42 GREAT ATTRACTIONS IN THE BLACK HILLS
Very few places in the United States offer as potent a combination of natural beauty and tourist attractions as the Black Hills of South Dakota. If you've enjoyed places like the White Mountains of New Hampshire or the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee, then you'll certainly love this region. The Black Hills truly have something for everyone: world-class hiking trails, amusement parks, swimming holes, waterfalls, tourist towns, scenic drives, rail trails, tons of wildlife, and so much more. I've visited this region many times, and I'm delighted to share 42 great attractions in the Black Hills with you.
For an awesome Black Hills experience, plan a 7-10 day trip between June and September. If you aren't taking a road trip, you can fly into either Denver or Rapid City.
Billings, Montana and Minneapolis, Minnesota are two other potential options.
I hope you enjoy this travel list. Please let me know if I missed any of the great or classic attractions in the Black Hills.
✪ = A FAMILY FRIENDLY ATTRACTION!
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1880 Train (aka Black Hills Central Railroad) ✪ |
Location: 2 train depot locations: Hill City and Keystone | Duration: 3 hours | Cost: $$$
Take a two-hour steam-powered train ride through the Black Hills on the 1880 Train. You can board the train in either Hill City or Keystone, and both towns have a walkable downtown area with various shops and restaurants. If you choose a round-trip journey, make sure you select a return trip that allows you extra time to wander around the opposite town (otherwise the return trip starts 15-minutes after you arrive).
Visit their official website for special train runs, including holiday/winter express trains and various alcohol-themed (age 21+) trips. |
Location: about 1 hour east of the Black Hills | Duration: half to full day | Cost: $$
Badlands National Park is one of the very best of America's national parks, and it's a place I've returned to often over the years. The contrast between prairies and badlands is jaw-dropping, and the abundant wildlife is an added bonus (e.g. bison, prairie dogs, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, etc.). While technically located outside of the Black Hills, the national park is very reachable from there. I recommend leaving the Black Hills early and spending an entire day in the park if you can.
Recommended hikes in Badlands National Park:
✮ Castle Trail
✮ Cliff Shelf Nature Trail
✮ Door Trail
✮ Notch Trail - this 1.5 mile round-trip hike is the best day hike in the park, and it includes climbing up a steep log ladder
✮ Window Trail
You don't necessarily need to walk an official trail to enjoy this national park. You can park at any of the parking areas or pull-offs and wander around until your heart is content. I just wouldn't climb up or down anything that's too steep.
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Notch Trail in Badlands National Park
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Location: 10-minutes northeast of Sturgis | Duration: 3-4 hours | Cost: $
Take a 3.5-mile-round trip hike to the top of Bear Butte, a geological laccolith feature that provides great scenic views. This is one of the best summit hikes in the Dakotas.
The state park also offers a campground, fishing, boating, and horseback riding trails.
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Location: US-16 about 15 minutes south of downtown Rapid City | Duration: 2 hours | Cost: $$$
Bear Country U.S.A. is one of the premier drive-through wildlife parks in the country. While the drive is great and you'll see many animals, the highlight of the park for many are bear cubs, which are housed in a more traditional zoo setting that you park and walk out to. |
Bear Country U.S.A. welcome sign
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Black Hills National Forest ✪ |
Location: covers a huge portion of the Black Hills | Duration: depends on the activity | Cost: depends on the activity
The 1.25-mile acre Black Hills National Forest makes up the majority of the Black Hills region. The forest stretches from the area around Deadwood in the north all the way down to Edgemont and Hot Springs in the south. It is one of the premier national forests in the country in terms of outdoor activities.
