By Mariah Cannon

South Dakota was and still is one of my favorite states to explore. It is so unique and diverse and insanely stunning. In fact, I cried every single day at the sites on my 4 days in the state in June of 2023. When I say, South Dakota needs to be on your bucket list, I mean it has to be on your bucket list.

In my itinerary below, I’m going to list some of the best things you can do with your time in the Black Hills!

This itinerary is following my route coming from the Eastern part of the state before making my way into Wyoming. Adjust as needed for your wants & needs!

Where are the Black Hills?

The black hills of South Dakota are located in the Western section of the state and spans over 5 million acres of forest land including jagged peaks, lakes, rock formations, tons of wildlife and more.

Getting There

There are many ways into this section of the state, depending on the level of exploring you want to do, I’d recommend getting a car that can handle minor off-roading and has good traction.

Some nearby towns include;

• Rapid City, SD
• Custer, SD
• Deadwood, SD
• Spearfish, SD

All of these are gateway towns to the Black Hills and super accessible, all offering their own unique bits and bobs!

I personally have only stayed in Custer, and loved it. Though I’ve heard all of these places are excellent to stay in!

If you’ll be flying in, here are two airports in the area:

• Rapid City Regional Airport
• Northeast Wyoming Regional Airport

Day 1

1. Starting off with a bang, let’s visit Badlands National Park. Entrance fees to this park are $30 for regular vehicles or you can purchase an America The Beautiful Pass that lasts a year!
2. Coming in the Northeast Entrance, off of I-90; First stop inside the National Park is basically right at the entrance of the park, Big Badlands Overlook. It’s a short little boardwalk out to overlook a valley of badlands and it is a great welcome into the park!
3. Next continue your way into the park to The Door Trail. Just under a mile, this trail takes you out onto the Badlands and you’ll follow poles to a small viewpoint of more Badlands.
4. In the same parking area as the Door Trail, there is also a super popular hike; The Notch Trail. It’s a 1.5 mile out and back trail that has a fun feature to it; a wooden ladder that you have to climb up and then down on your way back. It’s a fun and unique feature, but can be dangerous. Be sure to take your time and wear proper footwear!
5. Continuing on the hiking theme, stop for a quick walk at the Cliff Shelf Nature Trail. It’s a short half mile trail that consists of boardwalks, lots of stairs, dirt, and epic views. It was one of my favorites aside from the Notch trail!
6. After checking out some of the Badlands, take a stop at Cedar Pass Lodge Restaurant. The best item on the menu is the “Famous Indian Taco” and oh. My. Gosh. It is so good! I waited 25 minutes for it and ate it in my car on my way to my next stop and it was perfect!
7. After refueling on some delicious National Park food, make your way over to the Fossil Exhibit Trail. A super short boardwalk that has lots of interpretive signs and facts about the area and its history!
8. Once you feel like you’ve explored Badlands, you can take the Badlands Loop Road out until the exit sign for Wall comes around.
9. Wall is a small tourist town in South Dakota and a spot you must visit is the Wall Drug Store. It’s a large store that started in 1931 and has grown to a must see spot in SD. It’s known as a place to stop and stretch your legs, grab a bite to eat, and do some shopping!
10. The next destination is going to be Mount Rushmore National Memorial where you’ll find a mix of everything including hiking trails, museums, history, and ice cream. You will need to pay a $10 parking fee, an America the Beautiful does not work for this area.
11. While in the National Memorial, make sure to hike the Presidential Loop Trail. It’s a 1 mile loop trail that takes you right under the rock carvings of our presidents, so close that it might feel like you could pick George Washington’s nose… Kidding… Sort of.
12. If you really want to see it, you can squeeze in Crazy Horse Memorial after Mt Rushmore also. Keep in mind, Crazy Horse is a non government funded build, hence why it’s taken the tribe this long to complete it, so your entrance fee goes to putting efforts back into the sculpture.
13. There are loads of places to stay in the area, but I highly recommend staying at either Blue Bell Campground or Custer State Park, where the adventures will begin tomorrow.

