We are planning a late May 2022 road trip to South Dakota (Badlands National Park, Black Hills, Custer State Park, Lead/Deadwood, Wind Cave National Park, Spearfish Canyon, possibly will visit Devil’s Tower WY as daytrip). We have a week (not counting time out and back from NJ, we are visiting relatives en route). We are driving a Toyota 4Runner with a solar panel, refrigerator, water tank and attached awning room and hope to camp a couple of nights in Badlands National Park, although most of the time we will be staying in motels/lodges. We would like to do some offroading (Sheep Mountain Table). Any suggestions for sites, places to stay, routes, etc.?
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When I did that trip decades ago, we were inundated with signs for the one and only Corn Palace. So….we made sure to stop and see if and it was definitely worth it!
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@MMRose when I started to read your post, I assumed it would end with Wall Drug!!!
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Oh yes! Signs for Wall Drug were also abundant!
It was an amazing trip. It was my first coast-to-coast road trip and I loved every minute of it!
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My son and I did this two years ago - but we went from Badlands to Devils Tower and then back to Theodore Roosevelt State Park.
Mt. Rushmore is a thing you do - just because it is - and while it’s impressive- the park…ehhh.
The highlight - and my son could spend days there - was Custer State Park…they have this really cool lake at the top - and the park is just gorgeous, nicer than any you’ve seen…so definitely set extra time for there.
Have fun.
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I loved Badlands. It was so interesting. It will be pretty cold for camping in May. I also loved Wall Drug.
The Corn Palace? It was okay but don’t drive out of your way. I had trouble breathing in there but maybe masks will actually help?
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My family of 5 did a similar trip in 2018. Random thoughts:
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Evans Plunge, an indoor pool and waterpark fed by thermal springs in Hot Springs, SD, is possibly my kids’ single favorite vacation activity of all time. It has a vaguely 70s feel, like if the roller rink in your childhood town had a giant pool with waterslides instead of a wooden floor. It is awesome.
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Mt Rushmore…everyone should go once I guess, but it’s not even in my Top 10 attractions for the Black Hills.
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Custer State Park is great. Ask the staff where the buffalo herd is for the day - we found them on a dirt road and had to stop while a mother buffalo fed her baby in the middle of the road.
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We used Hill City as a home base. Unlike Keystone, which feels like the saddest possible part of Las Vegas, Hill City is a real small town. Some touristy shops on Main St., but low-key. Buy a wind spinner at the Farmer’s Daughter.
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We went to Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse, Cave of the Winds, Custer State Park and I’m not sure where else any more. There was a nice motel/hotel we stayed at near Mt Rushmore that had a quaint diner—haven’t been there since pre-Covid so not sure if it’s still there.
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We stayed here as our home base for this area: http://shady-rest-motel.com/
Great place and they had great advice on where to go/what to do. Custer State Park is great! Bring baby carrots for the burros. Great hiking (Little Devil’s Tower Trail is a nice one). Needles highway a must do. We did Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse. Preferred Crazy Horse - great museum there. Wind Cave was great.
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If you are going all that way…do go to Mitchell SD to see the Corn Palace. The amazing part is the outside where the art is done with corn and other grains. Honestly, I didn’t need to go inside at all!
Have a great trip. My only suggestion at that time of the year…have something to wear if it gets cold…because it might.
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We thought we might camp one night at Sage Creek Road primitive campground in The Badlands (no water, pit toilets) and one night at Cedar Pass campground. We have camped overnight in the cold before (temp. got into upper 30s but we were pretty warm in the tent with chemical warmers in the sleeping bags and wearing hats). If it’s going to dip below freezing we will just cancel.
when we were in that area we camped in Custer State park and made trips from there (Mt Rushmore, badlands, etc)
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Agreed – it was the outside that was so amazing (although if I recall, the interior had historical photos of all the design patterns since the first days).
We took a trip to SD/ND in June 2018 which was only six days. Because of the short amount of time we had, we flew in to Rapid City and rented a car. We stayed in Keystone for a couple of nights and went to Custer State Park one day and Mt. Rushmore the next day. I had been to Mt. Rushmore before but wanted my kids to see it. It was a bigger hassle than I realized it would be since we got stuck in a line of traffic for two hours to get in! We enjoyed ourselves though. As others have mentioned, Custer State Park was wonderful even though it was somewhat rainy and cool while we were there. We loved interacting with the burros and were happy to encounter buffalo crossing the road at one point. And Needles Highway was spectacular! On the next part of our trip we drove up to through Deadwood and stopped at Devil’s Tower before heading north through eastern Montana and then east to the quaint town of Medora, ND, outside of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We really loved seeing the Badlands of ND, which were quite a contrast to the ones in SD. I totally recommend getting up there if you have the chance–it was really beautiful! The last part of our trip was driving back into SD and visiting the Badlands and Wall Drug before flying out of Rapid City the next day. We also made a quick stop at the Delta-09 Missile Silo on the way to the airport, which was interesting, especially to my husband. It was a short trip, but we loved it and would love to go back to the area again some time.
