Time to spend at the various Black Hills sights

slrTravelPlanner gave this list of the ';must sees'; in the region:

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

Should Deadwood be added to the list? We%26#39;re mostly interested in natural and historic sights. What I%26#39;d like to know (from anyone) is what is the range of time to spend at each of these. What is typical? For example, is it 1-3 hours, or 3-4 hours? I%26#39;m trying to plan the days and see what can be combined into a single day. Also it would be good if you could give the time of day best for seeing that attraction, for example Custer - morning, Rushmore, noon and night, caves - anytime, that sort of thing. Lastly, how long is the drive from Hill City/Keystone to

Rapid City

Deadwood

Badlands

Devils Tower?

Thanks!

Time to spend at the various Black Hills sights

Estimated times from Hill City according to Mapquest:

to Badlands 80-90 minutes

to Rapid City 35 minutes

to Deadwood 55 minutes

to Devils Tower 2.5 hours

We went to Deadwood once to gamble but that%26#39;s all we did there.

I have not been to Crazy Horse or the caves.

If you%26#39;re looking to see wildlife at the Badlands or Custer State Park, early morning or dusk may be better times, although we%26#39;ve always seen lots of wildlife on the loop at CSP any time of day. You don%26#39;t want to be on the windy roads in CSP at dark (at least I don%26#39;t). Have done that before and its challenging enough, plus we had lots of deer running around which made it even more nervewracking.

You can drive through the Badlands in probably 1 to 2 hours, but we usually give it a full day and spend the night either in the park or in Wall. We%26#39;ve always enjoyed hitting the park in the early morning and at dusk, and hiking and climbing a little during the day.

Custer State Park will take probably half a day minimum, but again, we always give it at least 1 full day. Have also spent 3 days there and never got bored.

Devils Tower-we%26#39;ve always stopped on our way to Yellowstone and usually only spend 1.5 to 2 hours there which has been sufficient for us.

Mount Rushmore-the night lighting is very neat and moving. Have also been midday which was also neat. I%26#39;d say 1-2 hours is plenty.

Much of the time estimates will depend on what you want to do. If you%26#39;re just going to drive through and stop at pull-offs, less time will be needed. If you want to hike, picnic, etc. it will of course take longer.

Time to spend at the various Black Hills sights

Hi Imager,

Library Chick gave you a great start here. The drive times she provided are very accurate.

I don%26#39;t recall hearing how much time you have for your trip. Can you provide the number of touring days you have?

In the meantime, I will talk about the times on the must see list.

I would allot a daytrip for the Badlands from Keystone/Hill City. I remember arriving around 10 a.m. at the Badlands and getting back between 4 and 5 p.m. We also stopped at the ultimate tourist trap, Wall Drug. :) This place is a souvenir lover%26#39;s paradise. I would give the Badlands around 4 hours, which will give you time to see the exhibits at the visitor%26#39;s center, stop at the overlooks for pics, and do a few short hikes/walks. The Badlands can get warm, so you might want to get an early start to avoid excessive heat. Of course, a lot depends on when you are coming to the area. We visited in late August and lucked out with overcast, 70 degree weather.

I%26#39;d also allot a day for Custer. This will give you time for pics, exploring, hikes/walks, picnicking (Sylvan Lake is a great spot), and even maybe dinner at one of the lodges. If you can try to drive the wildlife loop early in the day or at dusk to see more active animals. If the timing doesn%26#39;t work out, dont%26#39; worry. We drove it around 5 p.m. and saw plenty of animals. The wild burros are fun! You can see the park in a 1/2 day, but that would be allowing minimal time for stops.

I would allot 3 hours for Rushmore, plus an evening to see the lighting ceremony. Be sure to walk the Presidential Trail, visit the sculptor%26#39;s studio, and the visitor%26#39;s center.

Crazy Horse takes about 3 hours as well, especially if you take the bus ride closer to the monument. This is not included in the base admission price, but the fee is pretty minimal, ($4-$5 per person) unless you have a large family. The native American exhibits are great, and the history behind Crazy Horse is even more fascinating than Rushmore, IMO.

I%26#39;d allow 2 hours for each cave tour. For Jewel, I%26#39;d highly recommend advance reservations. We visited on a rainy day and didn%26#39;t realize how crowded it got! We waited 2 hours just to get on a tour. It was well worth it, but there are few surface activities, so the wait seemed long. Wind Cave seems to offer more tours; we didn%26#39;t have to wait long at all there.

