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Mount Rushmore
In South Dakota

Mount Rushmore: A Rainy Day Visit

No trip to the Black Hills and Keystone is complete without making a stop at Mount Rushmore, or the Six Grandfathers as the Lakota referred to the mountain. The Mount Rushmore National Memorial sits in a beautiful wilderness area surrounded by forest. As you can see below, you can get glimpses of it before you get to the actual park. The granite faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln gaze majestically from the mountain. Mount Rushmore was a part of a road trip we took from Joplin, Missouri. On this trip, we visited the Ingalls Homestead in De Smet, Badlands National Park, Wall Drug, and Custer State Park. We made Keystone our home base for the Black Hills part of the trip. Before we left the area, we also visited Devils Tower National Monument. Arriving at Mount Rushmore One thing that is great about this park…

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Badlands National Park
In South Dakota

Badlands National Park: What to Do and Where to Stay

A few years ago, we visited Badlands National Park and stayed the night in nearby Wall, South Dakota, on our way to Keystone and Mount Rushmore. The park is gorgeous, and we loved spotting animals along the way. Badlands National Park is a must-do! Arriving at Badlands National Park Since we stayed on the prairie in a wagon on the Ingalls Homestead the night before in De Smet, we entered the park from the east, just off I-90. If you’d like to read about our night in the wagon, click here. We decided to take the Hwy 240 Badlands Loop Road to see the Badlands. We didn’t have to drive far to see some beautiful scenery. Wooden pathways lead to some mighty spectacular views! Sometimes, it looked as though the land went on forever. Ben Reifel Visitor Center at Badlands National Park Along the loop, we ran into Ben Reifel…

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Custer State Park Bison South Dakota
In Keystone

Our Awesome Day at Custer State Park

When you visit the Black Hills of South Dakota, there are so many opportunities to get back to nature.  During our trip, we knew we had to make a day of visiting Custer State Park.  Our party of three made Keystone our home base for three days. For Jeff, Kristin and me, it was the perfect little place to call home.  But before we could get to Custer State Park, we drove through the Black Hills National Forest. Our pictures show the cloudy, overcast weather we had during our trip.  It misted rain or poured during our entire trip, but we don’t let the weather get us down! Black Hills National Forest This scenic roadway in Black Hills National Forest has some great scenic views and interesting rock formations. There are also some great tunnels to drive through. Custer State Park After winding around for awhile, we came to…

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Wall Drug Jackalope in South Dakota
In South Dakota

Why Should You Stop at Wall Drug?

When Jeff and I were planning a trip to the Black Hills, he insisted that we make a stop at Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota.  I thought it was a little weird that he wanted to make a stop at a drug store, but little did I know that this is a place like no other.  Turns out, there are many reasons to stop at Wall Drug! This attraction seems to be in the middle of nowhere, but it seems that everyone traveling this way towards the Black Hills knows that a stop here is a must.  We actually planned a stop here overnight after we finished seeing Badlands National Park. First on the Wall Drug itinerary—posing with celebrities of the Wild West. This store has just about anything you can imagine for sale.  Rest assured, there are plenty of touristy trinkets to be found here!  We had a…

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