Black Hills National Forest — Attraction in Hill City

The Black Hills are magical! Filled with such raw beauty, gold and minerals you can dig out with your bare hands, rare animals like bald eagles are a common sight, the smell is wonderful, the history of the second gold Rush and wild west experiences are once in a lifetime, can't miss it. Of course Mt Rushmore is here, as well as the world's deepest underground neutrino observatory connected to Fermi Labs in Chicago and the CERN experiments. I absolutely adore it here. Of course there are no big city amenities, you are coming here to slow down and experience the beautiful earth in all it's glory! There is so much terrain, every picture you take is different. The sunsets and sunrises are full of color that plays off the tree and hill lines. Also, if you are one to get out and play in nature, for some reason this forest is "cleaner" than others, mostly evergreen and the sparkling schist and mica the dirt is all made of washes off effortlessly. Just watch out for the sap, haha! Funny this is, here in the Black Hills, the longer you play in the dirt, the shinier you get, we call it fairy dirt! 😋 Not to mention the mineral quality is top-notch for the skin, so instead of paying $300 for a mud spa using sub-par ingredients, I just go out and dig for gold and get muddy with my kids (or by myself). YES, I find gold, easily, not a lot, but hey you dug gold out with your bare hands! Had fun in a beautiful setting,got exercise, AND a mineral skin treatment to boot! Sounds silly but it's all so true! Lost of crystals and agates for you rockhounds out there! Definitely visit the Black Hills...

Stayed here in dispersed camping area which was very much appreciated since the entire area was stolen from the Lakota tribe which the government acknowledged then try to buy their way out of. This land is sacred to the local native community but because someone found gold there it was taken away despite signed treaty. Was very beautiful and peaceful camping there other than people driving through in their side by side off road vehicles. Saw mountain goats and some snakes as far as wildlife goes. Some of the locals stopped by and visited us and were very friendly and helpful about places to hike and visit. Stayed here for three weeks in August which had some chilly nights. Campsites were right next to the road in area we camped at off spring creek road conveniently located minutes down from Crazy Horse memorial which is much more educational and entertaining than nearby mount rushmore. People in Custer were friendly for...

Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monument are both somewhat disappointing but the Crazy Horse visitors center and the laser light show they put up on the monument at night are worth the admission. You can get good enough views of Rushmore from lookout points on the highway without paying $10 for parking but the admission is good for a full year and they also do a nightly light show. We were going to go back to Rushmore for their light show but missed it due to weather so i cant speak to whatvth at show was like. Within the Black Hills there is abundant wildlife and you will see many different kinds of birds and deer, chipmunks, prairie dogs, squirrels, etc. Go to the scenic byway in Spearfish Canyon to see some nice waterfalls and there are several historic "wild west" towns such as Custer, Keystone, and Hot Springs. The roads are set up pretty well and you can make it from one side of the hills to another very...