Badlands and Black Hills Adventure

Today we’ll arrive at Rapid City Airport and take our group private ground transportation to Badlands National Park (90 min. drive). On the way, we’ll make a couple interesting stops. First is Wall Drug Store. It’s one of those all-American roadside attractions that is anything but your average drug store. It’s like a sort of Walmart type store from 100 years ago in the west. A real cool place to meander around for an hour or two. They have souvenirs, restaurants (where you can get their famous 25 cent coffee and free water), clothing stores, and just about everything and anything you can imagine with an old timey and wild west flare. Next up is the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. At the height of the cold war, America had an intercontinental ballistic missile here ready for blast off to hit the Soviet Union in a matter of minutes at speeds of 15,000 mph. We’ll check-in to our accommodations at Cedar Pass Lodge inside Badlands National Park and gather for our welcome dinner. (D)

After breakfast, we will hike the Notch Trail, which is a 1.3 mile out and back that features a fun wooded swingy type of stair you have to ascend and then eventually descend on the side of a small cliff. The hike leads up to a lookout point. We can also hike the Door Trail, an easy 1 mile out and back with sweeping 360-degree views. Badlands park really turns into something completely different around sunrise/sunset. The otherwise grayish looking rock formations start to take on a reddish and purple color scheme and "pop" more for pictures. We’ll head back out again for a scenic sunset drive to lookout points. We may even spot a Bighorn Sheep, majestically relaxing in the saddle of a cliff. Overnight Cedar Pass Lodge. (B, D)

After breakfast, we’ll drive to the Black Hills area (90 minutes). It’s an almost completely different type of landscape than Badlands, granite hills and mountains covered in evergreen trees. We’ll hike the Black Elk Trail, which is a 6-mile loop that takes you up to the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains (7,200 ft.). At the top is a historic stone fire tower and amazing views. No trip to South Dakota is complete though without stopping to see the mountain carving landmarks of Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. We check-in to the historic State Game Lodge and enjoy our farewell dinner. (B, D)

After breakfast, we’ll enjoy a short nature walk near the lodge (watch out for the buffalo that are roaming around!) and if there’s time, explore the small downtown of Rapid City before heading to the airport for our flights back home. (B)