cdc

Hello,
I am trying to put together a last minute trip. It will be myself (middle age mom) and my teen daughter. We are going to visit friends in Minneapolis for a weekend, and are trying to build a road trip to Mt. Rushmore area and Badlands the week before we go to Minneapolis.
This is for later in April so I need to make some decisions quickly.
I considered flying into Rapid City, driving to Custer State Park area and staying there two days (Wind Cave, Crazy Horse, Mt Rushmore, jeep rides, cook outs, etc)
then driving through Bad Lands and stopping in Mitchell or somewhere cute/ touristy for a night
From there we would drive to Minneapolis (approx 4.5-5 hours).
However the car rental with a pick up at Rapid City and drop off at MSP was very very expensive.

My next thought was to book a flight into FSD, Sioux Falls,
Drive through Badlands, stopping along the way... to Custer, then loop back to FSD, fly to MSP from FSD.
or
Fly to Rapid City, use Custer as base for two days and then drive to / through Badlands, stay one or two nights near FSD, then loop back to Rapid City.
My question is - Is there a loop that makes the back tracking worth it if I fly in and out of FSD or Rapid City? Is one better than the other?

Another alternative is to fly in and out of MSP and add a day of driving - but have direct flights and flexibility to drive and stop/ stay longer if we would like.
Is there anything exciting between MSP and FSD to break up the drive?

I don't mind driving on trips, but am not sure what the roads are like - or will be like in April. Is it too much to expect to cover four hours in a day? It seems that taking a flight from Rapid city or Sioux Falls to MSP would take the same amount of time, but possibly less stressful because I am in an airport or on the plane and not driving.

Thanks in advance!
c.

cdc

Following up on my own post, I took a look at Avis and they don't seem to charge a huge fee to rent from Rapid City and return at MSP.
Assuming I can get that rate, I welcome any feedback on my current plan. I have confirmed that the park lodge is open, with jeep tours running, but the food services are not up and running fully until the end of the month. This is our first time to the area and all info is based on reading Fodors reports and the South Dakota tourism website. Sunday

Travel to Rapid City SD

Arrive around 3:30

Rent car

Have Dinner in Rapid City – Murphys? Ko?

Explore Art Alley/ City of Presidents



Drive 45 min to Custer State Park Lodge-

Check in

Has mini fridge, coffee maker and microwave; cold breakfast available. No dinning services

OR Stay at the Fairfiled Inn and Suites in Rapid City – Water Park?



Monday

Drive Needles highway couple of hours to Crazy Horse



Lunch at Crazy Horse

Come around back side of Mt. Rushmore

Afternoon/ Evening at Mt. Rushmore

Dinner there ?



45 min from Mt. Rushmore to Custer State Park Lodge



Tuesday

Wind cave?

Jewel Cave National Monument

Hot Spring

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

Other sights in the area

Check out Bear Country drive thru park?

Devils Tower National Monument?



Bobkats Purple Pie Place



Wed

Jeep ride at Custer Park

9-11

Depart by noon

Drive to Wall – approx. 1 hour?

Exit 110

Pick up lunch at wall



Drive another hour- check in at Badlands Cedar Pass Lodge

Confirm availability - $220/ night



Thursday

Allot at least three house for Badlands

What activities? Hiking?

Depart Badlands

Take a detour to Al’s Oasis – Exist 260 - to have food (buffalo burgers) and take pic with giant bison? (one hour to Mitchel from Al’s Oasis)



Drive to Mitchell Corn Palace (approx. 3 hours from Badlands) Exit 332 and 330

There is a Hampton Inn and Comfort Suites in Mitchel or drive to Sioux Falls for the night



Friday

Spend a few hours in Mitchell and maybe Sioux Falls

Pass the Porter Sculpture Park (not open) 30 miles west of Sioux Falls

Drive to Minneapolis

Approx 4.5 hours from Mitchell

PrairieHikerI

You might add the following: Roughlock Falls Nature Area is located in Spearfish Canyon. Go view Bridal Veil Falls which is the easiest of the three waterfalls in Spearfish Canyon. Custer State Park has Sylvan Lake, the jewel of the Black Hills. Iron Mt. Road (16-A) is an incredible 17-mile experience with 14 switchbacks, three pigtails and three tunnels. It starts at Hwy 16 and goes south to Hwy 30.

