Just Dig It!

The Journey Museum & Museum of Geology

Start your day at The Journey Museum, where you will learn about the legacy of the land and its people. Enjoy exhibits from the Museum of Geology at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology or the Archaeological Research Center.

Black Hills Museum and Jewl Cave

Our Continue your tour at the Black Hills Museum of Natural History and the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research in Hill City. This Museum houses the world's most extensive research collection of Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil material and is owned and operated by the founders of famous T. Rex’ Sue and Stan. In addition to the Museum you will also see how the Institute prepares fossils for shipment, molds fossil casts and preserves mineral specimens. 

Traveling southbound you will next visit Jewel Cave National Monument just minutes west of Custer, SD. Here you will explore the second longest cave in the world, filled with calcite crystals and other wonders that compose the "jewels."

The Mammoth Site

Continuing south, the day will end with a tour of The Mammoth Site - the world’s largest mammoth research facility. Here you will tour an on-going paleontological dig site and view Ice Age fossils on display as they are discovered. Study the teeth of mammoths to determine their age and specific traits with the available osteology curriculum.  The Mammoth Site also offers programs to simulate paleontologists as they participate in a dig for fossil replicas

Chuckwagon Dinner

Return to Rapid City for dinner on your own or take in one of the area’s chuckwagon.

A Little South Dakota Culture

Air & Space Museum and Air Force Base

Heading west, your first stop will be the South Dakota Air and Space Museum, located at Ellsworth Air Force Base. Here you will view numerous U.S. military aircrafts once used in battle.

Wall Drug and Wounded Knee Museum

Next, depart for Wall Drug, located in Wall, South Dakota. This tiny drug store, built in 1931, has boomed to become block-sized and internationally known. Enjoy lunch in the Café at Wall Drug before visiting Wounded Knee: The Museum, also located in Wall. Here you will learn about the last, bloody conflict between Native Americans and the US Army Cavalry.

The Badlands National Park

Heading south, you will travel to the Badlands National Park, where pre-planned tours with Rangers are available to focus on how the Badlands were formed, what the various colors in the landscape mean, and how fossil resources contributed to formations. Delving further into the Badlands, experience the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Make a stop at Red Cloud Indian School.  Guided tours are available on the history and realities of the school along with a visit to the Heritage Museum that has presentations of traditional and contemporary Native American arts. If time permits, take a moment to reflect upon the Wounded Knee Massacre Site and apply the history from your morning visit at Wounded Knee: The Museum. 

After visiting the Pine Ridge reservation, return to Rapid City for dinner.

The City of Presidents

Enjoy an evening walk around downtown and view The City of Presidents, where you can visit life size bronze replicas of our Nation’s Presidents watching over the street corners of downtown Rapid City. 

A Monumental Day

Reptile Gardens & Bear Country USA

Stop at Reptile Gardens and Bear Country USA.  At Reptile Gardens you will visit evolved animals, including giant tortoise’s that are over 100 years old, a Komodo Dragon, crocodiles, alligators, birds of pray and more! Catch educational “shows” that highlight snakes, crocodiles, and birds. Learn about the reptiles and various other animals from a step on guide. Your second stop includes Bear Country USA where step on guides are available to learn the history of the park, find out about the animals which make Bear Country USA their home, and discover little tidbits: wapiti in Lakota means white rump for elk.

Mount Rushmore

Next visit Mount Rushmore National Memorial.  Education abounds at Mt. Rushmore.  Join the Rushmore Ranger Program to learn and appreciate national parks, specifically Mount Rushmore National Memorial.  Receive a certificate upon completion.  Also learn about Lakota history in the Black Hills and their culture near a traditional American Indian tipi. If time permits, join a Ranger Walk on the Presidential Trail to learn about the history of Mt. Rushmore and the surrounding area.  Visit the Sculptor’s Studio to find out about the sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, the workers and the carving process used on Mt. Rushmore. Before departing, dine with the President’s at Mount Rushmore’s Carvers Café.

Custer State Park

After your visit to Mount Rushmore, continue south via Iron Mountain Road to Custer State Park.  Make a stop at the Peter Norbeck Visitor Center. Next, grab your binoculars and get ready for a self-guided tour around the Wildlife Loop Road Scenic Byway. Located in the southern portion of the park, the roadway is often a location for spotting bison, pronghorn antelope, elk, white-tail deer, mule deer, burros, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, and coyotes. The loop road is also famous for a wide array of colorful wildflowers and prairie grasses.  Take in the Needles Highway Tour. The Black Hills highlight some of the most beautiful geological scenery in North America. Dating back around 2 billion years in age, the granite rocks along Needles Highway tower around park visitors. Take a casual drive through time and discover how geology has played a vital role in the natural and cultural history of western South Dakota.

For the adventure enthusiasts learn to climb the granite spires found along Needles Highway with instruction from the Sylvan Rocks Climbing School and Guide Service.

For a scenic tour via foot, enjoy a hike up Harney Peak, the highest point (7,242 feet) in the Black Hills and South Dakota as well as the highest point in North America east of the Rocky Mountains.

