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South Dakota

The Best of Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills and Badlands

Program No. 13160RJ

Discover South Dakota’s beautiful Black Hills and Badlands, where bison mosey through roadside meadows and hand-carved mountains tower over vast stretches of untouched wilderness.

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7 days

6 nights

16 meals

6B 4L 6D

Check-in, Orientation, Welcome Dinner

Keystone, SD

High Plains Center, Homestake Mine, Natural Resources

Keystone, SD

Mount Rushmore, Journey Museum, Lighting Ceremony

Keystone, SD

Custer State Park, Crazy Horse Memorial, Indigenous Dance

Keystone, SD

Working Ranch Life, Mammoth Site, Natural History

Keystone, SD

Minute Man Missile Visitor Center, Badlands National Park

Keystone, SD

Program Concludes

Keystone, SD

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At a Glance

The land now shadowed by Mount Rushmore was, up until the 1870s, called the "last great unknown." Enrich your understanding of American growth in this vast wilderness as you immerse yourself in the discovery of Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Badlands National Park and The Mammoth Site. Study the lives of gold seekers and sod busters, and discover the Old West before a handful of presidents made it famous.

Activity Level

On Your Feet

Walking up to one mile on varied terrain; some stairs. Elevations range from 4,300 to 5,200 feet.

Best of all, you’ll…

Expand your mind at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, the Crazy Horse Memorial and Custer State Park.
Experience the otherworldly moonlike landscape of spectacular Badlands National Park.
Discover an active paleontological dig site, which boasts the largest concentration of mammoth remains in the world!

General Notes

Select dates are designated for small groups and are limited to 24 participants or less. For a more active outdoor program in the Black Hills, check out "Hike, Kayak & Ride: Black Hills, Badlands & Mount Rushmore" (#12774).

Featured Expert

All trip experts

John Esposti

John Esposti was born and raised in central New Jersey. He received a degree in education from the University of Idaho and utilized his degree by teaching in Alaska. He met his wife Cindy in Hawaii and returned with her to the Black Hills to operate a family-run travel business. After selling the business, John worked at the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research. John now spends his days with Cindy on a new tourism venture called GeoFunTrek, providing intimate explorations for visitors.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

John Esposti View biography

Stephen Yellowhawk View biography

Stephen was born in Eagle Butte, SD on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, and raised in Rapid City, SD by his grandparents. In 2009 Stephen received his bachelor’s in elementary education from Oglala Lakota College. Growing up in his grandparents’ home, he learned from their example how to combine both the Christian and Lakota Traditional value systems. Stephen is the current board president for the Black Hills Powwow Association and is actively pursuing a master’s degree in leadership and management.

Bill Keck View biography

Bill Keck is a retired extension educator, serving 33 years with Pennsylvania State, Colorado State, and South Dakota State Universities, retiring in 2008. He was an active volunteer in Rapid City with the Chamber of Commerce and the city’s Urban Wildlife and Forestry Boards up until 2013 when he and his wife, Jeanette, decided to spend their winters in Arizona. He is still active with the Cosmopolitan service club and Spearfish United Methodist Church. Bill and Jeanette have three grown children and seven grandchildren.

Karen Raben View biography

Karen Raben grew up in the Black Hills. After college, she spent the next 40 years living in several Midwest cities, Connecticut, and New York. During that time, Karen completed a master’s degree at Connecticut Western State University and had careers in teaching, business consulting, and parenting. In 2004, Karen and her husband, Tim, retired from their consulting business in the Chicago area and moved to Rapid City. Karen enjoyed traveling and learning the history of the places she visited.

Tim Raben View biography

Tim Raben grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota, and graduated with a B.A. in history from the University of South Dakota. He has a M.A. degree in liberal arts from North Central College in Illinois. Tim and his wife, Karen, saw much of the country during his career in insurance and as business consultants. Tim is the board chair of the Badlands National Park Conservancy and past chair of the Journey Museum and Mount Rushmore Society.

Eric Grinager View biography

Eric Grinager is a native-born son of South Dakota. He has his undergraduate degree in elementary education and physical education and a master’s in theology. Eric served several churches across South Dakota for over 40 years. During those years in ministry, he also counseled and was a dean for camps for all ages. Eric’s hobbies center around sports, including golf, officiating basketball games, and hiking and biking in the Black Hills.

