Black Hills vacation planning - if you have done _ will you comment?

[clementine]

Did you pan for gold?  If so where & was it fun?

 

Did you do a chuckwagon dinner/variety show?  If so where & was it worth it?

 

Did you take a horseback ride?  If so where & was it worth it?

 

We are in the very beginning stage of planning a spring trip with teenagers.  They are game for anything & everything!!!  I want to make this a memorable trip for all of us.

 

Thanks in advance for bombarding me with any suggestions you may have!  

[City Mouse]

Went 2 yrs ago. Yes, my DS did panning at one of the campgrounds where we stayed. We did not do a dinner show or horseback ride. My DS was 11 at the time and was not interested in those things. His favorites were Reptile World, the Homestake Gold mine tour, and the drive through Custer state park and stopping to feed the donkeys/burros/what ever they were. He enjoyed Wall drug and the Miniute Man Missile national park which had a self-guided tour using a cell phone.

He said Mount Rushmore was boring, but he did not really seem to mind.

[magnificent_baby]

Just went last August, so much fun!

 

* We did Circle B chuckwagon. Really fun for the younger 2 (ages 8 and 10) but my preteen was bored. Not sure if teens would enjoy or not. 

* Rushmore Caves was really fun! The kids loved the zipline and 7-D interactive game. No time for a cave tour, but that would have been fun.

* Alpine slides in Keystone, tons of fun!! 

* Keystone is a fun town to walk around with old cowboys walking through the streets yelling and interacting with people. 

* Brule concert (Native American band) was fantastic (but we have been fans for years and love their music) and well worth going if you have never heard them. Got coupons in town somewhere so very reasonable. 

* Crazy Horse memorial was so impressive. Enjoyed this more than Mt. Rushmore itself. You can return in the evening for free for the night laser show if you show your receipt, very cool!

* Custer state park, Wildlife Loop, saw hundreds of buffalo right next to our car. Not a guarantee you will see them but we took a side road near the visitor center and found them. The drive takes well over an hour (maybe 2) to make the loop but worth it to see them up close.

* Wall drug is fun on the way.

* Badlands National Park is absolutely beautiful and a must see if you are going that way.  

* Cosmos mystery area, cheesy but fun and the kids loved it. 

* Needles highway, I'm not a fan of windy roads and hairpin turns but this is beautiful. Sat out this time as I had been on it before, but the kids enjoyed the scenery with DH. 

 

We stayed in Custer, I'm so glad we did. Somewhat central to everything and cut down on drive time (versus staying in Rapid City where we first considered). We stayed in a beautiful Holiday Inn with a gorgeous view from the lobby/breakfast area. Pool was small but nice. It was pricey but I normally prefer staying in a chain/familiar place. Staff was super friendly. I'll add more if I think of anything.

[clementine]

Just went last August, so much fun!

 

* We did Circle B chuckwagon. Really fun for the younger 2 (ages 8 and 10) but my preteen was bored. Not sure if teens would enjoy or not. 

* Rushmore Caves was really fun! The kids loved the zipline and 7-D interactive game. No time for a cave tour, but that would have been fun.

* Alpine slides in Keystone, tons of fun!! 

* Keystone is a fun town to walk around with old cowboys walking through the streets yelling and interacting with people. 

* Brule concert (Native American band) was fantastic (but we have been fans for years and love their music) and well worth going if you have never heard them. Got coupons in town somewhere so very reasonable. 

* Crazy Horse memorial was so impressive. Enjoyed this more than Mt. Rushmore itself. You can return in the evening for free for the night laser show if you show your receipt, very cool!

* Custer state park, Wildlife Loop, saw hundreds of buffalo right next to our car. Not a guarantee you will see them but we took a side road near the visitor center and found them. The drive takes well over an hour (maybe 2) to make the loop but worth it to see them up close.

* Wall drug is fun on the way.

* Badlands National Park is absolutely beautiful and a must see if you are going that way.  

* Cosmos mystery area, cheesy but fun and the kids loved it. 

* Needles highway, I'm not a fan of windy roads and hairpin turns but this is beautiful. Sat out this time as I had been on it before, but the kids enjoyed the scenery with DH. 

 

We stayed in Custer, I'm so glad we did. Somewhat central to everything and cut down on drive time (versus staying in Rapid City where we first considered). We stayed in a beautiful Holiday Inn with a gorgeous view from the lobby/breakfast area. Pool was small but nice. It was pricey but I normally prefer staying in a chain/familiar place. Staff was super friendly. I'll add more if I think of anything.

Thank you so much for the info!!!!

[Ottakee]

Custer state park was great. We found the wild burros and the kids loved petting them.

[whitestavern]

We went three years ago. We stayed in Custer, at a hotel that a homeschooling family owns. It's called Shady Rest. They're individual cabins, very cute. And the owner, Anne, is a wealth of help when you're looking for things to do.

 

We all loved Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Custer State Park and Needles Highway. We also enjoyed Wind Cave National Park. We did a chuckwagon dinner show in AZ, so I can't recommend one in SD, but it was a lot of fun, much more than we thought it would be!

 

Have fun!

[Ottakee]

We stayed at Shady Rest as well. It is NOT fancy but very homey and comfortable. Very nice owners as well.

[Nan in Mass]

We camped in Wind Cave Nat. park and loved it.

 

Nan

[clementine]

Thanks everyone!  I was thinking we would try a couple of nights at one hotel/cabin and switch to another for a couple of nights, but not quite sure.   I will definitely look into cabins mentioned above.  I'm having fun researching it all!!

 

 

 

[Tea 4 Three]

Our family loves the Black Hills!  Spring can be a bit tricky because you can run into some substantial snow events.  We were there last May about mid month and one day it snowed 8 inches.  It melted quickly the next day.  There was a blizzard and a couple feet of snow on Mother's Day weekend.

 

A friend of ours has a cabin available on VRBO. There is a nice view of Crazy Horse from his property. ( https://www.vrbo.com/631817 )

 

We love Custer State Park and could spend days there. Be sure to do an early morning drive or evening drive when you will see many more animals. We also love Wind and Jewel Caves (definite favorites and perfect if you have some rainy weather), hiking around Sylvan Lake, driving Needles Highway, Crazy Horse, and Mount Rushmore. Cosmos was pretty fun.  If you are coming from the east be sure to drive through the Badlands.  To the west, Devils Tower is just a short drive over the border in Wyoming and is fascinating. Hiking Harney Peak is on our bucket list for the next trip.  If you like to ride bikes there is a fantastic bike trail http://gfp.sd.gov/state-parks/directory/mickelson-trail/

 

There is so much to do!  Feel free to pm me.