Crazy Horse Memorial

The final stop for the day is Crazy Horse Memorial, home of the world’s largest mountain sculpture in progress, which began in 1948 by Korczak Ziolkowski.  Watch the educational film behind Crazy Horse. Take a bus ride to the bottom of Crazy Horse Memorial for a awe inspiring view.  Other viewing opportunities include the Indian Museum of North America, the Native American Educational & Cultural Center, where you will learn about Native American history and culture.  At the Cultural Center get a hands on experience playing Lakota games, learn about tipis and camp life.  Learn about contemporary issues on how to integrate culture into curriculum, the history of boarding schools, and preservation of native language. Don’t forget to view the sculptor’s log home studio and workshop, indoor and outdoor galleries, museum gift shop and the expansive viewing veranda. Conclude your experience with real Native cuisine at the Laughing Water Restaurant and the viewing of "Legends in Light," a multimedia laser-light show. Set to a stirring musical score, the outdoor program shows off dramatic animated images created by laser beams, giant slide projectors and banks of colored floodlights. The program can be seen and heard throughout the Memorial visitor complex.

For a late evening alternative, enjoy favorites such as Putz N Glo or Pirates Cove Adventure Golf.

Discover Gold!

Mt. Rushmore Black Hills Gold Factory

Start your day off with a tour of Mt. Rushmore Black Hills Gold Factory, located on Rapid City’s southern edge. The fascinating tour goes through the jewelry factory where you will watch up-close and learn the details of how gold jewelry is made. You will learn the history of the family-owned and operated company in addition to the jewelry manufacturing process - the ancient method of lost-wax casting.

Homestake Visitor Center

Continue your quest for gold with a stop at the Homestake Visitor Center. First view the documentary on Homestake Gold Mine – which before its closing in 2002, was the oldest, largest, and deepest mine in the Western Hemisphere, reaching more than 8000 feet below the town of Lead. Next, take the fascinating surface tour of the Homestake Mining Operation. The tour takes you through the historic town of Lead and Homestake's underground surface operation. It follows the mining process including hoisting, crushing and milling of the underground ore and views Homestake Gold Mine's state-of-the-art Waste Water Treatment Plant and open pit mine.

Deadwood

Next we will venture a few miles north into the one and only Deadwood. Our first stop will be Adams Museum, where we will learn about the wild west side of Deadwood. Enjoy a self-guided tour of three floors of captivating exhibits that explore the natural and cultural history of Deadwood. Display items include Wild Bill's gun, a one-of-a-kind plesiosaur, Potato Creek Johnny's gold nugget, in addition to historical photographs and maps and regional folk art.
To complete our Wild West History lesson, our next stop will be Mt. Moriah Cemetery to the grave sites of the ever-famous Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. We will finish our historical tour of Deadwood with a drive down Deadwood’s Main Street.

Days of '76 Museum

Departing Deadwood first stop at the Days of ’76 Museum where you will complete your Wild West history lesson. Days of '76" refers to 1876, when Deadwood was born in a gold rush boom, following the discovery of gold in Deadwood Gulch. The "Days of '76" recalls that brief but vibrant time when legends such as Wild Bill Hickock, Calamity Jane and Seth Bullock walked the streets. It was a raucous gold camp, a time of hope and heartbreak, the true and unforgettable "Wild West". You will view the carriage, rodeo and Clowser collections. Take US Hwy 14a through beautiful Boulder Canyon.

End the day in Rapid City with dinner at the local eateries.

Optional:
 Return to Mt. Rushmore for the evening Light Ceremony.

Center of the Nation!

Tri-State Museum

Today you will venture to the ‘Center of the Nation!’ On August 21, 2007, Belle Fourche, SD was designated as the community located in the geographic center of the nation. Take your photo on the recently unveiled monument marking the locale and tour the Tri-State Museum. The Museum contains over 5,000 artifacts, rodeo memorabilia, historical records, antiques, collectibles, fossils, and other items.

High Plains Heritage Museum

Heading south, you will stop at the High Plains Heritage Museum in Spearfish. The High Plains Western Heritage Center includes a five-state regional museum founded to honor the old west pioneers of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming & Nebraska. View fantastic exhibits of Western art, artifacts & memorabilia including the original Spearfish to Deadwood stagecoach, turn-of-the-century kitchen, saddle shop & blacksmith shop.
Continue south through Spearfish Canyon you will enjoy a scenic drive and a sack lunch at Roughlock Falls Nature Area. Here you will take in the breathtaking scenery of the waterfalls and don’t forget your binoculars! Roughlock Falls is one of few places in the Black Hills to observe the rare American Dipper, a bird that can both walk and swim underwater.

Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame

To end the day we’ll travel to Sturgis, SD – home to the famous Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Learn the history of the Rally, view the Sturgis Hall of Fame and over 100 motorcycles at the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame. After you finish your tour here, we’ll travel east of Sturgis to view Bear Butte State Park. Mato Paha or “Bear Mountain” is the Lakota name given to this site. Many American Indians see Bear Butte as a place where the creator has chosen to communicate with them through visions and prayer.  A stop at the Bear Butte Education Center will highlight the mountain's geology, history and the cultural beliefs of the Northern Plains Indians, particularly the Cheyenne and Lakota.

Ft. Meade Museum

Optional:

Our final stop before our return to Rapid City is at the Black Hills National Cemetery.  The Cemetery is the final resting place for many of the regions veterans including Sergeant Charles Windolph (Indian Campaigns), Troop H, 7th Cavalry, who led troops in the Battle at Little Big Horn, in Montana, June 25 – 26, 1876.

Return to Rapid City for your final nights stay.

3 Day Black Hills Tour A
3 Day Black Hills Tour B
4 Day Black Hills Tour A
4 Day Black Hills Tour B
5 Day Black Hills Tour A
5 Day Black Hills Tour B