Black Hills in Late October
 

We are considering going to the Black Hills with our 2 kids (ages 6 and 9) for 6 days in late October. Anyone know if there is enough to do there at that time of year? Which of the attractions are open (or which ones are closed?)

Any help appreciated.

It can be a very nice time in the Black Hills or you could end up racing a snowstorm out of the higher elevations. Things are rather quiet up in the hills, too.

Six days might be a lot of time (I would lean more toward 3-4 days). Still, you can definitely spend a couple of them in the Hills with Mount Rushmore, Keystone and some of the other small towns. Custer State Park and the Needles Highway are beautiful areas. I would check out Deadwood, too, but it is dominated by gambling now so if that's not your cup of tea, you might not like it as well -- but there are still some nice vestiges of it's historic, wild west past.

You might also enjoy seeing Devil's Tower, which is across the border in Wyoming. A good part of another day can be spent with the Badlands and Wall Drug and I'm sure you'll be able to find other diversions that are open, such as Reptile Gardens.

I would suggest that you base from Rapid City and for the kids, take a look at the Ramada Inn, 1721 LaCrosse. There is a nice indoor pool area with a waterslide that's a lot of fun and the rooms have been decent the couple of times we've used it. It's the off-season so you will be looking at good rates because this area is overbuilt to cover the summer vacation season.

We went with our young kids to the Black Hills a few years back the week of the Columbus day holiday. It was wonderful with great scenery,hardly any crowds,etc. The one thing that I would look into is the buffalo roundup that they have at that time of the year.They bring all the buffalos in(new babies,etc.) that have been grazing all summer on the plains to closer areas and it is truly amazing to see the thousands of buffalo with cowboys rounding them up.It is a really big deal and usuallly lasts several days. We ended up staying at the old state lodge(Calvin Cooludge used to stay there and it was referred to as the "Summer White House".) It was great and very scenic. I would also recommend this archaeology dig that was located in the town of Rapid City(?)They were unearthing a new parking lot and found all of these mammoth remains so have made a "covered museum type"area to view them-my kids were fascinated. There is so much to do and see out in that area that I think that your kids would really enjoy the trip.Mt. Rushmore took my breath away it was so breathtaking! Have fun but don't step in any buffalo pies?

Spearfish Canyon just north of Rapid City is spectacular especially with the aspens and cottonwoods in yellow. Badlands National Park is about an hour east and south of Rapid City. Wind Cave National Park and Jewel Cave National Monument are just south of Custer State Park. Not sure how often the cave tours are that time of year. Could check www.nps.gov for both sites as well as Badlands. Near Mt. Rushmore is the Crazy Horse Memorial being blasted out of the rock.

Thanks for the great suggestions. We're driving from Minneapolis, so we'll actually have a little less time. Any suggestions for places to stay between Minneapolis and Rapid City?

You can make very good time on the drive because the average speed of the (relatively light) traffic in South Dakota on the interstate is around 80 mph.

If I WAS stopping, I would probably choose Chamberlain, SD. It's right on the Missouri River and that's where the landscape begins to change into that classic "Dances with Wolves" western look, where you can imagine the thundering herds of buffalo. I've used the Super 8 motel there, which has an indoor pool. Others that would probably be fine include a Best Western, AmericInn and a Kelly Inn. I would be surprised if you had to go much past $60 or so at that time of year.

On the west side of the bridge is Al's Oasis, where you can grab a buffalo burger and some great pie (among many other choices, of course) while you soak up the western ambiance of it all. (Of COURSE it's a tourist trap, but so what?!)

A stop in Chamberlain will put you in easy range to take in the Badlands and Wall Drug on your way to Rapid City the next day. I suppose it would take around three hours to drive from Chamberlain to Rapid City in a straight shot without stops, but I've always taken the Badlands loop and stopped in at Wall Drug.