Time Zone Change
Clocks spring ahead 1 hr on I-90 between Kadoka and Murdo, SD.
Weather forecast
Mon, Jul 6Start
Sturgis, SD
Forecast closer to the date
En route
Wind Cave
Forecast closer to the date
Overnight
Murdo, SD
Forecast closer to the date
Forecast via Open-Meteo
Log in to see hotel & daily logistics
The daily timeline, drive details, and lodging are private to the family.
Rushmore + Wind Cave + Badlands
Jr. Ranger Badge
Three badges, three deadlines
Game Plan
Rushmore Lincoln Borglum VC opens 8 AM (badge desk) — arriving at 9:20 AM is perfect. Badlands Ben Reifel VC closes 5 PM MT — the anchor deadline. Wind Cave VC 6 PM (cave tours by pre-booked ticket only).
- Presidential Trail (Rushmore) (0.6 mi · 422 stairs) — Under-the-faces views you can't get from the terrace; counterclockwise is easier on knees.
- Door Trail (Badlands) (0.75 mi RT boardwalk+) — Through a break in the Badlands Wall into moonscape — kids' favorite.
- Window + Fossil Exhibit Trails (Badlands) (0.2 / 0.4 mi · boardwalk) — Two-minute payoffs; fossil replicas under shelters on the latter.
- Natural Entrance Tour (Wind Cave — Plan A) (~1.25 hr guided) — Boxwork formations found almost nowhere else on Earth; 300 stairs down, elevator up.
- Yellow Mounds Overlook — the most colorful stretch of the loop
- Roberts Prairie Dog Town (Plan B bonus) on Sage Creek Rim Road
- Bison on the Wind Cave parkland prairie (Plan A) — often right beside US-385
- Wall Drug — kitsch institution; free ice water, 5¢ coffee, quick lunch
Sunrise, Sunset & Golden Hour ★
Sunrise
5:17 AM MDT
Sunset
8:40 PM MDT
Be set up by (sunrise)
4:47 AM
Be set up by (sunset)
8:20 PM
Sunrise spot — Badlands Pinnacles Overlook or Door Trail area — the buttes and spires turn flame-orange at sunrise, possibly the most dramatic landscape dawn of the entire trip. You arrive mid-morning and miss it.
You depart Sturgis at 6:45 AM, well past sunrise.
Sunset spot — You're IN the Badlands right at golden hour — Pinnacles Overlook faces west across the Dakota plains. Set up at 8:15 PM MDT, watch the sunset, depart 9 PM MDT → Murdo by ~10 PM CT (20 min over the 9:30 limit).
Badlands at golden hour is extraordinary. You'll be there — Pinnacles Overlook by 8:15 PM MDT. Staying for the full sunset adds ~20 min to the Murdo arrival (pushing past 9:30 CT). Worth the discussion.
Heads Up
Rushmore parking is $10/vehicle and NOT covered by the America the Beautiful pass (it's a concession fee).
Wind Cave reality check: the cave is by guided tour only, tickets via recreation.gov, and summer tours sell out days ahead. No pre-booked late-morning ticket = take Plan B. Your instinct to skip is sound — Plan A works only if everything cooperates.
Badlands Ben Reifel VC closes 5:00 PM Mountain — that's the day's anchor deadline. Everything else flexes around it.
Keep water bottles full — Badlands in July is regularly 95°F+ with no shade.
Trip Journal — Day 17
No journal entries for this day yet.