Advice welcome....

We are two 50+ year olds who will be traveling from Winnipeg, Manitoba to the Bad Lands, Black Hills etc.How long do we need in the area to see most of the parks, monuments and attractions? We have 9 days available ,though four will be travel days there and back home. Any suggestions on accomodations and restaurants would also be welcome. Thanks in advance.We are really looking forward to visiting this beautiful part of the country.

Advice welcome....

Your 9 days will probably work out fairly well,though more time in the Black Hills is always welcome. :) With your travel days, this will give you 5 days to see the area sights.

Here%26#39;s my list of must sees of the area:

Badlands National Park

Custer State Park (include Sylvan Lake, Iron Mt. Rd., Wildlife Loop, and Needles Hwy).

Mt Rushmore

Crazy Horse

Devils Tower

Wind Cave National Park

Jewel Cave National Monument

There are many more things to see and do. If you can tell us what you enjoy, we can make a few more recommendations, but you might need more time if you have it to spare.

For lodging, most base in Keystone, Hill City, or Custer. Keystone is the closest to Rushmore and the most touristy of the 3. Hill City might fit your needs, as it is less touristy, has ';classier'; shops, and the wonderful Alpine Inn Restaurant. For lunch, they serve standard German fare. For dinner, they only serve filet mignon, so go for lunch if that%26#39;s not your taste. Prices are super reasonable, and it does get crowded, so arrive early, especially for dinner. Desserts are excellent.

I have personal experience with the Roosevelt Inn in Keystone and highly recommend this hotel. Big Time Pizza is located right at the hotel and serves some of the best pizza I%26#39;ve ever had. There are other nice hotels in the area, and you can always check this site for recommendations in any of the 3 typical base towns.

If you haven%26#39;t already done so, be sure to order a South Dakota travel planner at travelsd.com. This will give you an idea of the area%26#39;s many attractions.

Please feel free to ask more questions. We%26#39;d be glad to help. Have fun planning.

Advice welcome....

I%26#39;d like to add Spearfish Canyon to the list of things to see. It%26#39;s truly beautiful.

The 1880 train would also take you through some beautiful scenery, too.

You may be interested in Evans Plunge at Hot Springs. It%26#39;s a natural spring and is the waters are supposed to be soothing/healing.

You%26#39;ll find those things in your vacation guide.

Have a wonderful trip and welcome to South Dakota.

Thank you both for replying so quickly, and for your suggestions. I have a S.D. planner, but it is always great to get ideas from fellow travelers.

The Alpine Inn sounds like a place to try and with the dwindling Canadian dollar, reasonable sounds good.

Can you give me an idea how long it would take to do all the scenic drives through Custer State Park. The Badlands we can do coming and going on our trip.

We like to take hikes, though short distances only, as hubby has bad knees.

Are there restaurants scattered throughout the park, and also is there somewhere to buy food to make picnic lunches.

I love photography and can%26#39;t wait to shoot all the beautiful scenery. Any favorite look outs?

Will be stopping our first night in Sioux Falls, any recomondations for hotels there?

Do you think we would be able to squeeze in Deadwood also?

What is the weather like in mid September and is it still very busy?

Mid Sept. shows quite a slow down in tourism. The kiddies are back in school and it%26#39;s mainly middle-aged to older travelers.

Since you%26#39;ll be in Sx. Falls. you may want to visit the Falls and walk the Phillips to the Falls Sculpture walk. The Falls are beautiful and you can either take a free shuttle ride to Phillips Ave. or you can walk it. We prefer walking it. It%26#39;s street after street with beautiful hanging baskets of flowers and the sidewalks are lined with artwork and sculptures. They have a lot of cute little shops there if you%26#39;re a shopper.

If you%26#39;re able to, ask around for a map of Spearfish Canyon. You can walk back into areas where you%26#39;ll see the most beautiful waterfalls. I believe one is quite a hike though.

Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse and Custer State Park aren%26#39;t that far apart so the drive from one place to the other doesn%26#39;t take that long. But driving through Custer State Park can take a day if you%26#39;d like to enjoy all the wildlife and serenity there.

You could stock up on groceries in Rapid City, if you%26#39;d prefer. OR you could stop anywhere since you%26#39;ll never be a long distance from a store.

I%26#39;m sorry. I forgot about the weather question. The nights will be getting pretty chilly, but the days should still be nice and warm. Do bring jackets/sweaters and blankies along though.

If you go to Mt. Rushmore first, they have a souvenier shop and a restaurant on site. There are restaurants scattered across the Hills area, too.

Deaadwood, yes! That%26#39;s a very historic town and it%26#39;s worth visiting.

Thanks Misty 1955 for your suggestions. Looks like it will be a grey haired crowd (lol) so we should fit right in. Have decided to stay at the K Bar S Lodge in Keystone for most of our stay. Seems to be in a lovely quiet area. Looking forward to our trip. I am sure as it gets closer we will have many more questions. Take care.

Hi,

Yes, Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway is very pretty and easily be incorporated into a trip out to Devil%26#39;s Tower and Deadwood. I think you should be fine alloting day from Keystone for visiting the ';northern Black Hills.';

While in Deadwood, I highly recommend seeing the Adams House and Museum. We met a tour guide at the house who keeps in touch with us to this day. The tour was very interesting.

I noticed that your hubby has bad knees. I%26#39;m not sure if you were considering the cave tours, but they do involve many steps, so that%26#39;s something to consider if you think this would cause him a lot of pain. There%26#39;s no point in suffering on vacation.

I agree with Misty to allot a day for seeing Custer SP. You will find some great photo ops here. The Needles Hwy has many outstanding scenic spots. Ditto for the Badlands, Spearfish Canyon, Sylvan Lake, Rushmore..just about any place in the hills.

Based on reviews on this site, you should be very happy at K Bar S Lodge. The website looks lovely.

You mentioned about food/supplies; there%26#39;s a Super Walmart at the LaCrosse St. exit off I90 in Rapid City. We stocked up there a few times, as we do picnic lunches all the time.

Have a great trip, and feel free to stop back if you have more questions.

The caves look facinating and even with my hubby%26#39;s bad knees , he would like to see them. (Nothing that a naproxin won%26#39;t cure....). Jewel and Wind caves are mentioned frequently. If we could only go to one of them which one would be more interesting? Once again I thank you for your help. All of the suggestions will make for a great vacation.

Ahh..which cave...always a tough question. Between the 2, we liked Jewel Cave better. The 2nd longest cave in the world, it%26#39;s very open and has a wide variety of formations, like cave popcorn, bacon, stalagmites, stalagtites, columns, etc. The rangers so an excellent job at both caves. Jewel has more steps, I think, but they are steel and very substantial. They are not steep, and if you stay close to the ranger, you will move at a fairly slow pace.

Wind Cave is around the 5th longest cave and is known for a rare formation called boxwork. Boxwork looks like spider webs. One room in Wind Cave is just loaded with it. That was very neat to see. Wind is a little more ';boxed in,'; and one claustrophobic man asked to leave our tour shortly in. We had no problems, however.

If you visit nps.gov, you can search both caves and take a look at images and see which cave might interest you more. You really can%26#39;t go wrong with either. If you do Jewel, you might want to look into advance reservations, as tours tend to sell out quickly, and there are few surface activties.