Where to stay???

Our family of 4 is planning a trip to Mt. Rushmore this summer. We plan to go to Mammoth Cave National Park, Custer State Park, Wind Cave, Badlands etc. We%26#39;d like to stay in one place for the week and prefer a cabin instead of a hotel.

Where should we stay so that we are centrally located to all of these attractions ? Keystone? Hill City? Somewhere else?

Where to stay???

The nice part about visiting the Black Hills is that there are a lot of things to see in a fairly compact area. From Devils Tower in the northwest to Hot Springs to the south is only about 140 miles, the rest is much closer (except for Mammoth Cave, you might want to substitute Jewel Cave for that one). Keystone, Custer or Hill City are quite close together and near the center of the major attractions. Any one of these would be a good choice.

Where to stay???

Hi Bucky,

Mammmoth Cave National Park is in Kentucky. Did you possibly mean Jewel Cave National Monument? As RM said, Mammoth is out of the way. I have a feeling you didn%26#39;t mean to say this.

As RM mentioned, Keystone, Hill City or Custer are the best bases. How old are your children? Their ages and interests will influence my recommendation.

Now..a little bit about each town that might help you decide.

Keystone is quite touristy and has a ';boardwalk'; lined with souvenir shops. It%26#39;s closest to Mt. Rushmore. You have an alpine slide there, along with mini golf and the 1880 Train Station. There are ';shootouts'; downtown. There%26#39;s Big Thunder Gold Mine. IMO, if you have youngsters, this is the place to be.

I hvae personal experience at the Roosevelt Inn there (rosyinn.com) and found this hotel quite comfortable. They have family suites for additional space. They don%26#39;t have many of them, so if you find you are interested in staying here, I%26#39;d call ASAP. They also have a pool and family game room.

Hill City has a more adult feel and features a bit more sophisticated shops (lots of Black Hills jewlery), the other half of the 1880 Train Station,and the fabulous Alpine Inn Restaurant. For a family, it would be a great lunch stop with excellent desserts and German fare. If I wasn%26#39;t travelling with children, I%26#39;d probably choose Hill City.

Custer is a bit more rustic. It also has shops and restaurants. We didn%26#39;t spend a lot of time in this town, but it is close to parts of Custer State Park and Crazy Horse. You have some chain motels, along with Mom and Pops.

Now, I am just re-reading your post, and I see you are interested in cabins. Therefore, you may want to consider staying in Custer State Park (custerresorts.com). These cabins are pretty modern and offer a little extra room. They are not inexpensive, however, as they have extra amenities like kitchens, etc.

Staying in one place for a week is not a problem, for as RM said, the attractions are pretty close together.

Also, if you have not done so already, be sure to order the South Dakota travel guide (travelsd.com). It will give you an excellent idea of what%26#39;s in the area.

Have fun planning, and feel free to come back with more questions.

What about using Rapid City as a central place to stay? Is that not as good as the others, say in terms of interesting setting, cost, or convenient location?

Imager,

While it%26#39;s a great location to fly into for the SD sights, most who visit the area choose to stay outside Rapid City. As with everything, there are some exceptions. Rapid City is where you will find the chain restaurants, chain hotels, shopping mall/centers, large grocery stores, etc. Although not huge in the grand scheme of things, it%26#39;s still a city with a population of around 60,000. It%26#39;s the 2nd largest city in SD. It%26#39;s not as central to many of the Black Hills attractions. For example, you are about 40 miles from Custer, and it%26#39;s a 20 mile or so drive to Mt. Rushmore. It is closer to the Badlands and a few of the roadside Americana attractions like Reptile Gardens and Bear Country, however.

If you prefer a more city feel and like having a few more restaurants/stores at your fingertips, Rapid City might be a good place to base. To me, however, I find the smaller towns like Keystone, Hill City or Custer more enjoyable and convenient to the Black Hills sights. I think you also get more of a down-home feel in the smaller areas.

We liked Keystone as our base, so when we wanted to get our supplies for less, Rapid City was only 20 miles away. Naturally, you save money at the larger retailers like Wal Mart. Another great thing..the driving is easy in the hills compared to the hustle and bustle of the east coast.

Imager, to put driving time from Rapid City into perspective, many people in Hill City %26amp; Keystone commute to work in Rapid City. As slrtravelplanner says, Custer, Hot Springs, Deadwood, or Spearfish are less than an hour away from Rapid, if you travel the main highways.

However, I like Custer State Park or Hill City if I want to feel like I am in the Hills.

Thanks a lot for your perspectives on Rapid City. I have another question. While these distance don%26#39;t sound very high to me (we%26#39;ll often travel up to 2 hours away, one way, just for a day trip), they could be a problem for my wife. She doesn%26#39;t do well on windy or hilly roads. Our kids have also been known to get car sick. Are the roads there curvy, windy, hilly roads, or are they not too bad?

I like Lorhs%26#39; quote about feeling like ';being in the hills'; if you stay outside Rapid City. It really is true...you just have such a different feel by staying outside the city. As you said, the distances really aren%26#39;t that far; I think it really just depends if you want a more rural experience compared to an urban one. Being from a busy suburb outside Philly, I prefer the rural one; however, the whole area, including Rapid City, seems very rural compared to Philadelphia.

As for windy roads/motion sickness, I don%26#39;t foresee any problems for you. I can empathize; our daughter used to suffer from this when she was younger. The only somewhat windy road would be Iron Mountain Road, part of Custer State Park. This road is known for it%26#39;s ';pigtail bridges.'; Think of something curly, as a pig%26#39;s tail, or better yet, an S curve. If you take them slowly, you will be fine. None of the roads are extremely high either. I have a fear of heights, and I felt very comfortable here.

Good Morning,

Thanks for your message. My kids will be 13 and 11 by the time we head to South Dakota. We are looking for a cabin so we can save a bit of money by bringing our own breakfast food and drinks. Over the weekend, I got a recommendation to stay in Hill City but not a particular lodging recommendation. That%26#39;s what I%26#39;m really looking for.

Also, a chuckwagon dinner recommendation would be appreciated too.

Thanks!

Thanks for your message. We prefer a smaller town as we live very close to Milwaukee so if we want big city, we can get that experience any day of the week!!

We are looking for a nice cabin in either Keystone or Hill City. Any recommendations?

I don%26#39;t have any experience staying at a cabin. The main ones I have read about are the ones in Custer SP. I did see that Palmer Gulch Campground in Hill City has cabins, though I have no idea what they are like. Hopefully someone else can chime in.

Based on your description of your family, I think you would enjoy Hill City or Keystone. Since the kids are older, I think I%26#39;d go with Hill City.

It looks like the Circle B Chuckwagon dinners are the most popular on this site, although once again, I don%26#39;t have direct knowledge. I can say that the owner of the hotel we stayed in highly recommended any of them.

Sorry I could not be of more help on your latest inquiry. Hopefully someone with director experience will join in.