7+ best places to visit for a perfect South Dakota road trip through the Badlands and Black Hills

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South Dakota is best known for Mount Rushmore, but it’s much more than that!

From the Badlands to the Black Hills, South Dakota is a perfect road trip destination that will give you varied landscapes. You’ll also have the chance to see wildlife like buffalo, prairie dogs, and bighorn sheep.

I did a road trip to South Dakota, and here are the best places to visit in the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota!

 

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SOUTH DAKOTA ROAD TRIP > BLACK HILLS | BADLANDS

 

 

1. Mount Rushmore National Memorial

 

A trip to Mount Rushmore National Memorial to see the faces of several presidents carved into the rock formations of the Black Hills is one of the most popular places to visit in South Dakota.

It’s possible to see the Mount Rushmore presidents by just driving through Mount Rushmore National Memorial if you truly want to make it a quick visit.

The best view of Mount Rushmore while driving will be on the east side of the road through Mount Rushmore National Memorial. (map)

 

 

On the west side of the road, you can also see a unique perspective of George Washington as you’re driving. (map)

 

 

But to make the most of your trip, you’ll want to walk the Avenue of the Flags so you can walk to the viewing platform with the Mount Rushmore presidents right in front of you.

 

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And then after that, walking the Presidential Trail will offer you different views of each of the presidents.

Also make a stop by the Sculptor Studio to learn from a park ranger about how the Mount Rushmore presidential rock carvings came to be!

There are frequent talks held throughout the day, and you will find this along the Presidential Trail.

While there is no entry fee for Mount Rushmore National Memorial, there is a Mount Rushmore parking fee.

So for the best way to see Mount Rushmore, it will cost $10 per car. It is free to drive through Mount Rushmore.

Another popular thing to do in South Dakota related to Mount Rushmore is to drive Iron Mountain Road.

Then, you will be able to see Mount Rushmore as you are driving, and more specifically, you can see the presidents as you are driving through the Iron Mountain Road tunnels too.

It’s a tunnel view of Mount Rushmore!

This is quite a distant view, though!

Mount Rushmore is also connected to Black Hills National Forest. Breezy Point in the national forest can be a nice spot for a picnic after your trip to Mount Rushmore!

The closest campground to Mount Rushmore is the Horsethief Lake Campground in Black Hills National Forest.

Many people also make it a day trip to Mount Rushmore from Custer State Park. (Next on the list!)

 

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See more about things to do in Mount Rushmore and the best tunnel view of Mount Rushmore.

 

 

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2. Custer State Park

👆 Black Hills South Dakota road trip to Sylvan Lake

 

Custer State Park is the most popular state park in South Dakota. This is also located in the Black Hills.

There are many different ways you can spend your time in Custer State Park. You can spend just 1-2 days here, or you may want to take it extra easy and spend 1 week here!

Custer State Park has several lakes.

The most popular one is Sylvan Lake where you can find the starting point of some of the best hikes in the Black Hills with VIEWS like the Sunday Gulch Trail and the Black Elk Peak Trail.

 

👆 Black Hills South Dakota road trip to Black Elk Peak Trail 👇

 

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You can also find easy trails around the Custer State Park lakes for a nice leisurely lakeside stroll, including at Legion Lake and Center Lake.

 

👆 Black Hills South Dakota road trip to Center Lake

 

If you’re in Custer State Park for a few days, you can start or end your day at a different lake every day!

The lakes also have picnic tables so you can eat with lake views.

Custer State Park has some scenic drives as well.

The popular scenic drives in Custer State Park are Needles Highway and the Wildlife Loop Road.

The Needles Highway is where you can find the iconic Needles Eye Tunnel.

 

👆 Black Hills South Dakota road trip to Needles Eye Tunnel

 

Along the Needles Highway is also where you can find more of some of the best hikes in Custer State Park, including the Cathedral Spires trailhead.

 

👆 Black Hills South Dakota road trip to Cathedral Spires Trail

 

The Cathedral Spires are a national natural landmark.

You can also find the Little Devils Tower trailhead along Needles Highway.

 

👆 Black Hills South Dakota road trip to Little Devils Tower Trail

 

The Wildlife Loop Road is considered your best chance to see buffalo.

Before you get on the Wildlife Loop Road, if your route is convenient, stop by the Custer State Park Visitor Center. They have a little map that displays the most recent buffalo sightings.

If the Custer State Park Visitor Center is out of the way, there’s another visitor center along Wildlife Loop Road, the Wildlife Station Visitor Center, and they have a similar buffalo sightings map.

Otherwise, in general, the best chance for seeing buffalo seems to be the stretch of road between the Custer State Park Visitor Center and the Buffalo Corrals. (map)

Although, there is no guarantee to see buffalo, and there are other places you may end up seeing buffalo in Custer State Park!

If wildlife viewing is important to you, it will be best to stop at either of the visitor centers to ask about where the best chance to see your wildlife of choice is on that day.

