Rapid City

Tours

Don’t miss a thing as your favorite audio tour narrator guides you to not-to-be-missed viewpoints, along with fascinating stories, tips and directions throughout the Black Hills and Badlands. Follow the suggested itineraries, or divide the commentary and create your own half, full or multi day sightseeing trips. Witness the variety of spectacular landscapes ranging from the prairies grassland and rock formations of the Badlands National Park, to the four presidential faces carved into Mount Rushmore, through to the mountains, canyons, and forests of the Black Hills. Major Highlights: • Badlands Wall • Bridal Veil Falls • Crazy Horse Memorial • Custer State Park • Custer Wildlife Loop Road • Deadwood • Devils Tower • Door Trail • Fossil Trail • Homestake Mine - Lead • Iron Mountain Road • Keystone • Minuteman Missile Visitor Center • Mount Rushmore • Needles Highway • Pigtails and Tunnels • Prairie Dog Town • Rapid City • Roughlock Falls • Sylvan Lake • Spearfish Canyon • Wind Cave and Jewel Cave • Yellow Mounds Overlook Includes: Enjoy a driving route that takes you to all the best sights and finishes with a trop at Mount Rushmore as the grand finale. Drive the Black Hill loop in the direction it was created - counter-clockwise, which means you will approach Mount Rushmore with peekaboo views through the tunnel along the winding Iron Mountain Road. Venture to the Badlands National Park. See a landscape dominated by prairies, eroding buttes, and fascinating rock formations that created a challenging barrier for pioneers. Receive excellent viewing opportunities and some terrific hikes to enjoy, many easy short boardwalks, but also some challenging and rewarding trails. Visit a decommissioned nuclear missile silo and see examples of how original homesteaders lived. Follow the 19-mile Spearfish Canyon route through 1,000 foot limestone walls. This scenic route also visits what was one of the world's richest gold mining operations at the Homestake Mine in Lead. Don't miss the opportunity to visit Deadwood, whose earliest characters included Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane.

Visit Mount Rushmore on this guided tour from Rapid City. Skip the hairpin turns and packed parking lot leading to your visit, and learn the history of the iconic site from your guide. Then, explore Black Hills sights including the Crazy Horse Monument, Iron Mountain Road, Sylvan Lake, and more. Start your day with an all-you-can-eat cowboy breakfast at Fort Hays Chuckwagon. Enjoy homemade cowboy pancakes, biscuits and gravy, sausage links, and a hot cup of coffee to get the day started. Depart at 9 AM and head for Mount Rushmore. Spend a little over an hour looking around at your convenience and enjoying the sites and beauty you came to South Dakota for. Stop here first because Mount Rushmore is at its best in the morning sun. After leaving Mount Rushmore, travel along the Iron Mountain Road. Enjoy a scenic 17-mile road featuring 3 one-lane tunnels that perfectly frame Mount Rushmore. Stop for lunch inside Custer State Park at the Game Lodge and the previous summer White House for President Calvin Coolidge. After lunch, depart for the Needles Hwy. Be awestruck at the amazing beauty of the Black Hills on the 14-mile drive. Sit back and enjoy the ride and watch the crowd gather around when you drive the bus through the Needles Eye Tunnel. Take a rest stop and coffee break at Sylvan Lake, one of the crown jewels of Custer State Park. Spend about an hour at Crazy Horse Memorial, enjoying this piece of history in the making. Upon completion, it will be the largest mountain carving in the world. End the tour at Fort Hays with a delightful Chuckwagon Supper and Live Music Show. Enjoy a hearty meal that will leave you satisfied, followed by a Branson-style variety show featuring music for all ages, rated as the best family entertainment in the Black Hills.

