Accommodations

The Black Hills offer a nature oriented outdoors getaway with a variety of cabins, vacation homes, hotels, and resorts. Choose an accommodation near any of the Black Hills's local attractions that offers comfort while making the most of the beautiful mountains and attractions at affordably priced rates.

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Activities

Easily the most well known of the Black Hills attractions is the Mount Rushmore National Monument, a granite sculpture of Presidents Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt carved from the mountain. The Black Hills also contain the 2nd and 4th longest cave systems in the world, with Jewel Cave National Monument and Wind Cave National Park. Wind Cave is famous for its unusual Boxwork mineral formations, which resemble honeycombs. The Crazy Horse Memorial, honoring the Oglala Lakota warrior, is to be a sculpture of Crazy Horse sitting on a horse pointing into the distance. Currently only the head is finished after 50 years and, if completed, it will be the largest sculpture in the world.

Events

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally has been held during the first full week of August each year since 1938, except during World War II. Originally founded by Clarence "Pappy" Hoel, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally centered on bike racing and stunts. One of the largest motorcycle rallies in the world, Sturgis, SD plays host to over 500,000 visitors during the annual Sturgis Rally. During September, the historic city of Deadwood is the site of the Deadwood Jam, the Black Hills largest music festival. Enjoy two days of the best best rock, country, reggae and blues music while exploring the history of Deadwood, SD. Custer State Park plays host to the Buffalo Roundup Arts Festival in late September, featuring a morning Pancake Feed, Western and Native American entertainment and arts and products made in South Dakota.

Mountain Activities

There are two excellent ski resorts in the Black hills area, Terry Peak and Deer Mountain, but they do not have to be covered in snow to be enjoyed. While well known for the skiing and snowboarding, in the summer and fall they offer spectacular backgrounds for hiking, bicycling, horseback riding, camping, and fishing.

Golfing

The Black Hills offers 19 golf courses that wind through the majestic Ponderosa Pine forest with the beautiful Black Hills as a background. Three courses in the Black Hills area have been listed as among the top courses in America by Golf Digest magazine.

History

The first European explorers to see the Black Hills from a distance were Francis and Louis-Joseph Verendrye, traveling along the Missouri River through South Dakota in 1743. The French brothers could see the mountains in the distance, but their Native American guides refused to approach the area, saying that hostile Lokota Indians lived in the area. It wasn’t until 1823 that Jedediah Smith and a group of traders traveled through the Black Hills, but most trappers continued to avoid the area because of the Lakota Indians.

It was gold that that drew miners to the Black Hills and caused the Lakota Indians to be forced out of the area. First discovered in the creek beds of the region, both Deadwood and Whitewood Creeks proved to be rich in placer gold, leading prospectors to search for the source of the gold. Eventually, the Homestake mine was discovered, near Lead, South Dakota in 1876. Until it was shut down in the the year 2002, the Homestake Mine would be responsible for 10% of the worlds production of gold.