South Dakota Family Vacation

Summer vacations are the best!  We particularly love road trips.  This year, my family decided to head out west to South Dakota.  My kids are older, so we packed in the activities on each day.  

Day 1:

Our trip started in Sioux Falls.  We stayed the night and woke up ready for the day’s activities. Our goal for Day 1 was to drive to Wall, SD, about a 5-hour drive, and enjoy all the stops on the way.  

Our first stop was Mitchell and the Corn Palace.  The artwork on the walls is absolutely amazing and all made of… You guessed it, corn.  There were some photo opportunities for the kids inside, and they had a lot of fun looking at the corn puns in the gift shop. (I was so tempted to purchase all the t-shirts cause I am a sucker for a good Dad-Joke)

The next stop we took was for a lunch break.  We packed snacks, so we found a picnic table next to the Akta Lakota Museum & Cultural Center.  It was a beautiful setting for lunch as it is located right next to the river.  

The museum had a ton of interesting exhibits, and it stirred some great conversations with my kids.  There were hands-on exhibits that the kids also enjoyed.

As we continued on, we decided to drive through the Badlands on our way to Wall.  We stopped to get gas at the Badlands Trading Post.  Here we also saw our first Prairie Dog sighting.  It was so fun watching them poke out of their holes and stare at us.  There is no feeding or touching them as these are wild animals.

Next, we followed Hwy 240 through Badlands National Park.  The views were breathtaking.  There are many hiking opportunities, and we had a blast finding the trail over the buttes.   As we drove through the park, we saw many more prairie dogs, and plenty of places to stop and take a photo opp.  We even saw buffalo as we were exiting the park, so of course we stopped to take pictures.  

The drive to Wall was quick after leaving the Badlands, so we had plenty of time to stop at Wall Drug in the evening.  This massive drug store has a rich history and an enthusiastic marketing campaign along Hwy 90.  (You can’t miss all the signs they have!!!)  Here you can purchase gifts, eat, get a 5-cent coffee, take some silly photos, and explore to your heart’s content.  Our favorite part was the Jackalope that you can ride!  

Then we headed back to the motel to swim and sit in the hot tub.  It was a great day.

Day 2:

We decided to sleep in a little and enjoyed some breakfast at the motel before heading out.  Before we could leave Wall, SD, we needed to head back to Wall Drug for their donuts to eat in the van.  

Our next stop was Rapid City, around an hour’s drive away.   This was our home base for most of the trip.  We arrived too early to check in, so we took a trip to Reptile Gardens.  Snakes, alligators, lizards, tortoises, and beautiful gardens gave us plenty to look at.  We enjoyed the snake and alligator shows the most. 

After we checked into our hotel and ate dinner, we went to Mount Rushmore.  We started by hiking the path.  There are many stairs on this path, but if you choose the path on the left, you walk down most of them.  We went through the museum, gift shop, got ice cream, and then enjoyed the lighting ceremony once it got dark.

Day 3:

The next morning, we woke up early to drive to Jewel Cave.  We signed up for this early to make sure we could get on a tour.  They do allow walk-ins, but you might have to wait for a while to get in. This was my favorite part of the trip. The tour we were on walked us through the caves and showed us some beautiful rock formations.  There were lots of stairs, and you need to have tennis shoes or hiking boots to enter the caves (rangers check multiple times on the tour). 

The next stop was Crazy Horse, where we saw the progress of the monument and strolled through the museum.  Be sure to check out the patio, where they host shows that teach about the Native culture.  We enjoyed some traditional dancing. 

Our last stop of the day was a drive through Custer State Park.  We drove through the Needles, which, while beautiful, were a little stressful.  The road is very tight, and the tunnels are one-way.  There are so many lookout points and hiking trails to enjoy.

On the other end of the park, you can enjoy looking for the wildlife.  We saw a buffalo herd, although it was pretty far away when we went through.  Remember to bring carrots for the wild donkeys if you want them to visit your car.  And the Pronghorns were fun to watch next to the road.

Day 4:

Hot Springs, SD was our next destination as we wanted to check out The Mammoth Site.  This is an active archeological site where they are digging up mammoth remains from a sinkhole.  You can take an audio tour by using QR codes. 

In the afternoon, we headed to Bear City USA.  This is a drive-thru park where you can see wildlife up close.  Elk, long-horned sheep, and bears were walking around our vehicle so we could get a close-up look.  The baby bears were the absolute favorite; we watched them for a very long time. 

Day 5:

This day, we decided to head to Wyoming and check out The Devil’s Tower.  There are multiple trails, so we headed on the one around the base.  It was a beautiful and diverse trail.  We even saw climbers on the tower.

On our way back, we stopped in Deadwood.  We liked walking the streets, but as the town is mostly casinos and bars, we didn’t have many places to visit.  We did see some of the shows, but they were short and spaced pretty far apart from each other, so we waited a lot.

Day 6:

It was time for us to start home.  We stopped at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. The museum was very interesting with lots of videos to watch.  We didn’t tour the actual site, as you need to book those tours well in advance. 

We ended the day back in Sioux Falls and headed to Falls Park before we drove the rest of the way home.