Dates of Trip: July 8-11, 2023

Visiting my 45th state was particularly meaningful— I  took my parents to see Mt. Rushmore, fulfilling my dad’s lifelong bucket list dream. He hadn’t flown since 1978, but seeing Mt. Rushmore had always been a wish of his since reading about it in his history books. True to form, I didn’t have a set itinerary until we landed, but this time I felt a lot more pressure to make everything just right. You’ll notice I didn’t spare my parents the action-packed days or sunrise wake-ups. 

Day 1: We left for the airport at 3am eastern time and after a few connections, landed in Rapid City, South Dakota at 11:30am mountain time. We left the airport and headed straight to Mt. Rushmore (30 minute drive). It’s free to enter with our National Park passes but there’s a small fee to park in the garage. 

My mom completely unpacking and changing to rain gear in the parking lot 😂

It was pouring rain so we watched the movie and made the best of the views. 

We then left for Crazy Horse Memorial (30 minutes). After browsing the museum, we took the van closer to the monument and I highly recommend. 

Views of the storms ⬆️

We drove from Crazy Horse to Custer for an early dinner. We ate at a great brewery called The Custer Beacon. Nice, casual food in a fun atmosphere (we went during 80s night). 

We then drove to our hotel in Keystone SD which was a cute lodge along the main downtown. 

https://www.choicehotels.com/south-dakota/keystone/comfort-inn-hotels/sd087

Day 2: We were on the road at 4:12am en route to sunrise at Badlands National Park (1 hour 15 min drive). 

Badlands National Park | Black Hills & Badlands of South Dakota

This was our view from Big Badlands Overlook ⬆️

We walked along the trails around Big Badlands, less than a mile, to see the wildlife and catch our first view of the Badlands. 

Next we drove to Door Trailhead and hiked the surrounding short trails which go up the rock formations to overlooks. 

Had to picture the cute parents 

We then drove to Cliff Shelf Nature Trail for a short hike. 

While out the day prior, my dad saw signs for Custer State Park which he mistakenly thought was the site of Custer’s last stand. So we drove from Badlands to Custer State Park to check it out (1 hr and a half). He was a little bummed initially at the mistake, “right Custer, wrong zip code” — the park ranger. (Custer’s last stand is 4 hours 25 minutes from there along the Little Bighorn River in Montana in case you’re looking for it). 

The highlight of Custer State Park was the scenery and wildlife. 

https://gfp.sd.gov/parks/detail/custer-state-park/

After we did the recommended scenic drive through the park we headed back to Keystone to check out the shops and restaurants. 

And of course I had to have an old timey photo

Day 3: Our third early wake up to catch another sunrise. We were on the road at 4:42am on the way to Devil’s Tower National Monument (2 hours 18 minute drive). I had already been to Wyoming but if you’re looking to check off two states in one trip, I highly recommend this combination. I mentioned in my North Dakota post that my initial plan was to drag my parents 4 hours each way to ND, but so glad I did that trip separately (Theodore Roosevelt NP deserves its own trip).  

We did the whole 1.7 Devil’s Tower loop trail and were lucky enough to see the sunrise and cast a red glow on the Devil’s Tower. 

Devil’s Tower Trail on AllTrails

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/wyoming/devil-s-tower-trail–2?sh=sxlnu6

From Devil’s tower our next destination was Jewel Cave National Monument (Wind Cave National Park was closed due to elevator failure) — 1 hr 30 minute drive time. 

Jewel Cave National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)

We bought a ticket to go into the cave and decided to do the loop hike while waiting for our time slot. 

Canyons Trail on AllTrails

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/south-dakota/canyons-trail?sh=sxlnu6

It may have been a little too strenuous for my parents with a 436 foot ascent, but they made it. 

Make sure you take a jacket into the cave because it’s quite chilly. 

The cave was impressive and we enjoyed learning about the excavations and newest discoveries. 

We then took the scenic drive north of the park back to Keystone for the night. 

Day 4: We were on the road at 4:50am to make it to sunrise at Mt. Rushmore. 

The sunrise wasn’t too impressive but it was so nice to visit without other tourists. And I was able to get a picture of my dad with the sign. 

Because traveling with my parents is similar to traveling with my step-kids, I decided to keep them entertained with activities before we flew out. So after the second visit to Rushmore at sunrise, we went to Reptile Gardens on the way from Keystone to Rapid City. 

We were all wowed by the Reptile Gardens, especially my snake-loving dad. We went to all the exhibits and shoes and he even got to hold a python. My mom enjoyed the botanical gardens too!

We bought tickets ahead of time on the website below. 

https://www.reptilegardens.com

Visiting the prairie dogs ⬆️

We made it to the airport (3 hours early because we were on the old people time) and flew out uneventfully. 

Though traveling with parents can come with its challenges, I wouldn’t trade this trip for the world. It became one of my most cherished memories with my dad. 

Feel free to shoot me a message if you’re planning to visit Mt. Rushmore and have any questions!