Photo courtesy Rapid City CVB
Art and independence
Custer State Park’s annual Buffalo Roundup and Arts Festival has gained huge popularity with group tours. This year, nearly 15,000 people braved the early morning hours in the early autumn to see cowboys and cowgirls show their skills with this thundering herd. More than 150 vendors also offer fine arts and crafts, including many South Dakota-made products.
Other events are summer’s Mount Rushmore’s Independence Day Celebration, Crazy Horse’s Night Blasts, the Black Hills Art and Wine Festival, and the Hills Alive Music Festival. In January and February, Rapid City’s Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo showcases more of the area’s agriculture and Wild West history.
Strike Black hills gold
Every visitor to the area should take their time choosing their favorite piece of Black Hills Gold jewelry. Many Black Hills Gold factories allow visitors a behind-the-scenes look to experience how the one-of-a-kind jewelry is made and offer factory-direct pricing on this locally made jewelry.
Another unique Black Hills and Badlands souvenir is Sioux Pottery, designed and crafted by Sioux Indian artists. Each piece, made from the red clay of the Black Hills, is crafted with designs and symbols important to the Lakota culture. The plant is in Rapid City and offers a selection of handmade pottery and craft items.
Buffalo, badlands & bears, oh my!
Although Mount Rushmore National Memorial and Crazy Horse Memorial are the most recognizable attractions in the Black Hills, several other attractions are very popular with group tours.
With 1,500 wild buffalo and a variety of animals, don’t miss the many photo opportunities available while traveling the wildlife loop in Custer State Park and along the scenic drives on the Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road.
At Badlands National Park, a drive-through scenic loop routes visitors through unusual and rugged landscape containing one of the world’s richest fossil beds.
Bear Country USA is nestled in 250 acres of towering pines, offering visitors intimate views of North American mammals.
The Journey Museum takes bank groups on an incredible trek through time, from the upheaval that formed the Black Hills over 2.5 billion years ago to the continuing saga of the Western frontier.
The 1880 Train provides a scenic steam-locomotive experience between Hill City and Keystone.
And don’t miss Rapid City’s thriving downtown. It has become a favorite stop for shopping, dining and experiencing local attractions such as an art center and a sculpture walk.
While strolling on city streets, visitors are awed by the City of Presidents, life-size intricately crafted bronze statues of all of our nation’s past presidents.
Rapid City Convention and Visitors Bureau
605-718-8489
800-487-3223
www.visitrapidcity.com
