Hi, does anyone have suggestions for fun things for a young dad and his 9 year old son to do in the Black Hills of South Dakota? They are on the way from California to Wisconsin and have 2 days to spend in S.D. Need advice quickly--they are on their way. Many thanks.

Mt Rushmore (of course), Spearfish Canyon, Deadwood (The cemetary is neat for kids, believe it or not), Crazy Horse Monument (near Custer) the Dinosour park overlooking Rapid City. the Air Force Museum at Elsworth Air Base in Rapid City also.

Quick enough !!?!?!?!? Write back here if you need more details !!!

Hi Kam:

Here are a couple of other suggestions, and although we don't have kids of our own, these places seemed to be really fun for the kids we saw:

Wall Drug store in Wall, South Dakota. It's huge, with lots of things for kids to see, do, eat, drink, climb on, etc... The kids we saw there were having a blast.

Feed the friendly burros (bring fresh fruits and veggies) in Custer State Park. They will walk up to your car looking for handouts. There's also a prairie dog town in the park, and of course, lots of hiking and other outdoor opportunities.

Take a cave tour -- there's Jewel Cave National Monument, Beautiful Rushmore Cave, Black Hills Caverns, Sitting Bull Crystal Caverns, Stagebar Crystal Cave, Wonderland Cave and Wind Cave National Park. We toured Jewel Cave, and again, the kids on our tour seemed to be having a great time climbing through the nooks and crannies. I may be wrong about this, but I believe that only Jewel and Wind Caves are operated by the NPS -- the others are private attractions.

Hope this helps!

The Evans Plunge indoor pool and slide in Hot Springs. Supposedly the largest indoor geothermal pool in the world. VERY popular with the kids!

All of the above+Bear Country, Gulches of Fun, Cosmos, Trout Haven-kids love them all! And most adults!!

A bit south of Custer State Park is a mammoth dig tha my sister and I found very interesting. There ar mammoth's still being painstakingly removed. I have to cast my vote against Bear Country - your son may find it interesting, but it's a HUGE number of bears kept in a rather small confined area. It all seemed very cruel to me. The saddest was seeing a grizzly kept in a space about the size of my living room.

Don't know if they've made it that far yet, but my kids LOVED the Black Hills Maze. Also second the recommendation for Evan's Plunge. Devil's Tower is kind of on the way there and the KOA at the base of the tower shows Close Encounters of the Third Kind out under the stars every night. On the east side of the town of Custer is Ken's Rocks and Minerals. For $25, Ken (who is over 90 yrs old) will take you out to his creek, fit you with a pair of waders, hand you a pan full of rocks and mud he's dug up and sit down with you on a bench in his creek and spend 45 minutes or so telling you the history of gold mining in SD, the geology of the whole place, while all the while helping you swish and swirl the dirt in your pan until you actually find a couple of tiny flecks of real gold at the bottom. Our kids were enthralled, including our very jaded teenager. No planted chunks of fool's gold in some phoney trough. Ken is the real deal.

Don't know if they've made it that far yet, but my kids LOVED the Black Hills Maze. Also second the recommendation for Evan's Plunge. Devil's Tower is kind of on the way there and the KOA at the base of the tower shows Close Encounters of the Third Kind out under the stars every night. On the east side of the town of Custer is Ken's Rocks and Minerals. For $25, Ken (who is over 90 yrs old) will take you out to his creek, fit you with a pair of waders, hand you a pan full of rocks and mud he's dug up and sit down with you on a bench in his creek and spend 45 minutes or so telling you the history of gold mining in SD, the geology of the whole place, while all the while helping you swish and swirl the dirt in your pan until you actually find a couple of tiny flecks of real gold at the bottom. Our kids were enthralled, including our very jaded teenager. No planted chunks of fool's gold in some phoney trough. Ken is the real deal.