South Dakota Trip plus adventures at Pipestone National Monument and Devil's Tower National Monument
- FamilyTentAdventures
- Jan 8
- 22 min read
Updated: Jan 9
This trip signaled the beginning of our upstairs remodel. Our kitchen was demolished the day before we left so the contractor could work on it while we were gone. He was going to continue the demolition while we were gone, including taking down walls! It was nice to be gone as much as possible this summer since we didn't have a kitchen at home. In the spring we purchased a new to us 2004 pop-up camper. On this trip, we were trying it out for the second time.
Day 1 - June 15, 2024
We usually make coffee before we hit the road. Well, our with our kitchen demolished and camp stove packed, we left the house without coffee at 7:45 a.m. We stopped at Caribou Coffee in New Ulm, MN at 9:40 a.m. We were able to go to the bathroom and grab coffee.
We arrived at Pipestone National Monument at 11:50 a.m. It had started to rain right before we arrived. We toured the visitor center, watched the video, went on a walk, and returned to the visitor center so the kids could finish their Junior Ranger Books. We were thankful that the rain was light so we didn't get too wet, unfortunately our rain gear was backed in the truck and we didn't want to get everything wet by opening up the bed. We really enjoyed our time there and had a good time watching the artist. I wish we had more time there, but we really needed to keep going. It was so interesting to learn about the Indigenous people who have considered this a sacred place for thousands of years.
We got back in the truck at 1:30 p.m. and ate our packed lunch on the road. When we got back on the road, I started driving. This was the first time I drove with the pop-up. And it really started to rain too! I was surprised how easy it felt to pull the pop-up as I hadn't towed anything before. I made sure I had extra room when I needed to change lanes, and didn't take it too fast. The truck was so quite after lunch as everyone else fell asleep even Marcus!
Eating in the truck is one of the times I miss the van. Even though we had a small lunchbox cooler with our lunch, there wasn't really a good place to put it when we were done, or while we were eating. We put it right back in the bed of the truck at the next stop.
We stopped in Hartford, South Dakota for gas and a bathroom break. At 4:00 p.m. we stopped at the White Lake Rest Area for a bathroom break. We got off of I-90 and got gas before heading to the park. We entered the park at 5:40 p.m. MDT. We were using P's 4th grade pass (free for 4th graders and who is in their car with them), so we gave them the print off for her certificate, the park ranger ask P some questions, then handed her the pass. She enjoyed being the holder of the pass, and the park rangers asking her questions about the parks she's visited. We arrived at the Cedar Pass Campground at 5:50 p.m.
We had just gotten the pop-up set up and there was a huge storm with rain, lightning, and winds at least 45 mph. Thank goodness for the pop-up, I was able to make dinner inside - something we didn’t think we’d do. The food was ready just before 8:00 p.m. MDT, which is 9:00 p.m. CDT and boy were we hungry. The winds during this storm where hitting the pop-up straight on, which was a little scary for us. Marcus held his hand up against the solid top of the pop-up by the door so it wouldn't rock so much. We were however very happy to be dry, able to eat, and have more space than we've typically had in a tent. We talked with others that camped in this storm, one in A-Frame pop-up, and one in a big RV and they both said they felt their campers rock a lot in that storm as well.
After the storm rolled through, there was a beautiful double rainbow. It was nice to get out and stretch for a bit outside in the post storm calm. There were also a ton of tents that looked like they were destroyed, and several that looked flooded.
Day 2 - June 16, 2024
A sever thunderstorm with strong winds rolled through again around 2:30 a.m. This time, the winds were not hitting us quite straight on, which felt a little better. However, Marcus and I were up quite a bit as the wind was hitting our bed end.
We woke up, had breakfast and headed to the visitor center. We arrived at the visitor center right at 8:00 a.m. to pick up maps and Junior Ranger books. After the visitor center we attended the Geology Walk at 8:30 a.m. which started at the Door Trailhead. It was really interesting and we had fun exploring the area afterwards.
After the geological talk, we had a quick bathroom break and headed to the the notch trail. The kids thought this hike was a lot of fun. It was neat to get to the end and see so far.
