Attractions Near Rapid City - What to Do and What to AVOID!
Where: Three Flags RV Park (near Rapid City, South Dakota) ($210/week)
When: June 24 to July 1, 2021 (seven nights)
Biking: George S. Mickelson Trail
Bucket Lists: Badlands National Park
What could top staying at Yellowstone for a week? Well, the answer is spending a week in western South Dakota. Sure, there are some touristy parts, but there are also plenty of places to escape the crowds. During our week-long stay in the Rapid City area, Kasie and I really started thinking that South Dakota could be our permanent residence if we ever decided to live in our RV full-time. The place has a midwestern vibe that melds well with our Kansas and Oklahoma roots.
Top Things to Do While Staying Near Rapid City, South Dakota
There’s a ton of attractions in the Rapid City area. Some are better than others. Here’s an honest opinion of what I thought.
The George S. Mickelson Trail (~ 40 miles away) (DO IT!)
George R. Mickelson Trail — Mystic Trailhead
As South Dakota’s first rails-to-trails project, this 109-mile unpaved trail traverses the heart of South Dakota’s Black Hills National Forrest. We started our bike ride at the Mystic trailhead which sits between Rochford (pronounced rock-ford) and Hill City. Although the Jeep ride to the trailhead was beautiful, we felt like Google Maps was taking us to the middle of nowhere. In hindsight, I’d recommend starting near Hill City or Rochford instead because those are actual towns, and getting there by car will be much easier. While Rochford has a population of around 25 people, it is home to the historic Moonshine Gulch Saloon. And, Hill City contains numerous shops, eateries, and places to stay.
We rode about 12 miles of the trail between Hill City and Rochford. There are four tunnels in that section with inspiring names like Tunnel A, Tunnel B, Tunnel C, and Tunnel D. I suspect that the tunnels are named that way because fancy monikers would detract from the spectacular views of the rivers, forests, hills, and the black granite rocks all around. Our ride was absolutely stunning (see a video excerpt from the one below), and I would rank it as one of my Top Ten rides to date.
Warning! The area south of Mystic suffered from some washout, and was pretty bumpy at times, but that was perhaps the most scenic part so don’t miss it. Most of our ride was relatively flat crushed gravel. We used the assist on the e-bikes a little, but that was mostly out of laziness and not necessity. There’s a $4/person fee to ride that is payable at each of the trailheads.
As far as bucket lists go, the Mickelson Trail is one of them. I wish that we would have had time to ride other parts of the trail. Someday, I’d like to spend another week in the area and ride other parts of the lengthy trail.
Badlands National Park (~70 miles away) (DO IT!)
Big Badlands Overlook at Badlands National Park
Why would anyone want the word “bad” in a national park name?” Given that the park was established in 1939, Michael Jackson wasn’t even born yet so “bad” certainly didn’t mean “cool” or “hip.” Turns out, the name likely came from the Lakota people, who called the area “mako sica,” which translates to “bad lands.” Then, when early French fur trappers passed through the region, they called it “les mauvaises terres a traveser” which translates to “bad lands to travel across.” Regardless of the name origins, we were excited to visit the national park for the first time.
Badlands National Park is about a one-hour drive from Rapid City. Our plan was to have lunch at Wall Drug so we started our drive through the national park by taking Highway 240 south towards Big Badlands Overlook. After gazing at the colorful striations in the eastern Badlands walls, we decided that we were ready for our morning hike.
Recent rains made both Door Trail and Notch Trail quite muddy. Because we had neglected to bring proper boots or hiking shoes, we went a little further into the park to the Cliff Shelf Nature Trailhead to take the short half-mile boardwalk. There’s a few stairs and slick spots along the trail, but one of the cool things was how the landscape quickly changed from barren rock to green forest in such a short distance.
The Fossil Exhibit Trail provided us with another very short boardwalk hike. The 0.4-mile loop contains a number of kid-friendly signs about the fossils and animals found in the area. There are not any genuine fossils on display; those are at the Ben Reifel Visitor’s Center. Indeed, the best place to view fossils is at the The Badlands Fossil Preparation Lab located in the Ben Reifel Visitor Center.
