Drive 137.8 miles • 3 hours, 37 minutes

Motorcycles roar and presidents loom on this trip through the Black Hills of South Dakota. Experience the West at its most wild, but take some time to peruse museums that peak back to the prehistoric days when the region was prowled by giant dinosaurs.

1. Rapid City

Starting Point • Food, History, Shopping

Rapid City is the launch pad for South Dakota’s breathtaking national parks. As the largest city within a 350-mile radius, and iconic Mount Rushmore National Monument just 25 miles south, Rapid City rises to the challenge as state’s cultural capital. Known as the “City of Presidents”—bronze statues of U.S. presidents stand sentry on practically every downtown corner—Rapid City has an inviting and convivial downtown with fantastic shopping and dining opportunities.

RECOMMENDED STOPOVERS

Rushmore Shadows Resort – Rapid City, SD – (800) 231-0425

2. Custer State Park

38 miles, 1 hour, 3 minutes • History, Nature

Encompassing some 71,000 acres of soaring mountain peaks (including 7,244-foot Harney Peak), granite spires, open grasslands and undulating foothills, Custer State Park is a haven for budding naturalists. This much storied park is sacred ground for many Great Plains indigenous cultures and there are over 1,500 bison (the largest free-roaming herd in the world), prairie dogs, white-tailed deer and more. Get acquainted with the “begging burros,” donkeys that are dauntless in their pandering for food from tourists.

3. Custer

9.1 miles, 20 minutes • Entertainment, History, Nature

At the heart of the fabled Black Hills of South Dakota, scenic drives from Custer summon adventure at every turn. This land was immortalized in countless legends and the 1990 film, “Dances with Wolves.” There’s the 564-feet-high Crazy Horse Memorial, the famed Needles Eye—a tall, granite column on the 14-mile Needles Highway (South Dakota Highway 87)—and back roads, where bison herds roam and ancient caves await discovery.

4. Hill City

13.7 miles, 20 minutes • History, Nature

Located near Mount Rushmore, Hill City is more than just a base for regional exploration. Visit the Black Hills Museum of Natural History with its superstar exhibit, Stan, one of the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons unearthed. Just minutes away lies National Rushmore National Memorial, designed by sculptor Gutzon Borglum. Between 1927 and 1941, the 60-foot-tall faces of presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt were carved from the granite of a Black Hills outcrop.

RECOMMENDED STOPOVERS

Rafter J Bar Ranch Camping Resort – Hill City, SD – (605) 574-2527

5. Spearfish

57.3 miles, 1 hour, 31 minutes • Nature, Outdoor Recreation

Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway is one of the nation’s most thrilling drives. With lush mountain ranges, wide-open meadows, dramatic waterfalls, vertiginous cliff walls, sparkling creeks, deep canyons and omnipresent wildlife, Spearfish is an embarrassment of riches. Go mountain biking and hiking through ponderosa pine forests, rock climbing on gorgeous limestone cliffs and angling in on Spearfish Creek. This fly-fishing paradise is renowned for its prodigious populations of rainbow trout.

6. Sturgis

19.7 miles, 24 minutes • Entertainment, Outdoor Recreation, Sports

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is a 10-day homage to the two-wheeled American classic. Along the five “bike only” blocks of Main Street, you can check out virtually every bike manufactured, compete in races, watch live music and cheer on participants of the Annual Sturgis Mayor’s Ride, a fundraising event. Several events pack big crowds, including half-mile races, thrilling ramp jumps and various stunts. Visitors can also watch motocross races, professional and amateur hill climbs, and drag races.