Hey Guys!
This post continues our time in the Dakotas, Wyoming & Nebraska!
Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here, Day 5 here & Day 6 here. Click here to see links to all of my blog posts
We started our morning with coffee and a pastry that we had purchased from Lynn’s Dakotamart the night before.
We decided to have our breakfast sitting outside on the rooftop since we didn’t really have a place to eat inside our room.
Read reviews for our hotel here
After breakfast, we packed up and checked out of the hotel and headed to our first stop of the day, Custer State Park.
A few more shots of Deadwood before heading out.
Custer State Park is located 1 hr 15 mins from Deadwood.
Our route took us through Rapid City where we passed some of the presidential statues that they have scattered throughout town.
Heading to Custer State Park
As we got closer to the park, the granite peaks started to stand out above the trees.
Custer State Park is South Dakota’s largest state park.
The park encompasses 71,000 acres in the Black Hills and is home to abundant wildlife.
The park offers something for everyone such as rock climbing, camping, hiking, biking, swimming, fishing, and horse back riding.
The park also holds annual events such as the Annual Buffalo Roundup and Buffalo Roundup Arts Festival, the seasonal Volksmarch and the Buffalo Wallow Chili Cookoff.
We had Sylvan Lake as our first stop inside the park.
We drove through Hood Tunnel on the way.
The tunnel measures 10 ft 6″ wide by 9 ft 10 ” tall.
There are several tunnels located in Custer State Park.
About 5 mins past the tunnel is where you will find the beautiful Sylvan Lake Lodge.
The lodge was built in 1937 at a construction cost of $140,008.
There are a few different lodges located inside the park.
Five minutes past the lodge is where you will find Sylvan Lake.
Read reviews for the park here & here for Sylvan Lake
Tip: There is a $20 entrance fee to the park and it’s good for 7 days. Your America the Beautiful pass will not work at state parks. However, you can purchase an annual pass for $30.
After arriving to the lake, we then had the challenge of finding somewhere to park. This place was packed out!
And I could see why, it was breathtaking!
The lake is surrounded by huge granite boulders and beautiful pine trees!
Sylvan Lake consists of seventeen acres and was formed in 1881 when the creek at Sunday Gulch was dammed.
At the lake you will find the Sylvan Store which offers retail & casual dining. Sylvan campground can be found on the other side of the lake.
You can rent canoes, kayaks, stand up paddle boards at the lake and swimming is also permitted.
Tip: There is one visitor center located inside the park
Tip: Motorized watercraft is not permitted on the lake. Besides Sylvan Lake, there are 4 other lakes located in the park.
After finding parking, we started walking around the shore lake trail.
As we approached the lake, I spotted an eagle dive down into the lake and catch a fish!
Unfortunately, I didn’t have my good camera with me so this is the best I could get with my Iphone camera! 🙁
The views here are breathtaking but sadly, shortly after arriving, it started raining pretty hard so we headed back to our car.
Tip: Scenes from the movie, National Treasure II were filmed at the lake
Tip: Click here to read about 8 epic swimming holes in South Dakota
During the spring and summer, lots of storms can pop up in the Dakotas so always keep an eye on the weather!
We decided to continue our drive through the park.
The road we were driving was called the Needles Highway and it’s the most scenic road that runs through the park!
The Needles Highway is 14 miles long and takes you through spectacular granite mountain peaks and pine forests!
The road’s name comes from the needle like granite formations that are seen all along this scenic drive.
The roadway was carefully planned by former South Dakota Governor Peter Norbeck, who marked the entire course on foot and by horseback. Construction was completed in 1922.
Tip: If you don’t want to drive the road yourself, you can book a tour here
The speed limit is 25 mph….it’s also a very twisty and winding road so be prepared with motion sickness medicine if you are prone to getting car sick!
After a few minutes of driving, we arrived to the most popular area on Needles Hwy…the Needles eye and the Needles Eye Tunnel.
There are usually lots of vehicles backed up here because people want to get out and take pictures.
