Growing up between Caracas, Venezuela and the vast quiet of the American West, South Dakota didn’t exactly dazzle me as a child. With my mother, a South Dakota native and my father from just across the border in Wyoming, Spearfish — a small city tucked near the northern edge of the Black Hills — became our seasonal anchor, in summers and winters, year after year. Back then, the draw was family, not place. That changed as I got older. Returning from wherever life had taken me — and it took me many places — South Dakota became an escape. A chance to go quiet, to recharge, and reset before heading back out into the world. Three years ago, I moved here with my kids full-time to be closer to family. And yet for all that history, or maybe because of it, I’ve never fully explored what the Black Hills has to offer. The region covers 6,000 miles of highland terrain, rolling forested hills, and carved valleys and canyons. But beyond established landmarks such as Mount Rushmore National Memorial and Custer State Park, most of it goes quietly undiscovered.
As a mother of three and a firm believer that travel — no matter the distance — and shared experiences are essential to a well-rounded childhood, I say this with some context: my older two were raised across continents. My daughter was born in Miami, my son in Zurich, and between us we’ve lived in Mexico City, and spent seven years navigating life in Switzerland. They’ve grown up understanding that the world is larger and more varied than any single place. So when I say I’ve also come to value the quieter idea that children don’t always need a separate world built for them, I mean it. Kade (my partner) and I made this trip with my youngest in tow — six months old and already on her first road trip.
Folding children into the rhythms of everyday life rather than building a separate itinerary around them — that balance feels especially natural in a place like this. Beyond the handful of dedicated kid-friendly stops, what the region offers most generously is space itself — open landscapes, accessible trails, and the kind of unstructured time that invites exploration. Often, that is what children remember most: not a curated experience, but the freedom of simply being in it. Dirty hands, scraped knees, the burn of a long climb rewarded by a view — the Black Hills delivers all of it, and finally has a small but growing number of considered places to stay.
Kade, Esme, and I started our trip in Wall and the Badlands, working our way west through the Southern Hills (Hill City, Custer, and Keystone), then winding our way home to Spearfish.
Wall Drug/Badlands
Somewhere along the highway, the signs begin. Hundreds of them, counting down the miles with promises of homemade pie, free ice water, and a five-cent coffee that feels like a relic from another era. By the time you reach Wall, South Dakota, you’ve already been welcomed. Wall Drug started as a small drugstore, opened by Ted and Dorothy Hustead in 1931, but it was Dorothy’s idea to offer free ice water to passing travelers that quietly set everything in motion. Decades later, their son expanded it into a sprawling roadside institution: restaurant, gift shop, chapel, fudge counter, and more, anchored by an 80-foot dinosaur that has greeted travelers for generations. For families making the drive, it’s a perfect place to stop, stretch your legs, grab a bite to eat, and let the kids burn off some energy before the road pulls you onward.
Strictly speaking, Badlands National Park isn’t part of the Black Hills — it sits on the open plains to the east. But its proximity and sheer dramatic impact made it impossible to leave out. Think of it as the perfect introduction to the region. From Wall, it’s a short drive to the eastern entrance of Badlands National Park — close enough that it makes a natural first stop on any westward route through here. Unlike some of the more trafficked national parks, where crowds can define the experience as much as the landscape itself, the Badlands has a quieter quality to it — even in season, you can find yourself moving through it with almost no one else in sight.
We intentionally timed our arrival for late afternoon, knowing how the light transforms the scenery. The rock formations pull out colors that feel almost artificial as the sun drops: deep ochre, dusty lavender, bone white. We wound through the park road slowly, the landscape shifting with every bend, until the last of the sun disappeared behind the ridgeline. The park is open around the clock, but if you can time your visit for early morning or late afternoon, the light alone makes it worth planning around.
An Overnight in Rapid City
Rapid City sits about an hour from the Badlands, making it a natural place to end the day. As a quick stopover before heading into the Southern Hills, downtown is the most convenient base — the historic Alex Johnson is a solid option, with easy access to restaurants, cafes, and shops. For breakfast, Tally’s Silver Spoon and The Sour are both worth the stop, and Toastique is a good lighter option. One to watch: Flatlander, a new cafe expected to open this summer. Dinner at Ma Cualli Downtown or Delmonico Grill, and if the evening calls for it — and the kids allow — Windsor Block Bar makes for a good nightcap.
Culture & Kid Friendly if you have more time:
- Dahl Arts Center – An art gallery containing five rotating contemporary galleries, a year-round Artists Market, and class experiences.