Devil%26#39;s Tower will take you about 2 hours to see, but about 2.5 hours to get there, so you are talking about 5 hours drive time. Unless you have enough time to split your lodging time between the northern Black Hills (Deadwood/Lead/Spearfish) and the central hills (Keystone/Hill City/Custer), plan on a day trip here. If you go out to Devil%26#39;s Tower, plan on driving the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway either coming or going.

As for adding Deadwood, a lot depends on how much you time you have for your visit. There is gambling, but our daughter was 8 at the time, so we bypassed this part. The casinos are very small---they are located in small sidewalk stores--nothing like our casinos in Atlantic City. However, Deadwood does have some interesting museums, namely the Adams House and museum. We really enjoyed both of these; they gave us an idea of the history of the town. We didn%26#39;t get to do these, but you can also see a few mining museums in the area, and you can also see Wild Bill Hickok%26#39;s and Calamity Jane%26#39;s graves.

I think I%26#39;ve answered your questions, but feel free to ask more! There%26#39;s probably something I%26#39;ve missed. If you give us an idea on how much touring time you have, we may even be able to add more ideas.

Have fun planning.

Thanks for your comments. I%26#39;m still deciding on how much time to allot. They are very helpful. It sounds like Custer State Park is the big variable - could be anywhere from a morning to a full day or even several days.

I%26#39;ll be driving from Cincinnati so I think we%26#39;ll spend the first night around Des Moines IA and the second night around Mitchell SD. The third day the real vacation begins and we%26#39;ll see Corn Palace, Wall Drug, and the Badlands, and then spend the third night in Keystone or Hill City. After that I%26#39;m still planning. We%26#39;re not interested in casinos, so should we skip Deadwood? I%26#39;d really only be interested in it if it were like an old west town like Tombstone Arizona or something similar, not for visiting bars and casinos. What about Sturgis? Is it worth a side trip, or only if you%26#39;re interested in the motorcycle week (which we%26#39;re not)?

I%26#39;m planning on going July 5 and be gone from home about 10 days or so - at least 4 of which will be just driving to and from SD.

With 6 days, I think you would have enough time to include Deadwood, but I would only plan on doing a stop on the way back from Devil%26#39;s Tower. If you opt to skip Devil%26#39;s Tower, I think it would be safe to skip Deadwood as well. I have only seen Tombstone on news programs, and based on what I saw in Deadwood and what I saw on tv, it looked like the 2 towns are very different. If someone on here has been to both Deadwood and Tombstone, please chime in!

I%26#39;d also skip Sturgis unless you are really interested in motorcycles, which you are not. We have skipped it, as I have read on here there is really not much to see, and we don%26#39;t care about bikes either.

Please let us know if you need more help while planning.

I would also be interested in hearing a Tombstone/Deadwood comparsion. We absolutely loved Tombstone, but like Imager, are not interested in the casinos of Deadwood.

Imager, I%26#39;ll be returning from my first trip to the Black HIlls as you leave on your vacation. I would say I%26#39;ll try to post a comparsion for you but somehow I get allergic to computers while on vacation!

Thanks. That will be interesting. I%26#39;ve also never been to Dodge City - it that similar to either Tombstone or Deadwood?

Driving from Mitchell on into Hill City and seeing Corn Palace (maybe 1 hour max) AND the Badlands (if you get out and do a couple hikes this will take several hours) AND Wall Drug (anywhere from 1 hour on up) is going to make for a loooooooong day.

Ah..I%26#39;m re-reading Imager%26#39;s original post. It will be a long day; an early start would definitely be in order. It looks like it%26#39;s about 3 hours from Mitchell to the Badlands. If time was running short, I%26#39;d consider skipping Wall Drug. Another option might be to stay in Rapid City for one night before moving on to Keystone or Hill City, or another idea might be to stay closer to the Badlands that day. Wall had some basic chain lodging that would probably suffice for a night, so by staying in Wall, you could leave Wall Drug in the itinerary.

After driving all that way (and seeing all those signs) I think any red-blooded American just HAS to go into Wall Drug! :)

Imager, it%26#39;s only about a five hour drive from Des Moines to Mitchell, SD...and really nothing outstanding to see along the way. Personally, I would just continue driving on to Wall (about 8 hours). Get an early start to the day, and you%26#39;d still have time to stop at the corn palace on the Des Moines to Mitchell day. Then, save Badlands and Wall Drug for the next day, after you%26#39;ve spent the night in Wall.