We returned to camp at 11:00 a.m. Rested and made panini for lunch. After lunch we headed back to the visitor center to stop by the Fossil Preparation Lab. We all found the lab really interesting. It was cool to hear what they have found, and what they were currently working on. The kids thought it was so funny when they were told that fossils will stick to their tongues, but rocks wont.
We found a spot on the side of the road to look for fossils. Marcus found a fossil, but in the process, Marcus stepped in mud, and V had to use the bathroom, so we returned to camp. At camp the kids decided they wanted to play in the mud, and got absolutely covered!
We had turkey burgers and pasta for dinner, then headed to the showers. We were going to bed at 9:30 p.m. MT which is 10:30 CT and they kids where exhausted. It was starting to lightning again as we were going to bed.
Day 3 - June 17, 2024
The sever thunderstorms with strong winds hit us at 2:00 a.m. and again at 5:00 a.m. This the winds were hitting our bed so the kids weren't feeling it as much, but we could feel it lifting our bed end, which was a little scarry.
In the morning we made pancakes, bacon, and eggs for breakfast. Then we drove to Sheep Mountain Table. Highly recommend! This place so so neat. We really enjoyed the views. We parked on the side of the road for a while and found so many neat fossils! The we were all excited to share our finds (by pictures and location) at the visitor center when we returned.
We drove to White River visitor center. It was great to chat with the park rangers in this visitor center. It was windy and sprinkling a little, but we were able to have a quick lunch outside on the picnic tables. We wanted to go to the Red Shirt Table overlook, but it was so cloudy and raining, so we couldn’t see anything. At this point the kids had fallen asleep. As I was driving us back, everyone was asleep and it was so foggy out. It was sprinkling a little as well.
We drove straight to the Ben Reifel Visitor Center to get there before they closed at 4:30 p.m. We arrived right at 4:00 p.m. and were able to report the fossil finds and the kids received patches.
We got back to camp and made broccoli beef for dinner. The weather cooperated and we were able to go to the 9:00 p.m. ranger program. It was a good program and the kids enjoyed the show. We got back to camp and got in our sleeping bags at 10:00 p.m.
There were storms and strong winds again overnight night.
Day 4 - June 18, 2024
We had eggs with hash browns and bacon for breakfast. At 8:45 a.m. we left to drive the loop. At 8:50 a.m. we stopped to hike Saddle Pass trail. This was a great hike with great views. It was really windy at the top!
We saw a sheep at the White River overlook. From there, we stopped at the Pinnacles over look at 10:18 a.m. Then we headed to the Yellow Mounds Overlook, we have fun exploring these mounds a little bit. The kids found them so interesting. Then we were on to Burns Basin Overlook at 11:39 a.m. It was so windy that the kids didn't want to explore too much.
We got back to camp at 12:07 p.m. and make piadas for lunch and V took a nap. At 3:19 p.m. we headed to the Fossil Trail and enjoyed exploring around there. It wasn't so windy and the sun had come out making it warmer. At 4:55 p.m. we got back in the truck and headed to the lodge for Indian Tacos. At camp we showered and got ready for the evening program.
We went to the 9:00 p.m. evening program. We wanted to stay for the night sky portion of the show, but the kids were getting tired and cold. We looked through the telescope and saw the moon. As we started walking back to camp, it started lightning again. We got back to camp and the kids were asleep by 10:00 p.m.
Day 5 - June 19, 2024
We had some time to kill before our Minuteman Missile Site tour. So we had a filling breakfast of eggs, sausages, and cheese sandwiches. Then we packed up camp and drove to the the Missile Site visitor center and arrived at 11:20 p.m., we spent time checking out the visitor center. At 12:00 p.m. we headed to Delta Site 09, and we arrived at 12:12 p.m.
We then headed to Delta Site 01 and arrived at 12:41 p.m. We ate lunch on the tailgate while we waited for our tour. Unfortunately, I somehow missed getting 5 tickets for the tour, so only P and I did the tour. I think what happened is I had all of the tickets in the cart, and it bumped out the kids tickets when someone booked them before I did. We left the Delta Site 01 at 3:18 p.m.
The kids asked to make a stop in Wall Drug, we'd been before so it was easy to make it quick. We also mad a quick stop to pick up some more groceries. We left Wall, SD at 4:30 p.m. to drove to Elk Mountain campground in Wind Cave National Park, arriving at 6:26 p.m. We set up camp and made dinner. That night there was a little more rain, but the wind wasn't bad at all!
