Day 3: Rapid City, South Dakota to Spearfish, South Dakota (the long way 😁)

We knew Day 3 was going to be a long day, but it was so worth it! We picked up the map pictured below from our hotel. We headed south out of Rapid City and our first stop was Mount Rushmore National Monument. The national park pass is not good here, but it only costs $10 for parking.

Can you name the 4 presidents carved into the Black Hills of South Dakota? George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln pay tribute to the country’s founding, growth, development and preservation. I thought it was neat we visited it on the 250th anniversary year of the United States.

From here, we drove the gorgeous Iron Mountain road which features breathtaking views, hairpin turns and wooden bridges. We stopped at the Norbeck Overlook. Two short walks lead to phenomenal views of the Black Hills and you can even see Mount Rushmore!

Once the Iron Mountain Road ended, we turned west to stay on Highway 16A and actually entered Custer State Park. There is so much to do in this park so hopefully one day we can go back! This is where we saw a buffalo!

You actually need a pass to enter the park, so we picked one up at the fee station at the entrance to the iconic Needles Highway. This drive was so much fun. I love all of the rock formations and tunnels!

We were planning to picnic at Sylvan Lake, but it was packed! We couldn’t even find a parking spot so we drove on to the Crazy Horse Memorial and had lunch in the parking lot.

Our final stop was in Spearfish Canyon. I really enjoyed this drive that winds through the tree covered walls of the canyon.

We pulled over and stopped about halfway through at Spearfish Falls. There is an overlook from the parking lot, but it is hard to see the falls. There is also a 1.5 mile trail to the bottom of the falls, but we opted to drive to Roughlock Falls instead.

Roughlock Falls is about a mile down a dirt road, but don’t let the dirt road scare you. It is an easy drive for any car. There is a few pull offs on the left to park at.

A paved sidewalk follows Little Spearfish Creek and leads to a viewing platform above the falls. For the best view, head down to the lower viewing platform. The area was lush and green!

While the trail to the lower viewing platform was a bit steep in places, it was overall fairly short and accessible!!

From here, our last stop was Bridal Veil Falls. There is a viewing platform right on the side of the road. We got a little adventurous and scrambled down the side and over to the waterfall. Spearfish Creek was cold!

We then exited the canyon and drove to our hotel in Spearfish. All in all this was a long day, but there was so much to see! It felt like around every twist and turn there was something even more beautiful and wonderful to see!

Stay tuned for the next post – Day 4!