Leaving Devils Tower, we headed east toward Rapid City, which lies at the far west end of South Dakota where the western mountainous region of the state gives way to the eastern grassy prairie areas that dominate the remainder of the state. Turns out, Rapid City is the perfect home base for a thousand different adventures.

The morning drive from Wyoming into South Dakota was pleasant and shorter than usual. Scenery, wildlife, and sunrises tend to light up our morning drives. As usual, we found a Walmart parking lot to set up for work until lunchtime when we were allowed to check into our site.

At lunchtime, we checked in at the KOA, set up in our spot, and finished the workday, looking forward to another longer stay in one location without travel days. The longer stay in Rapid City was intentional, because the list of planned attractions was long, and also because we wanted to spend time with friends in Rapid City.

My buddy’s truck was incredible. A custom build based upon a 6500HD chassis, sporting 44″ tires and a variety of cool customizations.

Western South Dakota area offers a staggering assortment of significant points of interest, including Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Badlands NP, Custer SP, Wind Cave NP, Jewel Cave NM, Deadwood, Sturgis, the Black Hills National Forest, and many more. We took in as much as we could.

Note that this post is actually four posts. We packed so many experiences into these 10 days that a single post would have been too long. Therefore, the posts for Rushmore, Badlands, and Custer are separate. Here are the links to those posts:

Mount Rushmore National Memorial – Mouse House Adventures

Custer State Park – Mouse House Adventures

Badlands National Park – Mouse House Adventures

We visited Wind Cave National Park but unfortunately the cave itself was closed for the season due to elevator repairs. At least we visited and collected the Passport Stamp, even if we didn’t get to see the star attraction.

We also visited Jewel Cave National Monument, hoping for better luck on the cave front. Unfortunately, cave tours are by appointment only, which book out well in advance. They open up additional same-day appointments each morning, but the available times would have forced us to come back later, sacrificing some other adventure for the return trip. You might be tempted to think 10 days is more than enough, but most of those days were workdays, leaving 3.5 weekend days to cram in all of the good stuff, so we needed to be choosy.

We took the time to visit the inimitable Wall Drug, where we enjoyed the kitschy charm as well as the donuts, but otherwise it wasn’t too much more than an overhyped gift shop.

In addition to Mount Rushmore, we visited Crazy Horse, which is absolutely massive, but pretty far away from the visitor center. You could pay extra for a bus trip closer to the base of the carving, but we lacked the time or the interest. I will be excited to visit in 20 or 30 years when it’s done or close to it.

Also past Mount Rushmore, we stopped at Sylvan Lake, which was a beautiful spot to walk Bella and grab some lunch.

While staying in the Rapid City KOA, we met neighbors who had been full-timing for three years with two cats, traveling with portable outside habitrails and cat harnesses for walks on leashes. However, they also attracted the interest of a local kitty who appeared homeless. They fed and loved the kitty, ultimately contacting a rescue service to help. After someone mentioned they had seen a missing cat posting that might’ve matched the description of this cat, they scrolled back almost a year and found a matching post. Long story short, they reunited this lost kitty with her owner after a long time of being on her own, which was fantastic to watch happen.

While we were in the Rapid City KOA, a lightning storm passe overhead, which lasted almost an hour. It was incredible.

Despite being there for 10 days and 9 nights, we wish we could have spent more time in and around Rapid City. With more time and/or fewer workdays, we would have hiked Jewel Cave, hiked a couple Badlands trails, visited Deadwood, and enjoyed more of Rapid City itself. Maybe next time.