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My wife and I just came back from the Black Hills. Some of the most fantastic scenery in the entire country is there. In four days, we did:

1. Wall Drug Store (55 miles east of Rapid City)
2. Badlands National Park (entrance just south of Wall)
3. Mount Rushmore (24 miles south of Rapid City)
4. Crazy Horse Memorial (11 miles south of Mt. Rushmore)
5. Sturgis (25 miles NW of Rapid City)
6. Devils Tower, WY (110 miles NW of Rapid City)
7. Deadwood (15 miles west of Sturgis)
8. Custer State Park (40 miles south of Rapid City)
9. Jewel Cave (13 miles west of Custer)
10. Newcastle, WY (24 miles west of Jewel Cave)

We flew on Delta into Rapid City; very nice regional airport (air tickets were surprisingly cheap, only about $300 per person from DCA roundtrip). Rental car was $60 per day, all included. Stayed at a Courtyard by Marriott, $85 per day, all included. Gasoline is selling for anywhere from $2.099 to $2.309 for 87 unleaded. While the state government is not making you wear masks, many of the businesses require masks to enter (such as Target). Some restaurants are operating at 50% or less capacity and have tables roped off, others are not; the government left it up to the businesses as to what to do.

The only disappointment was not seeing the buffalo herd at Custer State Park; we did encounter a family of friendly burros, which was pretty darn neat. We did see buffalo and antelope at Badlands N.P. We ran into a bighorn sheep herd at Jewel Cave (where the cave was closed to tourists due to COVID). While at Custer State Park, make sure you drive on the Needles Highway (SD Hwy 87), possibly the most incredible road I’ve been on in this country. Wind Cave is also closed due to COVID.

The weather was generally great, although the nights get cold there (it was barely over 40F Sunday night). The elevation in downtown Rapid City is 3,202 feet AMSL, with heights in the Black Hills to the south and west going up to as much as 7,200 feet AMSL.

If you like America, you’ll love this area!!!