Beautiful area with breathtaking views. We drove to the…read morelookout area and then to the beach. The beach was gorgeous. We saw people setting up for a wedding. We will definitely be returning here to camp.

Absolutely gorgeous state recreation area! This state recreation area is located around 1 hour…read moresouth of Rapid City. It has multiple campgrounds and beach access along the shorelines. We spent the majority of our day biking along the 3.5 mile paved bike trail that follows on the outside of the lake. It was a moderately difficult trail that had it's many ups and downs, however, not too bad considering I was carrying 2 kiddos in a bike trailer that made it heavier and harder to do. Most of the facilities were closed due to Covid but the area as a whole is beautiful, and we cannot wait to go back. If you have a boat, you've got to check this place out. There is another state recreation area on the west side that we didn't get to go to unfortunately but our trip was totally worth it. Another quick note, please ensure that when booking a campsite, you know what you are getting. Many of the sites only haveelectric but some had noth electric and water. Finally, if you live in SD state parks, just go ahead and get the annual membership. By the time you go to Custer once and another time here or another park, it practically pays for itself.

Fossils in the hills of Nebraska [Harrison NE]…read more This national monument is located in Western Nebraska. Let me tell you now... it is out in the middle of nowhere! One lone building... the Visitor Center! You have to drive to the open prairie where the fossils can be found on quarries where the digs were conducted. Unfortunately, we were on a tight schedule and was not able to do the hike. Inside the Visitor Center is full of interesting exhibits Including a life-size display of ancient mammals (giant creature that looks like a pig). There are no dinosaur fossils here. We also saw some cool collection of Northern Plains Indian artifacts given as gifts to James Cook by Lakota Chief Red Cloud. The short film was educational. Tip: Make sure to gas up your car and bring snacks or pack a lunch before heading out to the monument. The closest gas station is over 30 miles out on Highway 29 heading either north or south. There are no vending machines at the Visitor Center but they have free WiFi available ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Review #3503

Visited Agate Fossil Beds National Monument on Sunday, September 17…read more In addition to fossils and Devil's Corkscrews we saw a great collection of Lakota Sioux memorabilia from the James Cook collection. Shout out to Amelia for spilling the tea on the Cook family, and showing us the prized cow pie from the Cook collection - not on open display. The fossil beds themselves were amazing but Amelia was fantastic, she made the visit.

Going to Toadstool Geologic Park was best thing we've done on our vacation so far. The park is…read morebeautiful and interesting, offering both easy and challenging hikes. There was a guy named Richard in the parking lot giving out free sunscreen, vacation advice and maps. He even took our picture. He's a great guy who just loves the park and works for free. If you see him tell him Tim, Sutevee and Hope say hi! PS - don't forget to pay your park fee. It's very cheap and helps keep the park maintained.

Nice walking loop through the park. Takes about an hour. Get the paper guide at the entrance,…read morethough. Watch for snakes. But we never saw any.

Visiting the White River Valley Overlook inside Badlands National Park was one of the highlights of…read moreour trip. This is one of those places that completely catches you off guard in the best way. You pull over expecting a quick viewpoint, and then suddenly you're looking out over this massive, open valley that just seems to go on forever. The contrast between the rugged Badlands formations and the wide, rolling landscape below is incredible. It honestly feels like two completely different environments meeting in one place. The colors, the textures, and the sheer scale of it all make it feel almost unreal when you're standing there. What makes this stop even better is how easy it is to access. There's no long hike required--just park, walk a short distance, and you're right there taking in one of the best views in the park. It's perfect for all ages and a great place to pause and really appreciate the scenery. If you're visiting the Badlands, this overlook is absolutely worth the stop. It's peaceful, stunning, and unforgettable. Check out our videos on our socials @reessroots

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.

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!

This is an absolutely fantastic state Park! It was $25 per…read morecar, no discounts for entry, but that entrance is good for an entire week, they don't sell simple day passes, unfortunately We came here to drive the wildlife loop and we're not disappointed. We saw antelope, Buffalo, Prairie dogs, and even had the opportunity to feed the begging burrows. It wasn't super busy today either, I thought it would be on a holiday weekend so that was wonderful. Give yourself a good one to two hours as you need to drive slowly to see everything. There are a lot of baby buffaloes right now, so that was great fun

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.

It's getting really depressing to be on a National Parks road trip through the US during a…read moregovernment shutdown. Wind Cave National park was really nice and convenient and had a few interesting things to see. Unfortunately the visitors center and all the restrooms were closed even though there was a park ranger sitting in his running truck in the parking lot trying to avoid the visitors that walked up to him. I can't blame the park for the shutdown and I did really like the ease of navigating the simple beauty here. We caught a glimpsenof a buffalo and saw some prairie dogs (I love prairie dogs!) but I doubt I will ever be back to see it when it is fully operational.

