Went to the Black Hills area in August and it was great, mostly. First the not so great: Deadwood is today likely what the founders envisioned and by that I mean it's a tourist trap with a casino in every business, bar and watering hole. Their claim to fame is it's the town where Wild Bill Hickock was assassinated which apparently happened in six different locations within the town based on the plaques and pictures in the establishments. Hickock is buried at the local cemetery alongside his paramour Calamity Jane. Glad to have visited, never need to go again,
Mt Rushmore is cool and I say a must do just to gawk at the scope of the monument. And it does inspire when you see the four chosen ones and realize how great this country is thanks to those who came before. Worth the few hours and the admission, would recommend.
Crazy Horse monument, on the other hand, is a total waste of time and money. It was suggested by some locals to just pull off at the side of the road and take pics from there and be on our way and I gotta they were right. The cultural exhibit is awful with no theme or flow while the gift shop and restaurant are more than glad to take your money. And whatever you do, Do Not pay for or take the bus to the foot of the monument just to take home a souvenir rock from the sculpting. It's just a rock and ain't worth the cost. At the current rate of progress the monument will be complete by the year 2150. Total tourist trap. Blah!
Went through Sturgis a week after Bike Week and frankly it's like Arbutus, MD grew legs and landed in South Dakota. A nondescript, blue collar town that hosts a big rally every year that closes down the entire region for the week as it's claim to fame. Place to drive through to say you've seen it but no reason to stop.
Now the good stuff-
Devils Tower was awesome!! It juts 800+' from the ground straight up and there's a path encircling the entire base of the plateau. At about 1/2 way round you can see the plains and it's easy to picture herds of buffalo and tribes of Native Americans living a pretty good life. Wonderful experience and top site for me so far. It is a climbable structure with about 6,000 climbs a year but unfortunately a few weeks ago someone did fall and die on their way down. I just don't understand wall climbing, my minds not built that way.
Next was the
Badlands. All I can say is...Wow! Stunning! Saw some buffalo, goats and deer and took in some gorgeous views. Got there prior to the official opening so wasn't crowded which was great. By the time we left it was getting touristy real quick. Highly recommend.
If you're out that way be sure to put in some time to see
Spearfish Creek Falls. There are multiple observation areas with multiple water falls and none of the walks/hikes are too arduous so it's an ok excursion for even little ones. Again, beautiful and still more native American cultural ties for the area. Spent a good four-five hours just enjoying the walks and the views.
Finally, we hit Custer State Park and drove
Needles highway which has some pretty damn cool natural rock structures along with gorgeous western pine forest landscapes. Climbed a ranger tower for some elevated views a pretty cool pano pics. led into the nature preserve where the furry cows come right to your car. DON'T LOOK THEM IN THE EYE! They don't like that! Oh yeah, and has been stated previously in this thread, don't be a touron and try and get closer for your glam shot selfie, my money is on the big thing with the horns.
A quick side trip we made that was worthwhile was
Belle Fourche which boasts of being the Geographic Center of the US. Also has some neat cowboy and rodeo history with a smallish museum that is curated very well and is a much better experience than Crazy Horse stuff.
Great experience with some wonderful natural vistas and worth a 3/4 day stay, imo.
PS- Also saw the worlds largest
Bigfoot carving as well as a giant Jack-a-lope carving all done by a set of brothers who started a chainsaw carving business and have multiple locations throughout the area. Worth the side trip.