Popular activities in this national forest include:
✮ ATV/ORV/UTV trails (there are more than 600 miles of them)
✮ Hiking and backpacking (including the 111-mile long Centennial Trail)
✮ Horseback riding
✮ Mountain biking (including the Centennial Trail and the famous George Mickelson Trail)
✮ Rock climbing (hundreds of routes)
✮ Scenic driving (including the fully-paved, 20-mile long Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway)
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Black Hills National Forest sign
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Location: S. Playhouse Road in the heart of the Black Hills | Duration: 2-3 hours | Cost: $$$
This regional, seasonally-run theatre inside of Custer State Park presents a variety of comedies, musicals, and other live performances. The theater typically offers performances Tuesday through Sunday from June through August. |
Location: in front of the Bearded Buffalo Resort on US-16A just east of downtown Custer | Duration: 10 minutes | Cost: FREE
Bo the Bison is a 37-foot wooden sculpture in the southern Black Hills. Debuting in 2023, he wears bib overalls and proudly presents the American flag. You can currently find him about 1.0 mile east of downtown Custer on US-16A. |
Bo the Bison in front of the Bearded Buffalo Resort
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Location: west side of SD-71 about 11 miles south of Hot Springs | Duration: 30 minutes (more if you intend to swim) | Cost: FREE
Generations have enjoyed this swimming hole in the southern Black Hills. Fed by natural spring water, this is one of the best swimming holes in the region. There are several spots where you can jump a few feet down into the pool. It only takes a short hike from the large parking area to reach the small waterfall and swimming hole. |
Cascade Falls
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Location: access via SD-44 and Chapel Lane (west of downtown Rapid City) | Duration: 1 hour | Cost: FREE (although donations are encouraged)
Located only a few minutes from downtown Rapid City, Chapel in the Hills is a replica 12th-century Nordic church. The all-wooden structure is impressive and it is surrounded by attractive grounds. There is a small gift shop on site. |
Chapel in the Hills
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Location: east side of US-385 between Custer and Hill City | Duration: 1-2 hours | Cost: $$
Crazy Horse was a chief of the Oglala band of the Lakota Sioux. His resistance against the United States federal government is legendary, and he is most known for leading the attack at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.
A gigantic monument to Crazy Horse
started construction in 1948, but only a small portion has been completed so far. The face is completed and looks great, and some of his fingers are starting to come along nicely too. The sculpture is a continual work-in-progress, and there are serious doubts as to whether it will ever be completely finished. If and when it is completed, it will be 563 feet tall and 641 feet long, making it one of world's largest monuments.
You can see the sculpture off in the distance from US-385, but you must pay a (fairly hefty) admission fee to get any closer to it.
The admission fee also includes access to several Native American museums. In my opinion, the best way to experience the memorial is make a sizeable "donation" to take a shuttle ride up to an area directly in front of Crazy Horse's facial profile. Just a warning though - this option isn't cheap. |
Crazy Horse Memorial
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Location: heart of the Black Hills | Duration: at least 1-2 full days to fully explore the park | Cost: $$
Custer State Park is one of the premier state parks of America. The outstanding scenery and wildlife is worthy of national park status, but South Dakota isn't likely to transfer this land to the federal government anytime soon. Very few places in the country offer natural splendor and wildlife at the level that Custer State Park does.
The most popular activities in the state park include:
✮ Walking around Sylvan Lake (and perhaps taking a quick swim if it's warm enough)
✮ Driving the paved Needles Highway
✮ Driving the paved Wildlife Loop to see a variety of large animals
✮ Take a hike (using one of the trailheads along the Needles Highway)
Here are some highly recommended hikes in Custer State Park:
✮ Black Elk Peak - this is the highpoint of South Dakota, and the most popular trail to the summit starts at Sylvan Lake
✮ Cathedral Spires Trail - this 2-mile round-trip hike starts from a small parking area on the Needles Hwy just east of Sylvan Lake
✮ Little Devil's Tower - several trails (including those stemming from Sylvan Lake and the Needles Hwy) lead to this scenic area
✮ Sunday Gulch Trail - this 4-mile round-trip hike starts and ends at Sylvan Lake; you'll walk the Sylvan Lake Shore Trail as part of this
✮ Sylvan Lake Shore Trail - this 1.2 mile loop walks around scenic Sylvan Lake (which is swimmable in July and August)
I haven't hiked the Lovers' Leap Trail (which starts near the State Game Lodge in Custer State Park) yet, but that is likely to be a great hike as well. |
Cathedral Spires within Custer State Park
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Location: downtown Hill City, Keystone, and Wall | Duration: 15-30 minutes | Cost: FREE
The most famous chainsaw carving shops in the country are in the Black Hills. Dahl's Chainsaw Art features impressive chainsaw carvings plus also a few gigantic wooden sculptures. This includes:
✮ Hill City - a giant Smokey the Bear
✮ Keystone - a giant Bigfoot
✮ Wall - a giant jackolope
There are also Dahl's Chainsaw Art locations in Rapid City and Deadwood. |
World's Largest Smoky the Bear Statue at Dahl's Chainsaw Art in Hill City
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Location: Skyline Drive near downtown Rapid City | Duration: 30 minutes | Cost: FREE
If you are passing through Rapid City, take the paved road up to Dinosaur Park for scenic views of the city and also to see a half-dozen, life-sized concrete dinosaur statues. It's totally free and is a quick trip from the downtown area. |
Dinosaur Park in Rapid City
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Location: northern Black Hills (45 minutes northwest of Rapid City) | Duration: depends on activity | Cost: FREE
Downtown Deadwood is an attractive historic district that oozes with spirit of the American West. It has roughly 20 casinos plus many shops and restaurants. While you'll see some families during the day, it's not really aiming to be a family-friendly place. The primary demographic is adults who come here to drink and gamble.
