South Dakota

6/24 -- 6/26, 2025

South Dakota is an expansive, sparsely populated midwestern U.S. state where rolling prairies give way to the dramatic Black Hills National Forest. It is part of the Great Plains. In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory, an area that included most of South Dakota, from Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1861, the Dakota Territory was established by the United States government (this initially included North Dakota, South Dakota, and parts of Montana and Wyoming). In 1874, gold was discovered in the Black Hills during a military expedition led by George A. Custer and miners and explorers began illegally entering land promised to the Lakota. Custer's expedition took place despite the fact that the Sioux had been granted the entire western half of present-day South Dakota (West River) in 1868 by the Treaty of Laramie as part of the Great Sioux Reservation. As the southern part of the former Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889, simultaneously with North Dakota.

Getting there ...

We continued our Dakota road trip from Devils Tower (in Wyoming, not in Dakotas). After a nice ramen noodle lunch (Bokujo Ramen) at the Rapid City, we headed to our first destination in South Dakota: Mount Rushmore.

Day 5 (6/24) ...

Mount Rushmore
The sculpted heads of American presidents (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln) at Mount Rushmore are no doubt the iconic symbols not only for South Dakota, but for the whole nation. Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor for Mount Rushmore, chose these four presidents to represent the nation's foundation, expansion, development, and preservation. Carving started in 1927 and ended in 1941. On October 31, 1941, Mount Rushmore National Memorial was declared a completed project.

Custer State Park
We drove from Mount Rushmore to Legion Lake in Custer State Park via the famous Iron Mountain Road. After the dinner at the lodge restaurant, we headed out to take the 18-mile Wildlife Loop Road. It's truly an amazing wildlife safari experience: the big herd of bison strolling and relaxing at the open grassland by the roadside was a dream-like wildlife encounter.

When we got the eastern side of the park, it was already after sunset and getting darker. We spotted a large group of elks in the distance and the herd was running across the big open space (video).

Day 6 (6/25) ...

Wildlife Loop, Custer State Park
We went out early to Wildlife Loop Road again this morning. When we got to the location where the big herd of bison was last evening, we were surprised to see an empty field, not a single bison there. We now realized how lucky we were yesterday. We drove around the Wildlife Loop Road, and took a gravel side road, and finally saw a pronghorn (crossing the gravel road in front of us, video) and a few bison.

Wind Cave National Park
Established on January 3, 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt, Wind Cave National Park was the first cave to be designated a national park anywhere in the world. The cave is notable for its calcite formations known as boxwork, as well as its frostwork. Approximately 95 percent of the world's discovered boxwork formations are found in Wind Cave. Above ground, the park includes the largest remaining natural mixed grass prairie in the United States, and is home to native wildlife such as bison, elk, pronghorn, mule deer, coyotes, and prairie dogs.
I booked a cave tour (Fairgrounds Tour) at 10:40AM. This 1.5-hour tour explores both the upper and middle levels of Wind Cave. Boxwork is abundant along the trail in the middle level of the cave. In the upper level, the trail winds through the larger rooms where popcorn and frostwork can be seen. The tour enters and exits the cave by elevator and there are 450 stairs along the 2/3 mile route with one flight of 89 steps going up.

The tour took a little bit longer when we were underground because some rangers were coming down and tried to find 3 reported missing visitors from other cave tour. We were blocked and waited in some cave passages before we were cleared to take the elevator up. We did not hear any update about the search, and we hoped everyone was OK.

After visiting the Wind Cave, we went to the town of Custer to have a nice lunch (Mt Rushmore Brewing Company) and desert (Baker's Bakery & Cafe).

Jewel Cave National Monument
Jewel Cave is currently the fifth longest cave in the world and second longest cave in the United States, with 220.01 miles (354.07 km) of mapped passageways as of May 2024. Despite the close proximity, no connection has ever been found between Wind Cave and Jewel Cave, and most geologists believe the caves are not connected. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Jewel Cave a National Monument on February 7, 1908.
We took a cave tour (Scenic Tour) at 3:20PM. The Scenic Tour route provides an opportunity to visit various cave chambers and passages decorated with calcite crystals and wet formations. It begins in the "Target Room" and continues from there as a modern day walking tour along a paved trail with electric lighting. The tour enters and leaves the cave by elevator in the Visitor Center. During the Scenic Tour, you will see two types of calcite crystals known as nailhead spar and dogtooth spar, which are the "jewels" of Jewel Cave. In addition, you can view boxwork, cave popcorn, flowstone, stalactites, stalagmites, draperies, and a long ribbon drapery called the cave bacon.

Day 7 (6/26) ...

Needles Eye & Cathedral Spires
This morning we drove from Legion Lake to Sylvan Lake via the famous Needles Highway. The Needles Highway is more than a 14-mile road—it’s a spectacular drive through pine and spruce forests, meadows surrounded by birch and aspen, and rugged granite mountains. We went to the Needles Eye and passed through the tunnel twice when there were not many cars yet, and hiked the 1.6-mile trail winding through beautiful pine forest before reaching a rocky outcropping that leads you to an up close look of the Cathedral Spires. Then we went through Needles Eye tunnel again (this time we had to wait for a few minutes to get through due to more traffic) to Sylvan Lake.

Mount Rushmore
After the early lunch at Sylvan Lake, we decided to go to Mount Rushmore again because the weather today was much better and there was a blue sky for better pictures of Mount Rushmore (and the parking permit was still valid).

South Dakota Air and Space Museum
Located just east of Rapid City and outside the main gate at Ellsworth Air Force Base, the South Dakota Air and Space Museum boasts an extensive collection of artifacts and documents that capture the distinguished history of Ellsworth Air Force Base, the 44th Strategic Missile Wing, and the 28th Bomb Wing throughout the Cold War. The museum includes examples of the B-29, B-52, B-1, and both the Titan I and the Minuteman, and many more legendary airplanes (such as C-47, B-25, F-86, F-100, F-101, F-102, F-105, A-7, ....). Although it was hot, I was excited to get many airplane photos outdoors (while Woanyu was hiding inside the museum indoors).

Going Next ...

We continued our Dakota trip to our last destination: Badlands National Park.

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