Our Guide To Family Vacations In South Dakota
Family vacations in South Dakota can be rewarding experiences or absolute disasters -- it all depends on pretrip homework. To make planning easier, we've done all the preparation.As part of a Huffington Post Travel serieson traveling with children, here are recommended attractions for those planning South Dakota family vacations.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
monumental sculptureNational Park Service
Address:13000 Highway 244, Keystone, SD 57751
Phone:605-574-2523
Hours:Visitor facilities are open every day except Christmas. May 8 to Aug. 13, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Aug. 14 to Sept. 30, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Oct. 1 to May 7, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Price:Free, but parking costs $11.
Wild Water West
Address:26767 466th Ave. Sioux Falls, SD 57106
Phone:605-361-9313
Hours:May 27 to Sept. 5, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Aug. to Sept., 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Price:Day tickets for people 48 inches tall and taller, $24.95; kids under 48 inches and seniors, $14.95.
Children's Museum of South Dakota
The Children's Museum of South Dakota
Address:521 Fourth St., Brookings, SD 57006
Phone:605-692-6700
Hours:Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; closed most Mondays.
Price:$6 per person, ages 1 and up
Corn Palace
The world's onlyCorn Palaceoffers free guided tours in the summer months. The building is covered with murals made from corn that change each year. The new murals go up in June and continue to be created until September. The process takes most of the summer because four different crops have to be ready to harvest. The tour also features a video explaining the Corn Palace story and displays about the Corn Palace. South Dakota visitors can also watch murals being created outside.
Address:604 N. Main St., Mitchell, SD 57301
Hours:605-995-8430
Hours:January to March, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Sunday; April to Memorial Day, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; Memorial Day to Labor Day, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily; Labor Day to November, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; December, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Sunday.
Price: Free
Ingalls Homestead
Ingalls HomesteadLaura Ingalls Wilder Memorial Society
Address:20812 Homestead Road, De Smet, SD 57231
Phone:605-854-3984
Hours:Open daily 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend
Price:Ages 5 and up, $10
Crazy Horse Memorial
Address:12151 Avenue of the Chiefs, Crazy Horse, SD 57730-8900
Phone:605-673-4681
Hours:From mid-October to late May, the visitor complex is open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. After 5 p.m. during the winter season, the mountain viewing area at the parking lot is open until dark and the mountain is lighted for one hour. From Memorial Day weekend through mid-October, the Crazy Horse Memorial visitor complex is open from 8 a.m. until dark, when the "Legends in Light" laser light show on the mountain carving begins.
Price: Carload, $27; adults, $10; children under 6, free
Bear Country USA
Bear Country USAsays it is "the home of the largest collection of privately owned black bears in the world." This South Dakota park is located on more than 250 acres just eight miles south of Rapid City. Visitors take a three-mile drive through several enclosures and encounter black bears, elk, reindeer, deer, cougars, bobcats, rocky mountain goats, bighorn sheep, dall sheep and buffalo.
Address:13820 S. Highway 16, Rapid City, SD 57702
Telephone number:605-343-2290
Hours:Bear Country USA is open May through late Nov. In June, July and Aug., it is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. In May, Sept., Oct. and Nov., it is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It may close due to inclement weather in Oct. and Nov.
Price:$16 per adult in a private vehicle, $10 per child and $13 per senior with a max of $55 per car.
Does your family have a favorite South Dakota vacation spot?
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
