The wife and I have a trip booked for July. We have a room booked in Rapid city for 9 days. I have also booked a rental Street Glide from Black Hills HD for 7 days. The plan is to stay in Rapid City and do daily rides to Rushmore, Black Hills, Devils Tower, etc. Since this is our first trip to that area, we wanted to go before the rally to avoid crowds and backups. Anyone have good or bad experiences with the rental process out there? "Cant Miss" restaurants or stops? I did purchase the book by Paul Mitchell "Black Hills Motorcycle Rides" which seems pretty informative. All advice appreciated.

 

Black Hills Harley has free lunch on Saturdays, then free beer at like 1 or 2. My wife and i stayed in Rapid City the end of June beginning of July last year. Great place to base your stay from. When you ride the wildlife loop in Custer State park ask them where the bison are at that day or you may not see any, which sucks. Have fun.

 

Sounds like you have a great time planned,hope to do something similar in the future only riding out there,couldn't afford 7 days rental.lol

 

Head out to the Badlands, too. In fact, if you aren't scared of camping, maybe take tent with you and spend the night in the badlands...its one of the most amazing night-skies you'll ever see.

There's also minuteman missile national monument right near the eastern entrance of Badlands which lets you tour a Cold War era nuclear launch facility and look into the massive underground silo with a neutered nuclear missile.

Ditto on the asking about the bison herd's location.

 

For some reason I loved the Devils Tower. I have been to that area several times and July may or may not be crowded. You really cant tell. Its a summer tourist area but I have even been to the big attraction of Mt. Rushmore and it wasn't very crowded in July (week day).


And this is from a guy that hates crowds!


I also loved Deadwood. Cool town w/ nice new casino and many smaller ones in town w/ great restaurants.


All these places are pretty close to Rapid City.


Just wait till your blasting down the interstate to Devils Tower at the Wy/SD border. Its great stuff. You two will have smiles on your face...that's a given!


Enjoy! Its really 9 days in paradise.

 

Sanford's in Spearfish is a great place to eat, either before or after riding Spearfish Canyon. There's also a Sanford's in RC but the one in Spearfish is better.

 

I shall be following this thread coz family and I will be over at the same time. We're staying in Casper, and plan to see some sights, and dip our toes into the rally.
We'll, it's the 75th and special! I also figure, that by the time it's the 100th, I'll be in a wheelchair or six feet under!!

TD

 

Take the back roads through Huelitt when going to Devils Tower,

 

I will start by saying you need to be prepared for the fact that you will not get to see all the "must see" things in that time frame. I live in eastern SD. I love the Black Hills and will live there some day. You should get a free SD travel guide. https://www.travelsouthdakota.com/re...tDNxoCv3fw_wcB

They send you a huge packet of information. A few miles before Devil's Tower is a great pull off for photos. The park takes quite a bit of time so plan a half day for that alone. Crazy Horse is awesome down by Custer. The ride from Custer to Deadwood is awesome. There is really so much to see. I am actually heading out that way for 4 days in July with a group and we will be riding Iron Mtn. Road. Spearfish Canyon is another beautiful thing you won't get anywhere else.

 

Feel free to hit me up for questions. I have been out there many many times and can offer info on all the little places we go