- Dinosaur Park – A park that opened in 1936. It contains seven dinosaur sculptures on a hill overlooking the city.
- South Dakota Air & Space Museum – An aviation museum located in Box Elder, just outside the main gate of Ellsworth Airforce Base.
- Reptile Gardens – A reptile focused zoo.
- Bear Country – A drive-through wildlife park and zoo, hosting wildlife such as bears, wolves, elk, mountain lions, and buffalo.
- The Journey Museum – A museum dedicated to the people, cultures and science behind the ancient Black Hills and prairies of Western South Dakota.
The Southern Hills
The next morning we took our time — a necessity with a six month old in tow — following a loose plan for the day before checking in to Under Canvas, a place I had been looking forward to finally seeing for myself.
Custer State Park – Wildlife Loop Road
The first stop of the day was Wildlife Loop Road in Custer State Park, one of the largest state parks in the country, at 71,000 acres. The park is known for many things — Scenic Byways like Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road, Sylvan Lake, surrounded by rugged granite formations, and Black Elk Peak, the highest point in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains — but it is perhaps best loved for its free-roaming bison herd and the sense that wildlife here simply goes about its business, indifferent to the cars that slow to watch. Coming from Rapid City, we entered through the East Entrance and drove the 18-mile stretch of hills and grassland that winds through the heart of the park, a loop that takes roughly an hour and a half at an easy pace. Early morning and late afternoon tend to bring the most wildlife activity, but we had no shortage of sightings — mule deer, pronghorn antelope, mountain goats, prairie dogs popping up along the roadside, bison grazing in the open grass, and the park’s famously bold wild burros.
Buffalo Roundup – If you happen to be visiting the area on the last Friday in September, you can watch as men and women saddle up to bring in a herd of more than 1,300 bison, also known as the annual Buffalo Roundup.
Hill City
Exiting the Wildlife Loop via the West Entrance/Exit, we made a quick stop at Bismarck Lake — a popular spot for non-motorized boating, fishing, and hiking — which provided a serene setting for bottle time before heading over to Hill City
Like many of the small towns scattered through the Black Hills, Hill City is easy to cover in a few hours — but those hours are well spent. It’s home to the 1880 Train, a vintage steam-powered locomotive running a scenic route between Hill City and Keystone that is a natural hit with kids, as well as a trailhead for the Mickelson Trail — a 109-mile route through the Black Hills National Forest open to hikers, cyclists, and horseback riders. The town also has a rich paleontological history; the Black Hills Institute, one of the most notable fossil research and preparation facilities in the world, is based here, a reminder that the hills hold more than scenery.
After walking the main street and poking into a few shops — worth noting is the Alpine Inn, a popular restaurant and historic landmark serving a straightforward lunch and dinner menu of German-European food — we headed to Cohort Brewery, just as you’re leaving town on the main highway. It’s a great little spot — craft beer, a food truck, and a big grassy outdoor area where the kids can run around while the adults settle in. When my two older kids are with me, I am always on the lookout for places that allow children a little freedom without sacrificing anything for the grown-ups, and this one delivers on both counts.
From Hill City, Keystone is a short drive east — and just beyond it, tucked into the pines, is where we were spending the next two nights.
Keystone – Under Canvas
We arrived at Under Canvas just after three, with the rest of the day ahead of us and nowhere else to be. Situated approximately 20 minutes from Hill City and 30 minutes from Custer State Park, it makes a natural base for a couple of days spent exploring the area. Located just outside Keystone, Under Canvas Mount Rushmore is an upscale, safari-inspired glamping experience set among the pines on a historic gold-mining claim, where the accommodations are polished but the setting does most of the talking.
Welcomed by the friendly staff, we were escorted to our Stargazer tent, nestled in its own quiet corner of the property — removed enough to feel private, yet only a short two minute walk to the main lodge. The tent struck a balance that is harder to achieve than it sounds — genuinely comfortable, with a large bed, full bathroom, and a wood burning stove to take the chill off the night, while still feeling connected to the outside in a way that a hotel room never quite manages.
We made the decision to stay close to camp for the evening — sometimes with a baby, a slow evening is exactly what is called for, and Under Canvas made that an easy and worthwhile choice. The main lodge area has a warmth to it that invites lingering — food, drinks, and live music creating an unhurried atmosphere where guests drift naturally between the casual indoor dining area and the outdoor spaces beyond. A viewing deck overlooks endless pine trees with Mount Rushmore visible in the distance, and on a calm evening it is the kind of place where time passes without you noticing. As the night settled in, s’mores provisions became available from seven to nine, and with campfires scattered throughout the property, it’s a reminder that it’s not really camping without them — however upscale the tent.
