We are heading from DFW up thur OKC to Kansas City day one. Then to Clear Lake Iowa and on to Sioux Falls.

Then we go South Dakota and explore / hike the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Wall, Custer, etc, for 4 days.

Then we head south to Denver for a Red Rocks concert, hike the Manitou Incline and do a day of white water rafting and zip lining.

Then head to Amarillo to hike Palo Duro Canyon and back the next day to DFW.

Anybody been to any of these spots? Any recommendations? Traffic? Crowds?

Gracias.

I did all the things in South Dakota! Stop at all the viewpoints in the Badlands, take time in Custer, crazy horse is weird (and the contrast between it and mt. Rushmore is jarring). If you have time, go to Devil's Tower too!

Wow, Nearly 3000 miles. I hate to add anything, but I'll comment on what I've seen along the route, and let you Google and decide if they are worth your time.

Stillwater if you have college age kids, show them Okie State

Surprised the wife hasn't added Pawhuska, for the "Pioneer Woman" stuff

Woolaroc at Bartlesville if you go to Pawhuska

Airplane museums in Wichita

Eisenhower Museum and birthplace, Abilene

College tour, K State, Manhattan

Ag museum Bonner Springs

Leavenworth is beautiful Army post, has some cool museums

KC, lots of BBQ, some Santa Fe Trail swales, also Civil War battle sites

Truman home and Presidential Library

Omaha has a fantastic Zoo

I assume Clear Lake because of Buddy Holly?

John Deere has some cool museums in Waterloo

Colorado Springs, USAFA is interesting, has some airplanes on sticks

Walsenburg to La Veta to Stonewall to Raton is a beatiful drive

From Raton, the drive on highway 72 over Johnson's Mesa to Folsom is beautiful

Dinosaur trackway at Clayton, Eklund Saloon

XIT business headquarters in Channing

Boys Ranch

Museum closed in Canyon, but PD Canyon is always great.

Charles Goodnight home and grave, Goodnight

Caprock Canyons State Park (my favorite) Cool museum in Quitaque, if you are there on Saturday

Custer is probably the greatest non-national park park in America. Absolutely amazing.

Badlands is fun. Weird landscape and lots of animals. Hike some of the trails like castle. You can go off trail if you want.

Mt Rushmore, might as well see it since you're there. Was highly unimpressed with the lighting ceremony.

Crazy Horse, kind of expensive for what it is. Can see it from the road. Crazy Horse probably wouldn't be happy with it. And they will never finish it.

Here's my trip report from Custer/Badlands SD back in 2023. Hope that helps.

https://texags.com/forums/54/topics/3382866/replies/65043610#65043610

Pro Sandy said:

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Custer is probably the greatest non-national park park in America. Absolutely amazing.

Badlands is fun. Weird landscape and lots of animals. Hike some of the trails like castle. You can go off trail if you want.

Mt Rushmore, might as well see it since you're there. Was highly unimpressed with the lighting ceremony.

Crazy Horse, kind of expensive for what it is. Can see it from the road. Crazy Horse probably wouldn't be happy with it. And they will never finish it.

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yes Custer is one of the top 5 state park in America

I was impressed with lighting ceremony for Mt Rushmore for what is is...lighting up a huge mountside statute...they had fireworks also

If they are doing the Manitob Incline then try to find a great hike in Custer and or Badlands or as someone suggested

If this was in early August for those others thinking about the trip I would people watch the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in that area as well

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

The badlands are so damn ugly they are beautiful.

Custer is an amazing park. Find the buffalo herd. For Mt. Rushmore time it to where you get there at opening. Once it gets busy it loses some of its luster. Crazy horse is cool to see but I could have driven by it and felt the same about it. Money grab. Deadwood was a cool town.

Skip Crazy Horse!!
Custer is awesome.
Deadwood & surrounding places are nice, but a little out of your way.

Just got back from a smaller trip in the area, Denver > Custer > Cody, WY > Denver.

Hot Springs, SD had the Mammoth dig site. It was pretty cool, they found bones while trying to put in a neighborhood. They built a building over it and you can see all they've excavated.

Take the scenic route (Iron Mountain)to Mt Rushmore through the tunnels. We got lucky and had our closest encounter with bison along the way.

Agree with everyone about Custer State Park, it was great!

+1 for Devil's Tower
And if you're at all interested in WWII, I recommend the Eisenhower Museum in Abilene, KS if you can work that in after Wichita.

Rafting: https://maps.app.goo.gl/Zp3GpRAt5gx5fMHn8?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy

Ziplining: https://maps.app.goo.gl/wNYePFaNCp***bWQ6?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy

Been to both, away from the masses and awesome views. Zip lining is over progressively longer and larger canyons.

These are most excellent!

Does anybody know if there are bike trails??

Bear Country USA in Rapid City is well worth it

Made that trip last year. We were heading to northern ID so missed a lot of the suggestions on our way up that we'd like to see and do next trip.

Wish we would have spent more time at Custer State Park than we did. We were only there 4 days. It's on par with most National Parks.

We preferred Crazy Horse over Mt Rushmore. The drive to Rushmore from Custer SP is gorgeous.

It's well worth it if you have time to include Devil's Tower.

We are heading out tomorrow morning (May 27).

Thanks for the info.

I'll give you a trip report in a coupla weeks!

Wind Cave NP borders Custer on the south side. Pretty small, a few hikes and the cave tour.