There is room for just a few vehicles to park so you can get out and take pictures before driving through the very narrow tunnel.
The Needles eye is a unique rock formation that sits right outside of the tunnel.
It got it’s name from the opening that was eroded by the wind and rain.
It was really cool!
The tunnel is a one way tunnel so you will have to make sure no one is coming through before you enter.
Thankfully, you can see through to the other end so that makes it much easier to know when you can enter the tunnel!
It’s also very narrow….It’s only 8′ 0″ wide by 9’9″ high!
Tip: Needles Highway closes to vehicles with the first snow of the season and does not reopen until April 1, or later depending on conditions. The trails remains open for hikers, walkers, bikers and skiers.
After exiting the tunnel, we pulled over at an overlook to wait for the rain to pass.
The views from this overlook were beautiful!
The temperature in the park dropped down in the low 50’s during the rainstorm!
While we were waiting for the rain to pass, it started to hail!
Thankfully, it was small hail!
This area is known for their hailstorms and can get hail the size of golf balls!
You will see lots of cars driving around with hail damage!
Tip: Make sure you get the full insurance on your rental car just in case you are caught in one of these damaging hailstorms!
After sitting at the overlook for several minutes, we decided to go eat lunch.
As we were driving through the park, we came up on the Iron Creek Tunnel.
The tunnel is a 9′ 0″ wide x 11′ 4″ tall.
After exiting the tunnel, we saw lots of hail on the sides of the road! It looked like snow!
We also spotted two huge deer …..this was the best picture I could get of them.
Click here for a list of wildlife that can be seen in the park
We decided to eat in the nearby town of Keystone at a place that I had on my list called the Powder House Lodge.
The restaurant was located 12 mins from the Iron Creek Tunnel.
After arriving to the restaurant, we headed inside.
The Powder House Lodge restaurant offers breakfast, lunch and dinner.
You can also book a room or cabin at the lodge and it’s very nice!
Once inside, we were seated right away.
After looking over the menu, I decided on the shaved prime rib dip with fries and the hubby settled on the BLT and fries.
The food was pretty good…a lot better than the Ruby House Restaurant that we had eaten at earlier in our trip!
Read reviews here
After lunch, we decided to head to Mt Rushmore.
It was located 10 mins from the restaurant.
After arriving, our first stop was taking pictures in front of the park sign.
We then continued our drive to the park.
We could see that iconic mountain as we were driving towards the entrance!
I was so excited about seeing Mt Rushmore…you hear about it all of your life but seeing it in person is surreal!
Once you arrive, you will have to pull a ticket at the gate.
There is no entrance fee here but you have to pay $10 to park.
Tip: Your America the Beautiful pass will not cover the parking fee
We were very impressed with how organized the parking was!
After pulling your ticket, you will be directed by attendants on where to park.
There are several parking garages located here!
Tip: Click here to read all about how the parking works
After you park, make sure to take your parking ticket so you can pay for parking and get your ticket validated.
You can do this at one of the many kiosks scattered throughout the park or inside the gift shop or the cafe.
After getting parked, we headed to the monument.
Getting closer!
You can’t see Mt Rushmore without taking lots of selfies lol! 😉
We passed a sculpture of Gutzon Borglum.
He designed the Mt Rushmore sculpture, called Shrine of Democracy, and oversaw the project’s execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln.
In 1927, he began sculpting the 60-foot-high heads of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt on the face of the mountain, and in 1929 the United States government began financing the project, which would become a national memorial.
The walkway to the memorial is lined with flags on both sides…..it’s called the Avenue of Flags.
There are 56 flags that line the walkway.
The 56 flags represent the 50 states, one district, three territories, and two commonwealths of the United States of America.
The flags are arranged in alphabetical order. The names of each state, district, commonwealth or territory are listed on the plaques directly below each flag.
Of course, we had to find the flag of our great state of Tennessee!
It was right beside the South Dakota Flag!
As we approached the end of the viewing area, we took our pictures in front of that iconic and amazing sculpture!
