5 day july trip

hi! i need help plotting out a 5 day iterinary. we%26#39;re (8 adults) planning to see mt rushmore, the badlands, crazy horse, jewel cave and custer park. we%26#39;re driving from chicago and i%26#39;m wondering if custer would be a good choice as base camp, or staying one night in keystone, 3 in cluster and 1 somewhere near the badlands would be a better choice. Any other interesting (not to be missed) places i should consider?thanks!

5 day july trip

The nice thing about the Black Hills is that attractions are very close together. I think for the time you will be there, I would probably stay in one area, but I am not a person who enjoys packing up and moving around if I can feasibly stay in one spot. To me, the Black Hills is one of the areas where you can stay in one spot since most attractions are less than 2 hours away.

Since you are driving from Chicago, you will probably see the Badlands either coming or going. This is one time where it might pay you to stay somewhere near there, either in the park or maybe at Wall just to give you a driving break. For the other items on your itinerary, you could stay in Keystone, Hill City, or Custer for your base and get around easily.

If you have time, I would consider adding Wind Cave to your itinerary. If you like the old west history and/or the gambling scene, you might enjoy Deadwood. If you to go to Deadwood, it would probably be nice to make a day trip from your Black Hills base and include Spearfish Canyon and Devil%26#39;s Tower. Devil%26#39;s Tower is one of the must sees of the area, imo.

Hope this helps. Have a great time.

5 day july trip

We based our stay out of Custer worked fine for us for Mt Rushmore, Custer SP and Jewel Cave.

Nice pizza place in Custer. We like the Jewel Cave tour better than the Wind Cave tour.

Deadwood may be fun, a little gambling.....

Have fun.

thanks guys for the advice. We had so much fun on our trip that we were all so disappointed when it was time to go home. We stayed @ custer, and u are all right, black hills attractions are near each other. Badlands was spectacular. What I didn%26#39;t expect to be so great was Spearfish Canyon. It was so worth the drive.

We are going to the Black Hills in July as a family of 4. Did you stay at Custer State Park or in Custer? We are looking at the rustic cabins at Custer State Park. Thanks in advance.