The cost of the Custer State Park entry fee is around $20 for a 7-day pass (same if you’re only one day in Custer State Park) and $36 for an annual South Dakota state park pass. You can buy either pass when you get to Custer State Park. See current fees.

Custer State Park has several campgrounds for tent camping and RV camping.

Many of these campgrounds also have camping cabins.

When I stayed at a Game Lodge camping cabin, a buffalo walked right in front of the cabin! According to the Game Lodge campground host, it seems like in front of the Game Lodge campground is a regular walking route for buffalo!

 

 

Custer State Park also has more “luxury” cabins (aka “resort” cabins) at the various lodges inside Custer State Park if you are looking for a little less effort in your Custer State Park stay. There are resort cabins at Legion Lake Lodge for example. For a more standard hotel stay in Custer State Park, you can find rooms at State Game Lodge.

Also there are a few dates to note for Custer State Park.

In early August there is the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. This means even greater crowds in the areas surrounding Sturgis SD, and that includes Custer State Park. As the people at South Dakota state parks say, either join them or avoid them! In 2024, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is August 2 to 11.

At the end of September there is the buffalo round-up within Custer State Park. Once again, this will create crowds, and you can choose to go to it because you want to see the buffalo rounded up (book your accommodation early!), or you can choose to avoid this time! In 2024, the Custer State Park buffalo roundup and arts festival was September 26 to 28.

 

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See more to about planning this South Dakota road trip stop:

• Best things to do in Custer State Park for VIEWS
• Camping in Custer State Park
• Camping cabins in Custer State Park
• Best hikes in Custer State Parks

 

 

3. Jewel Cave National Monument

👆 South Dakota national park road trip to Jewel Cave historic lantern tour

 

On this list of places to visit in South Dakota are 2 cave national park sites.

Jewel Cave is 1 of 2 caves that are managed by the National Park Service in South Dakota.

The best way to experience Jewel Cave National Monument is through a cave tour. The historic lantern tour is considered the “adventure” cave tour at Jewel Cave, and it is fun! You only have a lantern to light your way through the cave!

 

 

Cave tours do sell out, so you’ll want to plan accordingly for your day at Jewel Cave.

If it turns out that you’re not able to do a cave tour, you might still want to check out the natural cave entrance. You won’t be able to go inside Jewel Cave without a tour, but you can see the cave entrance from the outside on your own.

Be sure to check the Jewel Cave National Monument website as your travel date gets closer for how to buy tickets. In 2024, the National Park Service recommends that you buy your tickets in advance, as tickets may be sold out when you show up.

You may also try calling the Jewel Cave visitor center to speak with a park ranger to ask about the likelihood of Jewel Cave tours filling up to see how it’s going for the summer. The listed phone number for the Jewel Cave visitor center is 605-673-8300.

There is no entry fee for Jewel Cave National Monument, but there is a fee for the cave tours. And, you really need to do a cave tour in order to get the most out of your time, so a trip to Jewel Cave will cost you around $15 per person, and cheaper for kids.

There is no campground at Jewel Cave, but you can make it a day trip to Jewel Cave from Custer State Park or from Wind Cave.

 

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See more about planning this South Dakota road trip stop:

• Things to do in Jewel Cave National Monument
• Jewel Cave historic lantern adventure cave tour
• How to see the Jewel Cave entrance without a tour

 

 

4. Wind Cave National Park

Wind Cave National Park is the other cave that is managed by the National Park Service in South Dakota.

There are 2 national parks in South Dakota, and this is also the other national park in South Dakota.

Cave tours do sell out, so you’ll want to plan accordingly for your day at Wind Cave.

In summer 2021, the only way to buy cave tour tickets was to show up at the visitor center. But again, you’ll want to check the Wind Cave National Park website for how to buy cave tour tickets in 2022.

Similarly, you may also try calling the Wind Cave visitor center to speak with a park ranger to ask about the likelihood of Wind Cave tours filling up. This can give you an idea of how to plan your day. The listed phone number for the Wind Cave visitor center is 605-745-4600.

There is no entry fee for Wind Cave National Park, but there is a fee for the cave tours. And again, you really need to do a cave tour in order to get the most out of your time, so a trip to Wind Cave will cost you around $15 a person, and cheaper for kids.

You can go camping at Wind Cave National Park. There is the Elk Mountain campground.

 

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See more about things to do in Wind Cave National Park.

 

 

5. The Mammoth Site

The Mammoth Site is designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.

This is said to be the “largest concentration of mammoth remains in the world.”

And you can see mammoth fossils from the Ice Age.

It is an active “dig site” and you can actually see the paleontologists working. You can have a look in their lab too (through a window).

You don’t need all day for a trip to the Mammoth Site, but also take a look at the paleontology program for kids and adults.

 

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See more about the Mammoth Site.

 

 

6. Spearfish Canyon

 

Spearfish Canyon is something that you would do when you are near Mount Rushmore.

