Custer State Park, Rapid City, South Dakota
This is the 1st detailed post from our baby/family friendly road trip post the other week. If you want the overview, head over there!
Legion Lake Campground
We planned one really long haul on the way out there to get us out corn-field land (sorry all you fellow midwesterners) and left Grand Rapids, MI around 5pm on a Thursday and made it to Rapid City, SD around 11am/12pm the next day.
Our very nice, grassy campground site.
I’ve never been that big of a fan of state parks because they are usually crowded and there’s no privacy. But what you lose in privacy, you gain in amenities…so I get the appeal.
You also gain grass sometimes, which is God’s gift to every mother forced to camp with a 12 month old who isn’t walking yet and likes to roll around in the dirt.
I actually really liked Custer State Park- we stayed in the Legion Lake Campground, chosen because it was literally the ONLY site available when we called from the road at 10am to reserve a spot for that evening.
The beach at Legion Lake: Custer State Park
Despite the fact it was all dumb luck we stayed here, I would stay there again in a heartbeat- it is an absolute great place for kids.
We lucked out- the campground wasn’t huge or too crowded, and it was across the street from a lake with a beach and the first playground my kids had been able to play on in months (covid sucks).
Bonus points for the restaurant/patio on the lake that served alcohol and saved me from having to cook dinner. (now you’re all understanding why I would stay there again!)
The needles highway- SOO COOL!
The Needles Highway
The next morning, we took the drive through the needles highway (a must DO if you’re not in a large RV).
My husband spent the time pointing out all the rocks he climbed to our kids. Not sure they were impressed.
We took the needles highway to Mount Rushmore, and did a quick walk through. If you have a stroller, you can only do a short portion of the hike to the viewpoint below in our picture, but it was sufficient for what we were looking for since we had more planned for the day.
Focus on the monument and not on the husband’s mustache. In 20 years, he’ll probably still be defending it.
Devils Tower, Wyoming
We left Mount Rushmore and drove the 2-3 hours to Devils Tower in Wyoming. We had been there previously years ago to climb- but it’s still pretty cool to see a 2nd (or 3rd time). Bonus that you can take a stroller the whole way around the base of the tower. With two kids (3 & 6) walking, it only took us an hour or so to hike around the base.
Devils Tower, Wyoming
It’s definitely worth a stop!
Be prepared with some tissues to hand out when your 6yo gets really sad and cries because she feels bad for the trees who got burnt in a fire long ago.
Also be prepared with some tissues for the husband when he gets really sad because he’s pushing a stroller around Devils Tower instead of climbing to the top of it.
A fact that I pointed out many times because I’m evil and I can’t help myself.
There is a KOA at the bottom of Devils Tower, but it isn’t that cool and it’s pretty expensive, so if possible, I would recommend staying elsewhere.
Devils Tower
Bighorn National Forest
We continued on in the car for a few more hours and found a spot to camp in the Bighorn National Forest. This was a 180 from our previous night campground. You can camp wherever you want in a national forest for free- you just have to find a spot. It was getting dark, so we pulled off on a forest service road and found an open area flat enough for our set up.
Not gonna lie- I like me a hot shower, but it’s pretty cool being out in the middle of nowhere with absolutely no one around. Not so cool when you think about the bear possibility, but the benefit of being able to sit the foggy potty right there outweighed the risk of bears.
The funny thing is, from the pictures I took- our campsites in the state park and the national forest look similar, but they’re totally different. It was a gorgeous area!
Stay tuned for the continuation of our trip into Yellowstone!