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The 2 million acres of the Black Hills are about evenly split between private property and the Black Hills National Forest. Fortunately for visitors, the national forest is one of the most developed in the United States. Roads are numerous and generally well maintained, and navigation is easy. Towns with services are plentiful (compared with the Wyoming plains to the west), so you needn't worry about how much gas you've got in your tank or where you'll find a place to stay at night. Rapid City, the largest community in the region, is the most popular base for exploring the Black Hills. The northern towns of Deadwood and Spearfish have almost as many services, with less traffic and fewer tourists.
In a valley just outside Rapid City is western South Dakota's answer to a zoo. In addition to the world's largest private reptile collection, it also has giant tortoises, prairie dogs, and a bald eagle, as well as animal presentations and shows. You can also see more than 50,000 orchids, tulips, and banana trees on the grounds and in the giant Sky Dome.
Encounter black bear, elk, sheep, and wolves at this drive-through wildlife park just outside Rapid City, which has been entertaining guests for more than 40 years. There's also a walk-through wildlife center with red foxes, porcupines, badgers, bobcats, and lynx. The Babyland area features bear cubs and young otters.
Don a hard hat and take a guided tour through an underground gold mine, get some free gold ore samples, explore the mining museum, and do a little gold panning yourself at this authentic-looking facility built into a hillside along Battle Creek.
Amethysts, logomites, calcite crystals, and other specimens fill this 60-million-year-old, privately owned cave, formed slowly by water trickling through limestone rock and first documented by gold seekers in 1882. Half-hour and hour-long walking tours, as well as gemstone and fossil mining, are available. Tours depart approximately every 20 minutes.
Stalagmites, stalactites, flowstone, ribbons, columns, helictites, and the "Big Room" are all part of the worthwhile tour into this privately owned cave. In 1876, miners found the opening to the cave while digging a flume into the mountainside to carry water to the gold mines below. The cave was opened to the public in 1927, just before the carving of Mount Rushmore began. The attraction also features the Soaring Eagle Zipride, Rushmore Mountain Coaster, Wingwalker Challenge Course, and other theme-park-style activities.
On the west side of Rapid City is Storybook Island, a park on the banks of Rapid Creek that lets children romp through scenes from fairy tales and nursery rhymes. A children's theater troupe, sponsored by the Black Hills Community Theater, performs regular shows on a modest outdoor stage here and hosts workshops and acting programs.
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