The northern end of the famous, 109-mile long George S. Mickelson Trail rail trail is also here. There is at least one bike rental company in town, and you can either ride up-and back a portion of the trail from there or (more commonly) take a shuttle with them and ride mostly downhill back to town.
I recommend staying in Deadwood for at least 2-3 nights. There are many other day trips you can take from there as well (e.g. Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming, Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway, Bear Butte State Park, etc.). |
Downtown Deadwood
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Location: US-385 a few miles north of Custer State Park | Duration: 1-2 hours | Cost: FREE
Hill City is one of two small tourist towns in the heart of the Black Hills (the other being Keystone). Hill City is central to many attractions and so it's a top option for lodging and short-term rentals (e.g. VRBO, Airbnb, etc.) in the Black Hills. In my opinion, it doesn't really matter which town you choose to stay in or near (Hill City or Keystone) since both are reasonably close to the majority of the major attractions of the Black Hills.
The key attractions of Hill City and the immediate vicinity include:
✮ 1880 Train (the Hill City Depot) - scenic train rides
✮ Black Hills Institute - a small but impressive dinosaur fossil and rock/gem museum
✮ Dahl's Chainsaw Art - includes the World's Largest Smokey the Bear statue
✮ Downtown area shops and restaurants
✮ George S. Mickelson Trail - rent a bike or e-bike, take a van shuttle, and ride this famous and scenic rail trail back to town
✮ Prairie Berry Winery - visit the best winery in the Black Hills
Driving distances from Hill City to:
✮ Badlands National Park - 88 miles (Pinnacles Station / western entrance)
✮ Crazy Horse Memorial - 10 miles
✮ Devil's Tower National Monument, Wyoming - 116 miles
✮ Downtown Deadwood - 42 miles
✮ Downtown Keystone - 12 miles
✮ Downtown Rapid City - 27 miles
✮ Mount Rushmore National Memorial - 12 miles
✮ Sylvan Lake, Custer State Park - 20 miles
✮ Wildlife Loop Road, Custer State Park - 27 miles
✮ Wind Cave National Park - 34 miles
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Downtown Hill City the week before the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally in August
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Location: US-16A and SD-40 about 10 minutes northeast of Mount Rushmore | Duration: 1-2 hours | Cost: FREE
Keystone is the other major tourist town in the heart of the Black Hills. Like Hill City, Keystone is also central to many attractions in the Black Hills. In my opinion, it doesn't really matter which town you choose to stay in or near (Keystone or Hill City) since both are reasonably close to the majority of the major attractions of the Black Hills.
The key attractions of Keystone and the immediate vicinity include:
✮ 1880 Train (Keystone Depot) - scenic train rides
✮ Big Thunder Gold Mine - guided gold mine tours
✮ Black Hills Helicopters
✮ Dahl's Chainsaw Art
✮ Downtown area shops and restaurants
✮ National Presidential Wax Museum, The
✮ Rushmore Tramway Adventures
✮ Sprockets Fun Foundry - arcade machines for the kids
Driving distances from Keystone to:
✮ Badlands National Park - 82 miles (Pinnacles Station / western entrance)
✮ Crazy Horse Memorial - 19 miles
✮ Devil's Tower National Monument, Wyoming - 128 miles
✮ Downtown Deadwood - 47 miles
✮ Downtown Hill City - 12 miles
✮ Downtown Rapid City - 21 miles
✮ Mount Rushmore National Memorial - 3 miles
✮ Sylvan Lake, Custer State Park - 18 miles
✮ Wildlife Loop Road, Custer State Park - 16 miles
✮ Wind Cave National Park - 37 miles
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Downtown Rapid City / City of Presidents ✪ |
Location: close to I-90 (about 30 minutes north of Mount Rushmore) | Duration: half day | Cost: $ (for parking meters)
Perhaps the best part of downtown Rapid City are the life-sized, bronze presidential statues. Sculptors have designed statues for all presidents up through Barack Obama, and you can find them across a 6-7 block distance on both Main Street and St. Joseph Street. It's great fun finding and photographing all of them. As you hunt down the statues, you can also enjoy the rest of downtown Rapid City, where there are many stores, restaurants, and bars.