Day 6 - June 20, 2024
We had steak & eggs, and the kids had oatmeal for breakfast. We left at 9:45 a.m. for the visitor center and made it there in five minutes. We checked out the visitor center and joined on the the 10:00 a.m. natural entrance ranger talk. We knew the cave was closed due to the elevator, but thought this would still be a good time to check out the park's above ground and it was a great launching point for the general area. We will be back one day for the cave tour.
We drove to Hot Springs for the Mammoth Dig Site. We needed to do some laundry so we first went to Hot Springs Laundromat and started a load. Then we went to Centennial Park for a picnic lunch. I went back to move the laundry, then joined the family at the park again. We had a family dig at 1:45 p.m. We cut it close! It took longer then we thought it would to do our laundry. After the family dig - which the kids loved - we toured the museum. What a neat place!
We stopped at a Lynn's Dakota Mart to pick up some more groceries. We got back to camp and we rested for a bit. It was raining a little again.
After a while, we decided to go for a hike, and hope it wouldn't rain on us. We drove to the Ranking Ridge Trail, and arrived at 4:51 p.m. We hiked to the fire tower. The kids were bummed we could climb the fire tower. Even without climbing the fire tower, we were able to see very far. It was a beautiful hike. On our drive back to camp we came around a bend and there was a single bison and he started charging the truck. We started backing up. This road was narrow and winding road. Finally he slowed down to a walk and we drove past carefully. We stopped at The Centennial Trail head because I wanted to take a picture of the bridge. We talked about going for a walk, but the kids were tired. Back at camp, we had hot dogs, and mac & cheese for dinner.
Day 7 - June 21, 2024
When I initially left the pop-up at 5:30a.m. it was so foggy out. There was a dear in our campsite, and our neighbor's. Since we're still getting up on Central Time, we had plenty of time to make pancakes and eggs for breakfast. We said goodbye the our campground neighbor's whom we had fun connecting with, and headed on our way to Jewel Cave National Monument we arrived at 9:00 a.m. and went through the visitor center while we waited for our tour to start at 10:10 a.m.
We did the Scenic Tour. I wasn't sure how V would do due to her vision, I was a little worried she would be able to do this one well. You can't carry anyone while in the cave. She doesn't see well due to her nystagmus. One of the things she struggles with is depth perception, and that's really hard in low lit areas, or when the surface area is the same.
The guide said people who would be slower should go first, and sometimes we were able to get up front, but there seemed like a big push for everyone to go first. Most steps weren't well lit, so I would say "step, step, step.....step, landing" for her. Or I would let her know when it was a ramp vs. flat walk. This seamed to be helpful for her. Some areas were lit enough that I didn't need to say that.
After the tour, the kids finished their junior ranger booklets and we went back inside to turn them in. We had lunch at the truck. Then left at 1:15 p.m. Our first stop was the Purple Pie Place in Custer, SD! Everyone else grabbed ice cream, but I had to try their pie! We stopped at Lynn's Dakota Mart for two things we had forgotten the day before, then headed back to camp.
On the way, we received another severe thunderstorm warning. We wanted to hurry up and get to camp before the storm hit. We had noticed it got darker, and it did rain a little on the drive, but we didn't experience the severe thunderstorm, so it did end up staying north. We drove to the visitor center to let the kids turn in their junior ranger booklets and get sworn in.
We had leftover broccoli beef for dinner, and had our first campfire of the trip! The first campfire was short lived as it started raining at 8:00 p.m. The kids played in the rain a little bit and we chatted with the neighbors. It was so nice to have the pop-up so we could be less worried about getting wet. In the pop-up we were able to hang up the raincoats over the sink to let them dry out a bit. That was always hard to do in our tent.
We wanted to leave early the next day, so we packed up as much as we could that night.
Day 8 - June 22, 2024
Marcus and I got up early. We quickly packed up everything else, and we left camp at 6:30 a.m. Bell Fourche campground at Devil’s Tower is first come, first served. Marcus was really worried about it! I had not seen a lot of people recommended it, and the reviews online said that they were able to get a site, so I thought we'd give it a try. With the kids I've been less apt to try first come, first served. It looked like there were some other places we might be able to disperse camp nearby if we didn't get in, so I thought it was okay to give it a shot.