Day 2

1. Begin your morning with the best breakfast and coffee (or hot cocoa, if you’re like me) at Miner’s Cup. I went here all of my mornings spent in SD and thoroughly enjoyed the treats and the company.
2. After fueling up for the morning, begin your way over to Custer State Park. If you’ve never heard of this park before, you need to look it up right away! It is literally insane, otherworldly in fact. To enter the park it is $20 and they give you a map and a little keepsake booklet. The America the Beautiful pass will not work here.
3. Start your time in the park by stopping by the Visitor Center to learn some history on the area as well as talk with the rangers about anything in the park. They typically have some great information on the wildlife, weather, and current conditions of trails and areas within the park.
4. Following getting the scoop on some Buffalo, time to go meet some buffalo… The Wildlife Loop Road. This consists of a 18 mile paved road that takes you through some epic scenery as well as buffalo, Pronghorn, Prairie Dogs, elk, deer, coyotes, and even bighorn sheep. Be prepared for a buffalo jam. Especially if you go during May/June since it’s their calving season; you will see so many momma and baby pairs throughout your journey on the road.
5. As you near the end of the Loop road, you’ll find the Cathedral Spires Trail, which is probably the most populated trail within the park and for good reason. The rock formations and relatively easier trail to get to see them, makes this hike and absolute gem!
6. Next up, is the Little Devils Tower Spur Trail. A 3.8 mile out & back trail that’s rated as moderate on AllTrails. This is one that I didn’t get to do and I really wish I would’ve been able to. Just another reason to go back though!
7. If those two hikes weren’t enough, check out Black Elk Peak – South Dakota’s high point standing at 7,242 feet. Although you don’t have to gain that much to summit the mountain. You’ll only gain about 1,500 feet in about 3.5 miles up, much better than 7,000!
8. To follow a long day of hiking and adventuring, head back towards Custer for some of the best food you’ll eat (I promise, it’s that good) at Black Hills Burger and Bun. I had the Buffalo burger and fries from here and it was probably one of the best burgers I’ve ever had in my life.

Day 3

1. After grabbing some liquid motivation and savory breakfast goodies from Miner’s Cup again, head on out to Jewell Cave National Monument. I highly recommend buying your ticket in advance, specifically if you go in peak season (May-August). This monument has over 220 miles of mapped caves and passageways, with quite a few different tour options for visitors. The scenic tour is a half mile loop that has 734 steps, equaling to 40 flights of stairs. On the tour you’ll find dogtooth spar and nail-head spar which is kind of what Jewell Cave was named after! The Discovery tour is more of a learning tour and it is easier and shorter in distance, through the 20 minute tour, you’ll go back in time and hear theories of how Jewell Cave came to be.
2. As if one cave wasn’t enough, head to Wind Cave National Park to check out some of the cave tours over there. *Please remember to change clothing and shoes in between cave tours. Bats can die from a disease called White Nose Syndrome regardless of if the shoes have been sanitized or not, spores can last upwards of 20 years and be transferable for just as long. Wind Cave has 6 different cave tours, 2 of which are only available in the Summer months. Garden of Eden, Natural Entrance, Fairgrounds, Accessibility, Candlelight(S), and Wild Cave(S). When I visited, I lucked out and was able to get a last minute ticket for the Natural Entrance Tour (so glad I did, because I got to meet a really good friend of mine now and explore Wyoming together after South Dakota!). If you go early enough in the morning, you can get permits, though I highly recommend getting them in advance. The visitor center here is also really good and informative and the rangers are ready to help!
3. Wind Cave also has some spectacular hiking trails outside of the cave! A great option is Rankin Ridge Interpretive Trail. A short one mile loop with expansive views throughout the whole grasslands.
4. Looking for some more miles? Lookout Point & Centennial Loop Trail is a pretty one to do that doesn’t have a crazy amount of elevation, but some decent mileage to stretch the legs and explore.
5. Go on a self guided Geology Drive through the park, taking an hour to an hour and a half, this drive is a fun way to learn how the park and the area the park is in came to be. You can stop at the visitor’s center to get a map of all of the stops to check out along the drive.

If You Have Additional Time…

• Have a swim and lunch at Sylvan Lake.
• Find some additional trails and hiking opportunities at Spearfish Canyon Nature Area.
• Hang out at Mt. Rushmore for one of their nightly lighting ceremonies! It’s pretty neat to watch them honor some people and see the faces lit up.
• Make a stop at the Black Hills Mining Museum to learn all about the mining of the area.

Enjoy this guide? Be sure to save it for future travels!

Let’s Get Adventuring!

Mariah