It'll be interesting to see if they ever add statues for President Biden and President Trump, given how controversial both of them are. |
Rapid City mural
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Location: Hot Springs (southern Black Hills) | Duration: 2-3 hours | Cost: $$
Evans Plunge is the oldest tourist attraction in the Black Hills, and you could argue that it looks and feels like it. This isn't the prettiest establishment, but it's quite fun and it serves nostalgia well. There are indoor and outdoor pools that are fed by an 87-degree, naturally warm spring.
My daughter and I loved their two indoor waterslides. One of the slides descends incredibly steeply -
if you're large like me, you'll zoom out of it and nearly skip across the water.
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indoor pool and slides at Evans Plunge
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Geographic Center of the Nation Monument ✪ |
Location: downtown Belle Fourche | Duration: 20 minutes | Cost: FREE
If you combine the contiguous United States with Hawaii and Alaska, the very center of it all is in Belle Fourche, South Dakota.
Although the town has fully embraced its stature as the geographic center of the nation, the downtown-area monument isn't actually the official spot. To reach the actual location, you'll have to drive a long (although generally well-maintained) dirt road off the west side of US-84 a bit north of town (Tip: search Google Maps for "Actual Geographical Center of the United States"). It's about a 30 minute drive from downtown to the official spot. |
Geographic Center of the Nation Monument
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George S. Mickelson Trail |
Location: 109-mile trail from Deadwood to Edgemont | Duration: depends on the length of your ride | Cost: $ for trail pass (but $$$-$$$$$ for bike rentals/shuttles)
The 109-mile long George S. Mickelson Trail is one of the premier long-distance bike paths in the United States. Offering a variety of scenery in the western Black Hills, the trail travels from Deadwood in the north down to Edgemont in the south. En route, you will ride across more than 100 converted railroad bridges and pass through four mountain-carved tunnels. The trail is mostly crushed limestone and packed gravel, and is generally very smooth.
The trail has some hills, but they generally aren't too strenuous. The steepest section of the trail is from Deadwood south to Dumont (with an average 8% grade). This section is a near-continuous uphill climb. If you start from this end, it is recommended that you take a shuttle and ride down this portion of the trail.
There are 15 official trailheads along the route, and there are several bike rental and shuttle operators servicing the trail. Bike rental companies are primarily located in Deadwood, Hill City, and Custer. E-bikes are allowed on the trail, but take note that most don't have large enough batteries to allow you to ride the entire trail. E-bikes rentals can be a great option for a half or full-day trip though.
Here are the official trailheads on the George S. Mickelson Trail (listed in order from north-to-south):
✮ Mile 0.0 Deadwood - trailhead on Sherman Street/US-85 south of downtown
✮ Mile 3.5 Kirk Trailhead, Lead - trailhead on Kirk Road
✮ Mile 5.1 Lead - this is a connecting spur trail from Hearst Ave
✮ Mile 5.5 Sugarloaf Trailhead, Lead- trailhead on SD-85
✮ Mile 10.3 Englewood Trailhead, Lead - trailhead is near the junction of Brownsville Road and Englewood Road
✮ Mile 16.2 Dumont Trailhead, Lead - trailhead on North Rochford Road/SD-205
✮ Mile 26.2 Rochford Trailhead, Hill City - trailhead on Rochford Road near the Rochford Volunteer Fire Department
✮ Mile 34.1 Mystic Trailhead, Hill City - trailhead on George Frink Road (aka Rochford Mystic Road)
✮ Mile 48.7 Tracy Park Trailhead, Hill City - also known as "Burlington Northern Hill City"
✮ Mile 59.2 Mountain Trailhead, Crazy Horse - trailhead on Village Ave off US-385
✮ Mile 64.3 Harbach Centennial Park, Custer - across the street from the Custer Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau
✮ Mile 73.1 White Elephant Trailhead, Custer - trailhead on US-385
✮ Mile 76.7 Pringle - trailhead on Railway Street off US-385; this is near the famous Bicycle Sculpture
✮ Mile 92.6 Minnekahta Trailhead, Hot Springs - trailhead on US-18 near SD-89
✮ Mile 108.8 Edgemont - trailhead on Main Street
Two popular half or full day experiences on the trail include:
✮ Go to Hill City and take a shuttle to either Mystic, Rochford, or Dumont (and then ride back to Hill City, climbing a large hill along the way)
✮ Go to Deadwood and take a shuttle to Dumont, Rochford, or Mystic (and then ride back to Deadwood)
Take note that daily trail passes are required to use the trail. They can be purchased at trailheads or at authorized vendors. |
Location: SD-240 in Philip (near the eastern entrance of Badlands National Park) | Duration: 20 minutes | Cost: FREE
Who can pass up a photo opportunity with a 6-ton, 12-foot tall prairie dog statue? We certainly can't. In addition to the statue, there's a gift shop and a live prairie dog colony adjacent to the parking lot. If you enter or exit Badlands National Park from its eastern entrance, this a quick, must-visit stop. Although you will see people doing it, I don't recommend feeding the animals or getting too close to them (they can carry the plague and other diseases). |
Giant Prairie Dog, Philip
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Gold Mine Tours in the Black Hills ✪ |
Location: several locations | Duration: 2-3 hours | Cost: $$
There are several former underground gold mines in the Black Hills that you can take a guided tour of. Here are the two most popular ones:
✮ Big Thunder Gold Mine, Keystone
✮ Broken Boot Gold Mine, Deadwood
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Iron Mountain Road / US-16A ✪ |
Location: US-16A from Keystone south to SD-36 | Duration: 1 hour (not including stops) | Cost: FREE
Iron Mountain Road is a 17-mile paved route in the eastern Black Hills. It forms the eastern edge of the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway. It is known for its Black Hills scenery, pigtail bridges, and rock tunnels.
