A lot of dog poop that people do not pick up. No area for small dogs to romp around off leash…read more People don't really watch their animals and just let them roam. Does have a great creek for dogs to cool off in. It is kinda click based with many people knowing each other so they socialize and then do not watch their dogs.

My dogs love going here!! They start crying as soon as we get close! We go very regularly! They…read morelove swimming in the creek. We have never had any issues towards the land or the park! When I first started going here I had issues with other dog parents not watching their dog and letting them go unattended. (male dogs getting on my females back and the male owner not getting him off.) Has never stopped us from going just watch your doggies

This place should be a national park, in my opinion!…read more Going in to it with an open mind is important--wild animals are, in fact, wild and can't be predicted or controlled! That being said, you're almost guaranteed to see SOMETHING. We were lucky enough to get stuck in a bison jam, see the burros and a number of deer and prongtails. Get up early or take a drive around dusk if you miss the wildlife during the day. It's a beautiful, diverse park. Needles highway is a must do and is so cool to see the rock formations. Starting after the wildlife loop and driving to Sylvan Lake was amazing and the lake offered a great break from the car. We wish we would have planned for more time at the lake and come prepared with swimsuits, etc! Even if just visiting for a day, I think the $25 park entrance fee is worth it. But if you have the time, plan to take your time and spend more than one day here!

Don't forget to pack fresh apples and carrots before hitting up CSP's wildlife loop ;)…read moreCuster SP is a beautiful must-visit. Begging burros, Sylvan Lake, Needles Hwy's narrowest tunnels, bold geese, prairie dog town. Amusing sights for all! Thought I followed all of National Treasure's instructions at Sylvan Lake. Maybe you'll have better luck unlocking that treasure cavern haha . Couldn't find anyone at the pay station entrances to ask some questions ;) + Restrooms and a few water bottle refill stations throughout the park. Thanks again Stan for the suggestion!

I love that there is no entrance fee for Mount Rushmore, but you do have to pay for parking. It was…read moreregularly $10 or if you're over 62 it's five dollars you take a ticket when you go into the parking lot and you will pay at a pay station before you leave. It will ask you if you're over 62 There is a lot of room to view the monument as well as a restaurant, gift shop, clean restrooms, and plenty of areas to sit on benches and such to enjoy the environment Definitely something you need to check off your bucket list

Really cool to see something in real life that you've seen in so many books, shows and movies!…read more In the summer, it is hot and crowded....unless you go early! We visited twice in the same trip--once in the afternoon that was super crowded and then again earlier in the morning around 7:30-8:00am and there were only a few people there and it was much cooler. The $10 you pay for the parking pass is good for 1 year so can make a quick trip another day if you want. The presidential trail is a nice little walk with a ton of stairs (go to the left towards Washington side to start and you'll go down most of them instead of up). It seems like the trail is closed for maintenance (or something) fairly often which is a bummer! There's a few exhibits and presentations, etc in the visitor center and a good amount of info about the sculpting/creation and the history side of things. Definitely worth a stop and a good hour or two there, but wouldn't center a whole trip around it. And, make sure your kiddos get junior ranger badges!

Our visit to Reptile Gardens was absolutely unforgettable! From the moment we walked in, we were…read moreblown away by how well-kept, interactive, and family-friendly everything was. Traveling with our 5-year-old, this was easily one of the highlights of our trip. He was completely fascinated by the huge variety of reptiles--especially the giant tortoises and snakes--and the live shows were both entertaining and educational. The staff did an amazing job keeping kids engaged while teaching them fun facts along the way. The grounds are beautiful and easy to navigate, making it a relaxing experience for parents too. You can tell how much care goes into the animals and the overall experience. If you're in the Rapid City area, this is a must-do--perfect mix of fun, learning, and memorable moments for the whole family!

A must see!! Everything was amazing! My favorite was getting up close to the tortoises.read more

I can't rate a park anything less than 5 stars; this is a small national park and easy to spend…read morehalf a day here and add in to a trip. This was a last minute addition so we missed the opportunity to do a cave tour. Next time! The visitor center is surprisingly large and really neat even if not visiting the cave. You can walk to the original entrance of the cave from the visitor center which is neat to see and "cool" to feel cold the air blowing out of the opening. We saw soooo many bison! And a coyote hunting prairie dogs! This national park doesn't charge an entrance fee to walk around or drive thru, so if you are in the area and maybe missed wildlife at the state park, it's worth a drive through to try and catch a view of some animals! Make sure your kiddos get junior ranger badges at the visitor center!

