From Colorado we drove for hours and hours and miles and miles up north through the Interstellar-like dusty grain fields of Wyoming – all the way to South Dakota.
“Have you ever been to South Dakota? It’s the most boring state in the nation. As I was flying in, I swear I saw one of the heads on Mount Rushmore yawn.” It’s a line in one of the scenes between Lorelai and Richard in the television series Gilmore Girls. So far my only train of thought when picturing South Dakota.
Luckily South Dakota surprised me immensely. Though I’ve only visited the upper western corner, I figured there was so much to see and to do on the great northern plains. We lacked time in there for sure. So therefore I made a little itinerary for how my ultimate road trip through this state would look like. Nothing boring about it!
Day 1:
9 am – A visit to the presidents of Mt. Rushmore
“This is the best day of my life!” shouted a ten-year-or-so old boy as the four icons started to appear, preparing us for another day of getting up close to that ever-fascinating American spirit ??.
Born in Europe, I’ve partially been raised and fed by and with the soft culture of the USA. Whether I like it or not. Perhaps because of that I really wanted to see the iconic monument that is Mt. Rushmore National Memorial, too. Just like that boy.
Though I’m usually disappointed to see something that is so famous in real life, I was absolutely fascinated by the monument. The presidents pictured – from left to right: Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln) seem so insanely detailed and lifelike, what a piece of work that must have been – especially considering the size of the memorial! No wonder the construction of took 14 years, from 1927 to 1941.
We spend our entire morning at Mt. Rushmore and not just because of the monument itself, but because it was also super interesting to read the stories of how Mt. Rushmore became to be and to see what a sense of pride grew among all of the other visitors once they saw this landmark. It is for them as American as their flag. It felt like we were on the ultimate all-American trip. Read more about our experience in here!
1 pm – Crazy Horse Memorial
After the construction of Mt. Rushmore National Memorial, the chief of the Lakota tribe, Standing Bear, asked one of the sculptors who worked on the landmark to make another memorial, one for the Native Americans. “Because the whitemen have to know that the redmen have heroes too”.
Crazy Horse Memorial is currently the world’s largest mountain carving and it’s enormous indeed. Sculptor Korzcak Ziolkowski – from Polish descent – agreed to Standing Bear to take the job and started a couple of years later in 1948 – spending the rest of his life on it.
With the pledge he made to Standing Bear, Ziolkowski not only changed the course for his entire life, but also his entire family. His wife worked along with him for decades and currently his sons and grandsons are working at the construction site. As long as they’ll be having offspring, this piece of private land will be secured for this project. Currently a team of fourteen people works five days a week to finish the native American memorial bit by bit.
Now I’d never heard of this memorial, so when we drove up to it I came in with low expectations. But it was just amazing to see what a piece of work is created in here. The memorial is depicting the Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota named Crazy Horse on his, well, horse. After 70 years of work the Ziolkowski family managed to get his head ‘out of’ the mountain.
It’ll take quite some extra years to finish the memorial.
Day 2:
9 am – Wind Cave National Park
As you drive through the large, open grass prairies of South Dakota, you wouldn’t expect to be above one of the most mazed caves in the world. Nevertheless a parallel world is out there to be explored. Right beneath your feet.
Wind Cave National Park is squeezed between the Black Hills National Forest to the west and Custer State Park to the north. Established in 1903 by President Roosevelt, Wind Cave is one of the oldest national parks in the country.
The cave is considered super special for several reasons: because it’s (currently) the 6th longest one in the world with 140 miles / 226 km of explored cave passageways, because it has the most “boxwork” formations in the world and due to all of the air flowing through it. Obviously that last characteristic gave the cave its name.
Read more about a visit to Wind Cave national park in here!
1 pm – Jewel Cave
If you can’t get enough of cave dwelling, nearby Jewel Cave National Monument might be a fine addition to your afternoon programme. I haven’t seen it myself from the inside (only the park around it), but Jewel Cave is said to be way more colourful than Wind Cave.
It’s also a lot bigger ánd you might see some stalactites and stalagmites in here, now that you’ve missed out on those in Wind Cave :).
4 pm – Minuteman Missile man National Historic Site
During the Cold War, a vast arsenal of nuclear missiles were placed smack right in the middle of the Great Plains. The Minuteman Missile was an iconic weapon in the American nuclear arsenal and was kept on constant alert for decades. Of the thousand missiles that were eventually created a couple of hundreds remain today.
It’s a pretty special ideal that you can now can get up close to something that was of such frightening importance for decades. Although the missiles were created with the idea of total destruction, at the same time it was a weapon that thought was needed to keep world peace in order. That contradicting thought is worth a bit of your time.
Day 3:
9 am – Badlands National Park
After a long drive through the Northern Great Plains it seems like the dramatic landscapes of Badlands National Park just appear out of nowhere. The plains just drop into the canyon. Are we on earth in here? I still don’t know for sure if I look back upon those pictures.
As we visited the famous Death Valley in Nevada last year, we couldn’t but compare the two. The resemblance was there for sure: deep canyons, colourful hillsides, towering spires and flat-topped tables can all be found in South-Dakota too.
Located in the middle of the Northern Great Plains the native people have been roaming and hunting these lands – calling them Mako Sica – for ten thousands of years. Or more. Many of them still live near the park.
So why is it named Badlands? This strange, yet beautiful surface doesn’t seem to deserve this name, right? But the first French explorers did seem to think otherwise. Because it was so difficult to cross the area and because there was so little water to be found for them and those horses, they quickly noted them down as ‘mauvaises terres à traverser, meaning “bad lands to cross” on their maps.
Curious what else to see in Badlands? Click here?
8 pm – The light show at Mt. Rushmore
As the entrance ticket for Mt. Rushmore is valid for the rest of the year, make sure you come back at some point for the light show in the evening. The illumination ceremony starts at 8pm and is a great way to end your all-American South Dakota trip!
Do you want to add another day to this itinerary? The Devils Tower in Wyoming is only a 2-hour ride away from Mt. Rushmore!
Here’s where to find the spots of this 3-day itinerary:
