The first week of April 2023, we made a weekend trip to Rapid City, South Dakota, to visit Devils Tower (in Wyoming), Badlands National Park, and Mount Rushmore. We were on the opposite corner of Wyoming for our travel assignment so it was a little over a 6-hour drive to get to Devils Tower from where we were living at the time in Rock Springs. From Devils Tower, Rapid City was about 2 hours away.
We drove up on a Saturday morning to Devils Tower and arrived in the afternoon. It was a beautiful day outside. The weather felt so nice and there was still some snow on the ground for the kids to play with.
Andy, the kids, and I did not walk the trail around Devils Tower because we weren’t sure how it would go with Elliott. However, my sister, her husband, and my brother did. They said the view was incredible but it was a good thing we didn’t bring our toddler.
After leaving Devils Tower, we drove to Rapid City, South Dakota to stay the next two nights. The Airbnb we rented was beautiful and centrally located. Rapid City was a beautiful place, and I wish we had more time to do things in the area.
We woke up Sunday morning and drove to Badlands, about an hour away. We entered the Badlands Loop (SD-240) off Exit 110 off Interstate 90. Driving through the Badlands Loop took us about an hour, and we stopped at several of the stops on the map. My favorites were Pinnacles Overlook, Homestead Overlook, Panorama Point, and Big Badlands Overlook. We got back on Interstate 90 at Exit 121 after completing the loop.
After Badlands, we got something to eat and drove to Mount Rushmore in Keystone, South Dakota. It was about an hour and a half from Badlands. We arrived later in the afternoon, about a quarter to 5 pm, so the sun was going down, and it was way colder over there than in the Badlands. The elevation at Mount Rushmore is about 2,000 higher than Badlands, depending on the area of Badlands you’re in.
It’s definitely doable to see Badlands National Park and visit Mount Rushmore in the same day. You will be doing a bit of driving but still will have time to eat and visit the gift shop at Mount Rushmore.
After Mount Rushmore, we went back to our Airbnb for dinner and to sleep. We left Monday morning to head back to Rock Springs, Wyoming. Unfortunately, we drove through a blizzard until we got stuck in Rawlins, Wyoming due to road closure and spent two days in a hotel before finally making it back. That was definitely a trip I will never forget!
