Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Things to do in the Badlands

Hanco: The smallish big game trophy area inside "Wall Drug" is worth seeing.
Be sure and take your binoculars to Badlands National Grasslands for Bighorn Sheep viewing - was through there earlier this month and saw Bighorns in may spots!
Enjoy and fly careful.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I live in the Black Hills. Lots of good suggestions above but I don't see the second most popular attraction, Reptile Gardens listed. It is well worth your time and admission.

We have prairie rattlers. They are the smallest and least aggressive. I spend lots of time in prairie dog towns and have never had an issue. They light up and crawl away, good snakes.

From those above:
Alpine Inn, go for lunch, dinner is a LONG wait and they don't accept reservations.
Badlands if you want to see Bighorns. Most times I see sheep, I see them every time I hike there.
Crazy Horse for the native artifacts, not so much for the monument
Rushmore for certain and take the time to sit through the movie presentation
Custer Park Game Loop in the early morning or evening.
West end of Wind Cave to see buffalo. Heck, south of the Badlands most always has bison if you look with binoculars.
Black HIlls Harley Davidson if you want to see more Harleys for sale than anywhere else in the world. Pre rally stuff going on today.
Wall Drug is a joke and like a good joke probably worth a visit.
Stay out of Keystone, it's tourist hell.
Hill City, Custer, and Hot Springs are quaint.
Bear Country is fine if you've never or seldom seen western big game.
Sturgis Rally is next week and lots of riders arrive a week early to beat the crowds - causing a crowd.
Downtown Rapid City is very nice, First Stop Guns on Main Street is a cool old school gun store.
Smoking Gun, our indoor shooting range, has lots of Class III weapons for rent.

Wind Cave and Custer Parks are beautiful w/ great hiking and lots of animals. The entire area is beautiful and has miles of dirt roads that will get you away from most of the crowds and harleys. Google Earth is your friend. My wife wanted to see Bear Country and it was worth the trip. We have always gone in the spring before Memorial Day so not too may people but the area is to good to miss, enjoy.



mike r

Mammoth Graveyard was cool in my opinion.

+1

Also the wild horse sanctuary. Take the tour.

Thank you, we are staying in Hill City

Go to Sturgis today & watch a tumble weed roll down the street. Then go back late next week & see how 500,000 motorcycles, a thousand tattoo parlors, 10,000 tee shirt vendors can change things.

Has anyone done the helicopter tours? Is it worth it?

Be sure to see the night show at Mt Rushmore. Very patriotic and if you are a veteran you're going to be appreciated. Collective gasp when they light up the presidents. Needles highway. Sturgis was very boring. Badlands was ok. In all, I really like South Dakota.

Absolutely! We were there when the girls were young. Just happened to be the last performance of the season for the orchestra.. Gave me serious chills.

My friend said the Rushmore helicopter tour was fantastic.

Hot Springs mammoth excavation

Black Hills are great...just do whatever.

Love that area.

In the real badlands get out of the car, ogle the formations, take a few pictures, get back in the car and leave.

Be like teddy and ride a horse across for days at a time.

Found some buffalo in Custer state park. The park is beautiful.

Yes it is. Well worth the money IMO.

I liked it. Saw three of four wolves chasing a big ole black bear. And the cubs were fun to watch.

Hill City - Alpine Inn, Jon Crane Art Gallery, 1880 train from HC to Keystone and back.

Keystone - Ruby House Restaurant, Powder House Lodge Restaurant, shops downtown and, of course, Mt Rushmore.

Custer - Museum downtown, restaurant at the lodge in Custer State Park and the wildlife roaming at the park, Crazy Horse.

Spearfish Canyon - Lodge and restaurant, walk to where final scene of DWW was filmed.

Rapid City - The Legend museum, Prairie Edge downtown, Firehouse Brewery downtown as well.

Badlands - excellent scenery, decent restaurant near the ranger HQ.

Deadwood - good museum and cemetery.

Lots and lots of other stuff to do in the Black Hills. Just look around, you won't be bored unless you want to be. There was a stretch of 11 years we vacationed in the Hills 9 times. My bride had a highly stressful job and that was one of the few places she said she could really relax . . . I agreed and didn't balk at all. We even made it back there from Arkansas a few years back.

Alpine Inn?