From the Fossil Exhibit Trail, we continued our drive along Highway 240 and stopped at the various overlooks, including White River Valley, Panorama Point, Burns Basin, Homestead, Contata Basin, Yellow Mounds, and Pinnacles Overlooks. Each overlook is breathtaking. Yet, for some reason, after a few hours, the jagged canyons and buttes start to run together.
Our favorite thing was perhaps the wildlife. We FINALLY saw our first herd of mountain goats near the Sagecreek Rim Road not too far from the Pinnacles Overlook. A little further down the road is Roberts Prairie Dog town so don’t miss that if you are fans of these little furry rodents like we are! Regardless of whether you are a Prairie dog fanatic, you may want to check out my Prairie Dog Song.
I think our video below does a pretty good job of showcasing the beauty of Badlands National Park. However, there is nothing like seeing it in person.
Wall Drug Store (~60 miles away) (CONSIDER AVOIDING IT!)
Wall Drug, an iconic tourist attraction, is located on I-90 about ten minutes north of Badlands National Park. It’s one of those things that we felt like we had to do because it is so one-of-a-kind. Fun facts about the store include:
Free ice water. Ted and Dorothy Hustead started this back in the 1930s as a way to lure travelers likely destined for Mount Rushmore.
Five cent coffee.
200+ billboards between Montana and Minnesota. Counting billboards is a great way to pass the time. Each one is painted by South Dakota artists Barry and Edna Knutson. On the 50-mile stretch of highway between Rapid City and Wall, there’s an average of one Wall Drug billboard every 4000 feet.
Oil Paintings. The are approximately 300 original oil paintings in the Western art Gallery Dining Rooms.
Animatronics. From the Chuck Wagon Quartet to the life-size T-rex that roars from its enclosure behind a Jurassic Park-like electric fence, kids will certainly be entertained.
A backyard area filled with all sorts of other stuff for kids. The map below should help explain some of the craziness of the place.
Wall Drug Map — Lots of Stuff for Kids and Lots of Stuff to Buy!
There is a TON of stuff to see at Wall Drug. But there is also a ton of stuff to see at the local mall. While Wall Drug is certainly better than a mall, that difference is marginal to me. A lot of the place is designed to entertain families with children. It felt like the rest was a giant souvenir store. Wall Drug was incredibly crowded and it reminded me of a 1990s mall on Black Friday in some respects. Admittedly, I’m a middle aged woman with no kids who doesn’t want or need to buy more stuff.
I’m glad we visited Wall Drug just to say I had done it, but it’s not the type of place that I would ever feel the need to go back to. I’m sure lots of people do like Wall Drug. If you do like Wall Drug, I’d be interested in better understanding the appeal.
Mount Rushmore National Monument (35 miles away) (DO IT!)
Mount Rushmore
Because over two million people visit Mount Rushmore each year, I was sort of dreading it because of all the crowds. (Are you getting the idea that we don’t like crowds?) Given that, I figured that we would swing by and take an obligatory photograph and then quickly leave. The national monument unexpectedly turned out to be one of my favorite things to do in the area. Yes, it is fun to take photos of carved mountain, but the stories about the monument’s construction and the four presidents themselves sucked us in.
Fun facts about Mount Rushmore:
The mountain was called “The Six Grandfathers” and “Cougar Mountain” by the local Native American Tribes. American settlers also called it Sugarloaf Mountain, Slaughterhouse Mountain and Keystone Cliffs. The United States Board of Geographic Names officially named it "Mount Rushmore" in 1930 after a New York attorney who visited it in 1885.
The state historian of South Dakota who came up with the idea for iconic faces to be carved into the Black Hills had wanted to depict Lewis and Clark, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Red Cloud, a leader of the Lakota.
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum thought that the heroes need to be less regional and suggested the four American presidents instead: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.
Over the years, there have been suggestions to add other figures, such as Susan B. Anthony, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Dwight Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan.
