Over Labor Day, Mac and I headed up to South Dakota to spend the weekend in the Black Hills. We crammed a lot of stuff into three days and crossed off every single South Dakota NPS stamp. While we had a good time and enjoyed what we saw, three of the South Dakota national park sites and one Nebraska site were partially closed for construction or renovation. Two of them closed the week before our trip. But we made lemonade out of lemons and enjoyed our weekend.
Where we stayed in the Black Hills
Our first night, we stayed at the TownePlace Suites in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It was about a five-hour drive from Leavenworth and about a three-hour drive from Badlands National Park. We then stayed at the Tru by Hilton in Rapid City. This building houses both the and the Hilton Garden Inn. As a guest, you can access the facilities in both hotels. We spent our final night at the Holiday Inn Express in Chadron, Nebraska. There’s a whole lot of nothing in northwest Nebraska. This was the closest hotel to the two Nebraska NPS sites we planned to visit. Overall, all three hotels were clean and comfortable for the night we slept there. If you’re booking hotels for this area, keep in mind that hotels in Rapid City will be more expensive than other stops on your trip.
Where we ate in the Black Hills
Friday night, we grabbed dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and Casino in Sioux City, Iowa. It was not worth it. We stopped at Mackenzie River Pizza in Rapid City for a late lunch on Saturday. Mac tried the Rancher pizza, while I had the chicken apple Gouda flatbread. We also split the chicken club rolls. Good food and fast service. For lunch on Sunday, we ate at Denial in Custer. Mac opted for the macaroni and cheese, and I tackled the double smoked brisket stacker. This was the best meal of our trip.
What to do in the Black Hills
On Saturday, we headed out from Sioux City and stopped at the Minuteman National Historic Site. Minuteman and the Badlands are off the same exit of the interstate, so you can visit them both in the same day. From there, we drove over to Badlands National Park. We explored the Badlands for a few hours then headed back to the interstate. After a quick trip to Wall Drug, we drove over to Rapid City. We watched the Virginia Tech game and called it an early night at the hotel.
First thing Sunday, we made our way to Bear Country, USA, for their drive-through animal tour. We really enjoyed it and saw lots of animals. We then drove down to Mount Rushmore. Since the park is undergoing a major renovation, we didn’t spend too long there. Back in the car for the drive to Jewel Cave National Monument. This was also under construction. Our next stop was the Crazy Horse Monument. To be fair, this has been under construction for about 40 years.
On to Custer State Park. We opted for the wildlife loop instead of the Needles Highway because we were hoping to see some buffalo. We had a nice drive through the park and got stopped by a pack of burros in the road. Our final stop of the day was Wind Cave National Park. The elevators at Wind Cave were out, so we couldn’t visit the caves. From there, we headed down to our hotel in Chadron.
We got another early start Monday and headed down to Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. Sadly, the morning was really, really foggy, so we couldn’t see anything. After a quick lap around the museum, we drove over to Scotts Bluff National Monument. The Scotts Bluff Visitors Center was closed for construction (noticing a theme?), so we headed out one of the trails. Luckily, the fog lifted, and we got a few nice photos of a major Oregon Trail landmark. Our final stop of the weekend was at Chimney Rock. The Oregon Trail lover in me was super excited, and I liked their museum. After Chimney Rock, we got back on the road for another eight hours in the car. We spent a whirlwind weekend in the Black Hills, but we loved being able to see so many sites in just three days.
Have you spent a weekend in the Black Hills?
We love this part of the country! This was one of our favorite road trips out west. I’m sorry you ran into so much construction and closures during your visit. That’s annoying to have so many sites being renovated at once in the same area. I laughed about your Crazy Horse being under construction for the last 40 years. It’s true! We loved going all through Mt Rushmore, enjoyed the people watching at Wall Drug and the Badlands were like nothing we’d never seen before. Glad you got to go visit.