We got there at 9:22 am and got our pick of a site! We ended up with site A12. It was a perfect site with a great view of Devil's Tower. We set up camp, and noticed how much warmer it was here. When we entered the park, we could tell that the visitor center and area around Devil's Tower was going to be busy, so we decided to just hang around camp for most of the day. At this point, it was too hot to hike from our camp anyway.
At 4:00 p.m. I took the older two kids to the visitor center and we walked around Devil’s Tower. The parking lot was crowded, but you could tell that people were starting to leave. By the time we got back to the truck, the parking lot was half full. I diffidently recommend going early or later in the day. They had a light set up part way up the road. I head that people can get stuck at the light for quite a while. We got back to camp and had more leftovers for dinner.
We had a campfire again this night. The kids went to bed and Marcus went on an evening hike from our campsite up to Devil's Tower, around, and back. While siting at the campfire, I could see lights from climbers on Devil's Tower. I was a little surprised as it was June and there is a voluntary climbing closure in June due to it's significance for the tribes associated with it. See the National Park's page regarding this voluntary closure.
Day 9 - June 23, 2024
Marcus and I again got up early. We made coffee, I was able to get some pictures of the sunrise, Devil's Tower, and our camp. It was such a peaceful morning.
We had a big breakfast of bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns - hoping to give the kids energy for the hike. At 8:22 a.m. we left to hike to Devil's Tower from our campsite. This took us a total of 4 hours round trip with a few stops for snacks, lunch, and time in the visitor center. It was really getting hot on our way back. This hike was 4.86 miles. This was a good hike, but you are exposed most of the time hiking to/from. Go early!
We got back to camp around 12:15 p.m., rested a little bit, then at 2:00 p.m. loaded into the truck to head to the Center of the Nation in Belle Fouche, South Dakota which was 1 hour away, and proved a nice rest for the kids, and it wasn't hot in the truck. We all had fun checking it out the free Tri-State Museum. The center of the nation is technically on private property. You can drive closer to it, but we decided not to.
It was still so hot out - over 90 degrees. With the heat, it was extra nice to spend time in the museum. We drove back to camp, stopping at the entrance for our sign picture. We arrived at 5:30 p.m. and it was 99 degrees out. The kids sat outside in the shade and read books to try to stay cool, and Marcus and I played cribbage. We had hamburgers for dinner, and enjoyed the evening at the campsite.
Day 10 - June 24, 2024
Marcus and I were up by 5:30 a.m. and we enjoyed watching the sunrise. This really was a wonderful campsite! We took it easy this morning since we didn't have far to go, and we couldn't check in until noon. We had pancakes for breakfast, cleaned up, packed up and headed out at 10:24 a.m. We drove to Sylvan Lake Campground in Custer State Park, arriving at 12:50 p.m. We had site SL03E.
Once at camp, we set up, and ate a salad and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The kids loved exploring the area surrounding our campsite. We headed to Sylvan Lake to swim. The water was so cold, but after being so hot for the last few days, it felt so refreshing. We also hadn't had a shower since we left Badlands, so it felt so nice. After swimming, we headed back to camp and took a shower. We all felt so good and refreshed after both of these. After the shower, we made chili in the Clam Quick-Set. Marcus commented that the clouds looked like storm clouds, then the camp hosts came and told us that they were notified that they received a sever weather notification.
We had just finished making dinner at 6:00 p.m. and the kids came in the quick-set saying the storm was coming. The picnic table was in the quick-set so we sat down to eat. The kids ate quickly, then ran for the pop-up. They weren't in there long when they came out. They said they had to go to the bathroom and started to run for the bathroom. I didn't like that they were going alone, so Marcus was going to go with, and just as I said that it started to hail. He took off after the kids. I finished up the dishes and as Marcus and the kids returned, I went into the pop-up with them.
The said the hail hit just as they got inside the bathrooms. The storm was quick, start to finish was less than 45 minutes. Once again this trip, we were so glad to be dry in the pop-up. At 7:30 we wanted to drive needles highway towards 16A since we couldn't go that way with the pop-up in tow. It was beautiful and we enjoyed the quite post storm evening.
