Black Hills, Badlands and Lakes

Black Hills, Badlands and Lakes covers the western half of South Dakota, the high country running from the North Dakota line south to the Nebraska border and from the Wyoming line east to the Missouri River. The terrain is dramatic — the granite-and-pine Black Hills rising 4,000 feet above the surrounding plains (with Black Elk Peak at 7,242 feet, the highest point east of the Rockies), the eroded sandstone-and-clay buttes of the Badlands cutting east, and short-grass prairie filling the rest. Sixteen counties cover the region. Pennington holds Rapid City (the largest city); Custer holds Custer (the gateway to Custer State Park); Lawrence holds Lead and Deadwood (the historic gold-mining and gambling town); Meade holds Sturgis (with the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally each August); Fall River holds Hot Springs and the Mammoth Site; Jackson holds Kadoka and most of Badlands National Park. Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Badlands National Park, Custer State Park, Wind Cave National Park, and Jewel Cave National Monument anchor the major attractions. Most trips here run national-park focused. Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills draw the largest single-stream visitor traffic — most visits combine Rushmore, the Crazy Horse work-in-progress carving, the Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road in Custer State Park, and the Badlands loop drive; Sturgis Bike Week in early August pulls a half-million motorcyclists; Deadwood runs the historic-gambling itinerary year-round.