4th of July in the Black Hills

How shall we use one week of vacation?

This year, with some parts of our vacation all planned, we found ourselves with a week unaccounted for. How should we use it? Ordinarily we might have gone the cheap route and seen if any friends might let us use their northern Minnesota lake cabin for a few days, but they’d all be using their own places over this July 4th week.

I started several mental trips from our Minneapolis home toward destinations within one day’s drive. East toward the Wisconsin Dells? Southeast toward Chicago? North toward the Boundary Waters in Northern Minnesota?

No! West toward Mount Rushmore! My husband and I drove past that American icon years and years ago, but our 11-year-old daughter had never been there.

That decided, I used Insiders' Guide to South Dakota's Black Hills and Badlands (by Griffin & Floyd) to find out what else we’d like to do during our days there.

After that, it was Internet time. I found some sites particularly helpful:

For Mount Rushmore: www.nps.gov/moru
For Custer State Park: www.sdgfp.info/Parks/Regions/Custer/index.htm
For the Crazy Horse Memorial: http://crazyhorse.org
For The Badlands National Park: www.nps.gov/badl
For Corn Palace and other attractions in Mitchell, South Dakota: www.cornpalace.org

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

July 6-7 at Motel 6 in Mitchell, SD

We arrived in Mitchell in the late afternoon, just the right time to go get something to eat and come back for a swim at Motel 6. I hadn’t stayed at Motel 6 for a long time. I was pleased with the cleanliness here of both the room and the pool.

The front desk staff were pleasant and very helpful.

The Internet access was free and easy to connect. I keep on wondering why Internet service and ice cost so much at high class hotels and are free at simple places like Motel 6. I’d easily recommend this one to anyone.

I made our reservations through www.motel6.com.

Booking Accommodations

On April 18, I started making calls to reserve a motel room or cabin in the Mount Rushmore area. We preferred a cabin, so we could have a separate room from our daughter. I didn’t know how to find all the possibilities, and I was finding "NO vacancy" everywhere...until I stumbled upon Black Hills Central Reservations - (800) 529-0105. They searched and found a cabin for us that appeared to be the last thing available for that week, even that far ahead—more than 2-1/2 months before the 4th of July.

The rate was higher than ideal for us, but as I looked over the reservation confirmation that I received by email, I realized that the cabin could accommodate up to eight people. So we invited friends that we used to vacation with when we were all more newly wed. We would be six —two upper-middle-aged (lower upper-aged?) couples and our daughters, a 19-year-old college student and an 11-year-old middle schooler. The older is sweet about connecting with the younger. And the younger looks up to the older and loves to be with her.

Mountainview Lodge, outside Hill City
www.mountainviewlodge.net

Our cabin was the best-sited one at a nicely located resort, made up of a few cabins and several motel-like rooms. It was the only cabin that had room for eight people—two double or queen in separate bedrooms, one futon in the main room, one double mattress in the open loft above the main room. The numbers were 19 and 20, because one of the bedrooms had a separate entrance from the main cabin—around the back and on the lower level.

Each cabin has a gas grill on the deck. At the "motel" area, there is a central grill area. The kitchenette included microwave, single-burner hotplate, small refrigerator, which was adequate for our simple cooking. (One picture on the website shows a kitchenette with a stove, but that must have been a different cabin.) The closest grocery store was in Hill City, about 4 miles away. We bought our ice for our cooler each day at the Mountainview office. They also provided smaller bags free for guests’ beverages.

Mountainview has a small, but nicely-kept pool and an above-ground well-kept hot tub. Across the highway (fast traffic on a curve—watch out!) is a Dairy-Queen-type ice cream place and a mini-golf course. If you hit the last hole right, you win a free game. We won two, which netted two more, but we’d run out of time so gave them to the young women at the front desk at Mountainview.

A couple of nights a week, Mountainview provides a campfire and s’mores. There are also rock-ringed fire pits beside the individual cabins.

Mountainview is 10 miles from Rushmore, 15 miles from Crazy Horse and 15 miles from Custer State Park—all beautiful drives.

Reservations at Mountainview may be made through Black Hills Central Reservations (800-529-0105) or directly ((605) 574-2236 | Toll Free: (800) 789-7411.

July 6 at Badlands National Park
www.nps.gov/badl

We checked out of our cabin on Friday morning and started the drive home to Minneapolis.