Day 11 - June 25, 2024
I told Marcus the night before that I wanted to get up, make coffee and walk around Sylvan Lake by myself to take some pictures. I left camp on foot and arrived at Sylvan lake at 5:42 a.m. I really enjoyed this peaceful morning walk. I only saw 2 other people, and was able to get some amazing pictures. I got back to camp at 6:34 a.m. and the kids were still asleep. They started walking up at 7:15 a.m. and we made breakfast. Then headed out for our hike right from the campsite at 9:00 a.m. We all started out together going around on the west side of the lake.
When we got to the north end of the lake, I took the oldest two on the Sunday Gulch hike going clockwise - starting on the Southwest side of the trail. I recommend going clockwise for this trail. Just as the kids were getting tired, we hit the fun rock scramble part of the trail. I really enjoyed this hike with the kids. While on the hikes we frequently have the kids look at the map and identify where they are. It give the kids a good opportunity to learn about maps, and to find their way. We talked about features we saw (road, water, etc.) and they'd try find them on the map.
Marcus took V to the northeast side of the loop and hiked in a little bit and they enjoyed the rock scramble portion of the trail. The two older kids and I finished our hike and made it back to the lake at 11:50 a.m. On our way to the beach, we ran into our neighbors from Wind Cave National Park. It was fun to see them again! The kids wanted to rest at the beach for a bit before heading back to camp. So we sat and had snacks. Marcus and V met us at the lake with our swim suits. There wasn't parking, so Marcus dropped off V and our stuff and parked at camp and walked back. We swam until 3:00 p.m. then Marcus walked back to camp to get the truck. The kids were completely exhausted! Marcus returned with the truck at 4:00 p.m. We got back to camp, took showers, and all the kids took a long nap.
When they got up, we drove to Hill City for the big Smoky the Bear and Pizza! We arrived in Hill City just before 7:00 p.m. and the town looked so quite! Diffidently not a crowded place in the evening. The pizza at Mangiamo Wood Fired Pizza was really good. It was so nice to let someone else do the cooking and cleaning. We needed a few items so we stopped at the gas station to get wood, milk, ice and paper towels. We left Hill City at 8:50 p.m. and everyone was ready for bed!
Interestingly, this was the campsite that we saw the most pop-ups. We were asked by two of the other pop-up owners, separately, about moths. They both said they had hundreds of moths in their pop-up and asked if we were having the same problem. One said that they had spent the night in a hotel because it was so bad and leaving early. The other one said they were leaving early because of the moths. We had noticed a few moths, but not more than we could quickly catch and send outside. When we had headed to Hill City we wondered if we would have an issue when we returned, but when we got back, there wasn't more than ten in the pop-up which we were once again able to quickly catch and throw outside.
Day 12 - June 26, 2024
We were switching to Game Lodge campground this day. We couldn't check in before noon, so once again, we didn't have a rush to leave. We left camp at 10:00 a.m. and stopped in Custer for a few groceries and gas. That morning, I realized that we forgot to get a magnet at Wind Cave. I think we were going to get it after the kids got sworn in, but forgot. So, since we had time, we drove down to Wind Cave visitor center to pick up the magnet. It was diffidently out of the way, but the drive was beautiful We decided we didn't want to take the wildlife road back with the pop-up so we took the main road.
We arrived at the Game Lodge Campground at 12:45 p.m. We set up camp and had snacks. This was our list favorite campsite of the trip. It was GL32E. We had switched to this campground after we purchased the pop-up because our second site was a tent only site. This was the only site available for a pop-up in the park. The ones along the river would have been better. I wanted to get some movement in so we walked to the visitor center, there we were told about the Education Center. Be sure to check out the Education center if you have kids! They have rock climbing and other activities for the kids. V got tired on the walk there and I ended up carrying her and she fell asleep. We walked back to camp and had grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, chips, and salsa for dinner. It rained again during dinner.
