Bumpin’ Buffalo in the Black Hills

The Black Hills in South Dakota are everything you can image and more! It was the one place that we have been where Justin and I looked at each other and said “this seems right”. Anyway, I’m super late on this review but If you plan on visiting the Black Hills in South Dakota in the future you have a couple of options of places to stay; Hill City, Custer, Keystone or Rapid City.

Hill City

We stayed in Hill City and I think it was the best option for us. Named the “Heart of the Black Hills” it is the cutest little town that really makes you feel like you are in the Black Hills. Featuring a main street lined with shopping and restaurants (Bumpin’ Buffalo  was our favorite, we ate here twice!) and the 1880 historical train.

The 1880 Train is a two-hour, narrated 20-mile roundtrip between Hill City and Keystone. Passengers view vistas of Black Elk Peak and mining encampments. The Black Hills Central Railroad is the oldest continuously operating tour railroad in the nation and operates three steam and two diesel engines throughout the season. One of the steam engines is close to 100 years old!

Town of Custer

We went into the town of Custer for a lunch and it was much larger than Hill City with more restaurants and attractions but was also slightly touristy. We ate a local pub called Denial South Dakota, that was less busy than a popular burger place but I’m sure was just as good! I mean, I ordered brisket mac & cheese and it was to die for!

Fun Fact and Warning! Only about ¼ of the restaurants in all the towns have their liquor license, because of the small number of residents during the offseason.

We didn’t go into Keystone or Rapid City, so I can’t touch on those two towns.

Custer State Park

Custer State Park is a South Dakota State Park and wildlife reserve in the Black Hills. The park is South Dakota’s largest and first state park, named after Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custer_State_Park).

A herd of 1,300 bison roam freely throughout the park, often stopping traffic along the 18-mile Wildlife Loop Road. The herd is one of the largest publically-owned herds in the world. Custer State Park offers several scenic drives that explore the diversity of the area including Needles Highway and the bison along Wildlife Loop Road.

After driving through the park Justin and I decided to stop at Sylvan Lake, which is a beautiful lake within the park that is a must see!

Behind the lake there is a hike called the Sunday Gulch Trail, which we were told was a fairly moderate trail. Well someone lied to us! It is a 3-mile loop trail that was somehow continuously uphill and I later read it was listed as “STRENUOUS.”

Much of the trail follows very steep slopes and rocky areas. The trail offers perhaps the most unique scenery of all the park’s hiking trails but beware, it is not easy descending into Sunday Gulch while passing over large boulders and near massive granite walls. It took us, who are semi-experienced hikers about 4 hours (I count the 45-min accidently off trail experience that was way too scary to talk about).

Note: The trail is closed November to May or as marked at trailhead. I’ve linked the Custer State Park Trail Map for you, which would have been of huge help to us if I would have known!

Mount Rushmore National Memorial  

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore, a batholith in the Black Hills in Keystone, South Dakota. The memorial features 60-foot sculptures of the heads of four United States presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore)

Fun Fact: Each president was originally to be depicted from head to waist. Lack of funding forced construction to end in late October 1941.

Overall, Mouth Rushmore is the state’s top tourist attraction and a must see while in the Black Hills.  While it is interesting to see and learn about how the monument came about but slightly underwhelming.

Crazy Horse Memorial 

The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills. It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing into the distance. The monument has been in progress since 1948 and is far from completion. If completed, it may become the world’s largest sculpture as well as the first non-religious statue to hold this record since 1967. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Horse_Memorial)

Entrance fees into the park are $12/person or $30 car (if more than two people) and you can pay at the gates. Admission includes: the INDIAN MUSEUM of NORTH AMERICA, the Mountain Carving Room and the NATIVE AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL CENTER.

Optional tours are offered and not included in the entrance fee. We were slightly disappointed that these tours are additional but understand that the memorial is not a federal or state funded project.

1. The rustic bus rides to the bottom of the mountain for a close up view (weather permitting) an additional $4.00 per person.
2. Meeting Crazy Horse Face-to-Face: A trip to the top of the Mountain (minimum gift of $125 per person).

Overall, the museum and cultural center are pretty cool and informative but the entrance did not get you any better view of the memorial than the view from the road. It’s your call if you want to stop on the side of the road and take pictures or take a couple hours and walk through the museum. You can leave a small donation and take a piece of the rock that was carved, which we did!

Did I mention we did all this in one day?! Whew! We are already planning on going back to the Black Hills with friends next summer and can’t wait!