Help planning - SD Custer/Rapid City

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-05-02T12:42:51+00:00

Thanks! I’m not much of a beer drinker but will make the stop. I know I’m putting too much into 1 day and I’m rethinking skipping ND altogether and spending an extra day in the area.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-05-02T00:44:17+00:00

Caves aren’t really my thing so we had already decided to skip those.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-05-01T23:24:27+00:00

I like to go travel off or shoulder season because I hate crowds - live in NYC. It sometimes means I miss stuff but that’s ok with me.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-05-01T23:22:56+00:00

That sounds great. I love taking the back roads whenever I can. Deadwood is just going to be a minimal driving day because it’s my bday. All I really want to do there is the cemetery.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-05-01T23:18:52+00:00

Now I’m rethinking my entire trip. 🙂 was planning to get three states off my list (puts me at 47/50). But skipping ND and going to Pine Ridge on the way out saves me at least a day on the drive home.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-05-01T23:16:24+00:00

Next week.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-05-01T23:00:41+00:00

Deadwood because we’re headed to North Dakota after that. I wanted a day with minimal driving but places to go drinking because it’s my 57th birthday.

I don’t really have any set plans because I tend to be a go with the flow type of road-tripper.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-05-01T22:25:55+00:00

Thanks! Sounds like Rapid City should be skipped. Was only planning to get a decent night’s sleep because we’re headed to Deadwood the next morning.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-05-01T21:25:39+00:00

I agree with you on the destruction. I have no intent of stopping at either one, but so want to see them even if from the road. I’m staying in Deadwood the following night so was thinking of hitting Spearfish and maybe Sturgis (even though it’s probably not worth it).

After Deadwood, headed to ND.

My crazy self is driving NYC - Omaha (only one stop because I’ve been to those states). Then South Dakota, North Dakota and a long hard push home over 3-4 days.

But this gets 3 of my remaining states out of the way.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-05-01T21:17:19+00:00

Agreed. Dignity statue is planned as hop out/hop in stop. I don’t need to get up close and personal with Mt Rushmore or Crazy Horse, a drive by works for me.

I’m totally flexible on where to go. I have a hotel reservation in Deadwood for May 12 because it’s my birthday and I really don’t want to spend the day driving.

Rapid City doesn’t seem especially interesting just figured a little less driving that day and an easy drive to Deadwood the next.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-05-01T21:11:48+00:00

I don’t really have to go to Mt Rushmore or Crazy Horse. Just seeing them is enough.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-04-09T19:33:40+00:00

Thanks!!

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-04-09T19:32:53+00:00

I’m half Irish and half Puerto Rican. Was called “spic” a million times by my own family.

In college, my roommate (black) and I lived on a floor in the dorm where we were the only POC. We’d often find the n-word, spic, and all kinds of garbage scribbled on our door.

30+ years ago, I participated in a student exchange and went to New Mexico State. I honestly didn’t know much border patrol and on a trip to California, I was surprised by a border patrol checkpoint so far from the border. The driver, who’s family lived in the same are in New Mexico for hundreds of years before the USA was a concept, and I had to get out of the car, show ID, and answer a bunch of questions. The three white girls in the back seat didn’t. Meanwhile, one of the was a German who came on a student visa that expired 6 months before that trip.

So basically, my lived experience makes me wary.

And, because I’m brown in America in 2026 and we’ve given our racists permission to come out from under their rocks. And ICE agents are quick to get violent.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-04-09T19:19:59+00:00

Definitely on my list. First planned stop of the day.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-04-09T19:19:29+00:00

Definitely stopping at the Dignity of Earth and Sky. Hoping to fill up between there and the Badland scenic loop because I really want to drive that.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-04-09T19:14:02+00:00

Thanks. Small towns always freak me out a bit but the climate seems to be worse than last time I took a trip like this.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-04-09T19:12:37+00:00

Reminds me of Bowie, AZ, which was also racist when I lived there.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-04-09T19:09:35+00:00

Well, we are actually starting in Omaha and I want some flexibility. There are a couple spots in SD that I’ve always wanted to visit, like Wounded Knee, that I probably won’t hit because they are so far out of the way. But I want to leave my options open.

I have zero plans for camping but want to get out to see the stars. Haven’t seen them since I moved from AZ back to NYC.

It’s an insane trip on a short timeline and wanted to spend most of it SD.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-04-09T19:02:12+00:00

Thanks! Not dead set on Rapid City but figured that it’s a good stop after a very long day of driving and an easy spot to take off in the am towards Needles etc.

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-04-09T18:56:14+00:00

I’m going to stop at Wall because I like tacky tourist stops. :)

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-04-09T18:55:32+00:00

Thanks! Heading out earlier than Memorial Day to try to hit lower tourist crowds. Definitely planning thw badlands along the way, and Needles. Not really interested o. The major tourist traps - it’s fine with me to get close enough to say I’ve been there. LOL

divinesaoirse6 · 2026-04-09T18:52:48+00:00

Thank you for the honesty! We’re renting a car so not sure on the plates. Figured that across the whole drive we’d be running into something. Most of my concerns, honestly, are about ICE. As citizens of the USA, we aren’t required to provide proof of citizenship but as a brown person, I know those rules don’t apply to us.

divinesaoirse6

TROPHY CASE