After dinner we left camp at drive the needles highway to Mount Rushmore, we saw a rainbow just before we arrived. We wanted to make it to the evening program which started at 9:00 p.m. We arrived at 8:00 a.m. and checked out the visitor center as we didn't see it last time we were there. The kids worked on the their junior ranger booklets, then we found a spot to sit. Marcus and I really enjoyed the show, but we could tell T was getting tired. We finished the show then the kids turned in their junior ranger booklets to get their badges. We left at 10:00 a.m. and took SD-244 E east to US-16A E to US-16A W to the campground. We arrived back at camp at 10:45 p.m., that was a quiet drive back to camp!
Day 13 - June 27, 2024
P and I were up early and took a shower then enjoyed reading while others were waking up. We had eggs with veggies and toast for breakfast. We had a surprise for the kids today! We had a horse ride at Blue Bell Stables at 10:00 a.m. We needed to arrive by 9:30 a.m. We left camp at 8:55 a.m. I was worried how the kids would do, and they did great! They were so excited when they found out what we were going to do.
The staff definitely made the kids feel comfortable. They had us line up and go in one at a time. Our family was the last one in the line and V. was the very last. I was worried because one kid did come back out in tears because she was scared. I felt bad for her and I was worried that she was going to make my kids scared to get on the horses. As V was the last one on her horse, she was the first behind the guide. Thankfully, the kids did great. V was nervous at first, but she warmed up.
Oh boy did the kids have fun! They had fun listing to what Molly (our awesome guide) had to say and ask her questions. I didn't catch everything V. said, but I heard her say something about a unicorn. Next thing I hear is Molly say "well, did you know, Ben (V's horse) is a Unicorn. His horn is just missing because he didn't want others to know that he is a unicorn". Oh boy, that sure light up V's face! She still talks about how Ben was a unicorn! P and T asked to go for longer rides! They all had a blast! It was fun to hear about Custer State Park from Molly and see it a little bit differently.
After the ride, we backtracked a little to the Blue Bell Lodge to eat lunch at their picnic tables. The kids were so amped up with excitement. We left at 12:00 p.m. to head to the the Wildlife Loop. There was a detour set up so we took the 4 Mile Road to the the Wildlife Loop. At this point it was getting hot out again too - it as 81 degrees at 1:42 and getting hotter. We stopped at the Bison Center from 1:00-1:30 p.m. We could have stayed longer, but we had signed T and P up for rock-climbing at 2:00 p.m. at the Education Center. Unfortunately, V was too young for it.
Since V was asleep for most of the time we were at the Education Center the first time,she and I checked it out and worked on her Junior Naturalist booklet, when T and P were done with rock climbing, we turned in their booklets so we could get their badges. We headed back to camp first the first time all day - it had been a fun, but long day! V fell asleep in the pop-up. The kids really wanted to play at the playground and I wanted to check out the lodge, so after she got up, we walked to the park, then to the lodge. I was thinking more along the lines of a National Park lodge and was surprised the lodge lobby wasn't a big space we could sit and look around for a while.
We looked at the restaurant, but it was too expensive for what we were thinking that night. However, we talked to two artists who were in the lodge selling their art and painting at the same time. It was so neat to find time to talk with them. We walked back to camp and made dinner. While we were cleaning up from dinner, the Clam Quick-set kept collapsing and everything was blowing around. We quickly had to pack up everything that was outside.
We had a free day the next day and were debating going home or staying another day. With the crazy winds we decided to call it and head home the next day. It was another night that Marcus and I didn't sleep well with the wind blowing so hard and we had no protection. We were guesting gusts over 25 mph.
Day 14 - June 28, 2024
Since we packed everything up the night before, we didn't have much packing to do this morning, mostly just our sleeping bags. We left camp at 8:30 a.m. to head home! Only 640 miles to go. While we were on our trip South Dakota was experiencing a lot of flooding which we were following off and on. It looked like our drive home would be okay. We stopped at Myas Teriyaki in Mitchell, SD for a late lunch and got back on the road about 2:30 p.m. There was some evidence of flooding here.
As with a lot of this trip, it started to rain as we were on our way home, at times heavily. Since we were coming home to no kitchen, we stopped and got McDonald's for dinner. We received a server thunderstorm notification 10 miles from home. We got home just as it started pouring and the thunder was really loud.
We went inside and got to check out our fully gutted living room, dinning room, kitchen, hallway, including two walls and one wall shortened. It was crazy to walk into! After we looked around in awe, we all showered and headed to bed.
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