South Dakota – Oh, the Places We See . . .

Recap: Four top sites to see in the Black Hills — plus one!

If traveling in the good ol’ US of A is in your future, take it from us: It doesn’t get much better than the Black Hills of South Dakota — and beyond! We’ve spent the last month or so writing about great places to see in the Black Hills and a little bit into Wyoming […]

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Take the detour, for sure: Scenic, South Dakota

The really happy person is the one who can enjoy the scenery, even when they have to take a detour. ― Sir James Jeans With an extra day in South Dakota, we reveled in the delight of taking a second look at The Badlands. We didn’t plan a detour. But then again, we never do. Sometimes […]

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Devils Tower — our nation’s first National Monument

The farther one gets into the wilderness, the greater is the attraction of its lonely freedom. Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States of America No trip to the Black Hills — spanning western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming — would be complete without a trip to Devils Tower, named our first National Monument […]

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Spectacular Black Hills scenery: Spearfish Canyon

If driving past 1000-foot walls of canyon rock on an old rail bed flanked by pristine lakes makes your heart spin, you need to take the 20-mile road from Spearfish to Cheyenne Crossing in South Dakota’s Black Hills. It’s a drive for wildlife enthusiasts, hikers, photographers, and dreamers — filled with history and natural beauty. […]

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Center of the nation in South Dakota? Yes. Yes, it is!

If you’d asked us the location of the geographic center of our nation before we went to South Dakota, we might have answered Kansas or Missouri, maybe even Iowa or Nebraska. But we’d be wrong. The official Geographic Center of the Nation is in Belle Fourche , South Dakota. It really is! The center of […]

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Ride like the wind (real or pretend) in Sturgis, SD!

We’ve never been motorcyclists. Bert says he rode once, but I’m at dead zero on motorcycle rides or even sitting on a Hog, an Indian, or a Yamaha. So, when we left Deadwood, South Dakota, I wanted to at least pass through Sturgis, home of the now-famous rally that began in 1938 and, in 2019, […]

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Alive and well: Deadwood, South Dakota

If you love Wild West history and have a fondness for gambling, drinking, eating and shoot-’em-up tales, you better stop for a while in Deadwood, South Dakota. The town may have a name that makes you think “it ain’t workin’ anymore,” but that would be far from the truth. Consider a brief history of the […]

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Slam on the brakes for Claw, Antler & Hide, Custer SD

So, here’s my true confession and I’m sticking to it. Most of the time, we plan our travel itineraries pretty well — where we’ll be on which days, how many nights we need lodging in a certain city, big stops and even some little stops we don’t want to miss, and how much wiggle time […]

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Looming large in South Dakota: Crazy Horse Memorial

My lands are where my dead lie buried. Crazy Horse, 1877 Between Hill City and Custer, South Dakota, travelers can see an unfinished yet amazing carving of Lakota leader, Crazy Horse, even from the highway. But as you approach the complex known as the Crazy Horse Memorial, the completed 87-foot-tall head of Crazy Horse looms […]

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Schedule extra time for Sylvan Lake — Custer State Park, SD

We usually plan fairly well when mapping out our day-to-day itineraries for a long trip. We know how much time to project for each stop so we can estimate where to spend the night, how long it will take to travel between sites, and what we’ll do when we get to where we’re going. But […]