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| The sunflower fields in South Dakota were amazing! |
Day 3 of our adventure began very early as we had an action packed day ahead of us! It helped that we had been able to push the Corn Palace stop up a day because as it turned out we needed every minute we could find in this day!
Badlands National Park (Entry Fee: $15.00/vehicle)
Our first stop of the day was Badlands National Park. It was about a 4 hour drive from our hotel in Sioux City, South Dakota to the entrance of the Park. Again, lots of hay and sun flowers along the way!!
Now I have to preface my comments on this park by saying that I had been to what I thought were the "Badlands" when I was a child. We had stopped at Wall Drug (more on that later) but had never turned down the road to the National Park. Let's just say that I had a less than wonderful memory of this area and was almost reluctant to go back. My husband had seen beautiful pictures of the Badlands but had never been there. I kept telling him he was crazy! I know...typical!
Well....let me say...I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this National Park! The little bit of area that I had seen from I-90 the first time was in NO way representative of what the park was all about!
There is easy access to the park off of I-90. From I-90 East take exit 110 at Wall and follow the signs to the park. From I-90 West, take exit 131 (Interior) and follow the signs to the Park. From either direction, you will end up on the Highway 240 Badlands Loop Road. This road will take you through the park. There are pullouts to stop and take a look at the amazing sights close up.
The Badlands themselves are hard to describe. There are interesting rock formations, beautiful colors and lots of wildlife to enjoy along the way.
We ended up spending about an hour and half making stops and taking photos. You can walk out close to many of the formations and there are raised boardwalk paths in many areas (careful...the material they are made from is a little slick) and these are useful to keep you away from the rattlesnakes that are in this area. There are many rattlesnake signs. Be sure to heed the warnings!! The walks to the overlooks are easy to make and I would suggest that you make sure to park and take a closer look.
Interesting Fact: The Badlands are some of the fastest eroding landscapes on earth with erosion rates averaging 1" per year in their fragile layers.
The wildlife was fun to view. The prairie dogs were cute and the pronghorns and big horn sheep were all fun to watch and very close to the roadside. We didn't even have to get out of the car to see them. When we entered the park we had asked the ranger about seeing Bison. She gave us a great tip and told us if we really wanted to see lots of Bison to make sure that we stopped at Custer State Park if we were heading that direction.....which we were!
This park is very different from many National Parks but definitely worth the stop!!
Wall Drug, Wall, South Dakota
Well before you ever get close to Wall Drug you will see many, many signs telling you that you must stop and see it! You will see signs advertising the Free Water and 5 cent coffee that makes Wall Drug famous. These signs in the middle of miles and miles of prairie break up the monotony and make it virtually impossible not to do as they stay and stop!
This is a great way to spend a little time. It can be as long or short of a stop as you would like. We happened to hit Wall Drug right around lunch time so we took advantage of the restaurant inside and then took a look around. The food was quick and hot, relatively inexpensive and tasty. I had a cup of the famous 5 cent coffee and it was very good!
After lunch we spent a little time walking though the stores and the backyard area. You have to make sure to stop and see the T-Rex!
Yes it is a little "hokey" but again it is a place that you just have to see at least once. The food is good, the restrooms clean and the stores fun to spend some time. It's a great break in the middle of "nowhere" and I would highly advise you make time for a stop!
Wind Cave National Park (Free to Drive Through, Fees for Cave Tours)
Our next stop was just under a 2 hour drive from Wall Drug. Honestly this was a bit of an add-on Park for us since we were going to be in the area, we figured "why not?" Reviews were a little more negative leaning and we weren't sure what we would find but it was just down the road from Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore so again "why not?"
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| Visitor's Center Wind Cave National Park |
Tickets for the Cave Tours are available for purchase at the Visitor's Center and are on a First Come/First Served basis. We got to the park later in the afternoon so we were too late to get a ticket for the Cave tour. We also had other places to get to still so I'm not sure the cave tour would have fit into our tight schedule even if there had been tickets available. We did make the short walk from the Visitor's Center to the cave entrance and it's a fairly short and easy walk.
What we didn't realize was that the Cave is really the only thing in this park! Other than a couple of Bison, we really didn't see anything else here.
So.....my tip for this park would be to stop if you want to go through the Cave, otherwise, you can really skip this park and head straight for Custer State Park!
Custer State Park ($15.00/Vehicle) - **Must See**
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The Prairie Dogs were so cute!
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Our next stop was Custer State Park and we were very excited about getting here since the Ranger at Badlands National Park had told us that this was THE place to see Bison up close and personal. We entered the park from the south from Wind Cave National Park and it didn't take very long for us to hit the wildlife jackpot!
The first thing we came upon was a Prairie Dog Town....there were Prairie Dogs everywhere!
The next section brought us to a parking area that was full of wild burros. The burros had been brought to the park years ago for burro rides. Once the rides were discontinued, the burros stayed behind and have been in the park ever since. They were adorable. They check out out people's cars and even nibble on mud flaps! Some people even bring carrots along to feed them. They seem very gentle and were allowing people to pet them but as with any wild animal, you need to use common sense!
As we left the parking lot with the burros we saw a few more along the side of the roadway and then it happened....we hit the Bison Motherlode! From a distance, all you could see was a field of Bison! As you got closer, there were Bison everywhere! They were in the fields, along the sides of the roads and even IN the roads blocking traffic. Needless to say, you must exercise caution and drive slowly because you never know when one will decide to stand in front of your vehicle. We found out later that August is rutting season for bison so they tend to gather in large groups during this time so we lucked out with being there at a perfect time for viewing!
This was truly one of our favorite places on the trip. It was well worth the $15.00 entry fee. You could look in the eyes of a bison from your car window....amazing!