After about 80 miles, we left I-90 at Exit 110 (Wall, SD). We thought of visiting the world-famous Wall Drug, but didn’t have time for that and the Badlands, so we turned south onto the Badlands loop road. The loop road alone, would be only about an hour long, and to see the other-worldly scenery makes it well worth the added time. We were coming from the west; a driver coming from the east would leave I-90 at Exit 131.

The entrance fee is $15/car and is good for a week.

We stopped at the first overlook and discovered we had just passed Sage Creek Rim Road, which we had read about and were interested in. I asked someone who had just come from there, and they insisted, "You HAVE to go!" So we did and were glad.

Along the gravel road, we saw a large herd of buffalo, more close-up than we’d seen at Custer. But even more interesting were the prairie dogs. None of us had seen them before, and there’s a whole "town," burrows stretching across the dry prairie. We walked among them, pretty close. They’re a noisy, chirping bunch!

We didn’t go all the way to the end of the Sage Creek Rim Road, just far enough to see the buffalo and prairie dogs and wonderful scenery.

There is NO shade for picnicking in the summer heat of the Badlands. We had already planned to stop at the Ben Reifel Visitors’ Center, almost all the way around the loop from where we began. At the visitor center there are tables with man-made shade of a sort.

The Badlands video was very informative, including people history as well as geological/land history.

July 4 at Crazy Horse Memorial
www.crazyhorse.org

My husband, all day at Rushmore: "Fireworks can’t compare with the laser show we saw years ago at Stone Mountain, Georgia."

Well, there’s a nightly laser show at Crazy Horse, so...

After our long Rushmore day, July 4 was good for sleeping late and for the crazy joggers to run. We ate our breakfast bagel or cereal whenever we wanted and the girls swam.

In honor of the 4th, we grilled brats for lunch. About 3:30pm we left for Crazy Horse. Admission is $25/carload (or $10/adult—free for Native Americans and local residents) - for six of us, not bad. For an additional fee, a shuttle bus takes you to the foot of the mountain. Otherwise you can’t get closer, since it’s an active work area.

The introductory video was inspiring—the story of one man’s vision, spurred by the request of some Native American chiefs, to create a memorial for all Indian nations. The original sculptor has died, but his wife and eight of their children carry on.

On the video, his wife stressed the importance of family; I sensed that atmosphere there The main building is spacious and light-filled. A bin of small blast-fragment rocks invites kids to take one. Scattered throughout the complex are Native American vendors showing various crafts, things to interest just about everybody.

We felt this family spirit personally at supper time. The only picnic tables were through the main building and next to the restaurant. I expected we’d have to eat at our car. But no, we were welcome to wheel in our cooler in and use a table. This turned out to be a good place to view the laser show.

We arrived about 4pm, but could have come later and still had time to see the video, museum, sculptor’s workshop, family’s home, cultural center, and gift shop. You’d need more time only if you like to read captions below EVERY picture. The complex is open until the laser show. The bare-rock mountain-becoming-monument is a mile from the complex, and can be viewed easily from the large deck-like area between the museum and restaurant.

The laser show begins at dark—on July 4, about 10pm. There were about 250 people and ample bench space on the viewing platform. The show was great—colorful lights forming patterns and pictures—even photographic–on the side of the mountain. There was a combination of American Indian history, pioneer history, and monument history.

My husband was pleased and this was our 11-year-old’s highlight of the trip. Maybe it had something to do with all the shopping opportunities, but she says it was the laser show.

Since it was a holiday, there were no workers on the mountain. Usually, you can see people working the stone, maybe even blasting. Though we weren’t there for one of the twice-a-year night-time blasts, we got a sense of the immensity of it in the opening scenes of the introductory video.

July 5 at Custer State Park
www.sdgfp.info/Parks/Regions/Custer/index.htm

$12/car admission to Custer State Park—valid for a week. We’d been promising our daughter a surprise. Every morning she woke wondering what and when.

Today was the day. As we headed out for Custer, she wore shorts and sandals, but I sneaked her jeans and tennis into my daypack. As we neared the Blue Bell Lodge’s stables, we used a beach towel to screen the back seat of the minivan, so she could change. The look in her eyes when she realized our destination was a trip highlight for me.

A few weeks ahead, I had booked a 1-hour trail ride for the daddies and daughters (Stables- (605) 255-4700; Blue Bell Lodge, toll-free- (888) 875-0001). On the day we were there, walk-ons were being turned away because the rides were totally booked. Cost for a 1-hour ride is $28 adult / $25 under 12 years.

