Midwest - Advices needed on South Dakota

I am planning a trip with family to South Dakota. I'd been to Sioux Falls on a very short business trip in winter 10 something year ago, that's all I know about it. I'd love to take my family to experience culture of the great Sioux nation and see the buffaloes roaming the grass land; of course Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monuments are the must too. Is there any one who is familiar with the region can give me some advice on which route to go, where to stay etc.? Thanks in advance!

Where are you starting and where do you plan to end up? Sioux Falls and Mt. Rushmore are on opposite ends of the state and really, the only route to take between the two is I-90 (roughly 4-4.5 hour drive without stopping).

Back in '03 and '04 I was on a project that saw me spend about 40 weeks total in the Dakotas and I even drove between Sioux Falls and Rapid City a few times. My HQ was in Sioux Falls so I spent more time there than anywhere else. It is a decent place to be on a business trip but I'm not sure about the leisure destinations around there. Then again, I grew up in San Francisco and am a "city boy" so perhaps I don't appreciate everything there is to do there.

In my opinion, there is far more to do in the Black Hills area, where Mt. Rushmore resides. Aside from Mt. Rushmore, there is Custer State Park and its wildlife driving loop (we stayed in a cabin in the park over 4th of July a few years ago and it was great), Crazy Horse, Deadwood, and Devil's Tower in Wyoming, just to name a few.

On the I-90 drive between Rapid City and Sioux Falls, a stop in Badlands National Park was awesome while we could have skipped Wall Drug. All in all, my wife and step-daughter had a great time.

Feel free to PM me if you need any further info, but I'm sure you'll get some good advice here.

A couple of years ago my family and I flew into RAP, got a car service to drive us down to Custer, and hired an RV in Custer for a week. We had an incredible time driving the Black Hills and grasslands -- as far west as Devil's Tower, as far east as Wall Drug.

The general loop we described was: north from Custer through Deadwood to I-90 and over through Sturgis to Wyoming and Devils's Tower; then a high-speed run east to Wall; then south from Wall across the Badlands down to the Nebraska border, where we camped in a teepee-equipped B&B, and back west through the Pine Ridge and Wounded Knee areas to Hot Springs and back to Custer.

We loved it -- it was a wonderful trip. I can't offer much wisdom re: hotels because we had the RV and pulled into very well-equipped powered-site campgrounds each night. But I can tell you that there were a lot of well-kept two-star properties, including many Best Westerns. In tourist season I would definitely book ahead.

More:

** The Black Hills have lots of cool roadside attractions, like Reptile Gardens and Bear Country USA, like America had 50 years ago. Endless goofy fun. The Cosmos Mystery Area is a total gas.

** There are some great CAVES to explore in the Black Hills if you are interested.

** Custer National Park, where traffic stops for buffalo herds, is a must-see.

** The tourist town of Keystone, between Rapid City and Custer, is pretty good fun; my son loved dressing up in outlaw gear and posing for sepia-tone photos.

** Wounded Knee is moving and memorable.

** At the KOA campground at the foot of Devils' Tower, they show "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" every night on a big outdoor screen. On the night we were there, just as UFOs began buzzing Devil's Tower at the climax of the movie, a real-life meteor shower passed overhead. Unforgettable.

** Wall Drug, you have to see... once.

We'd go back in a jiffy if gas prices didn't make RV cruising a LOT more expensive than two years ago... but it's a beautiful part of the world.

Thank you both Bear and UA1K! I know I can always trust fellow FTers!
Wow, Devils Tower? I swear it had never entered my mind at all! What a great idea! I plan to fly to RAP then get a car, your suggestions are valuble to me I will certainly include them in my planning!

In college the only Spring Break trip I ever took was a trip to Devils Tower and back: I drove a loop (starting from WI) so I entered South Dakota on the Eastern side and visited:
Souix Falls: Saw the falls
The Corn Palace: http://www.cornpalace.org/
Wall Drug: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Drug
The Badlands: http://www.nps.gov/badl/
Jewel Cave: http://www.nps.gov/jeca/
Mount Rushmore: http://www.nps.gov/moru/
Fort Laramie: http://www.nps.gov/fola/
Devils Tower: http://www.nps.gov/deto/
Chimney Rock: http://www.nps.gov/chro/

Then a long drive back accross Nebraska.

If I could do it over I would have skipped Chimney Rock, and instead gone to North Dakota to see Theodore Roosevelt NP: http://www.nps.gov/thro/