I have planned a Black Hills vacation for our family (myself, dh, ds7, and ds11) for the third week in August. We are primarily based in Hill City but plan to move north for two nights to visit Devil's Tower, Spearfish Canyon, Deadwood, and Homestake Mines. Currently we are booked at the Spearfish Canyon Lodge but it does not seem very convenient (on-site restaurant reported as not good so we'd have to travel 15 miles for food). Am I better off staying in Deadwood (considering the Hampton Inn) - with all the casinos is it kid-friendly?

If you are staying in Deadwood with kids, consider Comfort Inn - gulches of fun. They have a little arcade, miniature golf, and bumper cars. It's more fun for kids there. Deadwood does not like kids on the casino floor, but they don't mind them in restaurants, etc. Another thing that we used to do is have a horseback riding trip up to part of the hills, we sent our kids on that when they were young and they just loved it. They do have some stables near Comfort Inn, you might want to call and ask about it.

If you have to take kids to Deadwood, summer is the time to go. They have a Gunslinger Shootout every night or late afternoon in Deadwood, your kids might enjoy that.

Hot Springs is a nice place to stay too. They have a fantastic thermal hot water pool called Evans Plunge and it's also near Wind Cave, which kids really seem to enjoy. They also have the Mammoth Site, where you can see the fossil of a mammoth, just fascinating!