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3 Stars - 147 Opinions
The State Game Lodge in Custer State Park. I dined on pheasant with plum sauce, my wife enjoyed fresh walleye - the state bird and the state fish, both wonderfully prepared and presented.
We had 6:45 dinner reservations and were seated near the noisey door of the historic restaurant. Our room had photographs of the Eisenhower's at the State Game Lodge, but ambiance was wood paneling ...
The bread was good and our salads came promptly. We then waited over an hour for dinner. While we were waiting very noisy tour groups came in and were served. Our waiter returned and was apologetic bringing our food. The salmon dish was hot with a special sauce and rice. My halibut was tasteless and sat on top of cold spagetti with a canned type of sauce.
The broccoli floret was frozen. I sent it back & reheated food returned very quickly.
The children at the table next to us waited over an hour for their chicken fingers & were throwing items on the table at each other. Finally the parents said that they couldn't wait any longer & their food came out minutes later.
There weren't many places to have lunch in Custer State Park so we tried the lunch buffet. We got there at 11:30 and were told all of the seats in the dining room were reserved but we could go to the bar. Service in the bar downstairs was a whole different world. We enjoyed the extensive salad bar, fresh breads & soup. The buffalo stew, carving station, ribs, mashed potatoes, vegetables were hot & plentiful. Homemade pies on the desert table were good. For $11.00 each we were impressed; it was nice to get out & about in an hours time too! People that came after us complained about the crowds of tourists & that there wasn't any food left at the buffet. Expensive & disappointing dinner in the dining room. We did better for lunch in the bar!
The drive on Highway 85A through Custer State Park to Mount Rushmore. Stop at the Custer State Game Lodge for lunch. And don't miss the buffalo in the park! Along the way on 85A you'll cross pig-tail bridges made from huge pine logs and drive through tunnels that were carefully planned to frame the Four Faces. You may see some wildlife, too, usually bison but often deer or antelope, a.k.a. wapiti as well. The people. I grew up in South Dakota, but have lived away from it for years. What I notice most when I return is how helpful people are there, quite unlike urbanized America. This alone makes the state worth visiting.
Hello everyone,
My boyfriend and I will be in South Dakota in early August and want to do some camping. We will first be going to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons to do some backcountry camping and other sightseeing and will then head off to South Dakota on our way to St. Paul, Minnesota and beyond. We're really excited about the Badlands/Black Hills region and we're curious about any good campsite recommendations (both backcountry and regular camping).
Also, any recommendations on interesting/scenic routes between the Badlands region and St. Paul?
Thanks everyone!
We camped by the State Game Lodge in Custer National Park - our site had leftover cigarette butts and used Q-tips all over it and there never seemed to be anyone to discuss this with.
As far as the scenic route, Hwy 14 through SD and MN has some interesting sites - De Smet SD is where the Ingalls family ended up, if you've read the books you might be interested in stopping there - Walnut Grove is also off Hwy 14 in MN. You can camp at the Ingalls homestead site in De Smet, too. Check out the Jeffers Petroglyphs - south of Hwy 14 north of Jeffers - site of ancient Native American drawings. The guides are very helpful and it's amazing to see drawings from so long ago. There is a museum in Currie, MN south of Hwy 14 that still has a working train turntable and is pretty interesting if you're into trains. Also on Hwy 14 is a sod house that was featured on the History Channel.
Enjoy your travels!
THE BADLAND ARE REALLY BREATH TAKING YOU WILL LOVE IT
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Address: 13389 Us Highway 87, Custer, South Dakota, 57730, United States
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