It’s a bit out of the way, so you’ll want to decide if you want to drive the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway.

Spearfish Canyon is one of the popular scenic drives in South Dakota, and there are also a couple of waterfalls that you can see.

 

👆 South Dakota Black Hills road trip to Spearfish Canyon waterfalls

 

If you are going from South Dakota to Wyoming, or you’ll be going from Wyoming to South Dakota, then it can be perfect to drive Spearfish Canyon when you’re driving from Mount Rushmore to Wyoming.

Or, if you’re making a day trip to Devils Tower National Monument WY from South Dakota, you can pass through Spearfish Canyon too. (There is also the Devils Tower campground if you want to make it an overnight to Wyoming.)

For reference on a map, you can drive from Savoy to Spearfish SD. (Or the other way around.)

You may also want to drive Roughlock Falls Road from Savoy SD.

 

👆👆 South Dakota Black Hills road trip to Roughlock Falls Road

 

There is no fee to drive the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway.

 

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See more about the Spearfish Canyon.

 

 

7. Badlands National Park

👆 South Dakota national park road trip to Big Badlands Overlook

 

Badlands National Park is the best national park in South Dakota.

You may be happy with just one day in Badlands National Park with some short hikes, or you may want to spend 2 days to do it all!

The main road through Badlands National Park is the Badlands Loop Road.

All you have to do is drive this road and you will get scenic views! You may be quite happy with your South Dakota badlands experience just by driving through Badlands National Park.

 

 

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But if you want to get out of the car, many of the popular short hikes in Badlands National Park start in the same area along Badlands Loop Road, which is in the Cedar Pass area.

This includes the Door Trailhead, the Window Trail, and the Notch Trail. (The Notch Trail is where you will find the iconic Badlands ladder!) These hiking trails are all from the same parking lot, located along Badlands Loop Road. You can also start the Castle Trail from here.

 

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There are 2 campgrounds in Badlands National Park.

You also have a chance to see bighorn sheep in South Dakota as you are driving through Badlands National Park.

 

 

 

Badlands National Park is considered to be a good spot to see the night sky. You can watch the night sky on your own from anywhere in the park.

There is also a Badlands National Park night sky program that is led by park rangers. When I went, there was also a telescope set up to see the planet of Jupiter and 2 of its moons.

The Badlands night sky program is located at the Cedar Pass Campground amphitheater. You can go to this even if you’re not camping here.

You can do backcountry camping in both of the wilderness areas of Badlands National Park.

There is a national park entry fee for Badlands National Park. So the cost to visit will be around $30 per car. This national park fee will allow you entry for 7 days.

There is also an annual national park pass.

Generally speaking, if you will be visiting at least 3 national parks within a year, it will be worth it.

But, as you will see below, not all national parks have entry fees, so you’ll want to check the entry fees of the national parks you plan to go to in order to see if it is worth it for you!

 

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See more about planning this South Dakota road trip stop:

• Quick things to do in Badlands National Park with VIEWS!
• Best hikes in Badlands National Park
• Camping in Badlands National Park
• Bighorn sheep in Badlands National Park

 

All-American road trip stop

Also a popular attraction in South Dakota is Wall Drug.

This is a complete tourist attraction.

It became famous because they were trying to get business from people on a road trip. So they offered free water and 5 cent coffee to get people through the door. They still do this today!

Wall Drug is near Badlands National Park.

If you are driving along I-90 west to get to Badlands National Park, then you can look out for the Wall Drug billboard signs as part of your South Dakota road trip challenge!

 

 

8. Palisades State Park

 

Palisades State Park is located on the eastern side of South Dakota. Everything else on this list is located in western South Dakota.

This probably isn’t a place where you would go out of your way to visit.

But if you are driving through South Dakota on I-90 from states east of South Dakota, like Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and onwards… then Palisades State Park can be a perfect spot to break up the drive.

Palisades State Park is located about a 10-15 minute drive once you exit I-90.

The cost of the Palisades State Park entry fee is around $8. See current fees. If you bought the South Dakota state park pass, you can use that here.

There is the Palisades State Park campground. You can also find camping cabins at Palisades State Park.

 

 

See more about Palisades State Park.

 

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South Dakota road trip route

 

The best South Dakota road trip route will depend on where you’re coming from and where you going after South Dakota.

On my first trip to South Dakota, I was coming from North Dakota, and then went to South Dakota.

For South Dakota road trip route ideas: 10 days in South Dakota

 

 

And those are some ideas for your South Dakota road trip!

 

More for your road trip beyond South Dakota:

• Things to do in Devils Tower National Monument
• Best places to visit in Wyoming
• Best things to do in Grand Teton National Park
• Best things to do in Yellowstone National Park
• Hiking in Wyoming with amazing views
• Driving from Wyoming to Idaho
• Things to do in Craters of the Moon National Monument
• Things to do in Theodore Roosevelt National Park

 

HAPPY DRIVING AROUND SOUTH DAKOTA!