Family Trip- Looking for Feedback on Itinerary

Hello Everyone

I%26#39;m in the early stages of planning a trip to SD in June with a family of four- mom, dad, 14 year old, and 6 year old. I%26#39;m overwhelmed with the amount of options in SD... it%26#39;s hard to know where to begin. Our goal is to keep our kids engaged (they are both used to ';theme park'; types of vacations) while visiting some beautiful scenery, too.

Here%26#39;s what I%26#39;ve very roughly planned. I%26#39;d love any feedback you have.

Wed (driving from WI to SD)

* Leave WI early a.m. (so kids sleep part way)

* Arrive in Murdo SD early afternoon- eat at 50%26#39;s train diner and tour the 1800%26#39;s town

* Drive to hotel in Keystone or Rapid City p.m.

Thu

* Sylvan Rock Climbing lessons (Custer Park) in morning, followed by visit to Mount Rushmore/ Alpine Slide in the late afternoon or early evening.

Fri

* Visit Bear Country USA, followed by a Chuckwagon Supper. (Other activities this day?) After supper, drive part way to Souix Falls.

Sat

* Morning- drive rest of way to Souix Falls. Spend day at Adventure Park. Drive the rest of the way home (5.5 hours) in the evening

Anything else we should see? Do we have time do to more on Friday, between Bear Country and a Chuckwagon Supper?

Thanks!

Family Trip- Looking for Feedback on Itinerary

I think you are missing some excellent nature opportunities in the area. I would spend as much time visiting lakes, trails, mountains and less time at ';attractions';. Your kids may surprise you... Watch National Treasure 2 movie before you go, parts filmed in Black Hills! Also look at the lodging in Custer State Park, that would keep you right in the middle of things!

Day 1 Wed. Drive all day

Day 2 Thur. Visit Sylvan Lake area, do a quick hike before rock climbing. Have a picnic, maybe do some fishing, biking and/or hiking, even horseback riding. See Mt Rushmore late afternoon and stay for the night time program.

Day 3 Fri. Drive the Wildlife Loop and Norbeck Road in the morning, looking for animals. Bison, deer, elk, wild burros, prairie dogs etc. Think about a cave tour, either Jewel Cave or Wind Cave. My son loved these at age 8 and now at 14 he would love to go back and visit. (and he also loves Disney) Much more fun than Bear Country in my opinion. Chuckwagon Supper sounds like a lot of fun!

Day 4 Sat. Visit Badlands area on your way home. Get as far as you can.

Family Trip- Looking for Feedback on Itinerary

Hello, and welcome to the forums!

IMO, Casa Azul is right; you are missing quite a bit of the scenery and unique things of the area.

When we visited SD, our daughter was 8. The previous year, we visited Disney. Just to give you an idea, SD is her favorite vacation! She liked it BETTER than Disney! I%26#39;m only saying this to let you know that your kids may surprise you and shy away from the more commercialized attractions.

To me, I think I might skip the Murdo attractions or the Sioux Falls Adventure Park for seeing Badlands National Park. You could see these coming or going. Our daughter, who is fearless, loved to climb up some of the rocky formations and ';stand tall.'; The scenery here is amazingly eerie--it%26#39;s so neat how these amazing rock formations emerge from the prairie. This is a must see of the area, IMO.

Also, I%26#39;d recommend staying in Keystone over Rapid City. Keystone, Hill City, or Custer will get you to the major attractions easier.

Sylvan Lake is a lovely area in Custer SP, and as Casa said, you can have a picnic here and walk around the lake after your lessons. With your limited time, I think I%26#39;d opt out of the Alpine Slide, unless the kids have their hearts set on it. We didn%26#39;t do this when we were here, but I have read good things about it.

With limited time, I%26#39;d also skip Bear Country in favor of the Wildlife Loop in Custer SP. Honestly, I think your 14 year old will be bored at Bear Country. You could include the Wildlife Loop with one of the cave tours as Casa mentioned (if you do Jewel Cave, I%26#39;d strongly recommend advance reservations, as tours fill quickly, and with little wiggle time, you don%26#39;t want to be wasting minutes or hours waiting for a tour.)

Crazy Horse and the Needles Hwy of Custer SP would include some great history and scenery. I%26#39;d recommend a few other attractions in the area that I think your kids might enjoy, but I don%26#39;t want you to cram in too much.

If you decide against the Adventure Park in Sioux Falls, I think I%26#39;d spend the night in the Black Hills rather than heading out right after the supper, but I prefer getting an early start in the a.m. However, I realize everyone is different, and this may not bother you.

I hope this helps some. Please feel free to ask more questions, and have fun planning.

Ok we did this trip in 2007 with our kids (5, 2, and 1) but then we headed to Yellowstone after SD. Here are my thoughts:

Wed

* The corn palace is in Mitchell on your way out. Our kids thought it was neat.

* We did the 1880%26#39;s town when we went out before we had kids and thought it was alright.

* We stopped at the petrified gardens in Kadoka and again the kids thought it was neat. But our kids are more into nature. Our son doesn%26#39;t want to do Disney this year, he wants to go back to Yellowstone (and so does his mom and dad LOL). The kids liked the glowing rocks in one of the exhibits.

* We stayed at the HoJo in Rapid City and the drive to all the other activites isn%26#39;t that long. More options here and can be more reasonable.

Thur

* We did Mount Rushmore and unless you are going for the lighting ceremony I would suggest it first thing in the morning. We were there as soon as they opened and when we were leaving it was getting very crowded, but we did go end of July.

* We also did Crazy Horse (2nd time) and didn%26#39;t notice any new developments on the mountain.

Friday

* You have a lot of extra time on this day. Bear Country will only take an hour or so. Your 6 year old will like it.

* We did Thunderhead Falls. It was very neat. It isn%26#39;t an actual ';cave'; but it is an underground waterfall that miners hit when they were blasting. Very neat and beautiful valley.

Sat

* I would second a stop in the badlands.

I would also try to do Needles Hwy if you can. You are really cutting your time short and missing a lot of neat things, but you know your kids. And if they aren%26#39;t into nature, keep this trip to a minimum.

Have fun

neutrogena