I took more pictures and video here than I can count….it’s just one of those places where you don’t want to miss anything!
But sadly, we did….the visitor center that sits below the top viewing area! 🙁
At the visitor center, you can see the place where Guzton Borglum worked from 1939 to 1941 and view the 1/12th scale model of Mount Rushmore.
You can also hike the Blackberry Trail while you are here.
I think it’s also called the Presidential Loop Trail.
Once we found out that there were 422 stairs on the trail, we quickly decided against it! 😉
Tip: Click here to read about 76 fascinating facts about Mt Rushmore
Thankfully, I had brought in my Cannon 50x zoom lens camera and was able to capture some really good close up pictures of the monument!
After taking way too many pictures, we headed to Carver’s Cafe to purchase some ice cream.
I had read that the cafe served the vanilla ice cream that was the recipe of Thomas Jefferson so, I couldn’t miss trying it!
Once inside the cafe, you can’t miss the ice cream because they have it well signed!
Some years back, Xanterra, the company that manages tourist operations at Mount Rushmore, put out a call to ice cream makers.
Xanterra challenged the makers to craft a vanilla ice cream made using the recipe that was written by Founding Father Thomas Jefferson in 1780.
Jefferson had served the ice cream, which specifically called for Madagascar vanilla bean pods, to visiting diplomats and dignitaries.
Several ice cream makers submitted their samples….Xanterra ended up choosing Pride Dairy as the winner so their vanilla ice cream began being offered at Mt Rushmore!
Mt Rushmore sells about 8k gallons of the vintage vanilla ice cream during an average tourist season!
I ordered a scoop of the vanilla and a scoop of the huckleberry and it was so good!!
The hubby ordered a scoop of the huckleberry and a scoop of the chocolate.
After eating our ice cream, we decided to head back to Custer State Park since it had stopped raining.
Tip: We had our parking ticket validated at the cafe. Once you leave the park, you will need to enter your ticket into the machine at the exit gate. The ticket is good for one year!
As we were driving back to Custer State Park, we passed the profile view of George Washington!
At the Profile View you can get a one-of-a-kind view of George Washington framed by the surrounding rock outcroppings!
This viewpoint is found just a couple of miles outside the entrance to the park.
There was a parking lot located at the viewpoint so you could get a good picture.
I used my cannon camera to get some closeup shots!
After leaving here, we continued our drive to Custer State Park.
See a map of the park here
I couldn’t get over how beautiful this park was!
I’ve read that some people think it should be a national park instead of a state park!
Going through one of the tunnels 
There are a few scenic drives that you can do through Custer State Park and I highly recommend that you do them all!
Besides the Needles Hwy, there is the Iron Mountain Road and the Wildlife Loop Rd.
Since we had gotten rained on at Sylvan Lake, we decided to head back there first so we could hike the trail around the lake.
The lake is located approx. 30 mins from Mt Rushmore.
Tip: There are several lakes inside Custer State Park. There’s also another lake 40 mins from Sylvan called Pactola. It looks beautiful too! You can rent boats on that lake!
After arriving and getting parked, we headed to the trail.
The trail is a 1 mile hike that goes around the lake.
We decided to climb up on some of the huge granite boulders along the shore.
The views from the rocks are incredible!
You definitely want to take the time to climb some of these rocks but be very careful as they are slick and have sheer drop offs!
We climbed up and down several of the boulders along the trail for different views of the lake.
We then continued our walk along the trail.
Parts of the trail are flat while some have rock stairs that you will have to climb.
Views from some of the rocks we climbed along the way.
This short loop trail gives you so many different perspectives of the lake!
Continuing the trail 
You will most likely see rock climbers along the trail as it’s a very popular activity here.
Along the shore trail, you will also see the trail for the popular Sunday Gulch Trail.
This is a 4 mile loop trail that’s rated as hard.
I walked about 50ft down the trail just to snap a quick picture. 
Tip: Click here for a 40 page detailed guide of Custer State Park
As we were walking the trail, we spotted a bald eagle sitting in a nearby tree!