The road starts at the junction of US-16A and SD-244 in Keystone just east of Mount Rushmore. From there, the scenic drive travels south on US-16A until it reaches SD-36 near the State Game Lodge. Once you reach the end, you can access more scenic drives (including the nearby Wildlife Loop Road in Custer State Park). |
Jewel Cave National Monument ✪ |
Location: access via US-16 west of downtown Custer | Duration: 2 hours | Cost: $$ for cave tours
There are caves scattered across the Black Hills, and Jewel Cave is one of the best. The cave is enormous at more than 200 miles long. Adventurers are still mapping the cave, and they expect to find more passageways. Jewel Cave is currently the 5th longest cave in the world.
Several different guided cave tours are offered:
✮ Discovery Tour - the shortest and easiest tour
✮ Historic Lantern Tour - a strenuous tour using historic lanterns
✮ Scenic Tour - a moderately strenuous tour that requires walking up and down 734 stairs
✮ Wild Cave Tour - a true caving adventure! requires scrambling, belly-crawls, and passing through tight passages; NOT for claustrophobics!
Advance online reservations are highly recommend for cave tours (and required for some). You should also visit the NPS.gov website to understand tour requirements (including the types of items and footwear that are prohibited).
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Mammoth Site of Hot Springs ✪ |
Location: near the center of Hot Springs (southern Black Hills) | Duration: 2-3 hours | Cost: $$
The Mammoth Site is an active paleontological excavation site and museum that primarily focuses on ancient mammoths. The remains of more than 60 mammoth skeletons have been found, and you can see them both in and above ground. It's crazy to think that these giant elephants used to roam the Black Hills of South Dakota about 140,000 years ago. This is one of the finest fossil museums in the world. |
Mammoth Site
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Mount Rushmore National Memorial ✪ |
Location: SD-244 in the heart of the Black Hills | Duration: 2-4 hours | Cost: $ for parking
Mount Rushmore stands as a symbol of freedom and democracy. It includes 60-foot facial profiles of four iconic presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln. One of America's most famous tourist attractions, the memorial sees roughly 2 million visitors per year. Most visit during the day, but there is also a highly-recommended nightly lighting ceremony in season.
If you talk to other people that have visited the memorial, you might hear some claim that "the faces are much smaller than I thought they'd be". If you hear that, odds are almost certain that they didn't find or walk the Presidential Trail. Walk this 0.6 mile loop and you'll get much closer to the sculptures (and thereby leave with much more of an appreciation of how large they are).
A trip to Mount Rushmore is not complete without a trip to the park cafeteria to try some of Thomas Jefferson's Ice Cream. This vanilla flavored ice cream is fantastic, and I don't think I've tasted ice cream quite like anywhere else. There is practically a cult-following for this ice cream, so much so that it's starting to be added to other units within the National Park Service. |
Mount Rushmore as seen from SD-244 (just east of the memorial)
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Location: cuts through the heart of Custer State Park and the Black Hills | Duration: 1 hour (not including stops) | Cost: $$
The 14-mile, paved Needles Highway is one of the most scenic drives in the Dakotas. Some would argue it is the finest, but the Badlands Loop Road in nearby Badlands National Park is pretty tough to beat.
The Needles Highway starts just northwest of the junction of SD-89 and SD-87 (near Sylvan Lake) and travels southeast down to US-16A (near the Legion Lake Lodge). Excluding stops, it takes about 45-60 minutes to drive. The road is open seasonally and is typically closed from November or December through early April. The road can be driven in either direction, and I personally don't feel one is necessarily any better than the other.
Notable landmarks and trailheads along the scenic drive (in order from west to east) include:
✮ junction of SD-89 and SD-87 near the Sylvan Lake Lodge - turn onto SD-87 to start the Needles Highway
✮ Sylvan Lake - walk 1.1 miles around the lake and/or take a longer hike (e.g. Sunday Gulch, Black Elk Peak, etc.)
✮ Little Devil's Tower Trailhead - take a challenging day hike to see beautiful rock spires
✮ Needles Eye Tunnel - a narrow, one-lane passageway that you must drive carefully through
✮ Cathedral Spires Trailhead - take a 2.0--mile round-trip hike to impressive rock towers
✮ Cathedral Spires Pullout - roadside views
✮ Needles Scenic View - roadside views
✮ Iron Creek Tunnel
✮ junction of SD-87 and S. Playhouse Road - turn right to stay on the scenic drive (SD-87)
✮ junction of SD-87 and US-16A near the Legion Lake Lodge
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tunnel on the Needles Highway
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Location: US-385 a few miles northeast of downtown Hill City | Duration: 1-2 hours | Cost: $-$$
The Prairie Berry Winery is the largest winery in the Black Hills. We thought most of the wines here were pretty good, but surprisingly we didn't like the Rhubarb-based ones all that much. We know others like it though. |
Prairie Berry Winery, Hill City
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Location: just west of downtown Custer on US-385/US-16 | Duration: 1 hour | Cost: FREE (unless you buy a pie, of course)
I'm a sucker for good pie, and this colorful restaurant serves some fantastic ones.
The strawberry rhubarb pie is their most famous, but all of the pies we've tried have been excellent. |
Purple Pie Place, Custer
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Putz n Glo Indoor Black Light Miniature Golf ✪ |
Location: US-16 about 15 minutes south of Rapid City | Duration: 1-2 hours | Cost: $
We enjoyed this retro-themed indoor mini-golf center enough to deem it worthy of being included on this list. We headed here after visiting the nearby Bear Country U.S.A. drive-through safari. This would obviously be a great rainy-day activity. |
Putz n Glo Indoor Black Light Miniature Golf, Rapid City
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Location: US-16 about 12 minutes south of Rapid City | Duration: 3-4 hours | Cost: $$
The largest reptile zoo in the world can be found in the Black Hills. Reptile Gardens is a well-maintained zoo that features all sorts of reptiles, including snakes, crocodiles, alligators, giant tortoises, lizards, and frogs. The zoo also has a variety of birds and a sizable prairie dog town.
The top highlights of our visit in 2024 were the giant tortoises (which you can walk around and touch) and the 30-minute alligator and snake shows. You can easily visit both this attraction and the nearby Bear Country U.S.A. in the same day. |
Reptile Gardens entrance
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Rush Mountain Adventure Park & Rushmore Cave ✪ |
Location: SD-40 about 10 minutes southeast of Keystone | Duration: 1-2 hours (depends on activity) | Cost: $$-$$$
There are a variety of tourist attractions at the Rush Mountain Adventure Park, including:
✮ Gunslinger 7D Interactive Ride - a 'multi-sensory interactive attraction' where you shoot a laser gun at targets
✮ Rushmore Mountain Coaster - a long and fast downhill ride on one or two-person carts
✮ Rushmore Cave - guided underground cave tours
✮ Soaring Eagle Zipride - a 630-foot long zipline
✮ Wingwalker Challenge Course - an aerial adventure park / obstacle course
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Location: US-16 about 10 minutes south of downtown Rapid City | Duration: 30 minutes | Cost: $
The Rushmore Candy Company is the largest candy store in South Dakota, and likely one of the biggest in the country.
Open year-round, the shop offers a massive selection of candy, chocolate, and sodas. It has a huge variety of saltwater taffy and offers ice cream, too.
There are a few other candy stores in the Black Hills, but this is our favorite.
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Rushmore Candy Company, Rapid City
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Rushmore Tramway Adventures ✪ |
Location: US-16A just south of downtown Keystone | Duration: 1-2 hours (depends on activity) | Cost: $$-$$$$ (depending on activity)
This adventure center near Keystone offers a variety of outdoor thrill activities, including:
✮ 800-foot dueling zipline - ride almost 40mph on a dueling 800-foot long zipline
✮ Aerial adventure park - tackle an obstacle course that includes some zip-lining
✮ Alpine slide - control your sled as you travel down a 2000-foot long alpine slide (I recommended doing it at least twice)
✮ Jump tower - bungee jump off of a 60-foot wooden tower
✮ Scenic chairlift - earn good views of the Black Hills and also Mount Rushmore off in the distance
✮ Tubing hill - tube down a 450-foot long hill
✮ Zip-lining tours - a 2-hour long guided zip lining tour that covers over a mile of forest
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alpine slide at Rushmore Tramway Adventures
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Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway / US-14A ✪ |
Location: US-14A from Spearfish south to the junction of US-14A and US-85 | Duration: 1 hour (not including stops) | Cost: FREE
The best scenic drive in the northern Black Hills is the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway. Known for its canyon scenery and impressive waterfalls, the road travels along US-14A from Spearfish down to the junction of US-14A and US-85 at Cheyenne Crossing.
