Originally Posted by kapitman
Growing up in North Dakota, Rapid City was often a vacation stop for us. There are so many things to do. While out at the Badlands, make sure you go to Wall Drug. This is not your ordinary drug store. It is a neat place. You will see billboards for miles and miles advertising "Free Ice Water". Also in the Badlands there are several helicopter tour places.
There used to be an amusement park in Custer, but I am not sure if it still there. One word of advice...dont eat, go to the amusement park, and THEN take Needles Highway (trust me...personal experience!!!)
Keystone has touristy stuff like mini-golf, and also a chairlift ride for a great view of Mount Rushmore...This would actually be a great place to watch the fireworks from.
Being a hotel manager now, I would recommend that if you really like HIltons, call and ask for the reservation manager. Tell him/her you will need two rooms for a week each. They will probably cut the price for you. This, of course, may work with other chains, but the smaller hotels would probably not have a resv. manager. I would suggest Rapid City as that is where many hotels are and you will not pay as much as you would for the few choices in Keystone/Custer.
There is also a water park in the area of Hot Springs that is fed by natural springs...dont remember the name, its been 15 years!
Deadwood has a Old West Cemetary with graves of Wild Bill and those sorts of characters.
Enjoy your trip...
The pool at the Hot SPrings area is called 'Evans Plunge' and it was abot $8 per adult in 2003.
You can also take a walk along the river bank to where the mineral water comes out of a pipe & stock up.
In 2003 there wasn't an amusement park at Custer but there were plenty of Bison & they certainly kept us amused, blocking our way to the nearest restroom when we were in dire need!