Welcome to Fort Hays, your destination for a memorable Chuckwagon supper and the best live entertainment in the Black Hills. Whether you're traveling solo, with family, as part of a bus tour, or attending a reunion, Fort Hays offers an unforgettable experience just 5 minutes from Downtown Rapid City. Start your evening by getting your tickets between 5:00 pm and 6:15 pm. Take this time to explore the Dances With Wolves film set and the Fort Hays Workshops. Stroll along the boardwalk, watch craftsmen at work, and even try your hand at making a tin plate or rope. Don’t forget to visit the best gift shops in the Black Hills for unique souvenirs. At 6:30 pm, the supper bell rings, calling all cowboys and cowgirls to enjoy a delicious Chuckwagon meal. Indulge in Chuckwagon Potatoes, Sliced Beef Simmered in BBQ Sauce or Baked Chicken, Western Baked Beans, Ranch Biscuits with Honey, Chunky Applesauce, Old-Fashioned Spice Cake, Cowboy Coffee, and Tenderfoot Lemonade. All meals are served on handmade tin plates with drinks poured into tin cups. After supper, from 7:15 pm to 8:15 pm, the Fort Hays Wranglers take the stage to entertain you with the Black Hills’ most popular music variety show. Enjoy a foot-stomping, belly-shaking good time with family-friendly fun. Capture the memories with your camera as you enjoy the show. The evening concludes at 8:30 pm, leaving you with wonderful memories and a full stomach. Admission to the Mount Rushmore National Memorial is included, making this an all-encompassing experience.

Enjoy a day of sightseeing on this all-inclusive private tour of the main sights of Black Hills. After a convenient pickup from your hotel, travel to the iconic Mount Rushmore National Monument, where you will spend some time hiking. Learn about how the monument came into existence. Next, travel to Crazy Horse Memorial, where you will learn about one of the most important historical figures in the history of South Dakota. Finally, explore the beautiful Custer State Park. See wildlife at incredibly close proximity and enjoy the local flora.

Take a private tour of South Dakota's Southern Black Hills (Paha Sapa) and its landmarks. Learn the history and biology via an interactive presentation. Understand why they're called the Black Hills. Discover the mountain before it was carved and its carver and workers. Sit in the amphitheater and view the faces while talking about the monument. Hike the Presidential Trail and take photos at the Grand Overlook. Pause at the Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center to view and experience an interactive exhibit. View a film and explore the edited history of Mt Rushmore and the reason for the carved faces. As you ascend Iron Mountain Road, the stunning view of hills and forests full of animals creates an unforgettable sight. Unforeseen attractions like the Pigtail Bridges are at every turn. Intended to make the ride fun, these bridges decrease your speed and allow you to take in the immense granite spires, Aspens, and Ponderosas. Iron Mountain Road takes you through three tunnels cut into the Black Hills granite. They are narrow enough for you to fit and are designed to frame Mt Rushmore. Take pictures, and if it's not crowded, you can go inside to experience being inside a mountain. The tunnels are named after significant contributors to the road and area: Doane Robinson, CC Gideon, and Scoval Johnson. At Norbeck Overlook, you'll see Black Elk Peak, the Six Grandfathers, and the Cathedral Spires. On the ground, you'll notice red rocks thrust up from the earth, which is why they call this place Iron Mountain. It's the abundance of iron-rich schist. This rock is oxidized, has the color of rust, and looks like petrified wood. We now reach Custer State Park. The visitor center is an excellent introduction to Wildlife Loop Road, a well-known spot in SD. On the drive, you may spot various birds, bison, elk, deer, prairie dogs, and pronghorn. Be prepared for bison approaching our vehicle - and stay inside. If the weather is good, you will picnic, or visit a restaurant, then journey to Sylvan Lake, South Dakota, renowned for its beauty in the Black Hills. Ascend the Needles Highway and Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway, then explore the lake and a side trail to the store. It's a popular wedding spot, so you will take all the photos you want before continuing. As you continue on, you will approach the Needles Eye. The Cathedral Spires, in the mountains of South Dakota, are a remarkable rock formation. Locals were outraged when they heard about plans to carve the spires. Thankfully, the Spires remain intact, and you can visit them today to take pictures of this extraordinary antiquity. Lastly, head to Crazy Horse. Carved by Korczak Ziolkowski at Chief Standing Bear's request, it's a fantastic sight.

