Badlands, Black Hills and Roughriders

Arrive in Sioux Falls today and transfer to your hotel. Meet your Tour Manager in the lobby at 5:00 p.m. for a welcome dinner with your traveling companions. Meal: D

This morning a local guide conducts a narrated tour of Sioux Falls. See the stunning 123-acre Falls Park, featuring pink quartzite waterfalls, learn about the downtown sculpture walk and see the historic Pettigrew Home. Lunch is at McCrossan Boys Ranch, a non-profit working ranch offering an opportunity for young men to learn life skills. The Old Courthouse, one of the oldest building in the city and home to the Siouxland Heritage Museum. Meals: B, L

Depart Sioux Falls and come to Hansen Wheel and Wagon Shop, one of the nation’s remaining builders and restorers of horse-drawn carriages, wagons and stagecoaches. Then, take the leisurely drive through Badlands National Park, a uniquely beautiful geologic area formed over millions of years by wind, rain and erosion. Later, stop at famed Wall Drug Store, a unique shopping emporium featuring western clothing, Indian pottery and favorite watering hole since the 1930s. Meals: B, D

Begin the day with a visit to the famed Shrine of Democracy, Mount Rushmore National Memorial. See the memorial and explore the museum. At the Crazy Horse Memorial, a bus takes you to the base of the carving for an up-close view. Then, travel into Custer State Park, home of the nation’s largest bison herd. Enjoy an included lunch at the State Game Lodge before climbing aboard the park’s Jeeps for a tour among the bison herd. Back in Rapid City, visit the Journey Museum where you learn about the Indian culture and heritage. Meals: B, L

This morning board the 1880 Train of the Black Hills Central Railroad for the spectacular mountain scenery found along the tracks laid in the 1880s to service the area mines. Enjoy lunch in historic Deadwood and visit Mount Moriah Cemetery, known as “Boot Hill,” home to the graves of Old West legends like Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok. There will be time to explore the town before heading up to North Dakota. Meals: B, L

A busy day today begins with a drive through Theodore Roosevelt National Park. On the scenic loop through the park be on the lookout for the many bison, deer, elk, bighorn sheep and even wild horses that inhabit the area. Then, visit the new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library where you will explore the legacy of a leader who shaped America. Spend time at the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame which showcases ranching, trail drivers and rodeo cowboys of the plains of North Dakota. Dinner today is a traditional Pitchfork Steak Fondue where chefs load steaks on pitchforks and fondue them western-style. The evening is capped off with reserved seats to the famed Medora Musical. This outdoor, high energy, western-style musical show is sure to please. Meals: B, D

After a long day yesterday, take time this morning before visiting the Badlands Dinosaur Museum. See the fossils, bones, teeth and the largest collection of full skeletons on display in North Dakota. Then for a little fun, you will take a drive along North Dakota’s Enchanted Highway. This 32-mile long scenic drive features classic roadside art of giant metal sculptures before coming to Bismarck. Meals: B, L

Begin the day with a narrated tour of North Dakota’s State Capitol, a prairie-themed Art Deco styled building. Then you will visit the Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park. Established in 1907 the park contains the reconstructed earth lodges of the On-a-Slant Village of the Plains Indian tribes, the 1873 cavalry military outpost and the home of Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer. Later, climb aboard the Lewis & Clark vessel for a narrated cruise along the Missouri River. Meals: B, D

This morning your tour ends with a group transfer to the Bismarck Airport for flights out after 10:00 a.m. Meal: B