Black Hills, South Dakota – From Mount Rushmore to Badlands National Park
Black Hills
From Badlands National Park to Mount Rushmore and more
You can see both man-made and natural masterpieces in the Black Hills of South Dakota. These hills are home to five national parks and monuments, including Mount Rushmore, which is known as the “Shrine of Democracy.” There is a huge range of things to do in this area, including beautiful byways, historic Old West towns, Native American culture, gaming, and many other things to see and do.
Big Monuments and Native American History
The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a huge sculpture of four of the United States’ most famous presidents that was carved into the side of a granite rock. View the monument during the day, and stay to see this beautifully designed sculpture during an event in the evening when it is lit up. You can listen to an artist talk or look around the monument’s bookstore and gift shop before eating there.
Go to Rapid City, a vacation town in the Black Hills, which is only 42 kilometers to the north. You can visit Badlands National Park, Custer State Park, Devils Tower National Monument, and more from this spot. The nearby Crazy Horse Memorial, which has been the world’s largest mountain sculpture since 1948 and is still being worked on, shows off the area’s rich Lakota history and culture. The sculptor’s home and workshop are also open to the public in the memorial’s visitors complex.
Looking Around Big Parks
Enjoy the great outdoors in Custer State Park, which has some of the most beautiful drives in the world, wildlife viewing, and 1,300 wild bison. The park is one of the biggest state parks in the country. It covers almost 29,000 hectares and has been home to many different cultures for thousands of years. Since the early 1900s, it has been a place for tourists to enjoy nature and outdoor activities.
There are resorts, campgrounds, lodges, fishing lakes, tourist centers, and interpretive programs all inside the park. Nearby Badlands National Park offers a strange experience and is home to beautiful scenery and a wide range of animals. The Badlands are made up of 98,000 hectares of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires mixed with the United States’ largest protected mixed-grass grassland. People who stay the night at the Cedar Pass Lodge or the Badlands Inn can see the park’s unique moonscape places.
Feel of the Old West
Deadwood, an old town from the Old West, is in the northern Black Hills. It was in the 1870s that Deadwood Gulch was the site of the last big gold rush in North America! After more than a hundred years of gold mining, Deadwood became a thriving town. Now, the town is famous for its rich history, legal gambling, and sights all connected to gold and the gold rush.