I was able to get some great shots with my cannon camera!
Shortly after spotting the eagle, we saw another eagle flying around and they started fighting!
It was so cool to see!
As we continued our walk, we came to the Sylvan Lake Dam.
Sylvan Lake was created in 1881 when Theodore Reder built a dam across Sunday Gulch.
Tip: Click here for 12 things to do at Sylvan Lake
One section of the trail will lead you through a narrow passageway where you will have to climb several stairs.
It was a bit freaky walking under huge boulders that were balanced above your head between the cliffs!
After walking through this section, you are close to the end of the trail.
The views are breathtaking all along the trail!
After finishing the trail, we continued our drive through the park.
We arrived back at the Needles Tunnel where we were able to get out and take some pictures since the rain had moved out!
The rock formations here are so cool looking!
This was definitely our favorite drive through the park!
Another shot of the Needles Eye
We walked behind some of the rock formations at this stop and discovered some cool places for pictures!
More shots of this area 
After taking our pictures, we headed back to our car so we could drive through the tunnel!
Heading towards the tunnel 
Driving through 
Once you exit the tunnel and drive a little ways, you can look back and get another cool shot of the tunnel!
We made our way to our next stop, the Cathedral Spires trail.
This is a very popular hike and it has very limited parking!
Thankfully, we were able to find a parking spot so after getting parked, we started our hike.
The trail is 1.6 miles round trip and offers incredible views of the granite peaks!
The start of the trail was pretty flat.
I couldn’t get over the views!
Sadly, shortly after starting the trail, it started thundering so we didn’t feel comfortable continuing the trail.
Note: We do go back the next day and hike the trail so I will blog about this trail in my next post.
So, we headed back to our car and continued our drive through the park.
Tip: Another really popular trail inside the park is the Black Elk Peak Loop...it’s 7 miles round trip.
We decided to head to the Wildlife Loop Road.
Highway 16A and the Wildlife Loop Road form the core of the park. This is where you will find most of the wildlife, visitor centers, and lodging in the park.
Our route took us through the Iron Creek tunnel
We passed the Blue Bell Lodge & Resort along the way. This is one of four lodges that are inside the park.
Tip: This place offers a chuck wagon dinner…there are several different ones in this area
Arriving to the Wildlife Loop Road
The loop road is 18 miles and gives you the best opportunity to see the wildlife in Custer State Park.
Tip: Expect a minimum travel time of anywhere between 1.5 and 2 hours to complete the loop that creates a “U” from one end to the other.
Along this road you have a chance to see the “begging burros”, bison, mountain goats, prairie dogs, mountain lions, coyotes, burrowing owls and more!
The road twists and turns its way through the prairie and ponderosa pine.
It’s a beautiful drive!
As we approached a sign for the Bison Center, we noticed several cars were parked alongside the road that led to the center.
It didn’t take us long to see why so many cars and people were gathered along the roads….it was the famous begging burros!
We were so excited to see them as had hoped we would find them!I had found out about them on the Facebook page that I follow!
These burros were added to the park in the 1920s. They were used to carry visitors from Sylvan Lake Lodge to the top of what is now Black Elk Peak. The service stopped in the 1920s and they let them loose in the park.
At one time, there were as many as 100 of these feral donkeys however, the park controls the number of donkeys they allow in the park.
Today, there are only 12 adult donkeys left in the park. Sadly, the Legion Lake Fire in 2017 destroyed many of the herd burros and the park has been rebuilding since then.
During my research, I discovered that the park allows you to feed the donkeys so, we had brought some carrots with us that we had bought at Lynn’s Dakotamart in Lead!
Tip: These are the only animals in the park that you are allowed to feed
Once we got parked, we got out with our bag of carrots and headed to see the donkeys!
Let me tell you, they are not shy if they know you have food….actually, they become aggressive and try to take whatever you have to offer!
My hubby and I took turns feeding them..
It was such a neat experience!
I was disappointed that we hadn’t bought a bigger bag of carrots because it didn’t take long for them to gobble them up!