Highlights of this scenic drive include:
✮ Bridal Veil Falls - an impressive, 60-foot tall roadside waterfall
✮ Devil's Bathtub - hike 1.6 miles round-trip up a side canyon to visit a series of swimming holes and small waterfalls
✮ Roughlock Falls - hike 2.0 miles round-trip to visit a series of cascades
✮ Spearfish Falls - take a short walk to see an 80-foot waterfall
This road is obviously a bit far from the heart of the Black Hills (meaning the Hill City, Keystone, and Custer State Park areas), but I think its worth the driving effort.
If you are planning on visiting Devil's Tower in Wyoming (either before, during, or after your stay in the Black Hills), I recommend driving this road either on your way there or on your return trip. |
Devils Bathtub on Squaw Creek
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Location: about 2 miles west of downtown Rapid City | Duration: 2-3 hours | Cost: FREE to enter (donations encouraged)
Storybook Island is a medium-sized, delightful children's theme park. It features a variety of nursery rhyme, storybook, and fairytale attractions and settings, plus a live theatre, carousel and train ride. It's a well-maintained park with many photo opportunities.
The grounds are generally free to enter and explore, but a few of the rides and attractions cost a few dollars. The park is best for younger children (ages 2-6 are best in my opinion). |
Location: Needles Highway (SD-87) within Custer State Park | Duration: 2-3 hours | Cost: $$ (Custer State Park entrance fee)
The most popular destination within Custer State Park is 17-acre Sylvan Lake. Giant rock formations surround much of the lake, making this one of the iconic natural landmarks of the Black Hills. Although it is man-made (there's a dam at the far end of the lake), it certainly has the appearance of being natural.
I strongly recommend hiking the
1.1 mile loop around the lake. This is one of my favorite short hikes in Custer State Park. While most of it is flat and easy, there are some rocky sections. Other trails also stem from lake, leading to beautiful places like Sunday Gulch and Black Elk Peak.
Swimming in the lake is popular in summer, and although signs say that cliff-jumping is prohibited, you'll probably see people doing it anyway. I am not endorsing this activity though, since cliff-jumping is inherently dangerous.
Parking can be very competitive and so arriving early or late in the day is recommended.
There's also a general store and a take-out grill next to one of the parking areas.
The Sylvan Lake Lodge is also nearby and offers basic accommodations. |
Sylvan Lake in the morning hours
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Location: exit 110 off US-90 (about 50 minutes east of Rapid City) | Duration: 1-2 hours | Cost: FREE
Wall Drug is one of the most iconic roadside america destinations in the country. Featuring enormous gift shops, tacky attractions, and 5-cent coffee, Wall Drug is fun to visit at least once. It will be hard for you not to stop, because you'll be peppered with hundreds of quirky advertising signs as you drive highways approaching it. I don't think any other roadside attraction in the United States has more advertising than Wall Drug. The signs start hundreds of miles before you get there.
As a bonus, take South Boulevard off Glenn Street to visit an 80-foot dinosaur statue. You can put 'Wall Drug 80ft Dinosaur Advertisement' in your GPS to easily navigate your way there. If you have a few extra minutes, you should also visit Dahl's Chainsaw Art, where you'll see a giant sculpture of a jackolope (a fictitious bunny with horns). |
Wall Drug
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Location: 18-mile driving loop in the southern section of Custer State Park | Duration: 1-2 hours | Cost: $$ (Custer State Park entrance fee)
Outside of Yellowstone National Park, I don't think there is any other area in the continental United States that offers the abundance of wildlife that this road does. You are all but guaranteed to see bison (sometimes hundreds of them), pronghorn, whitetail deer, prairie dogs, and mule deer. Many visitors will see wild donkeys (called burros) too.
