Central Pennsylvania to Custer South Dakota -Advice and must see

Leaving route 80 and will probably try to use the south of Chicago route.

We already plan Rushmore, minute man, deadwood, devils tower, crazy horse, Custer state park, wind cave but anything else we are missing.

What about overnights on the way or stops to break it up?  I hear mixed reviews on Wal Drug. 

We haven't just stayed in a Walmart yet and I am not real excited to either.

Any advice appreciated!

I assume you will be taking I-90 when you get past Chicago. That will take you right passed the Spam Museum in Austin, MN, and the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD.

And when you are in the Custer area, also check out Jewel Cave National Monument. The South Dakota Air and Space Museum is located at Ellsworth Air Force Base. I can't remember the name of the place, but we also did a tour of a gold mine there, and then "pan for gold" (a pan with the rock and sand already in it, along with a couple specks of gold). There's also a lot there at Custer to do and see. Our kids were just fascinated by a prairie dog village in the park, and we ended up staying there for a couple hours. There's bison and wild ass at the park also to go see.

It has been a long time since I've been out that way, but we spent a week there, and could have stayed another week, and still not see everything. It got to the point that our last full day there, we decided to split up, because my brother and his family wanted to go out to Deadwood, and we wanted to go explores the caves. But there's so much to do out there that you probably won't get to see everything.

As for overnights on the way there and back, We just made reservations for the trip there and the trip home. We're in the Twin Cities area, so it was just one overnight on the way and back (could have pushed through, but with 4 kids not yet in school - 2 mine and 2 my brothers felt it better to stop for the night). We stopped at a campground in Mitchell, SD on the way there, and then in Chamberlain. SD on the way back.

No advice, but I will be paying attention myself.  We plan on a brief stay in the area on our way to Yellowstone this fall.

bsandey said:

I assume you will be taking I-90 when you get past Chicago. That will take you right passed the Spam Museum in Austin, MN, and the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD.

And when you are in the Custer area, also check out Jewel Cave National Monument. The South Dakota Air and Space Museum is located at Ellsworth Air Force Base. I can't remember the name of the place, but we also did a tour of a gold mine there, and then "pan for gold" (a pan with the rock and sand already in it, along with a couple specks of gold). There's also a lot there at Custer to do and see. Our kids were just fascinated by a prairie dog village in the park, and we ended up staying there for a couple hours. There's bison and wild ass at the park also to go see.

It has been a long time since I've been out that way, but we spent a week there, and could have stayed another week, and still not see everything. It got to the point that our last full day there, we decided to split up, because my brother and his family wanted to go out to Deadwood, and we wanted to go explores the caves. But there's so much to do out there that you probably won't get to see everything.

As for overnights on the way there and back, We just made reservations for the trip there and the trip home. We're in the Twin Cities area, so it was just one overnight on the way and back (could have pushed through, but with 4 kids not yet in school - 2 mine and 2 my brothers felt it better to stop for the night). We stopped at a campground in Mitchell, SD on the way there, and then in Chamberlain. SD on the way back.

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Thanks for your insight.  In my 20's I may have been more interested in the "wild ass" but embarrassingly, now I will be more interested in the tamer the things to see. 

You can overnite in Ohio at their interstate rest areas. Better than Walmart I presume.

the Walmart at Sioux Falls, SD just SW of the I90/I75 intersection is convenient.

Wall Drug actually is worth seeing, once. Plan on spending half a day there. While in Wall, the National Grasslands visitor center (right in town) is also interesting.