Driving from Fort Collins to Rapid City, my family was fortunate to add this Oregon Trail stop on…read morethe way. The park rangers at this monument are awesome and truly care about its history. If you can add this in with your travels, you won't be upset. I wouldn't go way out of my way to visit, but if you can add it to your itinerary with a less than annoying drive deviation, it is fantastic. Side note, it was raining the day I went. I drove up to the top but couldn't see the view due to the weather. But, I could tell, on a nice day, it would be amazing. Lots of history here. Enjoy!

Call Your Bluff…read more Protected National Monument site that's over 3k-acres and is situated west of Gering, Nebraska. We visited here almost eight years ago on our epic road trip across the US, and I can't believe I forgot to review this place. The Good: *The bluff is an important landmark on the Oregon Trail and there's an Oregon Trail Museum at the base of the bluff. *There's a windy 1.6-mile drive up the Summit Rd to get to the top of Scotts Bluff. There were quite a few cars (the park draws in 100k visitors a year) in front of us, if I remember correctly. But I don't think it took that long to get to the top, because even if it did there some superb views along the way up. *Leashed pets are OK on trails *Free! The Meh: *Only four miles of hikable trails The Ugly: *I wish we had more time to explore and hike the trails, but we had a schedule to keep. Next time, Gadget! Conclusion: Great park that's worth a 1hr detour if you're headed along on this stretch of 80.

If you're on a road trip and adventurous enough to seek out Carhenge, why not get slightly more…read moreadventurous and seek out the VERY remote Hudson-Meng Bison Bonebed in the Ogalalla National Grasslands, the site where paleo-humans left the bones of many hundreds of ancient bison (without the skulls), over many hundreds of years, piled and scattered over a small area. At the end of 15-miles of gravel road, there is a small parking lot, restrooms with plumbing, a small pond teeming with loud frogs and surrounded by lush greenery and shade-trees, and an air-conditioned archealogical dig/gift shop/visitors center, about the size of a large barn. A small staff will greet you, show you an informational video about the history of the bonebed and give you a tour of the archealogical dig and show you the bones. It may not be as large and perhaps not as interesting as the fossilized rhinoceroses at the Ashfall in northeastern Nebraska several hours east from here, nor does it have the (ahem) mammoth proportions of the VERY interesting mammoth site in Hot Springs, South Dakota a short drive to the north (both of which are highly recommended), but it does offer a trailhead into the Toadstool Geological Formation located in adjacent grasslands. The Bison Trail runs out from about the entrance to the visitors center, across federal grazing lands, down into several "badlands"-style gullies and to the Toadstool campground - 3 miles away, for a six-mile out and back hike. At least one other trail intersects this trail about a mile out with signage noting that Toadstool is three miles down it also, so you can make the hike longer, or shorter, or into a loop as desired. Enjoy the strategically placed bison sculptures that give a sense of what ancient humans might have seen along this same trail. There are also numerous cattle trails cutting this way and that through the grasslands, but the intentionally placed human trail is marked by wooden sign-posts sticking up out of the prairie grass about 50-100 yards apart to show you the way. The ranger also told us that we were welcome to just wander about wherever we wanted, sign-posts-be-damned. But you may have to contend with a barbed-wire fence or two or three - there are, however, gates or slots through the fence that human hikers can fit through on the regular trail. From the visitors center, the trail goes down into and up out of a small shaded gully, then out to another large gully that looks more like the badlands. Down into and up out of the second gully, then across more grasslands to a third gully (about 1.3 miles from the visitors center), where the trail descends down into the gully from its highest point, and then down through the bottom of the gully for some distance. When we went, the trail at the bottom of the gully was extremely muddy - so we didn't make it all of the way to Toadstool. We turned around at the first turn at the bottom of the gully where it got muddy. We walked along the gully at its top edge for a ways, however, to see what we were missing from the top. In this first mile and a half we did not see any so-called toadstool formations, but it is a uniquely and starkly beautiful landscape, with the sparsely wooded hills behind you above the visitors center, with the slope of grasslands below you, the badlands features spreading out through significant portions of the vista below you. And if you are lucky (?) you might even run into a herd of beef cattle, and might even accidentally cut a small group of them off from the main herd; and then have to hide below a rise so as not to spook the stragglers so that they can find their herd. Not saying it happened that way, but it might happen to you too.