Exporing South Dakota
Our 2021 summer trip to South Dakota included 3 areas to visit: first was the Badlands National Park on the east side of the state. From there we headed west towards Rapid City to explore the Black Hills and see Mount Rushmore. This is early June and we were hit with unusual hot temperatures up in the 100 plus an several days making us get a hotel in Rapid City for part of the time. We camped several days at Custer State Park when the temps dropped back to normal. There is a lot to see and explore in the western part of the state and we had a great time seeing this part of our beautiful country. Our big's (grandkids) were with us on this trip!
MOUNT RUSHMORE NATIONAL MEMORIAL
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is an easy drive from Rapid City and can be seen from many other places in the Black Hills National Forest. It cost money to drive into the memorial and they have just opened new parking areas next to the entrance. They are also in the process of opening new buildings for visitors to learn more about the memorial. The walk in to the memorial has flags representing each state along the path to the bleachers in front of the memorial. For us on this hot day it took about an hour and a half to visit and learn about the construction. Other places to see the memorial are scattered within the Black Hills and Custer State Park. Some are marked pull outs for tourist and some are hikes off the park roads.
One view is going through one of the many tunnels. If you take the Hwy 16A south from Hwy 244 that goes to Rushmore, you will go through the tunnel the right direction to see the memorial and this will lead you to the entrance of Custer State Park.
One view is going through one of the many tunnels. If you take the Hwy 16A south from Hwy 244 that goes to Rushmore, you will go through the tunnel the right direction to see the memorial and this will lead you to the entrance of Custer State Park.
CUSTER STATE PARK
Custer State Park is near the Mount Rushmore Memorial in the Black Hills National Forest. It is an awesome place to camp and see wild bison in there natural habitat. The park has several lakes for fishing, camping and boating. There is a wildlife loop road that circles in the park and many areas will have herds of bison along the way. The visitors center will have updates daily on where the bison are being seen. The needles rock formations are amazing and one can see most of them just by driving through the park. You will pass through several narrow tunnels and if you want to see more, then they have hikes in the rocks or around the lakes to explore. We spent 3 days here, but one could set up camp here for a week to explore the surrounding Black Hills National Forest area.
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Custer State Park VideoHere are some highlights from our trip to Custer State Park in South Dakota. It's a short video and it shows more of what you will see when visiting the area. Please Like and Subscribe for future post of videos!
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