Lead - Mount Rushmore....

We are thinking of staying at Barefoot condos in Lead in mid July. Looks great and peaceful! staying a week and doing maybe every other day of going to Mount rushmore, custer, a cave and then the other days staying closer around Lead,hiking, horses etc.

I know we would have an hour drive to get over to Mount rushmore but I assume it is a nice drive.

is it nuts to stay that far away? or ok if you vary it with other stuff.

Lead - Mount Rushmore....

Here are a fwe things to think of:

1) will you have your own vehicle or a rental? If you have a rental is there unlimited miles or will you be charged extra if you go over? If it%26#39;s a rental consider the cost to drive back and forth.

2) are you getting a GREAT deal in Lead? What makes you want to stay there?

3) Gas prices could be anywhere when you go. They may be abck to $4 a gallon which could raise the price of the drive

Here is a suggestion. We drove from Wisconsin on our way to Yellowstone in 2007 with our 3 kids; 5, 2, and 1. Here is what we did:

We went through the badlands (1/2-3/4 of a day spent here) and then stayed in Rapid City at the HoJo for $99 a night for 2 nights. This was a great location for exploring Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, caves, and other places. I would highly recommend this hotel; great rooms, awesome pool, free happy hour, great cont. brk.

We didn%26#39;t have time but we wanted to explore Deadwood and Lead. If we would have had time I would have reserved rooms in this area and seperated my hotel stays. It is always nice to be closer to your attractions so you won%26#39;t waste so much time driving.

Unless there is a reason you want to be in Lead or it is a can%26#39;t pass offer, I would seperate my hotel stays. There are a lot of things you may want to see and do that aren%26#39;t highly advertised when in the Rushmore area. The drive back to Lead may cause problems with some activities you want to see and do.

Feel free to ask any questions you may have! :)

Lead - Mount Rushmore....

Hi Casey! I%26#39;m in Iowa so we are almost neighbors! We will be driving our own car, hubby and I and our 2 teenage boys. The place in Lead is a condo, so 2 bedrooms, 2 bath, full kitchen, living room. Looks like a peaceful area if we feel like just chillin out part of the time. I don%26#39;t like packing up and switching places during vacation if we can help it. I like to have one base.

We are driving straight out on a Sat and straight home on a Sat. So we have several days there.

thanks!

Is there anything that is more in the vicinity of Rapid City that you would be interested in? I only question this as it is a more central location compared to being on one side of the activities. I would think you could find a secluded condo closer to this area???

If Lead is the place you want to be and you really like the condo, area, and the price is right I would stick with it. With 2 teenage boys an hour drive in the morning isn%26#39;t that big of a deal. We drove straight home from Miles City Montana with our 3 kids who were all 5 and under. It was a 16 hour trip and wasn%26#39;t that bad at all.

I would leave early in the morning to be at Mount Rushmore as soon as it opens if you don%26#39;t like crowds. We aren%26#39;t a fan of them and are early risers so it worked good. We were at Mount Rushmore for a couple hours and when we went to leave it was getting pretty crowded.

Take advantage of the mornings. It seems like everyone else likes to sleep in. We are up early beat the crowds and then can go relax at our hotel and enjoy the facilities during the hot part of the day when it is empty.

Any other questions feel free to send me a messge.

The drive from Lead to Rushmore is a beautiful one on HWY 385. I second the early rise for heading towards the touristy areas (Custer, Keystone, ect.) as that tends to be the coolest part of the day in July. Barefoot will be good weather-wise as it is anywhere from 5 -10° cooler up in the Lead-Deadwood are as compared to Rapid City (I work near Barefoot, there are great views of coming T-storms that time of year). Lead will be a good jumping off point for hiking, fishing, nature loving but you%26#39;ll have to do the horses down in the tourist areas, I believe.

I would recommend the Mickelson Trail from Lead towards Rochford and the drive from Spearfish up Spearfish Canyon towards 4-corners, WY.

Any questions are welcome!

Hi Penguins,

I always say the nice thing about the Black Hills is the close proximity of the attractions. Many do divide their time between the northern hills (Deadwood/Lead/Spearfish) and central hills (Keystone/Custer/Hill City). However, if you don%26#39;t do this, I don%26#39;t see a big problem. You have many attractions in the northern region, including the mining museum in Lead, Broken Boot Gold Mine in Deadwood, Adams House/Museum in Deadwood, Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway, and maybe even Gulches of Fun Park in Deadwood. You can also make an easy trip over to Devil%26#39;s Tower, which is well worthwhile.

You are correct that you will be about an hour from Mt Rushmore and Hill City, and about an hour %26amp; 15 mins from Custer. You could incorporate several attractions on your ';driving days'; to get the most bang for the buck. As you said, the drive will be pleasant...much nicer than anything here on the east coast!!! To me, an hour to 1.5 hours really isn%26#39;t a bad drive time at all.

If you venture out to the Badlands or town of Hot Springs, you will have about a 2 hour drive. I think between the 2, I%26#39;d%26#39; choose the Badlands. Hot Springs is home to the Mammoth Site and Wild Horse Sanctuary, which depending on your interests, you may or may not find worth the drive.

Getting a early start is great advice, as July can be crowded and warm.

So, to summarize, if you really like the condos in Lead, go for it. I really don%26#39;t think you are that far away that you will not enjoy all the area has to offer.

Your plan of only south to the Mount Rushmore/Custer State Park area about every other makes a stay in Lead OK. You%26#39;ll find plenty to do in Spearfish Canyon, Deadwood, Devils Tower and some off-the-beaten path places in the northern Black Hills.

However, if you plan your trip and find yourself going to the Custer State Park area everyday, I would advise against it. This fall I had relatives stay in Lead at a ski condo because it was a good deal. Unfortunately, they had way too many things planned further south and ended up renting a hotel room in Custer for the last night (and paying for the condo).

I agree with trying to hit Delvil%26#39;s Tower. We did this on our way to Yellowstone and are so glad we did. Well worth it!

Thanks everyone! Some great ideas here! I booked the condo today! Am very excited! Can%26#39;t wait for summer as it is freezing in Iowa and I am very sick of snow!

We have been to devils tower so not sure if we will go there or not. We will see how it all goes. We will go thru the badlands on the way there.

thanks for all the super ideas!

Hi, we are from Germany and intend to tour South Dakota in late May/early Jun. We intend to travel from Salt Lake City to Yellow Stone Park on to the Badlands. Where and/or how can I get information of what items of interest to visit, where to stop for how long, what roads to expect, etc. ? Is this a mountain area and what type of rental car would be appropriate ? I would be thankful for any information or who we could contact to get answers to our many questions.

Thanks a lot for your replies !

Hi Gisela, and welcome to the forums!

You may want to post a new thread to get more replies. Questions attached to someone else%26#39;s post tend to get buried.

Here%26#39;s a website for South Dakota tourism:

travelsd.com

Here you can get a travel guide with helpful ideas. It would help to know how long you have for this trip so that we can adquately help you. Both Yellowstone and South Dakota have a wide variety of things to do. You can easily spend 3 weeks in these areas.

A full size rental car would be fine for your needs. The areas aren%26#39;t that mountainous that an SUV is necessary. The roads aren%26#39;t frighteningly high.

A good website for Yellowstone is nps.gov. This contains detailed information on our national parks. Click on Wyoming to reach the Yellowstone link.

Once you do a little more research, I think you%26#39;ll be able to ask more specific questions that will enable us to help you more. Have fun planning.