The last stops of this leg of our trip took us through the Dakotas – glamping time at Under the Canvas near Mt. Rushmore and a stay in the Theodore Roosevelt National Park town of Medora.

Top 10 things we loved about our time in South Dakota //

1. Awesome Tents – we love camping as a family and this was a first where the camping setup was taken care of. We didn’t see many other great options near the town of Keystone, so booked a stargazer tent and a kids tent next to it for the boys. The lobby area is particularly well done and the individual tents are very comfortable.

2. Playing Dominos at Under the Canvas – each day after exploring, we sat on the decks and Under the Canvas and played Dominos as a family

3. And then we’d sit on the deck to watch the sunsets over Mt. Rushmore in the distance.

4. We all enjoyed the smores and snacks at the campsite. Breaksfasts were also great and dinner, mixed but for camping options, relatively solid.

5. Exploring the Badlands – now this was incredible hiking. Definitely toasty, but one of the more interesting hikes on Notch Trail with a solid amount of rock scrambling and challenging steel cable ladder that helped us scale a steep cliff wall.

6. Recharging at Katie’s Kantina Taco Truck – Just outside the Badlands, we visited and excellent taco truck with fried cheese pickles – yum!

7. Hiking Custer State Park – juxtaposed with Badlands, the lush greenery of Custer State Park was a beautiful contrast. Incredible hiking and water activity opportunities at the lake.

8. Excellent meal at Skogen Kitchen – this was above and beyond our top food experience of the entire roadtrip. This place is worth seeking out if you are remotely nearby.

9. (Brief) visit to Mt. Rushmore – We expected this to be a real highlight – and it was a nice visit, but a fairly brief one. The natural beauty at the National and State parks ultimately outshone the visit her.

10. * and a Reptile Gardens Visit. Have to include this as the boys enjoyed this part of the visit in the afternoon of our first day in town.

And then we finished our roadtrip with 4th of July in the town of Medora, part of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. The town of Medora is a constructed western town experience. The boys thought it felt like an amusement park. All of the restaurants were connected to the National Park and there’s a Medora Musical we intended to see, but we were rained out. A memorable spot to end our Roadtrip!