The Black Hills of Dakota

Black Hills of Dakota from Calamity Jane (1953)

July 17 – 30, 2021

“Take me back to the Black Hills, the Black Hills of Dakota,” sings Doris Day as the titular Calamity Jane. After spending two great weeks finding adventure in those hills we can relate, as we certainly want to be taken back there. Well, maybe not right now while things are probably still covered in snow, but once it warms up again, sure.

When we last we left you, we were outside of Medora and Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We hitched up and left the upper Dakota and headed almost straight south to the lesser Dakota, and the town of Hermosa, just outside of Rapid City.

Our drive was pretty easy, along quiet highways. We found what we thought was the perfect place to stop, stretch, and get lunch halfway through the drive. Crow Buttes Mercantile is a store and café out in the middle of nowhere, with enough room to park an RV. Unfortunately, they were not open when we got there. Fortunately, we had taken our kitchen with us, so we put out a couple of slides, made some sandwiches and then hit the highway again.

Eventually, we made it to our home for the week, Southern Hills RV Park & Campground just south of Rapid City. This park didn’t have any amenities other than a laundry room, but it was very well kept, had a decent little bar & grill within walking distance, and also was, for unknown reasons, home to giant busts of JFK, Reagan, and Bush Jr.

For our first Black Hills adventure, Izzy and I visited Dinosaur Park, which is a dinosaur sculpture garden set on the top of a hill overlooking the Rapid City. These dinosaurs were built way back in 1936 by the WPA, and look a bit dated by modern paleontological standards (no protofeathers here). But dinosaurs are cool in any shape or form, these guys were big, and no one seemed to mind if kids climbed all over them. Now I’m no economist (though I do have a degree in economics), but maybe we should put people back to work by hiring them to build giant dinosaurs again.

We also braved the heat to visit Storybook Island, some kind of privately owned but free park/playground/copyright infringement zone.

The park has playground equipment as well as a bunch of statues and things for kids to climb on.

There are also lots of famous copyrighted characters decorating the park. Walt Disney must be spinning in his cryogenic head jar.

We all took a bit of a road trip to the east to see a few different things. One was the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, which is split into two locations. First we stopped at the Delta-09 silo and got to peer down it to see a Minuteman Missile.

Then we drove to the visitor center where we watched an informational movie, walked through the museum, and Izzy earned a Junior Range badge.

After that, we headed into Badlands National Park. We stopped at the visitor’s center to have a picnic lunch, get some information about the park and to pickup a Junior Ranger booklet.

It was hot that afternoon, over 100°, so we didn’t get out of the truck too much. We’ll have to come back to explore more thoroughly sometime. Even if you can’t stop, the views from the road are pretty great, so it’s worth a drive through the park.

The park exit led us right into Wall, South Dakota, which is famous for its drug store billboards. Of course we had to stop, grab a treat, and check things out. We ate some expensive homemade pie and ice cream and washed it down with 5¢ coffee in one of the cool dining rooms lined with old cowboy art.

Then we explored the rest of the Wall Drug, which is mostly tourist stuff, but actually does have a drug store in the middle.

On the way back to the RV park we caught a rock to the windshield that developed into a big crack. So I got to spend $650 and half a day getting the last Super Duty windshield in Rapid City installed.

With the windshield fixed, we decided to cool off by going on a hike to a spot called the Devil’s Bathtub. This is a trail near the town of Spearfish that follows a little creek, crossing it several times, until you get to a big pool, apparently used by the devil to clean up or maybe just relax after a stressful day. We packed a lunch, strapped on our waterproof hiking boots (or Teva’s for Charlotte), and hit the trail.

It was fun to hike back and forth across the water, but it is a very popular trail and too crowded for our liking, especially at the bathtub itself. Also, in hindsight, boots were probably not the right choice of footwear, even if they were waterproof. Trying to stay out of the water lead to me putting a foot down on a slippery algae covered rock. My foot shot out from under me and I went down, taking Izzy with me. Luckily we were both okay, and I only bruised my pride and got wet.

After staying a week at Southern Hills, we moved RV parks. We only had to travel 12 miles, and there were a few hours between check-out at the old park and check-in at the new park, so for the first time, we took the RV to Walmart. The lot wasn’t huge but we managed to find some space. I will say, it was super convenient to load groceries straight from the shopping cart into the fridge!

After shopping and lunch, we headed to our home for the next week, Hart Ranch Camping Resort, also located south of Rapid City. We loved this park. It was also very clean and well kept. All the sites have full 50 amp hookups and a paved parking pad with patio, and most have shade. They don’t have any seasonal guests so sites stay uncluttered. The park offers tons of amenities and lots of free family activities. I rented a bike for the week, there were a couple of concerts, free s’mores, candy bar bingo, trivia night with taco buffet, horses, a kiddie train, and even a rodeo!