One thing that struck me was the energy of the kids on the property — running around freely, wifi and device free, wholly absorbed in simply being outside. There is something quietly radical about it in this day and age. Out here, children don’t need to be entertained. The space does it for them.
Kid-Friendly Adventure Parks
Custer & Custer State Park – Norbeck Overlook & Needles Highway
Our first morning in the Southern Hills was an early one. Woken by the chill in the air — the wood stove having burned out sometime in the night — we decided to make the most of the early morning light and get moving. First on the list was Mount Rushmore, though having seen the monument several times from the main viewing terrace, I opted for a different approach this time. The Norbeck Scenic Byway offers something the standard visit doesn’t — one-lane tunnels carved through the rock that frame Mount Rushmore in the distance. Stop at one of the pull offs to take it in, or drive to the Norbeck Overlook for a dedicated viewing point above the valley. We arrived just after sunrise, the sky clear and the light still low, casting long shadows across the carved faces and giving the stone a depth and dimension. The first time I saw the monument it felt smaller than I had imagined. But each time since, the scale of what it took to carve four faces into the side of a mountain begins to settle in — and that morning, with the colors moving across the rock, it was hard not to be moved by it.
From there we wound along hairpin turns, over the spiraling pigtail bridges, and into Needles Highway — a fourteen-mile stretch named for the dramatic needle-like granite spires that rise up around it — with views urging you to take your time as you take it all in.
My original plan had been to head to the town of Custer for breakfast. I had been told I had to try Hjem, a restaurant serving Scandinavian-American breakfast and brunch — not to be confused with its well-known James Beard nominated sister restaurant, Skogen, located a few blocks apart, which serves dinner. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to make sure they were open on a Monday until that morning, and sure enough they were closed. Plan B had us finishing our drive through the needles, over past Sylvan Lake and up to Sylvan Lake Lodge, which serves a nice breakfast in their elegant dining room.
Driving Needles Highway is one thing — the beauty passes by in glimpses. But I wanted to get into it, to experience the formations up close rather than through a windshield. Walking among them is another experience entirely, and the area offers several trails for a range of ages and abilities, each with sweeping views of the surrounding hills. We were torn between the Black Elk Peak trail, a seven-mile loop beginning at Sylvan Lake and finishing at a historic stone fire lookout tower, and the Little Devils Tower trail, a three-mile route with a bit of rock scrambling near the top. In the end, with Esme along for her first hike, we opted for something shorter to see how she’d take to it.
The Little Devils Tower trail proved to be a great choice — manageable and kid-friendly for most of the route, with only the rock scramble near the summit requiring a little extra care. Taken slowly, it’s well within reach. The payoff at the top is considerable: an almost 360-degree view of the cathedral spires and granite formations, endless pine stretching across the hills in every direction, and the historic stone fire lookout tower visible in the distance.
The next morning we grabbed a quick breakfast at the lodge, packed our stuff and headed out toward Spearfish.
Attractions and Monuments in the area
- Black Hills Balloons – For a completely different view of the hills, a sunrise balloon ride reveals the landscape in a way that is impossible to replicate from the ground.
- Jewel Cave National Monument
Additional hikes of note
- Sylvan Lake – a short and simple hike around the lake which is scenic and perfect for little kids.
- Cathedral Spires Trail – A moderately challenging and highly rewarding hike, the trail begins flat and approachable before giving way to a steep boulder scramble that demands good traction and the use of your hands.
The Mystic – Rochford Route on Our Way to Spearfish
From Under Canvas, Spearfish is the final leg — and there are two ways to get there. The faster route follows Highway 385 north through Pactola Lake, the largest and deepest reservoir in the Black Hills, and is scenic enough to make it worthwhile in its own right. The route I chose, however, was one I hadn’t traveled before — through Mystic and Rochford, a stretch of highway that eventually gives way to dirt roads, limited cell service, and a quiet that feels genuinely remote. Mystic began as a placer mining encampment in 1876 and is now considered a ghost town; Rochford had similar beginnings but hangs on, home to somewhere between ten and twenty-five permanent residents depending on the season. It is not the most practical route, but it felt like the right one — a road that the Black Hills hadn’t shown me yet.
If time allows, the Mystic Trailhead sits right along this road and makes for a natural detour — the stretch of the Mickelson Trail heading north toward Lead is arguably the most scenic of the entire 109 miles.
