Chicago to Mt Rushmore, what is in between?

garyb1st said:

Theodore Rosevelt National Park in North Dakota just west of Dickenson ND on I94.  There's a North and South side.  Not sure which but one has buffalo and wild horses.  If taking I90, Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD is worth a visit. 

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Gary, how is TR  National Park?  We were headed there a couple of years ago, but got a call for a camp host job while on the road, so we didn't make it.  Still on the bucket list.  We've got a Jeep and like to do back country stuff.  Looked like plenty of opportunity from what I could see on the 'net.

I'm going to assume you are taking the most direct route, I-90.  Here's a few things I would probably see on the way:

SPAM Museum, Austin MN -- I've never been but my wife has and she says it's interesting
Wall Drug -- It's worth a short stop just to say you've been there.
Badlands -- We enjoyed the Badlands and had young kids at the time, who really enjoyed climbing the "miniature mountains".  I know someone suggested taking a couple days, but if pressed for time, it's still worth it to stop for even a couple hours.

Once in the Black Hills, our must sees would be:

Custer State Park -- Lots of wildlife, including bison and prairie dogs
Jewel Cave or Wind Cave -- We went to Jewel Cave in the off season; I've heard it draws a lot more people in the summer and you have to plan your visit in advance (like show up first thing in the morning to get tickets for later in the day)

Enjoy your trip!

viceprice said:

X2. You have to see this-the museum is new, very well done and interesting. Take your time in there. Be sure to then take the guided tour of the launch facility and see the Missle site (self guided with cell phone). My bucket list item for our trek was Mt. Rushmore. I talk as much about the Minuteman Missles as much if not more when talking about our trip. After you visit you will then start to notice the exits that seem lead to nothing but well built dirt roads and 3 phase power lines that branch off I-90 into "no where" and realize there is a lot more than we know and understand about our safety and the protection of our often taken for granted freedoms. Thank you to all our military members and their families - past and present.

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Thanks for that endorsement.  This is truly an educational site which kids may see only once in a lifetime.  Nineteen of my twenty years in the Air Force were spent in the Minuteman missile system.  At one time the country had 1000 of these missiles most located in our far northern states (150 in Missouri).  During my launch crew days we spent 24 hour tours on duty in the underground capsules.  Each control center monitored 10 missiles that were dispersed at least 5 miles apart from each other.  But each squadron had 50 missiles and 5 control centers.  If necessary, two of those control centers could launch all 50 missiles.  Today, there are still 450 Minuteman ICBM sites active in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming.  I am sure Mr Un in North Korea is aware of that.  Sorry to butt into the thread but this is a pretty well unknown attraction that is very educational for those who want to know more about the Cold War.

Bill

Old_Crow said:

Gary, how is TR  National Park?  We were headed there a couple of years ago, but got a call for a camp host job while on the road, so we didn't make it.  Still on the bucket list.  We've got a Jeep and like to do back country stuff.  Looked like plenty of opportunity from what I could see on the 'net.

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IIRC the lower part of the park is nicer.  More scenery and wildlife.  Depending on when you go, be prepared for chigger bites.  We were in the Northern part of the park in June or July and walking through the tall grass caught us by surprise.  They're sneaky creatures and you really can't see them.  But wow, do they bite.  The DW is much more susceptible than me and was scratching for weeks.  The solution is to rinse off as soon as possible.  It is a seasonal thing however and depending on when you go may not be a problem.  As far as offloading, I don't recall if there are roads other than the main road through the park. 

The wife and I made this trip last June after picking up our coach from the paint and body shop in Bremen, IN.  We wanted to take a few days and detour to the Black Hills of South Dakota on our way back to Utah.  We really didn't have any specific places we wanted to stop anywhere along the way other than Wall Drug as we were anxious to get to Custer and relax.  Wall Drug was ok, kind of neat to see but holy cow was it a mad-house with people.

We followed I-80 west and turned north on I-29 and followed the Missouri River to Sioux Falls where we stopped for the night and did go and walk around the falls.  We then boogied on in the rest of the way to Custer, SD where we stayed at the Rafter J Bar for a few days which is where we usually stay when in the Black Hills.

