Thinking about taking a vacation there the first of July. Good time to come? Things to do with a 7 and 8 year old kids?
Does the park rent little cabins? I've tried googling and keep getting a pretty fancy lodge. Of course we want to see Mount Rushmore, fish and maybe pan for gold. Anything else we should look at doing? Thanks for any help guys.

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I reserved a cabin about a month ago and they said it was the last cabin they had available over the weekend of the 4th. Only got it for 1 night. Have campsites the other nights. Lady on the phone said you have to be quick to get the cabins.

ETA: CampSD.com reservation #  1.800.710.2267

Custer SP website. Bottom says reservations...

Please remember, the beginning of July will more than likely be hot and packed with tourists. Expect lots of people.

Can't be hotter than Missouri can it? My job shuts down the first 2 weeks of July to retool. And that's when we get our vacation, it really sucks but it is what it is.

Probably not as humid here. Hot but not generally humid.

I have stayed at the Mystic Valley Inn in Custer. Cheap for the area. About 2 miles outside of town. A lot of kid activities within 20 minutes. They will do laundry, sell you a plate of food, etc. Family run old time motel with updated interiors. No pool. The nicer hotels with pools   are in town.

I also ate a few meals at the burrito truck on the edge of town, keeping with the cheaper is better theme.

The park is quite large, it will take hours to drive the scenic route. I recommend the train, the caves, and lots of ice cream. Tourist season can mean waking up early to do things. Except driving the park, late afternoon works for that.

Thank you guys.

Custer is about a 2 hour drive from the Badlands. Badlands bring out opinions in people. Some are bored after an hour, some could spend a month there. To me, the views were spectacular, like nothing that I could even imagine. Also amazing, given how delicate the terrain is, is that nothing is off limits. You can go off path and walk forever, That said, there is little entertainment to be found. The opposite of Custer. If you can't find animals to photograph in Custer, head to the Badlands, in particular, the really crappy Sage Creek road at dusk. It happens to be in flat area of the Badlands with water. Animals abound. You can even camp in Sage Creek for free if you like that sort of thing.

I like the Chief Motel in Custer, it's close enough to the park and usually fairly cheap (although 4th of July weekend might be higher than usual).

Also, if you can't find the wildlife in Custer State Park, stop at either the main Visitor Center or the Wildlife Loop Visitor Center and ask.  Now, they may send you down "roads" that perhaps don't deserve the title, but you will probably find the wildlife.  

Also also, if you're in CSP, the Iron Mountain Road up to Rushmore gives you some great views of it as you get closer.

Fellow Missourian here. I'll be there end of June.

There are a lot of small cabin rentals between Keystone and Hill City. Also try http://www.blackhillscabinrentals.com/directory/list/cabins/  for cost effectiveness I have rented Palmer Place there and stayed with my Fiance, daughter and my Sister, her husband and 4 kids. Good time and most of those cabins are up across from Rec Springs Resort. We had deer come right up to us while we were in the hot tub.

When I as a little kid I liked seeing things like the D.C. Booth Fish Hatchery in Spearfish. Checking out Keystone was fun to checkout for fresh salt water taffy, there is also an old time Photo place down on the east side of the board walk. I don't know if he is still there or not. Cosmos has been a pleaser with 8 and older. Roughlock Falls in Spearfish canyon is a great photo op. Don't be afraid to drive any gravel backroads. I always found the drive down north Rochford road relaxing. There is a small historic bridge along that road that is another cool photo op. Also you'll see a really old legendary saloon called Moonshine Gulch Saloon. Owners are friendly and kids are around often. Nearby there is Trout Haven and Sugar Shack (Good Burkers).

I always liked going through Bear Country USA, Custer state Park. I don't think your supposed to feed the donkeys near one of the entrances but my father used to bring frosted animal crackers and roll down the windows. Do not get out of the car near Buffalo, we have already had two incidents this year with tourists getting hauled off in ambulances. If you wander over to Sundance Wy to see devils tower, watch for chipmunks in the rock field. Badlands is a visual ride. Really hot right now. Kids might like walking through the mall at Wall Drug. Kind of hokey but a quick stop. Some of the Caves are cool. The stair Case at Sitting Bull is probably intimidating for young ones. Wind Cave is a good one.

If your into wine, Hill City has a Prarie Berry winery for a nice little sit. An 1880 train for the kids and some decent downtown stores. Local artist John Crane has a gallery there that is very popular in the state. There are plenty of tourist traps to fall into but the most memorable places for me as a kid was checking out the outdoors, smelling the pine trees, seeing some of the kids stuff but hitting the pool also.

Just got back to Missouri from the black hills, loved it. I camped in spearfish canyon one night, very nice at night, like 50 degrees nice. Beats the hell out of the weather here.

We will be camping in the Badlands tonight on the way to Montana. Can't wait for the low humidity unlike TN

I just got back from South Dakota. Had a great time.  We hit up Badlands on the way and got to watch the sun rise there. Then went to Custer SP and made camp. Then did Wind Cave NP on the candlelight tour. Next hit up Rankin Ridge and the Raspberries were very ripe at the top. Then headed up to Mt Rushmore NM and then Crazyhorse. Back to camp and then Jewel Cave the following morning hitting both the cave and the canyons trail. Then we hung out in Custer for some fireworks. Next day we hiked up Harney Peak. It was a great time. Thanks to everyone in this forum who posted advice. I had a great trip.