South Dakota Self-Launched: Mount Rushmore, Badlands & the Black Hills
7 days · South Dakota, USA
Collette charges £2,530
No-markup version: ~£535 per person
Estimate only, not a guaranteed price. Always verify costs independently before booking.
A self-launched 7-day Black Hills road trip based out of Rapid City, covering the same headline sights as the Collette coach tour — Mount Rushmore (day and night), Badlands National Park, Wall Drug, Deadwood, Custer State Park, Crazy Horse Memorial and Devils Tower — but done independently with a budget rental car, cheap motels/hostels and self-booked local tours. South Dakota is car country: public transport is minimal, so a small rental car shared between two travellers is the cheapest and most flexible option. Costs here assume you travel as a pair (car and fuel split) and stay in simple motels/guesthouses; solo travellers should budget roughly £10-15 extra per night for single rooms.
Day-by-day
Arrive in Rapid City, pick up the car
Rapid City, SD
Fly into Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP) — usually cheapest via Denver, Minneapolis or Chicago. Pick up the cheapest compact rental car you can find (book well ahead; July/August prices climb sharply). Check into a budget motel or hostel-style guesthouse downtown near Main Street Square, then walk the compact downtown: Art Alley street art, the Presidential statues on the street corners and a cheap dinner at one of the Main Street brew-pubs or taco spots. Stock up on snacks and water at a supermarket for the park days.
🚌Airport shuttle or taxi to downtown (~£12), then rental car pickup
🛏Budget motel / guesthouse in downtown Rapid City (e.g. simple independents near Main Street Square), £45-60 double
- →Collect rental car
- →Downtown Rapid City walk & Presidential statues
- →Art Alley
- →Supermarket stock-up
Mount Rushmore by day and night
Rapid City → Mount Rushmore → Rapid City
Drive the 25 miles to Mount Rushmore (about 35 minutes). Entry to the memorial is free — you only pay for parking (~$10/£8 per car). Walk the Presidential Trail (0.6 miles, 400+ steps) for close-up views of the carvings, then loop back via the Sculptor's Studio. On the way, stop at Chapel in the Hills, a free Norwegian stavkirke replica tucked in the pines. Drive back into Keystone for a cheap lunch, return to Rapid City for a rest, then drive out again in the evening for the ranger-led lighting ceremony (usually around 9pm in summer, free) — the highlight of the day.
🚌Self-drive ~60 miles round trip; fuel ~£7
🛏Budget motel / guesthouse in Rapid City, £45-60 double
- →Chapel in the Hills (free)
- →Mount Rushmore Presidential Trail walk
- →Mount Rushmore evening lighting ceremony (free)
- →Keystone town wander
Badlands National Park and Wall Drug
Rapid City → Badlands → Wall → Rapid City
An early start east on I-90 (about 1 hour to the Pinnacles Entrance). Badlands entry is $30/£24 per vehicle for 7 days — buy the America the Beautiful annual pass ($80/£63) instead if you're also doing Devils Tower. Drive the Badlands Loop Road (Hwy 240), stopping at Big Badlands Overlook, Door and Window, and Fossil Exhibit Trail. Do the Notch Trail (1.5 miles, ladder climb, superb views) if you're steady on your feet. Swing by the Ben Reifel Visitor Center for the fossil exhibits, then drive to Wall for the free-to-enter, gloriously kitsch Wall Drug store and a cheap doughnut-and-coffee stop. Optional: book a short Indigenous-led interpretive walk or prairie tour via local guides in Interior or the park concessioner (from ~£30pp) if you want the Native American perspective the coach tour includes.
🚌Self-drive ~130 miles round trip; fuel ~£14
🛏Budget motel / guesthouse in Rapid City, £45-60 double
- →Badlands Loop Road scenic drive
- →Notch Trail hike
- →Ben Reifel Visitor Center
- →Wall Drug
- →Optional Indigenous-led interpretive tour
Deadwood: Wild West history
Rapid City → Deadwood → Rapid City
Drive northwest (about 1 hour 15 via I-90 and Sturgis, worth a quick photo stop in the biker town). In Deadwood, do the free self-guided walk up to Mount Moriah Cemetery to see the graves of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane (~$2 donation), then wander Main Street's historic saloons and the free Adams Museum. Alternative: Tatanka: Story of the Bison just north of town (~$15/£12) is a moving sculpture-and-interpretive-centre tribute to the Lakota and the bison herds. In the evening, catch a cheap dinner and a live Western/country music set in one of the Main Street casinos-and-saloon venues — the equivalent of the tour's High Plains Western Heritage Center show for a fraction of the price.
🚌Self-drive ~100 miles round trip; fuel ~£11
🛏Budget motel / guesthouse in Rapid City, £45-60 double
- →Mount Moriah Cemetery (Wild Bill & Calamity Jane graves)
- →Adams Museum (free)
- →Deadwood Main Street historic walk
- →Tatanka: Story of the Bison (optional, ~£12)
- →Live Western music in a Main Street saloon
Custer State Park wildlife and Crazy Horse
Rapid City → Custer State Park → Crazy Horse → Rapid City
Head south on the spectacular Iron Mountain Road with its pigtail bridges and one-lane tunnels framing Rushmore. Custer State Park charges $20/£16 per vehicle for a 7-day pass. Drive the Wildlife Loop Road (18 miles) — bison herds, pronghorn, burros and prairie dogs are near-guaranteed. If you want the off-road buffalo safari experience, book a seat on a Custer State Park buffalo jeep tour directly (roughly $65-90/£50-70pp) or, far cheaper, just do the loop by car and stop at the visitor centre. In the afternoon, continue to Crazy Horse Memorial (~$15/£12 entry) for the orientation film, the Indian Museum of North America and the sculptor's studio. Return via the Needles Highway if time allows.
