South Dakota is a massive state studded with natural beauty. However, if you’re spending one week in South Dakota, the southwestern corner of the state is the place to be. This area is studded with State Parks, National Parks, Scenic Byways, legendary towns and more. It is a great place to visit and this South Dakota itinerary is perfect for adventurous adults, solo travelers and large family trips.
This South Dakota itinerary visits some many of the top things to do in South Dakota, including:
- Mount Rushmore
- Custer State Park
- Crazy Horse Memorial
- Badlands National Park
- Wind Cave National Park
- Jewel Cave National Monument
- Devils Tower National Monument
- Deadwood
- Rapid City
This is a very easy to plan and inexpensive trip. The trip starts and stops in Rapid City, meaning you can buy round trip tickets. And there are camping options galore in South Dakota making it easy to stay under budget if you’re willing to camp. Plus, if one week in South Dakota is too much for you, you can always shorten it, which we’ll provide recommendations for as well.
Day 1 – Arrival
Fly in to Rapid City or arrive there by car. If you’re flying in, grab your rental car. You don’t need anything with 4WD or high-clearance. You’ll be primarily on paved roads with smooth sailing on this South Dakota road trip.
We arrived there mid-day and enjoyed exploring breweries and other fun Rapid City attractions. We enjoyed Reptile Gardens way more than we would have expected enjoying an alligator show where no alligators are native – but we highly recommend this attraction for the whole family if you have time.
Stay overnight in Rapid City.
Day 2 – Badlands National Park
Start your morning early so you can have a full day in Badlands National Park.
You’ll start by driving about one hour from Rapid City to Wall. Make the practically obligatory stop at Wall Drug for donuts for breakfast. Wall Drug is a famous touist trap that basically operates as a large cafeteria and western themed mall. Don’t spend too much time here – Badlands is better – but do get a donut 🙂
Another 30 minutes on the road will get you to the entrance to Badlands National Park. You’ll start at Big Badlands Overlook, one of the most impressive overlooks in the park. For the rest of the day, you’ll drive the Badlands Loop Road. This is the single road through the main part of the park and it stops at all the overlooks and trailheads. With one day in Badlands National Park, you’ll have time to stop at all of the overlooks and most of the short hikes. However, make sure to pack a lunch for the park as there are no food services in the park.
The highway turns north to connect back to Wall after the Pinnacles Overlook. However, if you still have time in your day, continue West on Sagecreek Rim Road. The views here get less expansive. However, the wildlife spotting increases.
After driving to the end of the road, return back to the highway, head North to Wall and back to Rapid City.
Stay another night at your Rapid City accommodations.
Day 3 – Devils Tower & Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway
Leave from Rapid City for a day trip to Devils Tower. Head straight to Devils Tower in the morning. The drive is about 1.5 hours.
When at Devils Tower, enjoy the sights, a few short walks and the prairie dog town.
On the way back, detour through Spearfish and visit Bridal Falls for a short photo opportunity. Next, stop at Devils Bathtub for a quick ride down this natural waterslide. Last along the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway is Roughlock Falls. From the parking lot, walk the boardwalk to the falls.
Next, head to Deadwood for a late lunch. After lunch, explore historic Deadwood, a town made famous for its lawlessness that still has a Wild Wild West vibe that tourists love.
Head back to Rapid City for the evening.
Day 4 – Mount Rushmore & Crazy Horse
Today, you’ll explore the central area of the Black Hills and the iconic monuments of South Dakota. Start your morning by checking out of your Rapid City accommodations.
Make your way towards the Crazy Horse Memorial. This memorial is still under construction. When it is complete it will depict Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing towards his home. Currently, his face is complete and his outstretched arm is in progress. You can visit the visitor center to see the monument from afar and take a ride up to the monument for a closer view.
Have a picnic lunch or head in to Custer for lunch.
After lunch, explore some of the downtowns such as Custer, Three Forks and Keystone as you slowly make your way to Mount Rushmore. If you can approach Mount Rushmore from the Iron Mountain Road, that is the best road for your Mount Rushmore approach as you’ll get a really neat view of Mount Rushmore framed by a tunnel on your way there.
