Have just one day to spend in the Black Hills? All is not lost! You can pack a lot into a day trip here and still feel fulfilled.
Start in Rapid City and head south on Highway 16 (also known as Mount Rushmore Road) toward Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Along the way, just two miles from the monument, is the mountain town of Keystone. Tour a gold mine, take a helicopter ride and shop on main street. Next on the itinerary is one of the most "must-see" South Dakota attractions – Mount Rushmore National Memorial. If you can pull yourself away from the majesty, depart for Custer State Park next – one of the largest state parks in the country. Explore 71,000 acres of mountains, plains, lakes and streams, and some of the best wildlife viewing anywhere – including one of the largest publicly-owned buffalo herds in the country.
Start in Rapid City and head south on Highway 16 (also known as Mount Rushmore Road) toward Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Along the way, just two miles from the monument, is the mountain town of Keystone. Tour a gold mine, take a helicopter ride and shop on main street. Next on the itinerary is one of the most "must-see" South Dakota attractions – Mount Rushmore National Memorial. If you can pull yourself away from the majesty, depart for Custer State Park next – one of the largest state parks in the country. Explore 71,000 acres of mountains, plains, lakes and streams, and some of the best wildlife viewing anywhere – including one of the largest publicly-owned buffalo herds in the country.
Start in Rapid City and head south on Highway 16 (also known as Mount Rushmore Road) toward Mount Rushmore National Memorial. Along the way, just two miles from the monument, is the mountain town of Keystone. Tour a gold mine, take a helicopter ride and shop on main street. Next on the itinerary is one of the most "must-see" South Dakota attractions – Mount Rushmore National Memorial. If you can pull yourself away from the majesty, depart for Custer State Park next – one of the largest state parks in the country. Explore 71,000 acres of mountains, plains, lakes and streams, and some of the best wildlife viewing anywhere – including one of the largest publicly-owned buffalo herds in the country.
After grabbing a bite to eat along the way or stopping for a picnic in the park, head north to Crazy Horse Memorial. Here, you’ll find a fifth granite face in the Black Hills, emerging in the form of the famous Lakota leader. After viewing the memorial, visit the Indian Museum of North America, which houses one of the region’s foremost collections of Native American cultural artifacts.
Continue north on Highway 385 toward the sister cities of Lead and Deadwood and take a trip back in time to when Gold Fever made these Old West mining towns famous. Enjoy high-stakes gaming in more than 80 Deadwood gaming parlors, many with atmospheres not much different from when Wild Bill Hickok met his maker back in the Gold Rush days. Historical tours in this area include the Adams Museum, historic Adams House, an Old West tour of Deadwood, historic Main Street, Mount Moriah Cemetery, a gold mine tour and the larger-than-life sculptures at a re-creation of a bison jump. Stay the night in Lead/Deadwood or Spearfish.
