Planning Trip To Rushmore Area

[cgunn]

We are planning a trip to the Rushmore area ,Black Hills etc. at the end of this summer.
I am looking for info about pulling our Bighorn from Missouri.
We would most likely be coming up I-29 to I-90 then west to
Rapid City then south on US-16. I saw in rjr6150s post about
Rafter J Bar RV Park just north of Custer.
I checked into that and it looks pretty nice.
It's real handy to several attractions in the area.
What I was wondering about was the roads and such.
Size of roads...grades of mountain passes and other concerns that
we might encounter pulling our 5er.
When we leave the area we would be heading south on
US-385 to US-89 to US-18 to catch I-25 on down to Denver.
Last but not least....how bad are the mountain passes on I-70 east of Denver??
Does anyone have any experience with these roads??

Thank in Advance for your help....

 

[Nabo]

We were in the Black Hills of SD May '09 (last year). Rafter J Bar Ranch is a nice place but when we were there, they only had one section open and turned off the H20 at night because of unusual cold weather and snow storm. Coming from TN, we came thru Missouri up to SD and took I-90 cross state to Rapid City. We took the new bypass around Rapid City, at least it's new from when we were there in the 90's, to Hill City (I think it's Hwy 16). I 90 was a little bumpy to say the least!!! From Hill City, we were advised to stay on Hwy 16 to Custer instead of going back thru RC to go to Yellowstone. That was a fun road, little traffic but did run into a little construction on the WY side before running back into I-90. Road was much better than the interstate. Not sure about going to Denver.

 

[jmgratz]

Check out Hart Ranch. A beautiful place to stay. It is about 10 minutes from Mr. Rushmore. It is a private campground but you can stay there if you are a member of Coast to Coast or several other organizations. Here is a link http://www.hartranchresort.com/

 

[reverts]

Hi, We stayed at Rafter J Bar back in September 2008 it is a great campground with lots of walking/hiking trails. It was very nice and we would go back. Have a great time.

 

[DXWOLF]

We live in Denver, were at the Black Hills last summer. East of Denver no mtns. all roads in the hills are designed for rv's.

 

[cgunn]

We live in Denver, were at the Black Hills last summer. East of Denver no mtns. all roads in the hills are designed for rv's.[/QUOTE]
Golly...Duh....I meant West Of Denver...Of Course.......

 

[PUG]

We had our 3950 at Rafter J last May and enjoyed the stay there. It is a beautiful campground and the deer were all over the place. It is located very well to see Rushmore and Crazy Horse. Both are must see's. Also went down by Custer and viewed a couple of caves and then up to Deadhorse to see the town and gravesites of Wild Bill and Calamity. The Badlands park just East of town and the campground is a must see also with the Buffalo and the natural erosion. We came in from the East (Nebraska) and saw Badlands on the way in and then onto the Battle of the Big Horn park and then down to Yellowstone.

 

[TXBobcat]

We went to Glacier National park last year from the Goshen Rally. We went to North Dakota and then down to South Dakota. We stayed at Custer's Gulch RV just north of Custer. It is real close to Crazy Horse but a ways from Mt. Rushmore. Now Mt. Rushmore is nice but very commercialized. You have to pay to park in their 3 story parking garage and it is the only place to park. You walk out on a large concrete business area and approach the monument.

I really liked Crazy Horse much better, but get there early and park up in front of the parking lot before dark and see the light show. More enjoyable than Mt. Rushmore.
Custer's Gulch is quite nice. Better than a lot I drove through around Custer. I have not been at Rafter J so I can't give you an opinion about it.

You can pull your rig through all main roads. The roads are not that big of climb for your rig. I made it with no problem with my F250 and Bighorn 3400RE.

If you would like to see some photos go to the following links..
Custer's Gulch RV Park
Mt. Rushmore
Crazy Horse
Needles Highway
Wilderness Loop

Or if you just want to see some pictures of our trip for 2009 go here:
2009 Pictures Click on the albums on the left.

FWIW
BC