If you are planning a trip to South Dakota, DO NOT miss Custer State Park. Josh and I visited May 2021 with our boys (ages 2, 7, 9), my parents (60s), and my aunt (80s). We all loved Custer, and it has SO many sites and activities for kids and adults of all ages! Custer was my and Josh’s absolute favorite day of our South Dakota trip.
Let me use our experience to help you plan a great day (or two…or three) in Custer State Park. It’s an awesome place to see lots of wildlife and enjoy the variety of great outdoor activities that South Dakota has to offer!
If you need more tips for your South Dakota trip, visit my Exciting South Dakota Vacation with Kids: A Full 4 Day Travel Itinerary post!
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the basics you need to know
How long should I plan to visit?
Iād plan on AT LEAST a full day in the Custer State Park and maybe multiple days depending on what you are wanting to do. Custer has SO many different types of activities for all outdoor interests and activity levels.
What’s your favorite outdoor activity? Custer probably has a great version of it – amazing hiking, fishing, horseback riding, swimming, and boating to name a few.
You’ll get a very nice magazine-type map and introduction to Custer at the gate, but because there is SO much to see and do inside Custer I would highly recommend making your first stop the Visitor Center. It is the nicest Visitor Center I’ve seen – well done, State of South Dakota!
The Visitor Center has lots of great wildlife displays, an interactive 3D map of the entire park, a short video to introduce you to the park (truth – timing didn’t work out and we didn’t end up watching it), and a climbing wall for kids.
But probably the MOST beneficial part of stopping in are the very helpful park rangers that can help you plan out your day! We knew our boys wanted to fish for trout, and one of the rangers there was so knowledgeable about all the options and gave us great advice.
How much does it cost?
The price of admission is WELL worth it, and you’ll get a lot of bang for your buck. As of 2021, admission into the park is $20/vehicle which is good for 7 days. It very well may be the best way you can spend 20 bucks in the state of South Dakota!
iron mountain road
We started our morning early to drive the GORGEOUS Iron Mountain Road, also known as Highway 16A. It’s 18 miles of pigtails, curves, switchbacks, one lane tunnels, and extremely scenic overlooks. If you’re paying attention, you’ll catch a few quick glimpses of Mount Rushmore through natural, picturesque lenses.
Note: This highway is closed in winter due to road conditions.
We stopped at an overlook to explore a little and catch a better view from afar of Mount Rushmore.
Custer wildlife loop
After visiting the Visitor Center for great advice from the park rangers, we headed out to drive the 18 mile Wildlife Loop Road. It had great views of the open grasslands, but for awhile we didn’t see many animals. We finally ran into some of the burros that are descendants from a herd that used to haul visitors to the top of Black Elk Peak. We also spotted deer and pronghorn antelope on our drive.
It wasn’t too much longer before we saw what Custer is known for – huge herds of American bison! They are so close to the road, and don’t seem to even notice the lines of tourists watching them slowly cross in front of traffic.
dining in the park
You have a few dining options at Custer. You could pack a picnic lunch and pick from one of the many scenic picnic areas in the park. Or if you don’t feel like packing a lunch, another option would be to order a lunch to-go from Legion Lake Lodge’s picnic menu and then find a picnic area somewhere in the park.
If you feel like sitting down inside for a meal, each of the four lodges on the property offer dining. We chose this option and had a very nice buffet-style lunch at the State Game Lodge in their historic dining room.
needles highway
Regardless of our interests and the many activities you can pick from inside Custer, be sure the Needles Highway is on your to-do list. It’s 14 miles of amazing views of the granite formations.
Along the Needles Highway, we made a pit stop at Center Lake for some trout fishing. It was probably the highlight of our 9 and 7-year-olds day. We had purchased a South Dakota family fishing license before our trip, and spent an hour or maybe more fishing from the dock. We caught our family limit of 5 trout, and took them back to our cabin for dinner!
The experience at Center Lake was pretty neat for us. There was an older couple approach the dock who had been fishing in their angler kayaks. Since we were new to trout fishing, my husband struck up a conversation with them. The gentleman ended up giving our oldest son his special trout bait and we got a interactive lesson on how to clean and cook trout there on the bank.
And that’s what is so great about families getting outdoors and interacting with others – I’ve learned that people who are experienced are always so eager and happy to share their knowledge š
But wait – it gets better! While we were getting the trout lesson from that nice gentleman, a BALD EAGLE swooped down to the water right in front of us to grab a fish. He missed, but it was an amazing display on this beautiful lake!
Sylvan Lake
Our last stop before leaving the park was at Sylvan Lake. I would also recommend making this beautiful lake a destination during your trip to Custer. The lake is great for pictures, and allows yet another opportunity for kids to climb around on rocks.
The whole family did the 1.1 mile hike around the lake and loved it. It’s a fairly easy hike but has a lot of nice views.
After our hike we made one last stop at the Sylvan Lake Lodge to grab some souvenirs, and headed “home” exhausted and ready to cook up our trout for dinner at our cabin! š
The Last Thing You Need to Know About Visiting custer state park
Custer State Park is a MUST DO for your South Dakota family road trip vacation. The landscape from your car along the very scenic highways is amazing, but be sure to pull over and experience Custer the way we did with your kids based on your own unique interests. Your whole family will love it and it will be great memories for your children!
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Have you been to Custer? Drop a comment below with your favorite part of the park!