Is your family planning an epic cross-country family road trip this summer? If you’ve never been to South Dakota, this is a fantastic state to visit.
The stark, natural beauty here is unparalleled, and the rock formations become a playground of natural wonders…and I MEAN playground! Kids will LOVE rock climbing, sliding, scampering and scurrying throughout this park.
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The Black Hills National Forest is the main attraction/backdrop for this entire region which covers over a million acres of land and spans two states…western South Dakota and the northeast corner of Wyoming.
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Get a glimpse of the legendary presidential sculptures, stop in the museum, take the easy 0.6 mile Presidential Trail (loop) that gets you up close and personal with this beautiful sculpture.
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The Crazy Horse Memorial is just 16 miles west of Mount Rushmore, and worth a couple of hours of your time to learn the history, and see the ongoing progress on this tribute to Lakota warrior Crazy Horse.
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If you have a budding paleontologist in the family, then you’ll want to spend a bit of time in the Museum of the Black Hills Institute, which boasts a huge private fossil collection.
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I did this as a kid, and took my own kids there 20 years later, and they loved it as much as I did in the 1990s.