Also, consider checking in to your Custer accommodations in the afternoon so that you can stay out late at Mount Rushmore.
Before Sundown (6-ish PM) – Mount Rushmore
End your day with a visit to Mount Rushmore. You could just pop in and take a picture, plenty of people do. However, we recommend taking a few hours here.
If you can arrive slightly before sundown, you’ll get to see the monument in multiple different lights. First, start by viewing the monument in the daylight. Then, take a short walk up to the base of the mountain. Head back to the viewing platform for some nice pictures in the fading light. Next, head inside and learn all about the making of the mountain. It was wildly interesting learning about everything that went in to making this monument.
If you’ve timed it right and learned a lot, you should be stepping outside right around 9 PM. Just in time for the monument lighting program. During summer months, this includes a 45-minute talk from the rangers and ends with the monument being lit up. We liked Mount Rushmore best at night with the illumination.
Stay overnight near Custer.
Day 5 – Custer State Park
During this one week in South Dakota itinerary, you’ll go to two National Parks. However, don’t underestimate the amazing Custer State Park. It is a gem of a park and the highlight of many South Dakota trips!
Start your morning at Sylvan Lake. Do a short hike around the lake.
Next, drive the Needles Highway. This is one of the most scenic drives in the country with lots of opportunities for scenic views. Stop at the Cathedral Spires trailhead for a walk to the Little Devils Tower. Next, continue driving along Needles Highway and take a short detour to Center Lake. End your Needles Highway drive at Legion Lake. Here enjoy a nice picnic lunch and a stroll around the lake.
Lastly, drive the Wildlife Loop Drive as close to dusk as possible to give yourself the best chance of spotting game. Honestly, if you’re visiting in the summer like we did, you’ll like see wildlife all day long in the park.
Stay overnight at your Custer accommodations.
Day 6 – Wind Cave & Jewel Cave
For this section of this South Dakota itinerary, you’ll want to make reservations for your cave tours ahead of time or plan on being at the cave first thing in the morning to buy your tickets. During the summer months, cave tours sell out within minutes of opening.
Prior to your week in South Dakota, book two cave tours. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. It doesn’t matter which is which but we would recommend booking both the earliest tour and the latest tour you can manage. This will allow you plenty of time in the middle of the day to explore the above ground world of Wind Cave and Jewel Cave.
We started our morning with the Wild Cave Tour at Wind Cave. We did a few short walking trails at Wind Cave. Next, we had a picnic lunch before driving the short distance to Jewel Cave. At Jewel Cave we did a few short scenic trails before taking the last Scenic Tour of the day.
Stay overnight in Custer OR return to Rapid City and stay overnight there if your flight is early in the morning.
Day 7 – Return home
Catch your flight home out of Rapid City or start your drive home.
Where To Stay In South Dakota
The best part of this road trip is that it actually covers a minimal amount of miles (450) for a one week road trip. That means only 8-ish hours of drive time. While you can stay in a different park each night, this minimal drive time does allow you to stay in just a few locations. We choose to stay in Rapid City and Custer. These were good home bases for all of our South Dakota explorations.
Camping is a great option for people looking to save money. We camped in Custer State Park and in a campground just outside of Rapid City. Custer State Park had a great campground that we enjoyed. However, city campgrounds aren’t really our thing and we would have preferred staying in a hotel for our Rapid City stay.
Speaking of hotel stays, here are some hotels that we love the vibe for in Custer and Rapid City:
- Budget: Elevation Inn, a centrally located hotel chain
- Mid-range: Hyatt Place, a centrally located and well updated chain hotel.
- Splurge: House on a Hill, charming house overlooking Rapid City
Want to Adjust the Itinerary
If you have less time, Devil’s Tower and Deadwood are the biggest detours on this South Dakota itinerary so it would be a good idea to remove this from the itinerary (even though Devils Tower is one of our favorite parks!). Another way to reduce the amount of time you’d spend is to add Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse to two other days, instead of dedicating a whole day to them. Specifically, you could add Mount Rushmore to your day at Custer State Park and Crazy Horse to your day visiting the cave. While there is plenty to do at those monuments, you also can quickly visit them if you have to.