Even better than all of that was that our friends the Meiers – Dan, Susan, Roman, Eva, and Olivia – made the drive up from Nebraska to join us at the park. They don’t have an RV, but got a taste of the lifestyle by staying in one of the park’s rental units. Unfortunately, their rig was only 30 amp with a single air conditioner. Not great with temps peaking at 108°. So not the most comfortable introduction to RVing, but they didn’t complain and there was plenty to do outside the RV.

Hart Ranch has a fantastic swimming pool and because of the heat we spent a lot of time there. We also explored the activity center, mini-golf course, and playgrounds on property.

One afternoon while Charlotte was busy working, the rest of us piled into the Meier family van and made a short drive to Bear Country USA, a drive-thru wildlife park. This may look like a tourist trap, but it was actually a lot of fun on a hot day. As we slowly drove through the park we got to see elk, reindeer, wolves, big horn sheep, and of course, the bears. Animals could walk right up to your car if they wanted, and some of them did!

There were also a small zoo we walked through with more animals on display.

We then hit up the gift shop. Roman and Eva had been given a souvenir budget before their trip and agonized over what to purchase, while Izzy just asked me to buy her nearly every item in the store. In the end, I think no one bought anything! Gotta save those dollars. Who knows what the next gift shop will bring?

After we got back, Dan and I headed over to the in-park bar for a chance to meet the park manager. The manager wasn’t there, but we drank his or her complimentary beer anyway. Later, we headed over to the Meier RV for a delicious dinner Susan put together.

The next day was pretty chill. Roman and Eva attended some kind of story event hosted by the park. Then we spent a lot of time at the pool. Izzy and I played candy bar bingo. It took a long time before we won anything, but people kept giving Izzy their candy winnings. That evening we headed to downtown Rapid City for dinner. Dan and I both love cars and trucks as well as drinking craft beers, so we easily fell prey to the many billboards for Firehouse Brewing Company located around the area, which advertise cold beer and have a cool fire truck parked nearby. The food was okay, and the beer a bit disappointing. Not worth the drive into town, the search for parking, and the wait for a table.

The following morning we all headed out to see one of our nation’s most iconic sites, Mount Rushmore. After getting our fill of the impressive view, we hiked the Presidential Trail that brings you to the base of the mountain and puts you that much closer to the giant stone presidents. Along the way we chatted with a park ranger, and visited the sculptor’s studio where Izzy received a Junior Ranger badge.

We escaped the rising morning heat by watching a move about the creation of the monument and the park, and of course we had to hit up the gift shop, where I believe some of the precious souvenir dollars were parted with.

We then drove to the town of Custer, where we grabbed some lunch and a couple beers at Mt. Rushmore Brewing Company‘s restaurant called The “Pounding” Fathers (for real).

After lunch we visited the Crazy Horse Memorial. This is not affiliated with the National Park Service, but they have a Junior Ranger program equivalent. So after watching a short documentary about the history of the memorial, Izzy and I ran all around the museum trying to fill out her booklet. She was pretty excited to become a Junior Scout and earn a rock that used to be part of the mountain until it was blasted away.

On the way back to the RV park, we took the highway through Custer State Park and had to stop for a buffalo jam.

And because that wasn’t enough adventure for a single day, after we got home, we took a hay wagon ride out to the weekly rodeo on the edge of the RV park grounds.

The next day we took advantage of more activities around the park. Dan, Roman, and I started the morning by hitting the driving range, because of course this RV park has an affiliated golf course. Then that evening, we got together to enjoy the park’s taco buffet and trivia night. They also had the bar open so Dan and I could try and check-in a few new beers. Despite that, we managed a respectable third place finish!

Fun Fact – Despite only being there a combined 12 nights, Dan and I account for roughly 10% of all the beer check-ins at Hart Ranch on Untappd.

It was amazing having friends come out and stay at the same RV park as us, but sadly, all good things must come to an end. We had to say our goodbyes as the Meiers hit the road back to Nebraska the next morning. We know vacation dollars and maybe more importantly, vacation days, can be hard to come by, so to have friends spend both of them to come hang out with us is pretty awesome. Thanks again, Dan and Susan, hope to see you guys soon.

A day after the Meiers left, we packed up ourselves and continued our journey out west.

We had a fantastic couple of weeks, and can’t wait to get back to the Black Hills of Dakota. Tune in next time as our adventures continue at America’s largest national park. See you down the road!