Enjoy a private tour for a unique glimpse into the unique beauty of the Badlands National Park. Learn about the history of the area and spend the day discovering the rare geology of the Badlands. After being picked up, take a short drive to the quaint town of Wall to explore and uncover why Wall Drug is so legendary throughout the world. Next, travel into the Badlands National Park to admire some of the rarest and most incredible geological formations in South Dakota. Enjoy a few moderate hikes around the Badlands and with some luck see some local wildlife up close. Lastly, visit the town of Scenic, a ghost town with a great history, which your guide will tell you all about. On your way there, see the Minuteman Missile Site.

Discover the diversity of South Dakota's natural monuments on this day trip to Devils Tower. Departing from your hotel in Rapid City or Spearfish, enjoy the ride to Devil's Tower National Monument in Wyoming. Once there, get the opportunity to hike around this natural wonder. While hiking, learn more about Devil Tower's incredible Native American history, and what makes it so unique, from your tour guide. Admire local fauna and flora and witness panoramic views. Stop for lunch at a restaurant of your choice and get the chance to sample some local cuisine before heading back to your hotel in the evening.

Head to the Badlands National Park for a day of unforgettable nature and dramatic sights. Enjoy a guided tour with snacks, drinks, and a picnic lunch, and visit the famous Wall Drug roadside attraction. Start with pickup from your hotel, hop in the vehicle, and head for the dramatic Badlands National Park. Sit back and relax as you travel through an ever-changing landscape. Keep a look out for wild animals like the American Bison, prairie dogs, coyotes, Bighorn Sheep, antelope, and more. Be struck by the sheer scale of everything as you drive through it. Admire a wild yet eerily calm that appears almost like a painting. Witness pinnacles and spires rising from the flat grassland in every direction, and great cliffs jutting into the sky behind them. Enjoy stops at a safe distance to watch animals grazing together peacefully. See tiny prairie dogs and pronghorn trotting by as you admire the natural landscape and the creatures that inhabit it. Drive down Sage Creek Rim Road and the Peter Norbeck-designed Badlands Loop Road with plenty of time to take some dramatic pictures. Be struck by the subtle changes in the landscape during the drive. See the brown and pink of the sandy soil gradually give way to more muted shades of yellow and purple. Complete your experience with a stop at the cowboy-themed Wall Drug roadside attraction. Browse the stores and sights as you delve into the authentic atmosphere of Americana.

Our Sunset, Stars, and Silhouettes tour begins with a private pickup at your accommodations. Once we depart, our first stop will be in the little town of Wall, SD, before heading into Badlands National Park. Entering the park from the best angle is crucial, as our first experience is witnessing how the sunlight dances across this magical land of spires, rolling hills, mesas, and sweeping vistas. After taking you to the best overlooks, we set up for viewing the sunset. This includes chairs, drinks, blankets if necessary, and a private location. This is an excellent opportunity to take photos, study the landscape, and use binoculars to view the stunning details. After sunset, we take a break at Pinnacles Overlook and make our way through the rest of the park. Jagged peaks turn into Silhouettes as we go through the Badlands Loop, stopping along the way. Once we arrive at our night sky viewing location, the stars will already be out. Following your guide, we will take you to another private location and set up blankets, sleeping mats, pillows, lasers, binoculars, and star chart software. Here, we watch the stars from the best view, comfortably lying flat, with our eyes on the sky. Satellites pass by, shooting stars zoom overhead, and planets rise. If we're lucky, we can see Aurora Borealis at our location. It takes about 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust. On a clear night, we'll also get to see the Milky Way Galaxy. Our time here depends on your enjoyment, so sometimes you'll have to let us know when you've seen all you like! Once finished, we head home safely to your accommodations and provide any photos we've taken along the way. You've just had an incredible experience and memories to share!

Get up close and personal with roaming buffalo, deer, and feed the wild donkeys at Custer State Park. Once in the park, board an open-air Jeep and explore the beauty the park has to offer with your guide. Make sure to bring healthy snacks for the wild donkeys and you will have them eating out of the palm of your hands. Next, travel to Hot Springs to get a behind-the-scenes VIP tour of the Mammoth Site. While at this active Paleontological dig site, view fossils from the ice age. Enjoy an interactive learning experience that includes a botany and geological walkway.