Black Hills day, then supper

Rapid City as your base

Rapid City sits on the eastern slope of the Black Hills and calls itself the Gateway to the Black Hills. It was founded in 1876 by miners who arrived with the gold rush and was named after Rapid Creek. Downtown has life-size bronze statues of presidents, which give it its other nickname, the City of Presidents, and Dinosaur Park is among its sights. The supper pickup starts here, so it is the easiest place to stay.

A day in the southern hills

The southern hills hold most of the big sights. Mount Rushmore National Memorial lies about two miles southwest of Keystone, where the faces of four presidents are carved into the granite. Custer State Park, the largest state park in South Dakota, is known for its bison herd, its scenic drives including the Needles Highway, and lakes such as Sylvan Lake. The Black Hills take their name from the dark look of their evergreen forests from a distance, and the Lakota call them Pahá Sápa.

Getting around

The National Park Service says no public transport runs to Mount Rushmore and that most visitors arrive by car; tour companies also run up from Rapid City. With a car, drive the southern hills by day and be back for the supper pickup or the fort meeting point. Without one, the full-day tour that ends with the same supper, or a half-day monument tour from town, covers the gap.

Read next: Supper show or full-day tour?

Booking and timing

The operator asks for reservations in advance and especially in summer, because the kitchen cooks for the numbers booked. Open nights are listed in the calendar, and the pickup time arrives with your confirmation. The evening runs about three and a quarter hours and ends mid-evening. Avoid booking it for the night you arrive; it is much more fun at the end of a full day in the hills.

Food, children and groups

The supper is a set chuckwagon meal. A veggie patty is made on request if you say how many in the booking comments, and gluten-free and vegetarian sides are listed; the biscuits and spice cake have no substitutes. The show is family entertainment, and the calendar shows each child’s rate. Groups of ten or more should contact the operator first, and separate parties can ask to be seated together.

If you only have one evening

Choose the night after your longest day in the hills, when nobody wants to plan dinner or drive again. Book the pickup, leave the car at your lodging, and let the evening run its course: the boardwalk, the bell, the plates, the band. If your stay is short and you have no car at all, look at the full-day tour instead, which gives you Mount Rushmore and the state park by day and ends at the same supper, so one booking covers the whole day.

What to wear and bring

Comfortable shoes for the boardwalk, a camera for the film-set street, and a layer for the ride back if the evening cools. The operator suggests comfortable clothing, and a cowboy hat if you want to look the part. The supper and show are held under a covered pavilion, so an umbrella is rarely needed at the table. Bring a card or cash only if you plan to shop.