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We are trying to decide whether we want to spend each night at a new place (kind of exhausting) or whether we want 3 anchor spots. The first night we are thinking of driving from SE MN (our jumping off point) to Lead or Deadwood (approx. 9 hours) and spending 2 nights out there (including a daytrip to Devils Tower). Then going south through Spearfish Canyon past Custer to the parks in the south (Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Hot Springs-one night?). Then coming a bit north to Custer State Park (2-3 nights? would go to Rushmore/Crazy Horse as part of this). Then heading east to Badlands. Places that seem appealing:
Spearfish Canyon Lodge https://spfcanyon.com/
Blue Bell Lodge Blue Bell Lodge | Custer State Park Resort
Circle View Guest Ranch Badlands (if we don’t camp):https://www.circleviewranch.com/
Looking for a possible place south of Custer State Park, near Hot Springs.
We did one trip where we stayed one night per location (different national parks in SW US). We all vowed never to do that again. It was exhausting and just not worth it for us. 2-3 nights per location works much better for us. Of course, we are all different.
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Since you’ll be in the area, include Jewell Cave nm in your itinerary. We really enjoyed seeing that in addition to Wind Cave.
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Ahhh, my favorite road trip, bar none 
I’ve done it several times, from NE PA.
If you’re going all that way, I would recommend trying to find another week or so and get to Yellowstone. Seems a shame to miss it. I can offer camping and other suggestions if you do that!
But, sticking with your original ask, here are my must-dos - in no order whatsoever:
– I’ve never camped in the Badlands, oddly enough. At this point I can’t remember why; maybe it was full the first time we tried. Since that point we have always tent-camped at the White River KOA, in Interior, just south of the park. It backs up to the White River (dry) and the area is beautiful, with lots of trees (pretty rare). We are not usually KOA afficionados, but this one is pretty chill and sparsely used. Bonus: they have cabins if it’s too cold.
The Sage Creek road is unpaved, if that’s the one I’m thinking of. Not sure what it’s like at the end of May; you might have problems with it (it’s about 7 miles long and takes quite a while to drive in the middle of summer). We didn’t do huge hikes in the park, just some mild walks and scrambles here and there. There’s so much beauty everywhere; the roads go where you want to go.
– The Prairie Dog Town at the northern entrance. Just so cute.
– Corn Palace - just outside is fine.
– Devil’s Tower - a driveby is fine; no need for a whole day trip.
– Little Big Horn Battlefield - a much better day trip if you’re looking for an excuse to go to Montana. It’s a straight shot on I-90 and very much worth it if you like that kind of stuff.
– Pine Ridge - south of Badlands and the site of the Battle of Wounded Knee; the site is administered by the NPS. Also a Native American gift shop on the reservation - at the Heritage Center
– Scenic - a ghost town SW of the Badlands that is great for photography
– Wall Drug - as kitschy as you imagine it is.
– Needles parkway (might still be closed)
– Crazy Horse but not Rushmore
– Sylvan Lake, in Custer State Park - is simply gorgeous. There’s a trail around the lake; highly recommended. I would advise spending at least an overnight at one of the campsites in this area; it’s a long way from the Badlands. (We haven’t, so can’t recommend one - we usually push thru to Red Lodge on our way to Yellowstone)
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In the past 2 days have heard a radio ad and seen 2 TV ads for South Dakota. They must be stalking CC to know what we’re thinking.
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We took a 3 week trip—spent nearly 1st week in Rapid City area, drove to Cody, enjoying the shootout re-enactment with our kids. Swapped rental cars (huge savings). Drove to Yellowstone and stayed a week at various places in the park then stayed a week at Grand Tetons and went on a float trip down the river. (It was very cold—be sure to dress warmly enough—many didn’t as it was much colder on the boat than on the shore.)
It was decades ago. With my folks and sister and her family, we flew into and out of Bozeman and flew from Rapid City to Bozeman (dad was a terrible passenger—too antsy). We hired a private Yellowstone Forever guide who picked us up at our lodging and took us to look at the wildlife in a private van. We booked him for 2 tours and he brought spotting scopes so we had a better view of the distant wildlife, especially birds in nests. You can tell them what you’d like to focus on and your level of desired activity—geology, wildlife, etc.
For me, hiring the private guide was a highlight. Also we stayed in the Lake Lodge and loved listening to the string quartet play classical music every night in the lobby from 7 or so until 10pm.
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