I always recommend staying in Custer State Park:

www.custerresorts.com

However, you may have a hard time getting a reservation this late.

I also really like Cedar Pass Lodge in the Badlands. The cabins are nothing fancy but the sense of serenity there is incredible.

Thanks! I appreciate the suggestions. You are right....Custer State Park appears to be completely booked for the dates we are going to be in the area. I will check out Cedar Pass Lodge.

Hi pafranke, I work at the Golden Hills Resort in Lead. Cedar Pass lodge will be great for your visit to the Badlands, but it won't work as a central locations to see the Black Hills. It's just to far away. I recommend that you stay one night at the Badlands and split the rest of your stay between the Central Black Hills (Custer, Hills City)to see Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse, etc. and the Northern Black Hills (Deadwood, Lead) to see Spearfish Canyon, Devils Tower, etc. For hiking there are lots of options, but I might suggest that you rent a bicycle at Presidents Park and ride the Michelson Trail (very cool). Good Luck.

I agree completely, BHG! As I said earlier, I love Cedar Pass Lodge. But I don't recommend it as a base for the Black Hills. Nor do I recommend trying to see the Badlands from a base in the Black Hills. As you said, too far! And I should have been clearer about that in my first post.

I spent my summers as a kid in the Black Hills visiting relatives in Custer. Since we stayed with them, I don't know about accomodations there, but I can say it's a good base for visiting Mt. Rushmore and, of course, Custer State Park.
I don't know what "light" hiking means to you, but I always recommend the hike from Sylvan Lake to the top of Harney Peak. It's a 6 mile RT hike and while described as "moderate", it wasn't too hard for my 80-year-old grandmother (who did it with us when we were kids) or my 7-year-old child (who did it with me when I returned as an adult).
On my last visit a few years ago, we enjoyed the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs. I would say you certainly get "value for money" here.

Hi, I'm happy to hear that you are planning a trip to South Dakota! The following website has great information on places to see, things to do and lodgings in the Black Hills http://www.blackhillsbadlands.com. I hope you have an great trip and enjoy your time in our state!

Kayleen
SD Office of Tourism
www.travelsd.com

I would keep trying for cancellations in Custer State Park: http://www.custerresorts.com/ Make reservations elsewhere but keep trying here, they often have cancellations.

Thanks everyone, for your comments and suggestions. I really appreciate the help as I plan our vacation. Having not been there before, it's hard to judge distances between locations, so your comments are very helpful. Kayleen, the website you provided is great!

I'm sure the South Dakota Tourism people will hate me, but we flew to Montana a couple of years ago, in late May, primarily to spend a few days in and around Yellowstone, which was wonderful, and the Tetons.

However, we also drove all the way to South Dakota to see Mt.Rushmore. We stayed in Keystone, as I recall. We ended up spending all of half an hour at Mt. Rushmore! It was a lovely day, and I took pictures of the faces, of course, but we agreed: they were great, and they looked just like the pictures we had seen! Then we left!

Crazy Horse was just a big mountain with a hole blasted through it, at that point, so that wasn't much to see, either, in our opinion.

Sorry, but we felt they were not worth a special trip!

Yellowstone Park was worth several days, definitely.

To each his or her own, obviously.

Retired, if all you saw was Mt.Rushmore and Crazy Horse, I can see why you felt that way! But you missed all the good stuff! As you said, to each his own. But Custer State Park and the surrounding area is one of my favorite places in the whole country.

I agree with CAPH. Mt Rushmore is great to visit while going somewhere else, like Custer State Park! I could do without Crazy Horse, so Retired, to drive all that way would have been a disappointment for me also.

We stayed in Spearfish a couple of nights, and liked the town very much, and we enjoyed the Black Hills, too! Saw where they filmed at least part of "Dances With Wolves" there. Just that Crazy Horse was nothing (in our opinion), though it MAY be some day, of course, and Mt. Rushmore was... well... like the photos!

Each of us has his or her own impressions, like I said!