South Dakota

We will be spending two weeks in Black Hills National Forest this coming July and I have spent the last week researching and planning. I have come up with what I believe to be the ultimate Black Hills, South Dakota Bucket List! Since we are still 2 months away, if ...
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When I scouted places for our 2017 Road Trip (based off of how much hiking I could get in) I realized the Black Hills of South Dakota was going to be our main stop when I stumbled upon Black Elk Peak (formally known as Harney Peak), which is the highest ...
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I love checking out old fire towers. Typically they require you to hike to them, however, you can drive to the Mount Coolidge Fire Tower. Just be careful driving the long, bending, and narrow road to get to it! In fact, on many other sites, they call it a drive on a ...
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We visited Crazy Horse Memorial during our 2017 Road Trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota. It was so cool being able to see a monument being carved into the mountainside. As we watched the crews, we couldn't help but wonder, "Is this what it was like for people ...
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When I was looking for things to add to the Black Hills Bucket List, someone in an online Facebook group told me I should check out the big painted buffalos in Custer. I think I would classify that as an offbeat and unique attraction, so it most definitely got added to the ...
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The Black Hills are best known for the gold mined out in the 1800's (and still today), so a major "to-do" on my Black Hills Bucket List was to pan for gold, and pan for gold we did! We decided to try our luck panning for gold at the Big ...
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The Sunday Gulch Trail is located in Custer State Park within the Black Hills National Forest of South Dakota. The trail is a 3.2-mile loop rated as strenuous. The trailhead for the Sunday Gulch Trail is located behind the dam of Sylvan Lake and begins with a nice descent and rock ...
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The Alpine Slide in Keystone, South Dakota should definitely be on your Black Hills Bucket List! The Alpine Slide is actually one of many attractions within the Rushmore Tramway Adventures park in Keystone, South Dakota. However, due to time constraints and cost, we decided to just do the Alpine Slide ...
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Mountain View Cemetery aka Keystone Cemetery is a little cemetery in Keystone, South Dakota that has an amazing view of Mount Rushmore. In fact, it is the only Cemetery in the world with a view of Mount Rushmore. It was also on our Black Hills Bucket List! Bonus points for ...
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Beaver Creek Bridge is a historic bridge located in Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. It is located 2 miles north of the Wind Cave National Park Visitor's Center on S.D. Hwy 87. Taking a picture of the Beaver Creek Bridge was on my Black Hills, South Dakota Bucket ...
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Part of our Black Hills Bucket list was to view and take a photo of Mount Rushmore through one of the tunnels on Iron Mountain Road. Driving Iron Mountain Road, of course, was also on the bucket list, so we knocked off two items at the same time. The first ...
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One of the first things I thought about (other than Mount Rushmore) when we decided to visit the Black Hills for two weeks, was finding the rock used in National Treasure 2. It was in the scene where Nicholas Cage plays a joke on the rest of the cast by ...
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Our first outing had us headed right outside of Rapid City to explore our first caverns, the Black Hills Caverns. History of Black Hills Caverns Discovered in 1882 by gold miners, the caverns opened to the public in 1939. Formed over 60 million years ago by the “Paha Sapa Limestone,” ...
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Bear Country USA wasn't originally on our Black Hills Bucket List, but instead was added on during our drive to the black hills thanks to friends and family who insisted we just had to check it out! Just like any other drive through safari, you will take a risk of ...
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Day 1 of our vacation in the Black Hills was spent setting up camp and getting food. However, day 2 found us exploring and marking off items on the Ultimate Black Hills Bucket List. The first of which was making a stop at the Cosmos Mystery Area. The Cosmos Mystery ...
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