The original design was to portray the four presidents from the waist up. I’ve read competing theories on why only their faces are shown (lack of money? design issues?).
There’s a 0.6-mile walking trail (with several steps) where you can get different views of the presidents. Placards with historical and biographical information about each of the four presidents are located along the trail.
The on-site museum has a wealth of information on the monument’s construction and includes two theatres, which show 10-12 minute films. Construction lasted from 1927 to 1941. Workers used dynamite to carve away the granite mountain, and then used drills to prep further removal of the stone in a process called “honeycoming.”
Sculptor Gutzon Borglum’s 1/12th scale model is on display, and a park ranger located near the model provided even more information on the monument’s construction using the model.
The Avenue of Flags contains the flags of all 50 states, district, territories, and commonwealths of the United States. Of course, we did take a photo next to our home states.
Plan on taking 2-3 hours to visit Mount Rushmore. Fighting the crowds at Mount Rushmore are worth it. You will get your photos, but also a lot more out of visiting it.
There’s also a $10/car entrance fee.
Crazy Horse Memorial (~50 miles away) (AVOID IT!)
While Mount Rushmore over-delivered, the Crazy Horse Memorial was frankly a disappointment. At $30/car (for two people), I was expecting more. My criticism is not about the not about the price of admission though.
Crazy Horse was a famous Lakota warrior who fought against the U.S. Government’s efforts to take possession of Native American lands. He is most associated with the Battle of the Little Bighorn (a/k/a Custer’s Last Stand) in 1876.
The Crazy Horse Memorial project was initiated in 1939 by a group of Lakota elders, including Standing Bear, a Lakota Chief. He hired Polish-American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to build the Crazy Horse Memorial. While the sculptor has been long deceased, his family continues to operate the memorial through a non-profit proclaiming to be dedicated to preserving the culture, tradition, and living heritage of the North American Indians. Yet, the whole thing rubbed me the wrong way.
Upon entry to the memorial, we were herded to an enclosed area while a woman discussed the history of several Native American tribes in the area, including the Lakota. That was all good, but when her daughter was asked to dance for the crowd of largely non-Native American tourists, the experience just felt like commercial child exploitation.
As for the memorial itself? The memorial’s website itself says:
“It is a well-known fact that Crazy Horse refused to have his picture or likeness taken. Crazy Horse lived under the assumption that by taking a picture a part of his soul would be taken and his life would be shortened. The popular response to photograph requests would be, ‘Would you imprison my shadow too?’”
If he did not want his photo taken, why would he want his image plastered on the side of a mountain? Further, given that Crazy Horse believed that the Black Hills and other lands were sacred, would he have wanted to decimate the side of one of those beautiful mountains? I started asking those questions while I was at the memorial, and later confirmed that others had asked similar questions (see sources below).
The memorial does have several large spaces devoted to Native American artifacts and history, including Crazy Horse. Yet, at times, I felt like the memorial was more about the sculptor and his family than Crazy Horse and his legacy. That may be because the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation runs the project. And who runs that organization? Well, according to ProPublica, Jadwiga and Monique Ziolowski are both CEOs of the non-profit (at a salary of $200K each in 2020 and 2019). Other relatives reportedly work at the memorial as well.
Each year, the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation brings in around $10 million from admissions and donations/grants. Importantly, that does not include the income earned through Korczak’s Heritage, Inc., a Ziolkowski-family-owned for-profit organization that runs the gift shop, restaurant, snack bar, and the bus to the sculpture ($4/person for the rustic bus and $125/person for the guided van ride). The details on that for-profit business are not publicly available, but I suspect that revenues are in the millions each year.
Crazy Horse Memorial — Still Under Construction after 70+ Years
The lack of progress is another thing that bothers me about the Crazy Horse Memorial. The memorial construction has been going on for 70+ years. Is that just another way to keep the tourist and donor dollars flowing?
I would really be interested in knowing how Native Americans feel about the memorial. I genuinely wanted to like it, but I didn’t because I could not get past some of these questions.
Please note that these are my opinions only.