Tip: If you can only do a portion of the park, make sure that you take the Wildlife Loop!!
We spent about an hour and half or so driving through the park, taking pictures and just enjoying ourselves! The scenery is nice but definitely takes a backseat to the wildlife!
Iron Mountain Road
We left Custer State Park by way of Iron Mountain Road. This road runs north from the park and takes you a "scenic back way" to Mount Rushmore. I would highly recommend you take this road if you are continuing on to Mount Rushmore. It is only open seasonally and you will see why as soon as you start out on it!
We continued to see large herds of Bison on and near the roadways as we exited the park. As we got further outside the park and closer to the entrance to Mount Rushmore, the road became increasingly windy and narrow. In fact in places the two lane roadways split in half to go around trees! There were also wooden bridges and stone tunnels along the way. It reminded us of an old mine ride type roller coaster as we were driving along! Make sure that you look around while you are driving/riding because there are some great views of Mount Rushmore in the distance.
This is a 17 mile drive and worth every minute of it! I don't know when I've had so much fun on a road!
Crazy Horse Memorial - (Fees vary...$28.00 vehicle over 2 passengers)
Since we didn't have much time before dusk at this point, we made a very quick side trip to the Crazy Horse Memorial. We had been there about 7 years prior and were interested to see how much progress had been made on the memorial in that period of time. Well......
First of all the entrance fees vary widely. There is a fee for everything. Here is the admission schedule:
$11.00 per person OR $22.00 for two people in a car OR $28.00 for two or more people in a car.
$5.00 per rider on a motorcycle, $5.00 per bicycle. Ages 6 and under Free
Once you figure out the fees to get in (which are rather high compared to most of the things in the area) you will drive to a parking lot . There is a visitor's center with displays and a movie and an outdoor area with a small cafe and models of the sculpture. There is an observation deck area where you can view the actual statue in the distance.
What I can tell you is that the memorial looked virtually unchanged in the 7 years between our visits. I would be hard pressed to tell you any difference other than the head of the horse was drawn on the rocks now so you can see where it is supposed to go. Honestly I'm not sure if anything was different.
Therefore......I would say that for the price of this attraction, it is interesting to see once...it is not worth making a repeat visit.
We arrived very close to the end of the day there and I will say that one of the employees told us we could get our tickets validated and return the next day when there was more time to visit but there really was nothing further to see and we were traveling out of the area the next day so we did not do this.
There is a laser show after dusk from Memorial Day to Native American's Day (the second Monday in October). We did not have time to stay for the show as we wanted to make our way to Mount Rushmore before dark.
Mount Rushmore ($11.00/vehicle - National Park Passes NOT accepted)
Just before dusk we finally made it to our last stop of the day...Mount Rushmore. We had purchased the National Park Pass before we headed out on this trip (I would highly recommend this when visiting more than a couple parks in a year!) but were surprised to see that they were not accepted at Mount Rushmore. The passes are good at National Monuments however, this fee is actually for the parking garage which is run by an independent company and not the National Monument Service. The parking garage has lots of parking and several levels and areas but is a bit confusing to maneuver to find a spot especially since we arrived so late in the day. We finally located a spot and headed up the couple flights of stairs to head into the monument area.
We were able to snap a few photos and then decided to head into the cafeteria just before it closed because we were starving at this point! There was no place to eat from the time we left Wall Drug till we arrived at Crazy Horse and we didn't have time to eat there. So we grabbed a quick bite to eat and waited till dark for the monument to be lit.
We had seen the Monument before in the daylight so we were excited to see the lighting ceremony.
Check the schedule for when you are visiting to see what time the lighting ceremony is. There was a film before the lights were turned on and the ceremony lasted about a half hour. It was very nice and very patriotic.
This is very much a MUST SEE attraction if you are in the area. If you get a chance to stick around for the lighting ceremony it really is nice but make sure you see it in the daylight also. It is amazing with the contrast of the blue skies behind it!
Hampton Inn Rapid City, South Dakota
After a long day of driving we were anxious to get settled into our hotel for the evening. Our stay on this evening was at the Hampton Inn in Rapid City. It was about a half hour drive from Mount Rushmore to the hotel. When we arrived we found the staff to not be overly friendly or helpful and our room had a vague smell of stale smoke even though our room was non-smoking. The room itself was clean and sufficient for a quick overnight stay. Time to get some rest for our next action packed day!
Coming Next: The Great National Park Adventure 2015: North Dakota!!
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There are three distinct areas of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The Painted Canyon Area, The South Unit and The North Unit. On this visit we got to the Painted Canyon and the South Unit.
The loop road is a paved 36 mile drive that takes you through Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We arrived on a Monday and we were one of maybe 5 cars that were in the park at the time that we were there. This allowed us to access everything we needed to access and take lots of photos without feeling rushed. 
It took us about an hour or so to drive around the Loop Road. On the way out of the park, we stopped at the Visitor's Center again to take a look around at the exhibits. There were some interesting things to look at inside the Visitor's Center but the main attraction was actually just behind this building. This is where you can find a log cabin that once served as Theodore Roosevelt's "home" for a short period of time. There are a few pieces inside that actually belonged to Roosevelt and it is decorated in period pieces. 
After another 4 hour drive from Theodore Roosevelt National Park to our hotel in Billings, Montana, we were ready to check into the hotel and grab a bite to eat. This hotel was a terrific place to stay for the evening. The location was fantastic....right off of I-90. The hotel included a conference center which made it much larger than most Hampton Inns. The staff was very friendly and helpful. We were very near many restaurant choices and best of all, we got a free upgrade at this hotel!
The room was very clean and spacious. In addition to the Jacuzzi, it also had a nice sized sitting area, wet bar with coffee maker, refrigerator and microwave, desk and separate sink area. 