One of the donkeys had recently given birth .…the baby foal was so cute!
Tip: You need to be cautious around these animals as they can and will kick you!
The begging burrows will walk right up to your vehicle if they think you have food!
After spending a few minutes with the donkeys, we continued our drive.
Not long after leaving the donkeys, we came up on two pronghorns that were sparring!
So many twists and turns!
As we continued our drive, we spotted bison in the distance!
The park is home to approx. 1500 bison.
Tip: If you want to make sure you see the bison in the park, you can book a buffalo safari jeep tour
Shortly after seeing the bison, we exited the Wildlife Loop Rd.
It had taken us approx. 1 hr 15 mins to complete the drive.
Tip: Make sure to drive the gravel roads along the Wildlife Loop….a lot of times that’s where you will find the wildlife
We spotted the Custer State Park sign so stopped to take our picture in front of the sign.
We then headed to our next hotel called, Under Canvas Mt Rushmore.
The majority of our hotels on this trip were very reasonably priced so, I thought I would splurge on at least one of our hotel stays and this was our splurge.
Under Canvas are big tents that you can rent out in the middle of the woods. I thought it looked really cool!
The “hotel” is located in Keystone down a long gravel, bumpy road!
It took us approx 35 mins from the Custer State Park sign to get to our hotel.
Once we were parked, I headed inside the big tent to check us in.
After getting checked in, one of the employees will take you and your luggage to your tent on a golf cart.
After arriving to our tent, the employee offered to take our picture standing in front of the tent.
I had booked one of the star gazing tents.
This tent has a large, clear viewing window above the bed so you can view the night sky!
The tent came with a private bathroom and a wood burning stove but not much more.
Some of the tents don’t come with bathrooms…you have to use a public bathroom near the check in tent.
The tent also comes with two battery powered lamps, two battery packs so you can charge your phones, two battery powered fans, two chairs, two nightstands, firewood and starter, shampoo and conditioner.
When we arrived, the tent was really cold so my hubby had to immediately start a fire!
Tip: The tents have no electricity so, if you need to blow dry your hair, you will need to do it at the community bathroom & you have to keep the pulley handle held down with one hand while you are taking a shower inside the tent!
Read reviews here
After getting settled into our tent, we headed back to the tent where we had checked in as they also had a restaurant located inside that tent.
The restaurant had a very limited menu!
Here’s their menu that I found online but they did not have all of these options when we were there! They had like 4 options for dinner!
We both ended up ordering the grilled pesto chicken sandwich that came with chips.
The sandwich was actually very good!
Tip: They have around 13 under canvas locations throughout the US with the majority of them being close to parks
After dinner, we headed back to Mt Rushmore for the lighting ceremony.
I had read that it wasn’t to be missed so we had to fit it into our itinerary!
After getting parked, we first headed to the gift shop to purchase a t-shirt.
After making our purchase, we headed to find a seat.
The lighting ceremony is held beginning the Friday before Memorial Day to September 30 each year.
From May through early August, the ceremony starts nightly at 9 p.m., and from early August through September 30, it starts nightly at 8 p.m. From October through May, there is no ceremony, but the sculpture is illuminated nightly at sunset.
The ceremony starts with a ranger speaking about the history of the memorial.
Later, he calls for all active and retired military to the stage to be recognized and for the folding of the flag.
At approx. 9:30 pm, they lit up the faces of Mt Rushmore!
It was very cool to see!
The ceremony was very patriotic and we really enjoyed it!
After the ceremony, we headed back to our hotel.
Since we had already paid for parking earlier in the day, we just had to insert our parking ticket at the gate. So, make sure to keep up with your parking ticket if you plan on going more than once during your trip!
We once again passed the profile view of Washington 
After getting back to our hotel, we sat outside on our small deck for a while before calling it a night!
We had clear skies and saw shooting stars right from our bed!
Read reviews here
After watching the stars for a while, we called it a night!
Thanks for reading!
Stay tuned for Day 8!
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