In addition to what's been mentioned, I would add Lacrosse, WI.  We stopped for Spotted Cow beer and fried cheddar cheese curds.  Yum

DW's favorite part of our trip last summer was Badlands NP.  Mine was Custer SP (Sylvan Lake) including Needles Highway.

garyb1st said:

IIRC the lower part of the park is nicer.  More scenery and wildlife.  Depending on when you go, be prepared for chigger bites.  We were in the Northern part of the park in June or July and walking through the tall grass caught us by surprise.  They're sneaky creatures and you really can't see them.  But wow, do they bite.  The DW is much more susceptible than me and was scratching for weeks.  The solution is to rinse off as soon as possible.  It is a seasonal thing however and depending on when you go may not be a problem.  As far as offloading, I don't recall if there are roads other than the main road through the park.

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Thanks, I've lived in Arkansas for the last 24 years, so I'm well acquainted with ticks and chiggers(or chicks and tiggers as my kid once called them).  I was interested in the trip to the Elkhorn Ranch site.  Literature says the road is unpaved, steep, and easily washed out in storms.  Just what us Jeep guys live for.

Unless I missed it, I don't think anyone mentioned Sturgis.  Even when the rally isn't in progress, the motorcycle museum is very interesting even for non-bikers.

For me, the hardest part of planning my adventures is planning on everything I am going to be passing by.

I made the same trip from Chicago last year, but ended up in Yellowstone. I am assuming you are toting along that sweet motorcycle.

I did spend a night in Mitchell SD, but did not take the time to visit the Corny Palace. Stumbled across a great little community campground. Lake Mitchell campground. The pic is from our site, #15, had a beautiful view overlooking the lake and the sunset was tremendous! 

Had a reservation for the campground in the Badlands National Park. Unloaded the moto bike and had a ride of a lifetime! Scoped out this great BLM boondocking campsite just outside of the park. Ask and I will tell you where.

I had no problem passing on the Wall Drug experience. It did pain me to pass up the Minuteman Missile Museum.

Camped at a nice little place just outside of Keystone, Kemp's Kamp. Unloaded my bike, and then rode the Needles and Iron Mountain highways. Not to be missed!

Another vote for the Spearfish canyon experience. 

Shall I go on, How many months do you have?

  Pierre, the capital of South Dakota (pronounced ?peer? by the locals), is a good stop. The Corps of Engineer campgrounds below the Oahe dam is one of the nicer campgrounds we've been in. They have a good website of the campgrounds and you can select and reserve your campsite. Plenty to do in town and beautiful views above the monster of a dam. The restaurant at Spring Creek Marina has great views of the lake and the food is excellent.

Not much else to mention, all good suggestions.

If you are age 62 or over, by all means get your senior America the Beautiful Pass. If not 62 a annual America the Beautiful pass is worth the $80. Badlands alone is $20. Devils Tower is another $20.

At Chamberlain, SD where I-90 crosses the Missouri River, if you travel north a few miles to Ft. Thompson, there is a COE campground below the dam in the middle of the river (like the one in Pierre) and it is super nice. I stayed there when I saw I was not going to make the Badlands campground.

Also, in Rapid City (know to locals simply as Rapid) there is a museum called the Journey. Well worth a couple of hours. http://www.journeymuseum.org/visit Take Exit 58 off of I-90 and go south to New York St, turn left, you are there.

Another museum I did not visit, but looks promising for next time is the High Plains Western Heritage Center at Spearfish. http://www.westernheritagecenter.com/

Do not miss Devils Tower. The Wyoming Welcome Station at exit 199 in Wyoming is worth the visit on the way to Devils Tower, as it has nice displays, not just racks of brochures. I was impressed by the quality. Vore Buffalo Jump is just up the frontage road a mile and worth the tour.

On the south end of the Black Hills is Hotsprings, and the Mammoth Site, also well worth the visit.

Rushmore is good for about two hours of your time, free admission, $10 parking unless over age 62, then $5. I spent more time at Crazy Horse, $11 admission, lots of Native American stuff in the Museum.

My whirlwind tour of the Badlands and Black Hills and eclipse.... http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,110023.0.html

Charles
2007 Winnebago View 523H on a 2006 Dodge (Daimler-Chrysler aka Mercedes) Sprinter 3500 chassis (T1N). Bought Sept 2015 with 18K miles on it, Prog Ind HW30C, Prog Dymanics PD4645, Coleman Chill Grille, PML/Yourcovers.com deep alum trans pan, AutoMeter 8558 trans temp gauge, Roadmaster sway bar, Koni Red shocks (front & rear), Fantastic Ultra Breeze hood, added OEM parabolic mirrors and RH aspherical mirror, MB grill conversion.

