Keystone Trip Overview
Open-Top-Tours is the only company to offer 6 hour Bison Jeep Tours to ALL of Custer State Park. – Not the 60 minute limited tour offered by others.
Included destinations with our Safari tour:
*Custer Wildlife Loop (bison)
*State Game Lodge and Information Center
*Mt Coolidge Fire Lookout
*Stockade Lake and Sylvan Lake
*Needles Highway
*Iron Mountain Road.
**Mt Rushmore can be added for a fee.
These “Sunshine & Fresh Air” tours are provided in specialized Jeep Gladiators (12 pass ‘Beast’ or x8 pass ‘Maxx’). Tour includes: picnic lunch (Subway), bottled water, snacks & beer/wine.
Our guides are professional, well informed and a ‘hoot’ to tour with. They will explain local history, wildlife and answer your questions. Lots of restroom stops and extra wildlife/landscape photo ops
Jeep Bison Safari is 6 hours long from Rapid City. But tours timeline can be modified to fit your needs . . . shortened or (extended at no additional cost).
Multiple choices for start times.
Additional Info
Duration: 5 to 7 hours
Starts: Keystone, United States
Trip Category: Cultural & Theme Tours >> Historical & Heritage Tours
Explore Keystone Promoted Experiences
What to Expect When Visiting Keystone, South Dakota, United States
Open-Top-Tours is the only company to offer 6 hour Bison Jeep Tours to ALL of Custer State Park. – Not the 60 minute limited tour offered by others.
Included destinations with our Safari tour:
*Custer Wildlife Loop (bison)
*State Game Lodge and Information Center
*Mt Coolidge Fire Lookout
*Stockade Lake and Sylvan Lake
*Needles Highway
*Iron Mountain Road.
**Mt Rushmore can be added for a fee.
These “Sunshine & Fresh Air” tours are provided in specialized Jeep Gladiators (12 pass ‘Beast’ or x8 pass ‘Maxx’). Tour includes: picnic lunch (Subway), bottled water, snacks & beer/wine.
Our guides are professional, well informed and a ‘hoot’ to tour with. They will explain local history, wildlife and answer your questions. Lots of restroom stops and extra wildlife/landscape photo ops
Jeep Bison Safari is 6 hours long from Rapid City. But tours timeline can be modified to fit your needs . . . shortened or (extended at no additional cost).
Multiple choices for start times.
Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Iron Mountain Road, Custer State Park, Custer, SD
This winding road runs between Mount Rushmore National Memorial and the junction of US 16A and SD 36 in Custer State Park. Along the highway, visitors will find wildfire exhibits, pigtail bridges, magnificent Black Hills scenery, and tunnels that frame Mount Rushmore.
Constructed in 1933 under the direction of Senator Peter Norbeck, only a portion of this road lies within the park, but it is a must-see. Norbeck said of the Iron Mountain Road, “this is not meant to be a super highway, to do the scenery justice you should drive no more than 20 mph and to do it full justice you should simply get out and walk.”
Duration: 30 minutes
Stop At: Custer State Park, 13329 US Highway 16A, Custer, SD 57730-8351
Custer State Park is famous for its bison herds, other wildlife, scenic drives, historic sites, visitor centers, fishing lakes, resorts, campgrounds and interpretive programs. In fact, it was named as one of the World’s Top Ten Wildlife Destinations for the array of wildlife within the park’s borders and for the unbelievable access visitors have to them.
One of the nation’s largest state parks, just 15 miles from the city of Custer, South Dakota’s premier State Park comprises 71,000 acres.
Custer State Park has been home to diverse cultural heritages for thousands of years and has provided an array of scenic beauty and outdoor recreation for visitors since the early 1900s.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Wildlife Loop Road, Custer, SD 57730
Bison – Deer – Wild Burros – Elk – Prairie Dogs – Antelope +
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Mount Coolidge, SD Highway 87, Custer, SD
The Mount Coolidge Lookout and Fire Tower was one of the last projects completed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the late 1930s. Built of local stone, the tower rests atop a 6,023-foot peak and is still used today as a fire lookout and dispatch center. As the highest point in central Custer State Park, it offers breathtaking 360-degree views from the top of the fire tower. On a clear day, you can see the Badlands nearly 60 miles away in the east.
Duration: 20 minutes
Stop At: Sylvan Lake, Custer, SD
Sylvan Lake is probably the most recognizable of the five Custer State Park lakes, and of any of the Black Hills lakes for that matter. Its definitely a favorite of almost anyone who has seen it, especially photographers, artists or anyone that saw the Nicolas Cage movie “National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets” (although the location may seem off). Sylvan Lake is a very popular spot for weddings and other special occasions or as the most beautiful swimming hole one could possibly find.
Duration: 15 minutes
Stop At: Needles Highway, Custer State Park, SD
Deemed “impossible” to construct by its critics, Needles Highway (SD Hwy 87)—a National Scenic Byway—was completed in 1922. The road lies within the 71,000 acre Custer State Park, just 30 miles south of Rapid City, and is an impressive 14 mile stretch that includes sharp turns, narrow tunnels, granite spires and world class views.
Needles Highway is one of three scenic routes along Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway.
Duration: 30 minutes