If you have more time, consider dedicating a full day to both Wind Cave and Jewel Cave. This will allow you to take two very adventurous tours of both caves. We were able to take one adventure-style tour and one speedy tour but we had a load of fun on the adventure-style tour and would have enjoyed doing another one. Additionally, a full day would allow you to add in a visit to The Mammoth Site, an active dig site where over 60 mammoths are buried and currently being unearthed.
What To Budget For One Week In South Dakota
For us, South Dakota was a wildly cheap vacation. We camped, packed a ton of lunches and most of our activities were in the reasonably priced parks.
Here’s the breakdown of what this one week in South Dakota costs:
- Hotel in Rapid City – $125/night
- Camping in Custer area – $16/night for tent site
- Groceries for 4 packed lunches, 4 campfire breakfasts and 2 campfire dinners for two people – $120
- Eating out for two people – $390
- Devils Tower National Monument – $25/vehicle
- An America The Beautiful Pass ($80) includes entrance to Devils Tower National Monument
- Badlands National Park – $25/vehicle
- An America The Beautiful Pass ($80) includes entrance to Badlands National Park
- Mount Rushmore parking – $10/vehicle
- Crazy Horse Memorial – $15/person or $35/vehicle
- Custer State Park $25/vehicle
- Jewel Cave Tour – $16/Scenic Tour, $45/Wild Cave Tour
- Wind Cave Tour – $16/Natural Tour, $45/Wild Cave Tour
When To Visit South Dakota
The best time to do this South Dakota road trip is between May-October. September would be the absolutely perfect month as it’d still be hot enough to enjoy the outdoors while the crowds will have diminished as kids are back in school and fewer families are in the area.
Outside of these months, temperatures can make all of the outdoor activities uncomfortable. Additionally, lots of businesses have shortened hours outside of tourist season and some business close all together.
What To Pack For South Dakota
Clothing for South Dakota should include layers. It’s cold in the morning and evening even as it becomes sweltering in the summer sun. Wind in South Dakota is no joke either! Those plains whip the wind and can make it feel much colder than it is.
Additionally, this South Dakota itinerary takes you to many parks. While parks are amazing places to explore the wild, they also are less developed. You’ll want to pack refillable water bottles so you can pack all of your daily water with you when you leave your accommodations each morning. Additionally, we relied on packed lunches on several days, both to save money and because there weren’t restaurants where we were at. So packing a cooler and some reusable food containers will be helpful for transporting your lunches.
Lastly, the roads in this area are beautiful and scenic! However, they’re also curvy and swervey. Which means you may want to pack motion sickness medicine if that is something you experience.
Safety In South Dakota
This South Dakota itinerary is actually very well travelled and not at all remote – which is great for safety. You will likely be near other humans and our cell service was surprisingly great. However, we always love to pack paper maps with us or download our Google Maps, just in case we get lost. And don’t forget to let someone know when you will be hiking and what trails you’ll be on.
When you are in the wild, make sure to avoid the wildlife. It’s wild! It will hurt you if it feels threatened. Specifically the bison. Bison routinely trample or gouge people who get too close, especially during the high tourism season when mating is happening. And while the wildlife will hurt you if it feels threatened, don’t hurt the wildlife with your trash or food. Make sure to clean up all trash by taking it with you or putting it in a locking park trash can. And don’t feed the animals – it creates behaviors that aren’t safe for animals or the humans they interact with.
Hopefully this South Dakota itinerary has helped you to plan the perfect one week in South Dakota for you and your family. This was a memory making trip for me as a child and it was a memory making trip again as an adult. If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave them in the comments section below. Or if you’re looking for more help in planning your South Dakota vacation, check out our full travel guide here with all of our South Dakota posts.