There's a whole hidden world under the prairie. The Garden of Eden Tour took us deep underground…read morethrough narrow passageways and into rooms full of rare boxwork formations and delicate honeycomb patterns that make this cave so special. Down there, everything feels slower. It's quiet, cool, and feels almost untouched. Then you step back outside and it's a complete contrast. Open skies, rolling hills, and bison grazing in the distance like something straight out of a movie. Two totally different worlds in one park.

I'm never going to rank something nature made less than 5 stars!…read more A unique national park...and a hot one! There is very little shade in this park and it is incredibly hot (we visited in July). We visited with two small kids (5 year old, 1.5 year old) so didn't do any major hikes. We did Door Trail which was fun to leave the boardwalk and explore for the whole family. We also did the Window "trail" which I would consider more of an overlook. We did the Cliff Shelf Nature Trail which I highly recommend for anyone! It gets you some different terrain and some shade. The views can be awe inspiring and otherworldly--not every overlook is worth stopping in my opinion but there's some really neat ones. The visitor center is good. Most stops have vault toilets which were all pretty well maintained. Would not recommend the extra drive to the prairie dog town...we saw prairie dogs all over the state so it wasn't really anything special. We saw several bison outside of the Pinnacles entrance and several herds on the way to the Interior entrance from the west. Try to go early in the day and late in the day to keep cool. And make sure your kiddos get their junior ranger badges at the visitor center.

Breathtaking topography. Piques the curiosity. I mean, can you believe much of our land used to be…read moreunderground? Supposedly that's how ancient rapids carved the Badlands we see today. + Thankfully, restrooms and disposal bins at like every stop. + Water refill & A/C at the VC. - Virtually no shade. Desert climate out there. - And yet very crowded! People taking photos everywhere. Crowded museums.

We have been to the location in Arizona that is similar to this, and we were staying in a…read morecampground about 3 miles away, so we thought we would stop in here on our way to see Mount Rushmore and other tourist attractions It cost $44 for entrance, that includes a senior discount. You have a loop that you drive and you stay in your car to see the animals and then you park go through a visitor center and have a separate area where you could walk around and see other animals, such as the younger bears. You are definitely up close in Personal with these animals, they have a ton of bears, and they are all over the place, crossing the road, walking by your car. Everyone was super respectful, stayed in their vehicles. The bears did not seem agitated at all. They also had quite a few buffalo and obviously baby buffaloes too If you like animals, this one is definitely worth a stop. They do have a concession stand in the walkable area and they had pretty reasonably priced snack food, such as uncrushable, peanut butter and jelly, chips and such

Definitely in my top three places in the US! It's just everything to love!! Driving through the…read morepark is amazing but Oh My!, those bears. The cubs playing and climbing will just steal your heart. It's fun for animal lovers of all ages. I always leave wanting a bear!

We stopped here to view America's largest Berlin Wall exhibit and of course see the many beautiful…read moresculptures we had heard about. It is a lovely park with lots of greenspace and beautiful foliage but there were many unhoused persons and some seemed to be living/sleeping next to the statues so we weren't able to spend to much time enjoying some of them or get to close and we didn't want to bother anyone. The ones we did see up close were magnificent! We enjoyed walking through the park on the paved trails and perhaps it was just because we were from outside the area but we had difficulty finding anywhere close to park so we also had a nice walk to and from the park as well. The highlight for my husband was getting to spin the 9,000 lb piece of granite. The engineering makes it possible but it's still pretty tough to get that 4 ton stone moving. This park is worth a stop just for that.

This park is a memorial to those that died in the Rapid Creek floods of 1972. An amphitheater,…read moreplayground, lake & war monuments are displayed here as well. There are sections of the Berlin Wall because this was the front line for the Cold War. Missile & launch control facilities are peppered through the grasslands & are run by the National Park Service.