cdc

Thank you for the tip!

ashleykristine0100

Im planning our mother/daughter trip. If you do not mind my asking...how old is your daughter and how did she like the trip?

cdc

Hi ashleykristine0100 - We have not taken the trip yet, but I would be happy to report when we return. I am taking this trip with one of my teen daughters. I aimed to take a special trip with each one of my kids in their early teens to have one on one time with them. I have taken my other teens to New Orleans and Sedona/ Grand Canyon. New Orleans is great for those interested in history, music, architecture and food - everything is so good! and is best for those who are ok with the heat - we went in June. Sedona with a day trip to the Grand Canyon was just right for an outdoorsey and adventure filled trip, that was also amazingly chill and stress free. Very relaxed vibe but note chilly evenings in January. If you search under my name I have a trip report on Sedona. Good luck with your trip planning.

tom_mn

Having driven I-90 many, many times across SD:


Lodging is very restricted between Rapid City and Mitchell. I’ve stayed at bad ones along this route and there are few options. I don’t know your choice; I hope it works out.



Al’s Oasis isn’t anything special, fine to stop if convenient. I don’t recall a big buffalo, however there is an enormous “spirit” Indian woman statue on the other side of the river, south side, at a rest stop.



Jeep tours in Custer State Park did not used to go off road, so if that is still true, not worth paying for.



If it interests you: there is a national monument at a pipestone quarry in SW Minnesota, used for making pipes by tribes, still active. It has a lot of spiritual value for tribes, a little bit subtle but may work out, small fee.



Rapid City to MSP is an easy 9 hour drive, however there’s a corner to cut between the interstates I-90 and I-35, usually I take it because it’s 30 miles shorter, now I think almost all divided freeway of several highway numbers hooked together. Leaves I-90 at Worthington.



Worth noting the change of scenery over the hours: Rapid City is in the Great Plains, plain in the sense of treeless not in the sense of plane (flat). The land rolls basically treeless east to the Missouri River, then it flattens and increasingly trees appear as you move east and the annual rainfall increases (because now geographically the land is within reach of the moisture from the Gulf of Mexico flowing north and causing rain). By the time you get to Minneapolis you are in former forest or oak savannah. The transition may not be obvious due to clearing for farming, but it’s there.

tom_mn

Adding:

"Badlands Cedar Pass Lodge" I see, you are selecting in-park lodging for Badlands NP, that looks smart if you don't mind the price.

In general I think 2 things per day is a reasonable limit, and getting around the Black Hills is slow driving, it's mountainous. So your 3 or 4 things/day isn't likely going to work out.

South Dakota is a lot more of a rough and ready destination than it is a tony destination like New Orleans or Sedona.

cdc

Thanks for the feedback. We are staying in Custer State Park and in the Badlands designated hotel. I think the longest drive would be from Badlands to MSP or if we don't stay two nights at the Badlands and only one night then we would get to Sioux Falls and leave from there to MSP. I was not looking to do nine hours straight of driving - that would not be fun. The Jeep tour seems to do the same loop that I could drive ourselves in Custer State Park; we will do it with the tour just so I can take time off from driving and enjoy the scenery and so we can get a bit of a history lesson. Hopefully they also know where all the animals are hanging out.
It should be pretty quiet while we are there and some places will just be opening up for the season and not at full service yet. The upside is that we shouldn't have crowds or traffic. My teen is a budding artist so I expect that there will be a fair amount of stopping to paint or sketch. We may head up to Spearfish Canyon if time permits so they can sketch that. I think they will really enjoy the badlands for their own artistic reasons as well. Looking forward to watching the scenery changes unfold.
Thanks again for the tips!

tom_mn

If you stay in Sioux Falls (there's not much there, really, for a tourist) so have time, here are 2 Indian sites in SW Minnesota, not really far off direct path to Minneapolis. Videos linked to see if interested. This is the other end of the Sioux territory (Lakota, Nakota, Dakota) that reaches all the way to the Black Hills. I wouldn't take time from elsewhere to devote here, but it would help fill the day if you stay in Sioux Falls.

Pipestone NM https://www.nps.gov/pipe/learn/photo...ken-legacy.htm

Jeffers Petroglyphs (opens end of May) https://www.mnopedia.org/place/jeffers-petroglyphs