The road starts near the Custer State Park Visitor Center on US-16A and heads south. Eventually the 18-mile road curves west and ends just south of the Blue Bell Lodge on SD-87. This is a must-drive for any visitor to the Black Hills. |
bison on the Wildlife Loop Road
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Wind Cave National Park ✪ |
Location: southern Black Hills (between Custer and Hot Springs) | Duration: 2 hours | Cost: $$ for a cave tour
There are caves scattered all over the Black Hills, but none with the degree of 'boxwork' that you'll see here. Your cave tour guide will say it a million times - 'boxwork, boxwork, boxwork'! You should try to make cave tour reservations online well in advance. |
"boxwork" within Wind Cave
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World's Largest Quarter Pounder Statue ✪ |
Location: corner of Cheyenne Boulevard and US-16 on the eastern side of Rapid City | Duration: 10 minutes | Cost: FREE
My wife and I love ridiculous roadside attractions, and what's better than a giant Quarter Pounder with Cheese?
You can find this statue at an otherwise average-looking McDonald's at 3919 Cheyenne Boulevard in Rapid City. |
World's Largest Quarter Pounder statue, Rapid City
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Looking for even more attractions in the Black Hills of South Dakota? |
If the 42 attractions described above aren't enough to satisfy you, here are even more great attractions in the Black Hills region:
Northern Black Hills (including Deadwood, Lead, and Sturgis)
✮ Adams House, Deadwood - tour a historic, Queen Anne-style home from the late 1800s
✮ Adams Museum, Deadwood - a history museum focusing on Deadwood and the Black Hills
✮ Days of '76 Museum, Deadwood - a history museum with wagons, carriages, stagecoaches, firearms, Native American artifacts, and more
✮ Mount Moriah Cemetery, Deadwood - visit the resting place of many western legends and outlaws
✮ Mount Roosevelt Monument, Lead - take a fairly easy hike to visit a 31-foot stone tower
✮ Sanford Lab Homestake, Lead - peer down into the deepest gold mine in the northern hemisphere (where 40 million ounces were extracted)
✮ Sturgis Motorcycle Museum & Hall of Fame, Sturgis - see nearly 100 unique and historic motorcycles
✮ Tatanka: Story of the Bison, Deadwood - a Native American history museum
✮ Terry Peak Ski Area, Lead - the largest ski resort in South Dakota
Central & Eastern Black Hills (including Hill City, Keystone, and Rapid City)
✮ Berlin Wall Exhibit, Rapid City - see a piece of the fallen Berlin Wall
✮ Black Hills Caverns, Rapid City - guided, 1-hour long cave tours
✮ Black Hills Escape Rooms, Rapid City - offers several escape room experiences
✮ Black Hills Helicopters, Keystone - scenic helicopter tours
✮ Caputa Alpacas, Caputa - spend time on an alpaca farm
✮ Cosmos Mystery Area, Rapid City - a tourist attraction featuring optical illusions
✮ Fort Hays Old West Town and Dinner Show, Rapid City - a popular theatre/dinner show (similar to those found in Branson and Pigeon Forge)
✮ Hippie Hole, near Keystone - an unofficial trail leads to a great swimming hole, but it might be tough to follow and watch out for poison ivy!
✮ Journey Museum, The, Rapid City - a large cultural and natural history museum
✮ Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, Philip - see former nuclear weapons sites; guided tours are available
✮ Museum of Geology, Rapid City - medium-sized museum known for its dinosaur fossils and gem/mineral exhibits
✮ National Presidential Wax Museum, The, Keystone - see and photograph life-sized wax replicas of former U.S. presidents
✮ Old MacDonald's Farm, Rapid City - a hands-on agricultural playground with more than 100 animals
✮ Pirate's Cove Adventure Golf, Rapid City - there isn't anything noteworthy about this mini-golf chain company, but it's a fun course
✮ South Dakota Air and Space Museum, Ellsworth AFB - an indoor and outdoor aircraft museum featuring more than 30 military aircraft
Southern Black Hills (including Custer)
✮ Bicycle Sculpture, Pringle - a sculpture of hundreds (if not thousands) of discarded bikes; it's worth a quick look if you are driving past
✮ Black Hills Balloons, Custer - one of the best hot air ballooning experiences in the country
✮ Buffalo statues, Custer - the town of Custer currently has a series of painted buffalo statues spread all over town (it is unclear for how long)
ATV/ORV/UTV-ing, horseback riding, mountain biking, rock climbing, and hiking are also popular all over the Black Hills region. There are also a few breweries in the area, but I haven't found any that I felt are noteworthy on a national scale yet. There are also many excellent rock and gem stores in the Black Hills (this has some of the highest concentrations of those types of shops of any area in the country).
BONUS ATTRACTION!
You should also consider visiting Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming while you are in the Black Hills region. From Hill City, it's about a 2 hour drive to the monument (or 3 hours if you include a driving the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway en route, which you should consider doing).
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