Location: Rapid City
Top Things to do in Rapid City
The 10 Best Nature & Parks in Rapid City, South Dakota (SD)
Rapid City has long been considered one of the gateways to the West, and its rich cowboy and Native American heritage is the result. Visitors won't want to miss the area's mammoth outdoor sculptures. There's Mount Rushmore, of course, but work also continues on the nearby Crazy Horse Memorial, which will be the largest sculpture in the world when it is finally completed years down the line. Among the many local attractions are the scenic Black Hills, several nearby cavern systems that offer guided tours and the South Dakota Air and Space Museum.
Restaurants in Rapid City
1. Buzzards Roost
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 3 reviews
2. Founders Park
3. Badlands National Park
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 746 reviews
Reviewed By L2369IOjamesm
This park is amazing. The loop road they have let's you drive through the park and get great views of the scenery; there are lots of scenic overlooks where you can park and spend time enjoying the sights. We hiked a couple of the trails (the door and the notch) and they were also amazing.
4. Bear Country USA
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 4,013 reviews
Enjoy a leisurely 2-mile drive through this unique North American Wildlife park in the the Black Hills of South Dakota. From the comfort of your vehicle view black bears, wolves, elk, buffalo and other wildlife! After your drive-through tour, walk around wildlife loop where young and smaller animals frolic in the outdoors. Don't miss the Baby Bears! Dine at the Cub Grub Snack Shack or shop in the Bear's Den Gift Shop. Open May through November, weather permitting
Reviewed By Mutiny - Sydney, Australia
For a family with young children or Tweenies, the highlight of this place is the bear cub enclosure they are just so cute and adorable. They play and rumble with each other and delight everyone with their antics. You can pay an extra $5 to feed them fruit and vegetables and it is hilarious to watch them feeding (as if they have never been fed before when you know that they are extremely well cared for). The drive through enclosure are also great with gorgeous Arctic Wolves, Mountain Lions and Black bears (of all colours) just to name a few. This was a great family excursion for the morning.
5. Reptile Gardens
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2,204 reviews
World-renowned adventure park, Reptile Gardens is a must-see family attraction no matter what your age. We maintain the finest collection of tropical plants, colorful flowers, and exotic reptiles anywhere - we have more species and subspecies of venomous reptiles than any other zoo or park in the world!
Reviewed By shayleev - Grimes, United States
The Reptile Gardens was enjoyed by our entire family (kids age 11 & 8)! We did the gator & snake show and loved both. Matt has a great sense of humor while also giving tons of info. We loved all the different types of venomous snakes, Maniac the GIANT crocodile, prairie dog town and petting the Tank the tortoise was my favorite! While it did seem a little overpriced we definitely enjoyed our time there.
6. Canyon Lake Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 70 reviews
Reviewed By P4662PZjudyd - Rapid City, United States
I go often to simply watch the ducks and geese. It is peaceful and refreshing. I like it so much I decided to rent a place nearby so I can enjoy the wildlife and the walking/hiking trails.
7. Memorial Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 22 reviews
Reviewed By 246carrien - Eagle Grove, United States
This park is right across from the main downtown area and is a great place to take a walk and enjoy some outdoor time. There are pieces of the Berlin Wall in the park, a stream, and many different playgrounds. The playgrounds are awesome! There is also a really neat light up game in the park called tennis. It's multiplayer and very interactive.
8. Black Hills Caverns
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 167 reviews
Black Hills Caverns has been amazing its visitors in the Black Hills of South Dakota since 1939. Visitors have enjoyed the natural beauty of the Caverns and by the variety of different formations. The Caverns continue to be explored and new passages are found within the cave’s underground wilderness. Black Hills Caverns offers our Adventure Tour and our Crystal Tours daily from May thru September. We also offer the best Gemstone Panning experience in the Hills! Our Adventure Tour – This fun & educational underground guided tour of Black Hills Caverns showcases the amazing natural formations. Your Guide will take you on a beautiful journey of all three levels of the caverns, sharing local history, fun stories, some folklore, and caverns geology. Our Crystal Tour is the main level of Black Hills Caverns and is an easy walking tour with few stairs and is a moderate passed tour, for our visitors who want to experience the caves natural beauty on this 30 minute, shorter tour.
Reviewed By Jal4950
Our visit on the "Long Tour" at Black Hills Caverns was excellent. Our guide Cooper was very knowledgeable and did a fantastic job explaining all the rock formations and the history of the caverns to us. One needs to be in decent physical shape to do this tour as there are slippery inclines and declines to walk up and down and many stairs to climb on the long tour. We are senior citizens and my wife has osteoporosis. She was scared of slipping and/or falling but my holding her hands, walking slowly, reassured her and she did fantastic walking the tunnels and steps during our whole time here. The tunnels are very narrow at some points where you have to duck your head and enter very narrow areas so I don't believe you can carry small children on this tour if they cannot walk on their own. Also bring a light jacket or sweater with you as the temps drop to 50 degrees when you are in the caverns, quite a contrast to the 90 degree weather we had outside on that day. All in all we had a great time exploring the caverns with Cooper.
9. Thunderhead Falls
10. Legacy Commons
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 1 reviews
