S. Florida to Mt.Rushmore. Advice needed.

[MBoza]

We are pretty new to RVing and have been doing it for about year. We are planning a trip to Mt.Rushmore. Any advice or recommendations on where to stay will be greatly appreciated. We have taken couple trips and the longest was to Tenn. Any recommendations regarding which routes to take or avoid. I know some routes are harder due to the mountains. Thanks and be safe..


Mike

[Oklahoma Dan]

aaamaps.com, mapquest, books, printed travel guides. A very interesting area and well worth the travel.

[silverark]

I-75 to Chattanooga, I-24 Through Nashville, TN to I-57 north of Paducah, KY.I-57 to I-64 at Mount Vernon IL. I-64 through St Louis, MO. Stay on I-64/I-40 to Wentzville, Mo. At Wentzville go west on I-70 to Kansas City. I-435 North to I-29. I-29 to Sioux Falls, SD. I-90 west to Rapid city. Keystone is were Mount Rushmore is located just west of Rapid City. Rafter -J-Bar is a great place to stay. Make Reservations. Good CG's along the route. Make sure you stop in Mitchell SD. Corn Palace. Get a drink at Wall Drug too near Badlands.

[sailor]

We stayed at the Rafter J-Bar last fall and highly recommend it. The Badlands are also very interesting. Near the Badlands is a Minuteman missile control site. You have to have reservations for the tour. Here is the web site: Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service). We stayed overnight at Sleepy Hollow Campground in Wall. Not fancy but good for an overnight. It is walking distance to Wall Drug and close to the Badlands.

[JoeMazz]

If you have kids, the Rushmore KOA is great, lots of activities and shuttle to Mt. Rushmore.

[Lolead]

I have only been to Mt. Rushmore one time. We rode our Gold Wing trike. From my experience I would say be prepared for wind on I-90. It was constant interupted only by wind gusts. This may not be the norm but was what we found. Beautiful country and I would like to return again. We made our trip in early July. Have a great time.

[Brownie]

I'm at Mt. Rushmore now. Came up from TX. You can also take I-80 from the Chicago area to avoid some of the high winds that Lolead talked about (and I'll attest to, as well). You can then take either 83 & 91 out of North Platte, NE (as I did) through the Nebraska Sand Hills up to I-90 (about 1/2 way across SD). You'll miss the Corn Palace, but you can still catch Wall Drug, The Badlands, and some other sites on your way to Rapid City. Or you can stay on I-80 to Ogallala, NE, then take U.S.26 to U.S.385 and take that to Hot Springs, SD. From there, you have your choice of 3 different routes up to the Rapid City area. Which one depends on what you want to see on your way up.

I'm currently staying at a Good Sam campground just south of Rapid City, called Happy Holidays Resort. They have full hook-up sites, a clean laundry room ($2 wash/$0.25 for 13 minutes dry time), campground store, propane and gas/diesel, game room, playground, and pool. It may not be as plush as some of the KOA's or resorts, but it's 1/2 the price of those places. It's also $10 less than the only campground in Custer State Park with electric hookups. There's plenty to see within a 10 minute drive; The Faces are about 20 miles away, and both Crazy Horse & Custer SP are about 25-30 miles away.

Whichever way you go and where ever you stay, it's a great place to visit. Hope you enjoy your trip as much as I have.

Happy Camping!

[MBoza]

Thank you very much for all the info. Now I have a better idea and I can plan my route. Again Thank You all. Be safe...

Mike

[wags999]

Stay away from the Black hills very late July and first two weeks of Aug. Most is already sold out for the Sturgis Rally.

[pawpaw]

Another vote for the Rafter J-Bar. May not be the cheapest, but it's a great place with very a friendly staff.

Have a great trip!

[MBoza]

We just made a reservations at Rafter J. Good prices and no resort fee. Thank You all.

[ZooSax]

And another vote for Rafter J Bar. We will be headed there for Memorial Day. Went same time last year and had a great time. Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Badlands, Wall Drug, etc.

[Brownie]

For everyone going to Mt. Rushmore:

Be sure to take in Custer State Park. They have herds of Bison that wander around the park . . . including right in front of your car! Those things are huge! The scenery is breathtaking, as well!

[Whitehawkmn]

I give another vote for Rafter J. Very clean and close to everything.

[dmward]

I posted a few photos in an album from our stay at Rafter J last year...

http://www.jaycoowners.com/forums/me...albums750.html