Pine Ridge is a eye opener.......

dont try to fish the jim river its a waste of time

There is a mammouth dig site in Hot Springs that is really neat.

If you go through the Badlands drop down and take Hwy 44 into Rapid City, much nicer drive then the interstate.
Needles Hwy is a good drive with several pull-outs so you can get out and walk a little. Just make sure nobody in the car has a problem with car sickness, It’s a windy road.

If you like hiking a little do the first 3/4 mile of the Harney peak hike, that gets you to a nice overlook.

Our Vietnam Vet group put a week in SD about 5 years ago. We stopped at all the stated sites in the western area that were mentioned above. We spent 3 nights in Dead Wood. Did Sturgus, Wall Drug, the Minuteman tour and a bus tour through the Badlands and all the other places around Rapid City. If you are going east then I would put a plug in for the Terry Redlin museum at Watertown. We came from WI and took in The spam museum in Austin MN along with the corn palace which to me was not what I had invisioned it to be.

Bryce

Oldest kid will be 18 if she decides to come. I guess I’ll be there the week before the Sturgis rally so bikes everywhere. I’ll check out Devils tower fore sure, I just watched Encounters of the 3rd kind a couple nights ago…lol.

It’s a boring, featureless river compared to the big sioux, but ive caught some really good channels and it usually has enough water to get a boat around.

1880"s town at midland...spearfish museum of the plains. Have a plains wolf killed there over 100 yrs ago..big one. Last plains wolf killed there they say. Hatchery is awesome...many ghosttowns...Tinton at the back of spearfish up the canyon.

If you're planning to spend the night in motels anywhere around the Black Hills area during Sturgis you might try to get reservations beforehand.
We went through there on vacation one year during Sturgis. Couldn't find any motel rooms. Finally found a guy in Murdo that rented us a tent for 75 bucks to spend the night in. Motels were full up all the way to Chamberlain.

On the contrary, I would skip the corn palace. In fact I would skip Mitchel all together!

The Mammoth site in Hot springs is a great place. Plan for a few hours.

x2 on the mammoth dig. I wouldn't go anywhere near Sturgis, we were there once and the traffic and people were horrible. Needles highway,Deadwood and Mount Rushmore were packed. Bear country was nice if you have kids or city folk. Badlands were cool. We went to a ranch rodeo at Edgemont that was quite a bit different than a pro rodeo.

Get up and out early in the morning. Even during Sturgis week it isn't bad in the am.

Are there any sites that are wheelchair accessible? Not to hijack the thread.

I would think all the National Park stuff would be. The Minute Man Delta 1 tour isn’t though. Supposed to be able to climb two 15’ ladders in case the elevator fails.
I’ll pass through Sturgis but will probably stay at Spearfish for a couple night, maybe one in Rapid city. Will book rooms after our Delta 1 tour confirmation. Apparently very tough to get spots.

I lean this way as well. It’s a pretty cool state.

If wifey is a casino buff, plot out the casino stops in the route and then drop her off and come back in 3 hours after your visits with some fellow trapper in the area.
You never know what will happen, Boco had to do it and wandered onto a car dealership lot and drove off with his new truck.

Take a horseback trail ride. Allows you to get out of the rat race, off the paved roads into the backcountry. Guides are generally interesting to talk with. Just a slower pace and get to see it more like the pioneers. Saddle up.

Free ice water

Look up "tourist trap" in the dictionary and there is a picture of Wall Drug.