Adventure Together: A Family Trip to South Dakota's Black Hills

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family trip black hills south Dakota

Beautiful scenery. Gelato. Delicious coffee. People carved in stone.

I’m not talking about Italy this time ;)

I wanted to share about our trip(s) to South Dakota (just in case it’s on your radar of places to go). This is the second time that we’ve gone as a family, but I also grew up visiting the Black Hills—so it feels so fun to introduce my kids to the places I loved as a kid!

Let me first say that we generally have “less is more” philosophy to traveling with kids. We usually pick out a few fun activities, but we don’t do aaallll the things (even if they look super fun). And those fun activities—usually they are on the more affordable side ;)

Here’s my short list of what we’ve enjoyed doing as a family in the Black Hills:

  • Go to Mount Rushmore. Of course, you can’t go to the SD and skip this. However, we didn’t make a repeat visit during this last trip (just gave the faces a wave as we drove by!)

  • Visit Custer State Park. We’ve done this both trips and LOVE it. We know we’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s there. The first time, we loved doing the wildlife loop and seeing the animals. On our most recent trip, we enjoyed an easy hike around Lake Sylvan, a picnic in the shade, and a little dip in the lake to cool off. Such a pretty place! A tip: Go early (for the loop and the lake)—a lot less people and more parking :)

  • Take a little trip to Keystone. It’s a bit over-the-top touristy, but it’s still fun to do at least once :) My boys love watching the motorcycles drive through town and the helicopter tours fly by.

  • Visit the Badlands National Park. It’s just so cool to see at least once! We didn’t spend a lot of time there because it was so hot when we went, but we do hope to revisit in the future and spend more time exploring!

  • Check out Reptile Gardens. When we went, our boys really enjoyed it. It was a nice break from hiking/sight-seeing. If your littles love reptiles, this should definitely go on the list!

  • The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs. On our first trip, this was a fun way to spend a rainy afternoon. Somehow, we ended up in a tour group (we were invited to join in!) and got to go down into the pit and also the basement where they store all the bones. Super interesting!

There are so many more things to do, but these are a few of the places we’ve enjoyed while we’ve been there.

Even though we eat 90% of our meals at our vacation stay, we like to go out at least once for meal and a few times for treats. Here are some of our recs for places we enjoyed:

  • Grapes and Grinds in Keystone. Gelato + delicious coffee! Plus, so much fun seating and a pretty view :)

  • Cruizzers in Keystone. We like to split a pizza and save space for a little ice cream later ;)

  • Bumpin Buffalo Bar and Grill in Hill City. Hill City is a cute little town to explore, and this restaurant had delicious buffalo burgers!

  • Black Hills Bistro in Hill City for wonderful coffee. We stopped here for a quick road trip latte and it was SO GOOD.

Where we stay in the Black Hills:

  • Hart Ranch is where we typically stay when we visit. In fact, this is where I went as a kid (so it’s so fun to relive all those mini-golf games). They have nice cabins (or RV pads), a pool, activity center, mini-golf, and little things for the kids to do. Our kids enjoy scootering around and hanging in the pool!

  • This time, we couldn’t get a reservation for our first night in the area, so we booked the cutest spot (Big Bear Cabin) through Hipcamp. It was a mix between glamping and camping—and they have a lot of options there. Our host was wonderful, and even though our stay was short, it was lovely. I wouldn’t mind booking this place again! Super peaceful, clean, and sweet little extras.

All in all, our trips to the Black Hills aren’t over-the-top vacations or crammed with activities, but they’ve been wonderful trips together as a family. If you are close(ish), I recommend putting this on the list of places to go! Of course, you can also stop by the Corn Palace in Mitchell or The Ingall’s Homestead in De Smet along the way :)

Have you been to the Black Hills? What was your favorite thing we should add to the list for next time?