Welcome to the Southern Black Hills Route including Mount Rushmore!
The Southern Black Hills is the most visited area of South Dakota. Mount Rushmore Memorial is visited by millions of visitors every year. As you travel south you will see & and hear about many attractions like Fort Hays Chuckwagon & Dances with Wolves film set, Reptile Gardens, Bear Country USA, and Big Thunder Gold Mine. Learn about old ghost towns like Rockerville and drive scenic side routes that have wonderful hiking trails like Silver Mountain Road.

Make reservations for your SmartAlec tour guide by visiting our reservations page! Check out our packages available at our Rates & Specials Page

To find out more about many of the attractions in the Black Hills area move your mouse over the map or visit our onlinetravelguide. See and travel to more places like...

Iron Mountain Road, also called the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway. Rated in the top 10 scenic roads in the United States. Enjoy the pigtail bridges that clmb the elevation over Iron Mountain. Have a picnic or take a nice hike at the many pull offs.


Custer State Park
 Home to the largest state owned buffalo herd in the United States. Take your camera and hunt for many of the wild animals, scenic vistas, and secret spots on the 'off the beaten path' gravel park roads on the Wildlife Loop
 Needles Highway
A windy intimate highway that climbs towards Harney Peak. Although the roads are too small for your motorhome, its perfect for a nice drive in your car. Enjoy many hikes and scenic vistas too

Crazy Horse
Memorial
The world’s largest sculpture, now in progress, is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota on US Highway 16/385 just 17 miles southwest of Mount Rushmore
Also visit historic towns like Keystone, Custer, and Hill City South Dakota. Click here to see our suggested Southern Hills Itinerary

Suggested Itinerary for the Southern Hills
- Begin at Fort Hays Chuckwagon Supper & Show and Dances with Wolves Filme Set.  Enjoy an early morning breakfast of cowboy pancakes, biscuits and gravy and sausage.
- Depart for Keystone, SD via Highway 16 and 16A
- Visit the Rushmore Borglum Story in Keystone
- Continue to Mount Rushmore Memorial via hwy 244
- Contine into southern hills via the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway also known as Iron Mountain Road
- Pull into the many pull-offs and picnic areas for hikes and scenic lookouts
- Enter Custer State Park
- Eat lunch at the Custer State Park Game Lodge - Presidential summer whitehouse of Calvin Coolidge.
- Drive the Wildlife Loop through Custer State Park. Feed the buroughs and find the buffalo
- Travel through the north end of Custer State Park on the Needels Highway. Enjoy many scenice pulll offs, vistas and hiking trails
- Visit Sylvan Lake. Hike around the beautiful lake and even up to Harney Peak if you have the time (2 hours 1 way)
- Exit Custer State Park via hwy 89 south. Stop into historic downtown Custer, SD
- Continue north out of Custer on hwy 16/385 to Crazy Horse Memorial
- Visit Hill City for the evening or the 1880 train if its earlier in the day. Good food and lots of great shopping!
- Depart Hill City and return to Fort Hays for the 6:30pm Chuckwagon Supper and Cowboy Music Show. The most popular chuckwagon in the Black Hills!

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