Sources:
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/460220678
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/23/who-speaks-for-crazy-horse
Custer State Park (DO IT!)
Needles Eye Tunnel in Custer State Park (South Dakota)
Kasie isn’t one of those people who says anything is the “best ever!” However, when it comes to state parks, that is how Kasie described Custer State Park. Why?
Wildlife. Wildlife. Wildlife. During our two-day exploration of the area, we encountered burros, elk, mule deer, pronghorn, prairie dogs, bison, and mountain goats! Most of our encounters were along the aptly named “Wildlife Loop Road.” This was indeed one of the best places to spot wildlife.
Nature Landscapes. Custer State Park spans part of the Black Hills of South Dakota, but also includes some rolling grasslands, several lakes, and majestic spires.
Fun Driving. If you like curvy roads and skinny tunnels like Kasie does, you will love Custer State Park. Needles Highway includes three tunnels, including the 8' 9" wide by 9'8" high Needles Eye Tunnel.
Hiking. We hiked Cathedral Spires one morning (see below).
No Crowds. Unlike some national parks, Custer State Park never made us feel like we were fighting the crowds. We even visited in June when tourist season was in full force. The only traffic jams we got into were with some bison.
Beer. Okay — There aren’t any breweries in Custer State Park, but we were able to go to several by driving just a few minutes. Check out Sick N Twisted Brewery, Miner Brewing, and Mount Rushmore Brewing. For beer lovers, please see the brewery blog for more info about all of the breweries we visited in the area.
We cannot wait to stay at Custer State Park the next time we are in the area.
Cathedral Spires Hike (DO IT!)
Cathedral Spires, and its surrounding spurs, is a geological wonder in the Black Hills. The trail is rated moderate on AllTrails and “strenuous” on the trailhead sign. That is likely because there are a few boulders that must be traversed; otherwise, the climb is pretty easy. The views are spectacular, and if I could, I would give this six stars (on a five star rating). We could see the spires at various points along Needles Highway, but nothing compares to seeing them at their base and up close.
Simply put, make this a “must do” hike if you are in the area. You will not be disappointed!
Downtown Rapid City (DO IT!)
Rapid City is known as the “City of Presidents.” We thoroughly enjoyed the life-size bronze statues of our nation’s past presidents along the city’s streets and sidewalks. And, yes, I wanted to visit ALL of them. Luckly, the walking guide provides the location of each one. And, kids (or folks like me) can participate in the Presidential scavenger hunt.
At the time of our visit, neither President Trump nor President Biden were represented. Next time we go, I’m sure they will both be there. Hopefully, one of the bronze statues will be of a woman too!
Where We Stayed: Three Flags RV Park
Three Flags RV Park - Rapid City South Dakota
Three Flags RV Park RV Park is conveniently located right off of I-90 about five miles north of Rapid City. After exiting the highway, we encountered a well-maintained half-mile gravel road to get to the park. There’s good signage that told us where to turn, and we traversed the gravel road with no problem.
The location and the price are the best things about the park. The park resides far enough away from the highway that we did not mind the traffic noise at all. And, the eastern sunrises are spectacular. We were less than an hour from about everything we wanted to see in the area (more on that below), and the weekly rate was very reasonable for full hook-ups in such a prime location. The rates were $37/night, the park offers a weekly rate and honors a number of discount programs (Good Sam, veterans, etc). We ended up paying around $210 as weekly rate.
Although there is a laundry facility, the park is otherwise no-frills. There’s a sign for a dog/pet area, but we were never able to find it. Instead, we just walked the pups around a spacious loop inside the park. Perhaps the main downside to the RV park is that there is zero shade. We were thankful for our air conditioners.
We booked our site almost 8 months in advance because we were staying in what we presumed to be peak travel season in the summer. The park was full, but there are some “primitive” sites (including a few with 20-amp electric only) on the two rows of sites furthest from the highway stood empty most of the time. While I’m sure they fill up around the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, they provide some good overflow for travelers who just need a place to stay for a night or two. We plan to stay there again next time we are in the area.