Michael Snyder View biography

Michael Snyder grew up in the Black Hills near Sturgis, South Dakota on a family-owned cattle ranch as part of the fourth generation along with his two brothers working cattle, riding horses, and driving tractors. Attending college at South Dakota State University led him to internships for the South Dakota State Legislature and United States Senate along with study abroad in Florence, Italy. After graduation, Michael got involved in the travel sector and began leading trips across the country and around the world.

Mike Pflaum View biography

Mike Pflaum grew up in southeastern Minnesota and graduated with honors from Mankato State University with a B.S. in recreation and parks administration with minors in geology and earth science. He retired at the end of 2021 after a 41-year career with the National Park Service where he held a variety of positions, including naturalist, park ranger, and park superintendent. Mike enjoys photography and discussing the value and importance of parks and large landscape preservation. Mike has been a Road Scholar group leader since 2022.

Bill Scholl View biography

Bill Scholl grew up on a ranch in Northwestern South Dakota. After graduating high school in Isabel, SD, he studied music and business at Middle Tennessee State University. Bill enjoyed a career involving wholesale distribution, retail management, and business ownership. He and his wife, Gracie, enjoy hiking, biking, and motorcycling, and love living in Western South Dakota. Bill is a member of the Rapid City Cosmopolitan Club.

Suggested Reading List (5 books)

Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop

You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.

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The Best of Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills and Badlands

Program Number: 13160

Exploring with Custer: The 1874 Black Hills Expedition

by Ernest Grafe & Paul Horsted

General George Armstrong Custer's Journey to the Black Hills in 1874 was better documented than any other military expedition of the Old West. Not only did William H. Illingworth record superb views of the landscape and several camps, but at least fifteen men wrote diaries, reports or newspaper dispatches brimming with vivid detail. This book blends the Illingworth photos and their present-day counterparts with selections from all known accounts to paint a unique portrait of everyday life along the trail. Please order through Paul Horsted at www.dakotaphoto.com or 1.800.248.2194

The Carving of Mount Rushmore

by Rex Alan Smith

This entertaining and very readable book tells the fascinating stories of the people of Mt. Rushmore. Included are first person accounts of not only the carvers, the politicians and Borglum, but an almost unbelievable host of others who became part of the tumult and triumph that make this history read like a novel. If you’re only going to read one book about Rushmore, this is the one.

Moon of Popping Trees

by Rex Alan Smith

The Massacre at Wounded Knee was the last major battle between whites and Native Americans.With parallels to concerns some have of today’s news reports, you’ll see that this massacre was largely a result of overblown news reports of the danger of the Native American Ghost Dance. Even more startling is the revelation in this book that the Ghost Dance had its origin in the Christian resurrection story. This book spans fifty years of the life and struggles of Native Americans as they try to maintain their lifestyle in the face of America’s westward expansion.

Cowboy Life: The Letters of George Philip

by George Philip and Cathie Draine

As a young man, George Philip emigrated from Scotland to escape a harsh apprenticeship. In 1899, he arrived on the doorstep of his uncle, James (“Scotty”) Philip, patriarch of one of South Dakota’s foremost ranching families. For the next four years, Philip rode as a cowboy for his uncle’s L-7 cattle outfit during the heyday of the last open range. But the cowboy era was a brief one, and in 1903 Philip turned in his string of horses and hung up his saddle to enter law school in Michigan. With a law degree in hand, he returned to South Dakota to practice in the wide-open western towns of Fort Pierre, Philip, and Rapid City. In these candid letters, Philip tells his children that his life was an ordinary one, but his memoirs quickly dispel that notion. He provides fascinating insights into the development of the West and of South Dakota. His writing details the cowboy’s day-to-day work, from branding and roping to navigating across the plains by stars and buttes as the great open ranges slowly closed up. The places and characters of the range find life in Philip’s mixture of humor, hard-nosed “horse-sense," and poignant reflection.

Roadside History of South Dakota

by Linda Hasselstrom

Reading Roadside History of South Dakota is like having a knowledgeable friend explain the most fascinating and pertinent tidbits of the state's past without reciting a lot of boring details. The book's comfortable, conversational style guides readers smoothly along the state's highways and byways. Even those who think they already know South Dakota will can anticipate learning new things from this insightful, informative, yet thoroughly readable and entertaining roadside history. The material is rich, and Linda Hasselstrom reveals it in an exciting way by focusing on the people who made South Dakota what it is today.

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The Best of Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills and Badlands

Enroll with Confidence

Protecting the Environment

At a Glance

Best of all, you’ll…

General Notes

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