out to the Black Hills about 5 years ago. My wife is not an outdoorsy person, I expected her to hate the Badlands.
It turned out to be the favorite part of her trip. Wall Drug, not so much, that’s a tourist trap waste of time.
I thought the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site right along the Interstate at the edge of the Badlands was cool. We didn’t do the extra tour to the actual crew quarters site, and they’d literally just opened up the visitors center so a lot of things hadn’t been installed yet, but I’d recommend it.
Like others mentioned. Go to Custer State Park......but with your kids and their age here is the memory of the trip. Bring a bag of long plain nothing special CARROTS. Heck bring two. Yes Yes Yes see nature and see buffalo absolutely, you got to do it. But drive the loop until you find the donkeys. Roll the windows down and feed them the carrots. There will be a pile up of cars and rangers on hand to direct traffic. Just pull over and stick a carrot out the window and give it time. Trust me the Donkeys will find you. You will see a lot of cool black hills stuff but at 11 and 8 your kids will remember the donkeys forever, and they will pee their pants giggling the whole time.
In the northern Black Hills is Spearfish Canyon Scenic Highway (ALT US 14). There are three waterfalls. The first and smallest is Bridal Veil Falls. The second is Spearfish Falls. To see it, you will have to park and hike a short trail. The third and last waterfall is Roughlock Falls. To get to it you will take State Highway 222 off of Alt US 14 and drive a few miles (not that far). Very beautiful canyon.
If you drive the wildlife loop at Custer State Park, you will see more wildlife than you will likely see at Badlands National Park.
Caves: Voices in caves are echoed. You should only talk in whispers. Also, you should not touch any cave formation as that leaves oil from your hands (think fingerprints) on cave formations. That oil multiplied by thousands of other visitors doing the same touching, will discolor and alter cave formations. If your children can talk in whispers and avoid touching cave formations, then the cave tour might be interesting. Keep in mind that the cave tours are not a video game and you will see the same things repeatedly. I haven't been to Jewell or Wind Caves in many years but in most caves, cell phones will not work.
If you drive the wildlife loop at Custer State Park, you will see more wildlife than you will likely see at Badlands National Park.
Caves: Voices in caves are echoed. You should only talk in whispers. Also, you should not touch any cave formation as that leaves oil from your hands (think fingerprints) on cave formations. That oil multiplied by thousands of other visitors doing the same touching, will discolor and alter cave formations. If your children can talk in whispers and avoid touching cave formations, then the cave tour might be interesting. Keep in mind that the cave tours are not a video game and you will see the same things repeatedly. I haven't been to Jewell or Wind Caves in many years but in most caves, cell phones will not work.
Shouldn't be using the cell phones for anything but taking pictures anyway.
And make you walk through a full-scale maze just to find it?
Side note, my son spent his entire allotment of souvenir money on meaningless crap in Wall Drug before we even got to the Black Hills on our first trip there.
I think these have all been mentioned, so look at this list as confirmation from one more person that something is cool:
Minuteman Missile Site, both the launch facility and the missile silo are cool
Badlands
Custer State Park
Wind Cave National Park was my favorite hiking we did
Deadwood - I enjoyed it, it is touristy, but enough history for me to enjoy
Mt. Rushmore
I spent a night at French Creek Camping area to hunt the agate beds for Fairburn agates the next day. Maybe not for everyone.
In my opinion there are dozens of places one can see bison, but it's extra cool in Custer State Park and Wind Cave National Park. If you're dumb, you could walk right up to one and pet it. There is noting separating the bison from people. It's a lot more natural setting than other places. Hiking in Wind Cave Park and having to take a break and sit down for 20 minutes while waiting for a herd of bison to pass while an elk in the trees behind you is bugling is something I'm not sure I'll ever experience again.
And find a place that will serve you a bone in bison rib-eye.
Minuteman Missile Site, both the launch facility and the missile silo are cool
Badlands
Custer State Park
Wind Cave National Park was my favorite hiking we did
Deadwood - I enjoyed it, it is touristy, but enough history for me to enjoy
Mt. Rushmore
I spent a night at French Creek Camping area to hunt the agate beds for Fairburn agates the next day. Maybe not for everyone.
In my opinion there are dozens of places one can see bison, but it's extra cool in Custer State Park and Wind Cave National Park. If you're dumb, you could walk right up to one and pet it. There is noting separating the bison from people. It's a lot more natural setting than other places. Hiking in Wind Cave Park and having to take a break and sit down for 20 minutes while waiting for a herd of bison to pass while an elk in the trees behind you is bugling is something I'm not sure I'll ever experience again.
And find a place that will serve you a bone in bison rib-eye.
Spearfish is an awesome town.
Hill City and Custer are cool too.
Sylvan Lake/Black Elk Peak is a must, IMO.
Hill City and Custer are cool too.
Sylvan Lake/Black Elk Peak is a must, IMO.
I don’t think you can get this trip wrong…unless you stay in the car I guess. Our kids are about the same age…and they loved it. We did take one day to do the water park in Rapid City. Was kind of nice to do the pool/indoor thing for just one day…and our kids really loved that.
But as someone else said, the kids can just play on natural formations all around there. It’s one of their favorite trips so far.
Agree with others that Sylvan Lake was one of my personal favorites.
But as someone else said, the kids can just play on natural formations all around there. It’s one of their favorite trips so far.
Agree with others that Sylvan Lake was one of my personal favorites.
I just stopped on the side of the road to take a few pictures.
Did OP ever mention when this summer? Because of the Sturgis rally in August.
Rock hunting. Lots of agates and fossils can be found
southdakotarockhound.com
South Dakota Rockhound - Rockhounding in South Dakota
South Dakota Rockhound is your Premium Source for Rockhounding in the Black Hills and Badlands of South Dakota.
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I went there as an adult and also as a 10 year old.
The Badlands were cool as a kid and an adult. It's a natural playground and a good place for kids to burn off energy from the car ride.
We stayed in Custer. Very cool. Get there during daylight as it was a pain to find our cabin in the dark.
Mount Rushmore is much better at night, IMO
Bear County was worth it both as a kid and an adult. A moose licked our car window when I was a kid. Massive tongue. I laughed as my sister's reaction for a solid 10 minutes.
I was going to recommend the Black Hills Maze, but I see that it closed. That's too bad, because I loved that as a kid
The Badlands were cool as a kid and an adult. It's a natural playground and a good place for kids to burn off energy from the car ride.
We stayed in Custer. Very cool. Get there during daylight as it was a pain to find our cabin in the dark.
Mount Rushmore is much better at night, IMO
Bear County was worth it both as a kid and an adult. A moose licked our car window when I was a kid. Massive tongue. I laughed as my sister's reaction for a solid 10 minutes.
I was going to recommend the Black Hills Maze, but I see that it closed. That's too bad, because I loved that as a kid
We took our boys there in 1998. Not sure what the tour is like now, but back then we actually got to go down inside one!
One place to skip: Vore Buffalo Jump. If you’re paying attention, you can see it from the interstate.
