Vacation in the Black Hills

[jaj040]

Taking Iron mountain road north into keystone, you get some good views of Rushmore. The curly q bridges are really cool.

Hiking is incredible. The cathedral spires hike is easy and short enough for kids and the view at the end is great.

 

[do4CY]

Badlands
Air and space museum at Ellsworth afb
Custer wildlife loop
Horatio's ice cream in Custer
Needles hwy
Mt Rushmore in the late afternoon and stay til dark
Rent a UTV near Spearfish and pack a lunch to have a picnic
Wind cave

2-3 days will go fast. We stayed at an airbnb near custer, it was just a little shed with a bed, pull out couch, bathroom, kitchenette and grill outside.

 

[CYdTracked]

I drove through Thermopolis once. That's an amazing drive coming from the South on highway 20. The whole Bighorn mountains and valley to the west is a hidden gem. I love that area. Don't think I've been to Ten Sleep specifically. Both times I've driven over the Bighorns we went across the north part on highway 14. What a view.

Yeah the drive in from the south is beautiful. Once you head north on 20 from Shoshoni you see the mountains on the horizon then you eventually starting winding through the mountains along the Bighorn river. Just awesome views. The drive from Iowa though once you get past Lincoln. NE is pretty dull though. There is one "town" along hwy 26 between Casper and Shoshoni that has a population 10 sign that we always get a chuckle out of. I would hate to get stuck along that stretch in bad weather or run out of gas as there is nowhere to stop really on some of those long stretches in WY. My brother says in the winter if they shutdown the highway through the mountain south of town that to go the north route to get to Casper adds 3 more hours to the drive.

We've checked out some things in Casper over the years and have stayed in Cheyenne a few times too. The halfway point for the trio is Sidney, NE so we usually do that for day 1 as a stopping point. Could do it all in 1 day technically but without stopping its over 13 hours driving so factor in bathroom breaks and a couple stops to eat doing it in a full day with younger kids is not ideal. This will be the first time we go the northern route through the Black Hills which is something we have been talking about doing once the kids were old enough to enjoy it more.

 

[HFCS]

I haven’t been there for 40 years but it was the formative summer vacation of my Iowa childhood along with the summer we stayed in Chicago a week. Even as a kid I loved all the cheesy black hills tourist stuff fully aware it was cheesy, go all in with weird corny attractions.

 

[JEFF420]

imo, avoid driving across south dakota to get there. the corn palace and wall drug suck. take highway 20 across northern nebraska. completely different than i-80 (platte river plain)...

 

[NickTheGreat]

It was over 15 years ago when I went, but one thing I haven't seen mentioned is "Dinosaur Park" in Rapid City. Giant concrete statues of dinosaurs. This was before we had kids, but I think kids would especially get a kick out of it.

 

[GMackey32]

imo, avoid driving across south dakota to get there. the corn palace and wall drug suck. take highway 20 across northern nebraska. completely different than i-80 (platte river plain)...

And miss the 900,000 Wall Drug billboards? I think not!

 

[JM4CY]

North Dakota >>>>> South Dakota

 

[ricochet]

I don't know if it is much for kids but the minuteman missile launch site was pretty cool. You can go down to where the guys sat waiting to launch missiles. Basically the opening scene of WarGames. Turn your key, sir!

 

[wesley_w]

As do4cy mentioned the Ellsworth AFB museum is fantastic.
Another thing if you are interested is 1880 town at exit 170 on I90. Authentic 1800's buildings that were moved there and I really liked it.

 

[VeloClone]

Not only that, I think the actual place is still a bar and you can see bullet holes in the wall.

The actual building (Nuttal & Mann's) actually burned down in 1879 so the bullet holes you see have nothing to do with Hickok.

 

[GMackey32]

The actual building (Nuttal & Mann's) actually burned down in 1879 so the bullet holes you see have nothing to do with Hickok.

Learn something new everyday.

 

[cs98cy]

Already mentioned above but Devils Tower is a very impressive sight and the kids can scramble on the boulders.
If you happen to need a place to stay west of Devils Tower, Fairfield Inn in Gillette, WY has a small indoor water park in the hotel. Nice for the kids.

 

[VeloClone]

And miss the 900,000 Wall Drug billboards? I think not!

Mrs. Velo and I drove from Central Iowa out to the Badlands 25 years ago or so. After seeing the first Wall Drug sign in Western Iowa we decided to count the Wall Drug signs. I don't remember the actual number but it was well north of 100.

 

[sp8815]

Was up there with 4 kids last summer and we did a bunch of the things listed in this thread.
There was a mammoth dig site near hot springs that our kids really liked - you can sign up early to do your own “dig”. Museum buries a bunch of mock-up fossils for you to find. We also did the pool in hot springs that’s fed via the spring water - it was fun but be warned swimsuits will smell terrible after.

Another plug for Bear Country - I did not know what to expect, but that place is great.

 

[GMackey32]

Mrs. Velo and I drove from Central Iowa out to the Badlands 25 years ago or so. After seeing the first Wall Drug sign in Western Iowa we decided to count the Wall Drug signs. I don't remember the actual number but it was well north of 100.

Maybe I'll put my wife in charge of that next week.

 

[jaj040]

imo, avoid driving across south dakota to get there. the corn palace and wall drug suck. take highway 20 across northern nebraska. completely different than i-80 (platte river plain)...

Wall Drug is what it is, a tourist trap. But that is what your expecting going there. The Corn Palace is a legit waste of time.

 

[VeloClone]

Maybe I'll put my wife in charge of that next week.

Let us know the count...

 

[GMackey32]

Wall Drug is what it is, a tourist trap. But that is what your expecting going there. The Corn Palace is a legit waste of time.

WOULD A TOURIST TRAP GIVE YOU FREE WATER?! /s

 

[Cyrocks]

I was most disappointed in visiting Deadwood. It was cool to see Wild Bill Hickock's and Calamity Jane's graves, but the whole thing was nothing but a tourist trap -- even in the spot where Hickock was shot.

But everything else people have mentioned to see and visit was great.