No cameras are allowed on the trail, so we mamas got some shots before and after. While the riders were gone, we visited over iced tea at the Blue Bell Lodge. We had hoped to drive up to the Mt. Coolidge Watchtower for the views across the countryside. But for some reason the road was closed.

Instead, we parked in a lot directly across the road and walked maybe 100 yards to a wonderful small, rustic pavilion where we had a picnic overlooking valleys and mountains toward the vast Great Plains beyond.

Usually they know at the the entrance gates where the buffalo are, but today he wasn’t sure and told us to ask at the Wildlife Loop Road entrance. The body mass of a herd of 1000 buffalo is pretty overwhelming. We spotted a couple of pronghorns, but never found any wild donkeys. We heard it would have been better early morning or late afternoon.

Along Needles Highway (Hwy 87), we’d gasp at the scenery and swing onto an overlook. Then the next panorama would be even more stop-worthy. Some tunnels are cut from the stone and are barely one car width.

I especially had looked forward to the Cathedral Spires. We stopped at a couple of overlooks, then discovered the trailhead leading to the Spires. The others hiked right up among the spires and to the top of a shorter spire. While they went, I found a soft bed of pine needles with a gently-inclined back-rest rock, and watched through the tops of the pines the very white clouds scudding across the very blue sky. Their trek lasted an hour and a half and they’re still talking about it and how glad they are that they kept on till they finished, because it was so worth it. I feel the same way about my pine tree meditation.

July 7 at Mitchell Corn Palace
www.cornpalace.org/newpages/palace.html

Admission is free. The World’s ONLY Corn Palace. It sounds corny—don’t bother to excuse the pun—but it’s pretty a-maize-ing (sorry, I couldn’t help myself) when you look closely.

Each year, on interior and exterior walls of the building, pictures are created using corn cobs in 12 different colors. The artwork design is pretty amazing. For the town and region it’s a multi-use center. For visitors it’s a reminder of the history and strength of the region.

For us, the visit was a transition back to human creativity and dimensions after the immensity of God’s handiwork farther west in the Black Hills.

July 3 at Mount Rushmore
www.nps.gov/moru

July 3 is the big bash at Mount Rushmore. Maybe so they don’t monopolize the crowds (20-30,000) on the 4th and leave other attractions people-less?

At 10am, people were already holding spots for the fireworks, occupying themselves with coolers and card games. We cautious city slickers didn’t feel comfortable leaving our stuff out while we toured. So the experienced ones had the best places for the fireworks.

Special events were on the Amphitheater stage all day. During the afternoon, "Abraham Lincoln" and/or "Teddy Roosevelt" were in one of the theaters.

Coming early is important for a decent parking place. However, we talked to people who arrived about 3pm. They were told at the entry to the Rushmore road that there was no more ramp parking and they’d need to park 3 miles away and walk. So they decided to just drive past and see the mountain from the road, not trying to get in after all. At the ramp, they found out there were random places still available.

After perching several hours on a rocky hillside, straining to keep from avalanching to the bottom, we realized that an even better place would be at our car on the top level of the ramp. There was a large screen showing events on the amphitheater stage. There were a couple of impressive flyovers of military planes.

At 9:15, the fireworks began on top of the mountain, above the floodlit faces of the presidents. It was an amazing display, underwritten by private donations, not by taxpayers. I can hardly imagine a more stirring place for fireworks.

One unexpected addition to the length of the day came after the fireworks. Ramp parkers were required to wait until the road was cleared to prevent massive jams. We left almost two hours later.

I’m of two minds about recording these delays. If I’d heard all that beforehand, I wouldn’t have gone. But I am so glad I went. I just think anyone with small children should know how to plan their day.

I don’t know what attendance is on a normal day. But some things are the same. Parking costs $8 and is a pass for the entire year. There are no other charges for entry in any part of the park. For a small charge there is an audio tour. We rented one audio device and took turns. There’s lots of interesting info, and for most of it, it isn’t necessary to be in a particular place to hear it effectively.

There’s an informative introductory video. The sculptor’s studio holds a 1:12 model that the sculptor used to show workers what to do on the mountain. There’s a museum with info about the 4 presidents and about the creation of the sculpture.

Our 11-year-old enjoyed filling in the "Junior Ranger" activities booklet—a workbook that is tailored to and available at all the National Parks, I believe.

Note: Some things are NOT allowed: pets, personal fireworks, grilling.