You folks are great at suggestions. Thank you for all the replies. It will be awhile before we do the trip, but hopefully after the weather warms up we can make this venture. We are not sure yet how much time we will take, but with some planning we can narrow down where we want to stop and go from there. Basically, we have all the time in the world during warm months.

When we do, we will for sure update the post!

thanks all for the intel.  We will be traveling the area, and I'm taking notes.

We did a few of the things others have suggested, here are a few tips:

The signs advertising Walldrug are quite entertaining and I thought they were better than the store!

If you go to the badlands and see the prairie dogs, stop a while and look for the burrowing owls, they use the old burrow holes and are just such cute little birds.

Needles Highway is a great drive, but very narrow with a low bridge so only for travel in truck/bike/car.  Sylvan Lake was so beautiful although busy.

Spearfish has lots of nice restaurants, we liked Killians and a little brewery - Crow Peak.

We much preferred Crazyhorse to Mt Rushmore.  If you go to Rushmore, there is a Gutzon Borglum museum in Keystone which we were too late to get to but it was recommended by some people.  I think there is a lot of history about this and it would be good to see.  Be careful of the roads here as there is one with pigtails on it, sorry I am not sure which one but would be tricky in an RV.

Devil's Tower is well worth a trip. 

If you are in Custer, Black Hills Burger n Bun is a nice place to eat.

Spearfish Canyon - make sure you stop at Roughlock Falls as it is very pretty.

If you go to Deadwood the Wild Bill Bar has a downstairs section which I believe is the old original bar, we missed it despite being in the bar!!  The No. 10 Saloon is very authentic and worth popping into.  The Cemetery is probably interesting but was just closing as we arrived, note you need to pay to go in.  Also a short trip away is the town of Lead where you will find Sanford Homestake Gold Mining Museum which is pretty interesting to see.  Will only take up an hour of your time but worth it.

Also near Deadwood is Tatanka, a place created by Kevin Costener.  We didn't have time to go, but it looked interesting if you like bison.

http://www.storyofthebison.com

We stayed at Chris' Camp in Spearfish - a commercial RV Park which was pretty run of the mill.  We liked it and the family who run it were very friendly recommending places to eat and they gave out a leaflet with recommended drives.  I am sure I took photos so will see if I can find them and post here later.

Can't find those photos but I know I kept the leaflet in the trailer.  If you are going after May, I can get a copy of the drives to you.  We arrive May 8th so it would be around then if that is any good to you.   

At Mt. Rushmore do the Evening Program, very cool.
About 40 miles south of Rushmore is Hot Springs where The Mammoth Site is and it is worth a stop. http://www.mammothsite.org/
Adjusting your route through Waterloo, IA the two John Deere plants and the museum are defiantly worth a stop. (reservations are a good idea). https://www.deere.com/en/connect-with-john-deere/visit-john-deere/factory-tours/

If you are on I-80...
West of Omaha is the Strategic Air Command Museum. https://sacmuseum.org/
There is a very nice car museum in Kearney, NE at the Cabela's. http://www.ccckearney.com/
The Bailey yard in North Platte is a good stop. https://goldenspiketower.com/tours/north-platte/

If you, or anyone in your family, is a fan of the "Little House on the Prairie" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the town of DeSmet, SD is about 30 minutes north of the highway. It's the town the family lived in the last 3 books in the series (don't believe what you saw on the cheesy television show). You can see the actual Ingalls homestead and see some of the places in town, such as the school house and Loftus' store. I was a huge fan of these books when I was a little girl and it's great to get to actually see it with your own eyes, if that sort of thing interests you

The area typifies the westward movement and there are lots of places to visit, including forts and museums.  You'll probably follow at least some of the Lewis and Clark Expedition trail and there are many historical sites along it.  If you're on an interstate highway look for the brow signs that direct you to points of interest.  Also when entering a new state many have visitor centers with all kinds of information (dependent on state budgets these days).  Some are really good and have brochures and maps for different areas of the state.

ArdraF