Help with itinerary please

Hi,

My husband and I (49/50yrs old) will be overnighting in Buffalo WY on July 8 after spending 4 nights in YNP. We plan on driving to Devil%26#39;s tower the next morning then heading to the black hills. We are staying at LaQuinta Inn Rapid City on the 9th, 10th and 11th and flying out the morning of the 11th. On our must see list is Badlands and Mt Rushmore. So here is what I thought we would do:

July 9: Devil%26#39;s Tower, stop in Deadwood maybe, head to RC and check in, maybe see Crazy Horse, then go to Mt Rushmore and hang out long enough for the evening program

July 10: Badlands/Wall Drug/MinuteMan Missile Site

July 11: Custer Park/Wind Cave

Am I missing anything obvious? Is staying in Buffalo a logical midway stop between YNP and Black Hills? Does anyone have any suggestions for dinner in the RC/black hills? How are the dinner shows? More for kids/families?

Thanks in advance.

Help with itinerary please

Unless you%26#39;re planning on spending most of the day in YNP and then heading out, I think you could get further than Buffalo. I think if you can go a bit further and get closer to both Devils Tower and Rapid City you%26#39;ll appreciate the extra time the next day. Gillette would be the next logical stop, but hotel prices seem higher. If you go on to Sundance, prices seems more reasonable; would be pretty close with just a little backtracking to Devils Tower; and would put you very close to Deadwood and Rapid City.

The rest of your itinerary seems reasonable if you get up early and get going. We like a full day each for the Badlands and Custer SP but you can certainly hit the highlights in less time. No help on the missile site and the caves.

I used to hear about a popular dinner show (whose name I can%26#39;t recall) but haven%26#39;t seen it come up in my planning for our upcoming trip. I do think most of the dinner shows are geared more towards families with younger kids. The Alpine Inn in Hill City is always a popular choice, with its filet mignon dinners from 5-10 for extremely reasonable prices. I%26#39;m sure you would have plenty of dining choices in Rapid Ciry, Hill City, Keystone, or Custer.

Help with itinerary please

I 2nd the Alpine Inn suggestion. They only serve filet at dinner, so if you aren%26#39;t a beef eater, try it for lunch. They are known for their desserts at any time of day! The selection is huge, and everything is wonderful. There are lots of German selections for lunch.

I agree with Library Chick on getting a bit closer on 7/8 so you can to enjoy more time in the Black Hills.

I wouldn%26#39;t spend a lot of time at Wall Drug (too touristy for my taste), but I would focus on the Badlands..a truly fascinating landscape.

Some can spend a day or even more at Custer. If you are doing a drive through, a pretty full day will suffice, but you won%26#39;t get much time to get out of your car. Wind Cave is a logical choice, as it joins the Wildlife Loop, which is part of Custer SP. I would also recommend adding Jewel Cave, if time permits. It%26#39;s not too far from Crazy Horse.

As for dinner shows, some really rave about the chuckwagon dinners. They seem to be geared for adults and kids alike. I know Blue Bell Lodge offers one. Blue Bell is part of Custer SP. I know the owner of the hotel we stayed in highly recommended chuckwagon dinners, but just didn%26#39;t get to do one. There are other companies based out of Rapid City that have chuckwagon dinners.

Have a great time.

Thanks for your suggestions. We keep debating about stopping in Buffalo or going further and maybe staying in Moorcroft, Huelett or Sundance. I will look at hotels in those places.

I have been to the black hills, 28 years ago. I loved Badlands. My husband has not been there, so stopping at Wall Drug is just to stop and say we did it. He likes to bring silly cheap gifts back to co-workers, so that will probably be a quick stop for those and then on our way. The missile site stop is for him too. Not my thing, and we have already seen a missile site in AZ about 10 -12 years ago. So that is not a must do.

I did not do any of the caves or CSP, and I have no idea what to expect of any of these. And Crazy Horse was just an idea still back in %26#39;81.

We aren%26#39;t planning on doing a dinner show, unless someone says ';you can%26#39;t miss this one!';. So far no one has said that, so we will probably skip it. But the Alpine place sounds good. I will look it up.

Deb

Just about everyone enjoys the Alpine Inn. Here%26#39;s the link for their website:

http://www.alpineinnhillcity.com/index.html

If you go for dinner, try to arrive as close to 5 p.m. as possible. It does get crowded. Also, it%26#39;s not open on Sundays.

I laughed when I read the Wall Drug part of your post. Your hubby will find plenty of silly gift items there. I was amazed at the amount of souvenirs, and I didn%26#39;t even come close to seeing the inside. I don%26#39;t think we even spent an hour there before we had our fill. You are right however; everyone has to experience Wall Drug at least once.

Crazy Horse has a fascinating history--even more interesting that Mt Rushmore, IMO. I think you will enjoy it. Be sure to see the film about Korczak, the sculptor, and take time to check out the Native American Exhibits.

The caves are both wonderful, but keep in mind I am a cave lover. A great place to look at images for both Wind %26amp; Jewel Caves is nps.gov. As you have probably read, Wind Cave is known for a formation called boxwork, which resembles spider webs. It has the largest concentation of this formation of any cave. Jewel Cave has the 2nd longest amount of discovered passages of any cave in the world. The only one with more is Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Tours for both Wind %26amp; Jewel last close to 2 hours. Jewel tours have many steps, but they are metal and good quality. Wind doesn%26#39;t have quite at many steps, but it%26#39;s a bit more closed in, but still pretty easily navigated. As long as you have no physical limitations with steps, you will be fine with either tour.

highlight