Family Vacationing in the Beautiful Black Hills

My family just joined a long-time friend family for a vacation in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota.

The truth of the matter is that really, I planned the whole thing so I could see our friends. The place was irrelevant, and even a joke to me, when I asked my Colorado friend, "What's close to you? What can we go see?" "Mt. Rushmore!" she said, and we laughed. Ha ha. Then I told my husband who said, completely seriously, "I've always wanted to go there."

And that was how this trip started.

But as I did more and more research on all my trip research-y places (guide books, National Park passports, mom blogs, etc) I read about so many things that we could do in the Black Hills. Most resources said there was more to do than a four day trip would allow, and that it was a lovely place to visit. This is all true.

First of all, the Black Hills are beautiful this time of year and the locals are hospitable, down-to-earth, and accommodating. There are lots of places to stay (we found a house on vrbo), and every town, although small, has enough restaurants to give families enough options.

There are caves and parks and trails and museums galore and it's hard to choose what to do. But here was how it all panned out as far as our itinerary went:

1. Day one. We got up early to beat the crowds and went to Wind Cave national park for the family tour of Wind Cave. Caving is not on my list of favorite things to do---I just can't think too hard about the fact that I'm 200 feet underground WITH MY CHILDREN. But the kids liked the tour and I liked coming up the elevator back into solid ground.

Then we went to Mount Rushmore. Our friends opted for the audio tour, which was a smart choice, I realized, when my kids kept pilfering their headphones---full of interesting information, and a novelty enough to keep my (crabby, tired, whiney) 4 year old entertained. Next time, we'll just get our own headphones. We stayed at MR and perused the museum and stayed for treats. Note to self: All the desserts (even the Thomas Jefferson recipe ice cream) are gargantuan. Two, maybe three people could share them.

Later, we went to the Circle B Chuckwagon dinner and cowboy show in Hill City. Fun, just what you'd expect. I got my summer dose of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and the fiddler was actually good.

2. Day Two.

We did the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park and got stuck in a herd of buffalo. Custer State Park far surpassed my expectations. It's amazing, which is why we came back on Day Three.

The weather was threatening to turn stormy, so we made the long drive to the Badlands, which were awesome.

The Badlands is a must-see. It's two hours or so from Mount Rushmore, but worth the trip. Lots of interesting walks and hikes and no one cares if the kids climb on the rocks---I think they are happy to have tourists do the fossil uncovering.

We took the long route out of Badlands and drove to a field dubbed "Robert's Prairie Dog Town". My daughter especially wanted to see the prairie dogs and they are cute, yes they are---from a distance of course, no touching. 

And they have fleas, yes, they do. The prairie dogs stayed in the field but the fleas hitched a ride. Shame on those fleas. If you don't want to risk fleas, stay out of the field and on the pavement.

Then we went to the very quirky mega-monstrosity that is Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota (home of Wall Drug!) Words can't describe it: It's a drugstore! It's a restaurant! It's a chapel! Every quirky South Dakota tchotchke is sold here! And there are bathrooms! And free water! And a t-rex! And a jackalope! And history! 

It's like a big American inside joke and now we know it. If you like that quirky sort of Americana, don't miss it. The folklorist in me went bananas. 

3. Day Three

We started the day in Hill City at the Geological Institute of South Dakota Museum. It's small, but it's packed with fossils. This was a highlight for my oldest because he's full of facts about dinosaurs and I was entertained as he chattered about dinosaur teeth, feet, and meat. Fascinating. I would have passed it by, but was glad Eric wanted to stop. 

The rest of the day we spent in Custer State Park, first driving the Needles Highway, and then at the blissful Sylvan Lake. We played in the lake and canoed and enjoyed the perfect weather and meeting people from all over the country. 

And that was the trip, but here are four more notes:

Note 1: Every year in August there’s the Sturgis motorcycle rally. We were there the week before, just as the bikers were starting to come in. Although it was totally fine that we were there the week before, I wouldn’t go the week of the motorcycle rally, just because it’s too crazy. I actually found the bikers to be very courteous, it was just the numbers I was happy to avoid.

Note 2: The Black Hills so beautiful in the summer. And it smells so good there, I'm not sure why: the sage? 

Note 3: I love our country and I'm used to being on the coasts or in the West. But it was nice to be more central US because we met people from the north, south, east, and west, all converging in central. 

Note 4: We packed in all that we could, but there was so much we missed. We never got to Rapid City, and we missed the mammoth site in Hot Springs. I would love have to have had time for Spearfish Canyon (the locals confirmed this is beautiful), and Deadwood sounded fun. There are also a bunch of caves to explore, or (like me next time) just send the rest of your family. There just wasn't enough time. 

All in all, we had a lovely trip. If you want a resort vacation, look elsewhere. But if the great outdoors with quirky side trips is your cup of cocoa, I'd say put this on your list.