🚌Self-drive ~120 miles round trip; fuel ~£13
🛏Budget motel / guesthouse in Rapid City, £45-60 double
- →Iron Mountain Road scenic drive
- →Custer State Park Wildlife Loop Road
- →Crazy Horse Memorial & Indian Museum of North America
- →Optional buffalo jeep safari (~£50-70pp)
- →Needles Highway drive
Devils Tower National Monument
Rapid City → Devils Tower, WY → Rapid City
A longer day out: about 2 hours' drive northwest into Wyoming. Devils Tower entry is $25/£20 per vehicle. Do the 1.3-mile Tower Trail loop around the base, watch climbers on the columns and stop at the visitor centre for the Lakota and Cheyenne oral histories of the tower. On the way back, detour to the Geographic Center of the Nation marker near Belle Fourche, South Dakota (free, 15 minutes off I-90) — exactly as the coach tour does. Finish with a farewell dinner at a Rapid City brew-pub or steakhouse, or grab a cheap takeaway and eat in the park.
🚌Self-drive ~220 miles round trip; fuel ~£23
🛏Budget motel / guesthouse in Rapid City, £45-60 double
- →Devils Tower Tower Trail hike
- →Devils Tower visitor centre
- →Geographic Center of the Nation (Belle Fourche)
- →Farewell dinner in Rapid City
Return the car and fly out
Rapid City
A leisurely morning — coffee downtown, a last walk along the Skyline Wilderness Trail or a browse of the Journey Museum if your flight is late. Refuel the car (much cheaper than the airport forecourt) before dropping it back at RAP and flying out. If you're continuing on, Rapid City connects cheaply to Denver, Minneapolis and Chicago for onward budget flights.
🚌Self-drive to airport; refuel before drop-off (~£8), rental drop-off
🛏—
- →Downtown coffee
- →Skyline Wilderness Trail walk (optional)
- →Journey Museum (optional, ~£10)
Self-launched vs. Collette
| This itinerary (self-launched) | Collette | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per person | ~£535 | £2,530 |
| Duration | 7 days | 7 days |
| Who books it | You and your group, direct | Tour operator, guided group |
| Savings | £1,995 per person (79%) | |
Estimate only, not a guaranteed price. Always verify costs independently before booking.
Want to see more Collette-style trips? Check them out here.~£535
estimated per person
You never pay Travel Crew for this — you pay hostels, transport, and activity providers directly, the same as if you'd booked it all yourself.
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Frequently asked questions
How much does South Dakota Self-Launched: Mount Rushmore, Badlands & the Black Hills cost?+
Doing it yourself with this self-launched itinerary costs an estimated £535 per person for 7 days in South Dakota, USA. This is an AI-generated estimate based on typical budget-traveller prices — actual costs will vary by season and how you book.
Is this cheaper than booking with Collette?+
Yes — Collette charges around £2,530 per person for a similar tour. Doing the same route independently, using the same standard of accommodation and activities, costs an estimated £535 — a saving of roughly £1,995 (79%) per person.
How long is the South Dakota, USA trip?+
This itinerary runs 7 days, covering 7 day-by-day stops through South Dakota, USA.
How do I join this trip?+
You can join an existing open departure using this itinerary if one is scheduled, or launch your own departure with your own dates and invite other travellers to join you — no tour operator required.
Isn't it easier to just use a tour operator?+
Well, yes, a tour operator will book all the individual parts of your travel for you and provide a guide. That's obvious, but doing this has the potential to save the group thousands, which can in turn improve your itinerary substantially or save you huge amounts of money. Also, when you launch a departure, Travel Crew has tools in place to help you book the individual sections of the trip or make it easier for you to do this as a group. Really, you do not need a middle man. If you are more comfortable paying more and using a middle man, then you should certainly do this.
Is it safer to book through a tour operator?+
Arguably, there isn't much difference. A self-launched trip runs on the same principle as a group travel crew: collective responsibility, everyone looking out for each other, the same way it would if a group of friends organised the trip themselves — because that's exactly what's happening. You should always take out travel insurance before you go, self-launched or not; that doesn't change either way. Every open departure is published publicly with real dates and a real trip organiser, so it's never an anonymous arrangement, and our support team is reachable any time you need help, including in an emergency while you're away. Longer-term, we're building direct relationships with ground DMCs in popular destinations, offered as an optional paid add-on for extra on-the-ground support. Ultimately, though, the group is responsible for its own conduct and safety on a self-launched trip, same as on any trip you plan yourself.
What kind of trip is this?+
This is a adventure, culture, road-trip trip through South Dakota, USA, self-launched rather than run by a tour operator — you organise it with a group you find or bring yourself.
Would you like to name the operator, name the trip, or have any suggestions about how to improve this itinerary?
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