Visting Black Hills with lots of questions

Hello all. We are planning our summer vacation for late June to the Black Hills area. We have a SD travel guide and have looked at several websites, but still have lots of questions.

We are leaving from St. Louis and stopping for a night in KC then Nebraska. We will be arriving on a Sunday and staying through Saturday.

two boys 7 and 3 1/2

First we plan on camping at Custer State Park for several nights in a tent. I see that they have public showers. Does anyone know if these are private or is it one big open room like gym class in high school?

Any other campground suggestions in the area to change it up a bit? What about the Flintstones themed campground?

Gold Mines - what is the best one that allows us to mine and get a bit of history?

The Chuck Wagon Dinner, is it worth it? which one?

Are there better places than others for family horse back riding, nothing to adventurous with a three year old who I assume could ride with me.

Is there a place for Archery for the 7 yr old, and me. Maybe in CSP?

Any geo-caching in CSP?

Any Dinosaur sites interesting or is the Mammoth Site the best choice if I had to pick one.

Original 1880 town or Four Mile Old West Town worth a visit?

Best Sioux Nation site? May need a teepe for the kids.

Bear Country USA, do you see bears every time through?

Looking to stay at Wa Tiki Water park one night, are there any good outdoor water parks in the area? Something bigger than Rushmore Water Slides, something like you would see in the Dells.

I plan to spend at least a day in Deadwood, more for myself and hope my wife and kids don%26#39;t die from boredom. Any must sees? May actually book a hotel there so I can site see and walk some casinos(not necessarily gamble much)and tour some museums.

Will be traveling interstate 90 east to go home, any worthwhile sites close to the interstate that are must sees.

On for sure list:

Mt. Rushmore

Devil%26#39;s Tower

Jewel Cave

Badlands

Am I missing anything important? Any and all suggestions are appreciated. Hopefully in a few weeks I can have an itinerary put together.

Visting Black Hills with lots of questions

What a fun trip for you and your family. We spent only 3 nights 3 days there with our 8 year old and had a lot of fun.

In Hill City we went to Wade%26#39;s Gold Mill and took gold panning lessons, then panned for gold and actually got a flake! Very fun. Also in Hill City is Black Hills Museum with dinosaurs. www.bhmnh.org . In Rapid City is a fun park with huge concrete dinosaurs. www.roadsideamerica.com/story/10514

Drive the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park. Watch for wildlife and there are places where there are semi wild burros that will come up to the car! Fun.

I would take a day to do ';non attraction'; kind of things. Fishing, renting a boat, short hikes, playing, gold panning, etc.

I would think that the horseback rides and chuckwagons inside Custer State Park would be very nice, and easy to get to from your campground. Most horseback rides will require your kids to be able to ride alone and usually they must be 4 or 5 years old.

Geocaching.. sdgfp.info/Parks/…GeocacheScavengerHunt.htm

Visting Black Hills with lots of questions

The showers are stalled.

Thanks for the replies and links. My son had his first experience with geo-caching a few weeks back at YMCA campground and really enjoyed it.

My wife will be happy to hear about the showers.

I just received an Insiders%26#39; Guide to South Dakota%26#39;s Black Hills and Badlands at my local library, so that will keep my busy for the next few days.

I was first worried about filling a whole week, now I thinking we may not have time do do everything we want to. I guess that is a good problem to have.

Hi Twopiece,

I am not a camper, so I will leave those questions to someone more familiar. I am also not familiar with all the things you mention, but I will comment on what I feel comfortable with.

We enjoyed touring Big Thunder Gold Mine in Keystone. There%26#39;s an interesting history behind the mine, and there is panning available. I know the site Casa Azul directed you to is also supposed to be very good as well and probably not as touristy. There is also Broken Boot Mine outside of Deadwood. We went by here but didn%26#39;t have a chance to stop.

We didn%26#39;t experience the Chuck Wagon Dinner, but I know the owner of the hotel we stayed in highly recommended them. There was one that left out of Blue Bell Lodge in Custer SP. This area also has horseback riding.

Here%26#39;s a website on geocaching. I%26#39;m not sure if you are familiar with it.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/

It looks like you can do a state search. I didn%26#39;t dabble too much into it. I actually googled the term, as I didn%26#39;t know what it was. Thanks for asking about it, as I was able to learn something. :)

The Mammoth Site is great; they have a Jr Paleontologist Program for the kids. You can also visit a place in Hill City called Everything Prehistoric. It%26#39;s a nominal entrance fee, but it%26#39;s a great little museum with dinosaur skeletons, gems, etc. There%26#39;s also a great souvenir shop there with many prehistoric themed items.

We have only done Bear Country once, but we saw plenty of bears while driving through.

I am not sure here, but I don%26#39;t think you will find any waterparks as elaborate as the ones in the Wisconsin Dells. There%26#39;s a very small waterpark in Hot Springs near the Mammoth Site called Evans Plunge. . It%26#39;s fed by the hot spring, so the pools are advertised as being quite warm.

Deadwood has Gulches of Fun for go karts, arcade, etc, but there%26#39;s not a whole lot for the kids to do. Our daughter was 8 when we visited, and she, (and my dh and I) really enjoyed the Adams House. We met a wonderful guide there who still keeps in touch with us to this day. He allowed our daughter to ';assist'; him with the tour. Both of them had a great time! Your 7 year old might enjoy the house more than your 3.5 year old. Deadwood also has the nightly shoot outs that your boys would enjoy.

You have a nice long time for your trip, and you will definitely find plenty to do, which, as you said, is a great thing! With your time frame, definitely do the Wildlife Loop as was mentioned, and I%26#39;d add Wind Cave and the Reptile Gardens. Personally, Bear Country was fun, but our daughter really enjoyed the Reptile Gardens more. Keep in mind that all the national parks/monuments have the Jr. Ranger Program which provides age based activities. Kids can earn badges upon completion of a workbook at each site.

There are many privately owned caves in the area which may be of interest to you and your boys. Additionally, since you have a week to explore, I%26#39;d consider adding Crazy Horse to the itinerary. It has a fascinating history, and everyone needs to see it once, IMO. You will also find great native American exhibits here.

I hope this helps some. Please post your itinerary once you have it put together. We%26#39;d be glad to give you some feedback. Have fun planning!

thanks for the detailed response.

i think we are leaning towards the mammoth site for the palaeontologist activity. i read that some other people really enjoyed the reptile gardens as well. i think we will add that. the activities in deadwood could possibly keep my wife and kids occupied while i walk the streets of deadwood. i have read about 1/2 of the black hills book guide up to the activities. i have a few more campgrounds and hotels on the list, so now on to the activities. with my map from the visitors guide i%26#39;m going to try to plan the activities and stays in each area to maximize our time. the crazy horse memorial will also be included, i forgot to mention it earlier.

Devil%26#39;s Tower area will keep you busy for a whole day. More depending on your interests. The manned fire tower is a must see. Very informative and the view is awesome. Vore Buffalo Jump is also a great stop. You can check out the prairie dogs on the way in to Devil%26#39;s Tower and the walk around the base is an easy family walk. Check out the cabins at Sundance Mt. HideAway in Sundance. There is a small water park in Spearfish that will open this summer. Be sure and drive through Spearfish Canyon. Have a great trip.