Spearfish/Spearfish Canyon
Pulling back into Spearfish at the end of four days felt different than I expected. There was a deeper appreciation for the place I now call home — for the natural beauty that surrounds it and the quiet realization that I have barely scratched the surface. Endless trails, backroads, scenic drives, and outdoor adventures that could fill a lifetime of weekends.
For visitors, Spearfish makes an excellent base — or a worthy final stop. The town itself has a relaxed confidence to it, with a handful of spots worth lingering over. Antunez is the place for a proper sit-down meal paired with great wine, while Les Deux brings an unexpected dose of city energy — a coffee shop plus wine bar that feels like it was lifted straight from an urban neighborhood and set down quietly in the Black Hills. Sawyers is a natural stop for families — pizza, craft beer, and an outdoor space along the creek where picnic tables spill down to the water’s edge. Kids have a way of finding each other there, congregating and running around while the adults settle in with a cold drink. For those staying longer, the A-Frames offer modern, self-contained bungalows that are exactly what they sound like — simple, stylish, and well suited to the surroundings. Shortgrass Resort takes a different approach, a luxury (kid-free) property with a nature-forward sensibility that feels rooted in the local landscape rather than lifted from somewhere else.
The real draw, though, is Spearfish Canyon — a dramatic limestone gorge carved by Spearfish Creek, laced with trails and punctuated by waterfalls. Bridal Veil Falls and Roughlock Falls are both accessible and worth the short walk, while Spearfish Creek itself is a noted spot for fly fishing, drawing anglers who come for the cold, clear water and the quiet. The ’76 Trail offers a longer, more immersive hike through the canyon. For those who prefer their adventure motorized, renting an ATV to explore the backroads opens up a different side of the canyon entirely. The Spearfish Canyon Lodge and its Latchstring Restaurant sit at the heart of it all, making a natural stopping point for a meal or a night.
If you can time it right, hike Crow Peak at the end of the day and watch the sun go down over the hills. Or rise early and catch it coming up. Either way, it is the kind of view that has a way of putting things in perspective — a fitting final note for a place that, once you slow down enough to see it, turns out to have been extraordinary all along.
A Final Detour — Devils Tower
For those heading out of the region, a small detour is worth building in before you go. Taking Highway 85 North out of Spearfish, and cutting over West on Highway 34 in Belle Fourche, rather than taking the main highway, adds little time but considerably more scenery — a winding, unhurried route through open ranchland and rolling hills that sets the tone for what awaits. Devils Tower, just across the Wyoming border, is one of those landmarks that stops you in your tracks no matter how many times you’ve seen a photograph of it. Walk the base trail and take your time. It’s a fitting last stop as you head onward to the next adventure.
A note on Deadwood & Lead
No trip through the Black Hills would be complete without at least acknowledging Deadwood and Lead, two towns whose names carry considerable weight in the region’s history. Deadwood in particular — a former gold rush boomtown and the site of Wild Bill Hickok’s infamous last card game — has a story worth knowing. Today it operates largely as a gaming and entertainment destination, which makes it better suited to an adults-only detour than a family itinerary. Lead, just a few minutes up the road, is quieter and home to the Sanford Underground Research Facility, built within a historic gold mine. Worth a stop for the curious, but on this particular trip, with a six month old in tow, we kept moving.
A note on Hot Springs
An hour south of the Southern Hills towns, Hot Springs sits at the lower edge of the Black Hills and is worth the detour for those with time to spare. One of the more characterful towns in the region, its warm sandstone architecture gives it a distinctive feel that sets it apart.
- Art House – An art gallery set in a historic opera house, showcasing artists from the region.
- Moccasin Springs Natural Mineral Spa – A natural mineral hot springs spa offering soaks in the natural hot spring water and your typical spa services.
- Mammoth Site – The Mammoth Site is a museum and paleontological site near Hot Springs, South Dakota, in the Black Hills. It is an active paleontological excavation site at which research and excavations are on-going.
- Evans Plunge – A fun option for families. An expansive indoor pool fed by a thermal spring, offering naturally warm mineral waters and slides.
- Wind Cave National Park – Known for the vast, underground Wind Cave. Notable for its calcite formations known as boxwork, as well as its frostwork.
- The Silk Road Restaurant – An unexpected and welcome find. Pakistani cuisine in the heart of Hot Springs.
The Black Hills has a way of revealing itself slowly, and only to those willing to look. It feels like a well-preserved secret, one that rewards curiosity and a sense of adventure in equal measure.
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