Can anyone recommend a good (not too expensive) hotel in this area? Also any suggestions on what to do/visit? It will be two adults visiting for the first time and interested in old historical places.

Or maybe someone can suggest a place outside Deadwood.

I was in Deadwood in 1993 & am returning this summer. There is a town called Lead (pronounced leed) adjacent to Deadwood that has chain hotels/motels. We are staying in Deadwood at the First Gold Casino at their new smoke free building. We chose on price. The historic hotels of Deadwood are the Franklin Hotel and the Bullock Hotel.

Deadwood has a historic walking district to tour on your own + Mount Moriah cemetery. In the evenings, there is the recreated shooting of Wild Bill Hickok & trial of Jack McCall; gold mine tours, etc. Then there are the Casinos ...

Deadwood has a good online tourism site (deadwood.org ???)

Just got back from our western vacation. We spent 1 night in Deadwood during Wild Bill Hickock Days. They had live bands (Survivor, among others), and lots of goings on. We stayed at the Holiday Inn downtown-great location-right in the center of everything. As for things to do in the area, there's Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse monument, Custer State Park (stayed at the State Game Lodge - very historic), Devil's Tower, the Badlands, Little Big Horn if you want a little extra drive to Montana, and the 6 ton prarie dog on the way to Custer State Park. Saw it but didn't get a picture. Have a great time.

My family stayed at a place on the outter edge of town that we enjoyed.

Definately do the trial of Jack...I forgot his last name. Anyway there is a mock shooting and then you troop down to the courthouse where a trial takes place. Jurors are chosen from the audience (I was one of them). Good fun, get tickets in advance.

I also enjoyed the tour of the cemetary which features Wild Bill and Jane amongst others. There are gold mine tours that also have gold panning if you have kids.

We stayed at 4 Aces downtown Deadwood and enjoyed the marble bathroom and location. What I remember the most is visiting Wild Bill and Clamity Janes grave and all the history that the town holds.

That would be Jack McCall..just came to me.

We stayed in Lead at the Palace Express Hotel and it was nice, and was inexpensive. It had more charm than some of the chain motels we stayed in on the trip. However we were disappointed in the continental breakfast - it was minimal - but with the low cost of the room you can eat someplace else.

We stayed at Cadillac Jack's. While not downtown, it was a short drive and we easily found parking. We booked through their website for around $65, which included a hot breakfast for 2. Our room was clean and nice.

We really enjoyed the trial of Jack McCall. They choose people from the audience to participate. We didn't have to get tickets in advance (we were there during Memorial Day weekend in 2004).