Black Hills and Badlands road trip
11 places · by Peyman
Two days in western South Dakota: the Badlands Loop and Wall Drug, then Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, the Needles, and Crazy Horse.
2 days11 stops2h 25m drivingeach day starts 9:00am
The whole trip
Every stop on one map, colored by day. The line follows the route in order; each day is mapped on its own below.
Day 1Day 2
Day 19:00am – 2:45pm · 6 stops · 1h 25m driving
Stops in order
9:00am
Stop 1 · 1h
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site Visitor Center
24545 CottonWood Rd, Philip, SD 57567, USA
Exhibits on the Cold War missile silos once spread across the plains.
15mdrive to the next stop
10:15am
Stop 2 · 45m
Door Trail
SD-240, Interior, SD 57750, USA
Short boardwalk and trail through a break in the Badlands Wall.
5mdrive to the next stop
11:05am
Stop 3 · 45m
Ben Reifel Visitor Center
25216 SD-240, Interior, SD 57750, USA
Main park visitor center with fossil exhibits and a working lab.
35mdrive to the next stop
12:25pm
Stop 4 · 20m
Yellow Mounds Overlook
SD-240, Wall, SD 57790, USA
Rounded hills banded in yellow, red, and purple soil.
10mdrive to the next stop
12:55pm
Stop 5 · 30m
Pinnacles Overlook
SD-240, Wall, SD 57790, USA
Wide view over jagged spires and canyons; bighorn sheep are often near.
20mdrive to the next stop
1:45pm
Stop 6 · 1h
Wall Drug Store
510 Main St, Wall, SD 57790, USA
Sprawling roadside store famous for free ice water and its billboards.
Day 29:00am – 3:20pm · 5 stops · 1h driving
Stops in order
9:00am
Stop 1 · 1h 30m
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Keystone, SD 57751, USA
Four presidents carved in granite; walk the Presidential Trail.
20mdrive to the next stop
10:50am
Stop 2 · 1h 15m
State Game Lodge
State Game Lodge, SD 57730, USA
Historic stone lodge restaurant inside Custer State Park.
25mdrive to the next stop
12:30pm
Stop 3 · 20m
Needles Eye Tunnel
MP 31, SD-87, Custer, SD 57730, USA
Narrow one-lane tunnel among granite spires on the Needles Highway.
5mdrive to the next stop
12:55pm
Stop 4 · 1h
Sylvan Lake
Sylvan Lake, East Custer, SD 57730, USA
Small lake ringed by granite boulders, with an easy shoreline trail.
10mdrive to the next stop
2:05pm
Stop 5 · 1h 15m
Crazy Horse Memorial
Crazy Horse, SD 57730, USA
Mountain carving in progress, with a museum of Native American culture.
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