I’ve traveled to more than 30 countries, yet I return to South Dakota's Black Hills almost every year. This mountain range rises from seemingly nowhere across western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming. The Hills span more than 1.2 million acres of mountains and forest and reach heights of more than 7,200 feet.
The mountains, which are considered sacred by the Sioux Nation, got their name because, from afar, they appear dark due to the dense forest that covers them. It’s one of my favorite places to visit, yet for many travelers, they’re merely the backdrop to Mount Rushmore National Memorial, which is part of the Black Hills.
But there’s so much more to explore, especially with Rapid City, South Dakota, as your home base. The city sits on the eastern edge of the Black Hills, so visitors are just a quick 25- to 45-minute drive from the heart of the scenery.
I’ve visited more than 20 times, and each visit reveals something new. To me, it’s one of the last remaining places that truly feels like the Old West.
In this article
You’ll Feel Like a Cowboy at Custer State Park
Custer State Park spans 71,000 acres in the Black Hills, making it feel more like a national park than a state one.
Stand anywhere on the park's must-drive 18-mile Wildlife Loop, and it feels like the horizon goes on forever. I’ve driven through this state park on my own and on guided tours more than 50 times, and each time I feel like an early settler seeing this land for the first time. Because it’s light on crowds, visitors have the rare chance to witness such a vast, far-reaching expanse of land.
The park is famously known for housing nearly 1,400 wild bison, and my favorite way to see them is on a buffalo safari jeep tour. Operated by Custer State Park Resort, a driver takes you off-road so you can safely get closer to bison in ways you couldn’t in your own vehicle. This costs extra and requires advance booking, but I find the tour, which runs 90 to 120 minutes, well worth it for the unique vantage points.
Beyond wildlife, visitors can enjoy a scenic drive along the iconic 14-mile Needles Highway as part of any area road trip. It winds through the park with views of massive, hundreds-of-feet-tall granite spires and lush pine forests. You can also camp, ride horses, hike, and cycle, all with views that will transport you to a bygone era.
Experience a Dining Scene With True Grit
Rapid City and the Black Hills probably aren't the first places that come to mind when you think of destination dining, but they should be.
After many meals and conversations with local chefs, I learned that locals largery consider Rapid City an “island”. As the only major city for about 300 miles, chefs are drawn to Rapid City for opportunity free of the oversaturation and competition common in larger cities.
As a result, one can find spots like Windsor Block Bar for cocktails as good as those in my home city of Chicago. Or you can find excellent meals at The Blue Heron or Wild Sage, both offering elevated American cuisine.
Just a short drive away in Custer, Skogen Kitchen and Hjem A.M. are both James Beard-nominated and Scandinavian-inspired.
Rapid City may be small, but it attracts travelers from diverse backgrounds, giving chefs the opportunity to experiment and create plates you’d typically find in a fine-dining restaurant in Los Angeles or New York City.
Enjoy Easy Access to Two National Parks
Rapid City is just an hour's drive away from both Wind Cave National Park and Badlands National Park.
Located about 60 miles southeast of Rapid City, Badlands National Park feels like stepping onto the set of a Western film. The dry, rocky landscape, along with herds of buffalo and bighorn sheep, feels like a place Old West outlaws would have hidden out.
The best way to experience the park is on the 39-mile Badlands Loop State Scenic Byway. This scenic drive winds through surreal rock formations and grasslands with many scenic pullouts and trailheads along the way. There is very little natural shade, so bring plenty of water if you plan to explore any trails.
Wind Cave National Park, meanwhile, sits about 40 miles south of the city and is home to the world’s largest concentration of boxwork formations, which are thin layers of mineral calcite that look like honeycomb or a box-shaped grid along the cave walls.
As a sacred site for the Lakota people, visitors often see prayer ribbons tied to trees near the cave's natural entrance. According to Lakota tradition, the cave's natural entrance is an active portal to the spirit world and part of their people’s creation story. As such, their ribbons serve as a tangible form of prayer.
For a small fee, visitors can choose from a few guided underground cave tours led by the National Park Service. Caves may only be accessed this way, so book in advance as the experience is popular.
Above ground, the national park is otherwise free to enter, with space to drive, cycle, hike, or watch wild bison, elk, mountain lions, and other wildlife.
Find the Presidents Downtown, Then Head for the Hills
Many travelers visit this part of the country solely to see the 60-foot-tall heads of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln carved into Mount Rushmore National Memorial.
But it’s just one glimpse of several others you can find here. The Trail of Presidents is also in Rapid City, a self-guided tour featuring more than 40 life-sized bronze statues depicting every U.S. president (except President Joe Biden, whose statue isn’t yet complete).
Visitors can find them immortalized in bronze around downtown Rapid City, primarily along Main Street and Saint Joseph Street between 4th and 9th streets.
Other worthwhile experiences include a $25 guided Rapid City Trolley Tour that visits Chapel In the Hills, which is a full-scale replica of the Borgund Stave Church in Lærdal, Norway. Riders also visit Dinosaur Park, a collection of cartoon-like dinosaur statues that were placed atop Dakota Hogback Ridge in the 1930s. From there, the views of Rapid City, the Black Hills, and, on a clear day, even Mount Rushmore, are magnificent.
Take Flight Over the Old West
I think the best way to soak in the horizon is on a hot air balloon ride with Black Hills Balloons. The tour departs from the small town of Custer. If conditions are good, you’ll board the basket of a hot air balloon at sunrise and take flight for an hour-long ride.
Once in flight, you’ll see the land as the eagles have for centuries, feel the morning dew, and hear coyotes howling from above the lush ponderosa forests.
While I am notoriously afraid of flying, the owner made me feel perfectly at ease. Cruising altitude depends on the day-to-day conditions but can range from just above the treetops to a few thousand feet.
While the land has changed quite a bit since the first settlers arrived, the foundation remains the same. With views of towering rock and endless sky, it's easy to forget which century you’re in.
The Shortcut
Base yourself in Rapid City. Most of the scenery is under 45 minutes away, both national parks are about an hour out, and the dining is better than you expect.
Book the Custer State Park jeep tour ahead of time. It gets you closer to the bison herds than you can on your own.
Keep one morning flexible for a sunrise balloon ride out of Custer—flights depend on the weather.
Cait Kontalis was hosted by Visit Rapid City as part of her trip to the Black Hills. Some expenses were covered. All opinions and recommendations in this article are her own.
