Mt Rushmore and more for family

Hi,

We%26#39;re a family with two kids (3 and 7) we live in the KS and debating between going to Mt. Rushmore vs. to Colerado.

So I have several questions:

1. What else (other than Rushmore) should a family see when traveling in the area

2. With two kids is it worth (attraction wise and not money wise as we can get also cheap flights)to drive there or fly , or in other words are there any attractions in the way that would justify two days in the car each direction

3. How many days would you reccomend on being in the area?

4. If you would have to chose between this area and the Rockey mountains with kids these ages what would you choose?

Thanks a lot.

Mt Rushmore and more for family

Hi,

You pose some very good questions. I will answer #3 first. I%26#39;d choose SD hands down over the Rockies. There are many things that your family would enjoy.

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

Badlands National Park

Mt Rushmore

Crazy Horse

Devil%26#39;s Tower

Custer State Park

Wind Cave

Jewel Cave

With the ages of the kids, there are many additional things you can add. Outside Rapid City, you have Bear Country, Reptile Gardens, %26amp; Cosmos Mystery Area. In Keystone, you have an alpine slide, lots of souvenir shops, mini golf, %26amp; Big Thunder Gold Mine. In Hot Springs, you have the Mammoth site that offers a jr. paleontologist dig, along with Evans Plunge, a small waterpark that is fed by a hot spring. You also have the Wild Horse Sanctuary here, but that may be rather pricey for a family of 4, and your 3 year old might really not appreciate it. You could also check out Deadwood and possibly drive the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway. You can take some hikes to waterfalls here. In Hill City, you have Everything Prehistoric,a small dinsosaur museum and shop, and the 1880 train that runs between Hill City %26amp; Keystone. There are many privately owned caves in the area as well.

Custer State Park offers some fun wildlife viewing and great scenery, plus hiking if you are into that.

You might want to eliminate some activities if you don%26#39;t think your 3 year old could handle some of them (i.e. caves). I realize every child is different in what he/she likes and has the stamina to do.

Travelsd is a great website to check out to get an idea for the area.

As for driving, it would probably not be that bad if you wanted to save money on airfare. If you are from western Kansas, you could almost do a pretty straight shot. If you are from the eastern side, you could possibly go up and across, seeing the Badlands enroute. I%26#39;m not sure on any other things to see from the Kansas area. I will leave that one to someone more familiar.

Have fun planning, and feel free to ask more questions.

Mt Rushmore and more for family

Also, I forgot to mention that you can easily spend a week here, depending on how much of the area you want to see.

Slrtravelplanner has covered it pretty well but I%26#39;d like to chime in and say that SD is a pretty great family vacation. We first took our kids when they were 2 and 4 and spent about 5 nights in the area, most of that in Custer State Park. Our last trip they were 8 and 10, and they%26#39;ll be 12 and 14 this trip. We%26#39;ve never done any of the really commercial attractions and our girls were perfectly happy looking for animals and seeing the natural sights. We%26#39;ve also always driven but my kids have always been great car travelers. If you do fly, you will need to rent a car to get around.

Also, have not been to Colorado with the kids so can%26#39;t compare but I do think you%26#39;d enjoy SD. Our must sees are the Badlands, Custer SP, and Mount Rushmore.

Done both with kids and I would say Rapid City area offers more to keep children entertained. We went from KC, you can do it in 1 hard day or drive to the Badlands the first day, stay at Cedar Pass, then drive the next day to Wall Drug store and on into the Black Hills. I can%26#39;t say the kids were all that interested in the drive up, but with lots of books, coloring books, etc they did just fine.