Black Hills in July with family of 4

We are planning a trip to Black Hills with an 9 and 11 yr. We have a week to spend out there. Is it too much time? Any suggestions for staying in a cabin? We no longer do tenting but saw that Custer State Park has rustic cabins. Anyone stayed in those before? Suggestion for places to visit would be great. We plan on going to East Wyoming for a day to visit friends. Thanks in advance.

Black Hills in July with family of 4

There seems to be plenty to do in the Black Hills area to use up the whole week. Do you enjoy hiking? Fishing? Sightseeing? History? Spelunking? Animals?

Custer State park has an abundance of animals. There are 2 caves that are National Parks. Driving some of the roads is an adverture in itself. I enjoyed The Mammoth Site in Hot Springs at the southern end of the Black Hills. Reptile Gardens is one of the attractions I enjoyed many years ago and they are still operating and wowing tourrists. Ask about other activities too. Try to make time in your schedule for Devils Tower in eastern Wyoming too.

Black Hills in July with family of 4

I have no personal experience staying in the cabins, but at the website, custerresorts.com, they look quite nice. Legion Lake Lodge, Sylvan Lake Lodge, %26amp; State Game Lodge offer cabins, I believe. Blue Bell Lodge is also one of Custer SP%26#39;s properties, but I don%26#39;t think they offer cabins. I%26#39;m sure if you check out these properties on this site and look at the review, you will get some insight.

Definitely include a side trip to Devil%26#39;s Tower when you visit your friends in E Wyoming. It%26#39;s fascinating to watch the climbers. There%26#39;s a great prairie dog town there.

RM offered some very good suggestions for activities. Wind %26amp; Jewel Caves are the ones operated by NPS and would be interesting for your family. A week is a great amount of time for you to see the sights. You should visit Badlands National Park, Mt Rushmore, Custer State Park, Crazy Horse, the 2 caves, %26amp; Devil%26#39;s Tower at minimum. The week time frame will allow you to also see Reptile Gardens metioned by RM, Bear Country, the Mammoth Site, and maybe even the Wild Horse Sanctuary if this would fit your budget and interest. I always recommend visiting travelsd.com for ideas of what is in the area. Gold Panning, mine touring, hiking in Custer SP, and some of the fun kid attractions like the Cosmos Mystery Area would be fun for the kids. Keystone has an alpine slide, and Rapid City has an indoor mini golf course on Rt. 16 called Putz %26amp; Glo.

You could include Deadwood %26amp; Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway enroute to E Wyoming.

Have fun planning, and be sure to stop back with any additional questions.

We were there in June 2008. There is plenty to do including Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Wind and Jewel Caves, Custer State Park as well as Spearfish Canyon, Deadwood and Devil%26#39;s Tower. We stayed at the K Bar S Lodge so cannot comment on the cabins at Custer State Park. I will recommend the lunch buffet at the State Game Lodge. The bison stew and homemade desserts are great. Enjoy your trip planning.

The Custer State Park cabins (custerrestorts.com) can make for a good place to stay. You can find cheaper cabins in the Black Hills but the Park%26#39;s cabins are generally worth it if it doesn%26#39;t break you budget.

Ask four different people which cabins to pick and you%26#39;ll get four different answers. I like the Sylvan Lake Resort because of the proximity to the Needles, Harney Peak and Hill City. The high altitude makes for cool (sometimes cold) nights.

Families tend to like Legion Lake because it%26#39;s the most kid friendly lake--the water is warmer than Sylvan.

The Blue Bell cabins are probably the nicest. It%26#39;s a quieter area closer to the Wildlife Loop. The horse stables are at Blue Bell so you can take horse rides there.

Some love the Game Lodge area.

Some of the cabins have air conditioning and some don%26#39;t. Most of the time you won%26#39;t need it at night...but there%26#39;s always that chance you%26#39;ll be here for the hottest week of the year since you%26#39;ll be here in July.

One thing to consider when reading reviews of the resorts is that renovations have been ongoing for about two years. Most of the lodges and cabins have been updated so some of the older reviews that mention the condition of the cabins may not apply anymore.