We have 6 adults and 6 kids ages 5 -11 doing a trip in June to black hills we rented a house together in Rapid City would you recommend this your or do these sights on our own sounds like a long day. Any other tips helpful this is are first Time to the area.
Tbanks
Yes do the tour. We had a rental and originally planned on doing it on our own. After reading a lot of reviews, and the fact we were on an almost 3 week west trip with a lot of driving, I decided to book it so my husband and I could both enjoy the sights. So glad we did. We had an awesome driver. We covered a lot of ground on the tour (probably more than we could have done on our own) with many stops including Mount Rushmore, Needles Hwy, the tunnels, Sylvan Lake, Crazy Horse and so much more. It’s great to hear the history as well. We had done the dinner and show at the end which were very good too. The area where it starts and ends (Dances with Wolves movie set) also has craftsmen showing their wears and other things the kids can be involved in on some and can climb on or see. It was a great full day.
We also drove through The Badlands with stops in there as well. All photo stops as there’s nothing else there really. I think it was about an Hour and 1/2 drive through. It’s very pretty and worth the drive. We did the full Loop Road. We entered from Hwy 44 to Hwy 327 in “Interior”and came out in “Wall”. There’s a great store and walking area there. The main store runs the whole block. You can enter on one end and walk from store to store inside or along the veranda walkway. It’s a great stop to stretch your legs. Great ice cream store in there too. There’s also restaurants there. The kids would have lots to look at. Some people say its touristy, but its really cool. Glad I ignored some peoples comments and stopped. I think we spent a good hour or more just looking at things.
We only spent a few hours in Rapid City itself. They were having some festival and we didn’t want to get stuck as streets were being closed off. We pretty much only walked the Presidents walk. We were staying in Hill City itself which is a cute little town. We had passed through Keystone on the tour and thought it was really nice too. So the next day we went back to walk around. It was a great little walking town not that far from Hill City. Good for all ages. Make sure to walk through the amazing Wood Statues in both places. Amazing to see. Some are massive in size and there’s some the kids can sit on to take a photo.
I’ve done lots of tours, as we travel a fair amount, and this is one that’s in my top tour list.
Enjoy your Vacation. We were in South Dakota in July of 2018. Weather was great!! If you can look back in my trip advisor to see my reviews. Maybe they will help you. I don’t know your trip plans or direction, but if you can go up and over to WY and walk the full mile around the base of Devils Tower. That was amazing to see up close. You don’t have to do the walk to enjoy it, but its an easy walk with some great views of the valley. Kids would enjoy it too.