Exploring Keystone, South Dakota
Note: This post has been updated on May 10, 2022.
Time needed in this town/city: 1-2 nights
Keystone, South Dakota should be visited by everyone at least once in their life. Best known for Mt. Rushmore, Keystone holds so many other historical sites that I came to love on my own roadtrip through there!
The below information is a complete guide of the best places to stay, the top rated places to dine and drink, and all there is to see and do. We’ve also included transportation tips, as well as a summary of the history of this wild west town!
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Where to Stay
K Bar S Lodge
K Bar S Lodge was like being at an upscale summer camp for adults with pristine walking grounds, beautiful log-built buildings, and a wonderful free breakfast in their glass gazebo. My room was spacious, comfortable, and included a balcony, overlooking the forest. It was also just 1/2 mile from downtown Keystone - the closest of any hotel!
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Where to Dine & Drink
Benky’s Cream & Sugar
Benky's is a coffee and ice cream shop offering delicious grommet coffee imported from Italy, along with blended coffee drinks and delicious fruit smoothies. They have a large selection of hand-crafted specialty sundaes, malts, and shakes.
Big Thunder Family Bar and Grill
The family-friendly Big Thunder Bar & Grill serves fresh local cuisine, cooked to perfection morning, noon, and night. NOTE: They are right next door to the Big Thunder Mine.
Cruizzers
Cruizzers is a made to order pizzeria with indoor & outdoor seating overlooking Keystone.
Halley’s West
Located by the heart of Mount Rushmore, family owned and operated business, serving burgers and hand-cut fries,
local craft beer, and wine.
Ruby House and Red Garter Saloon
For dinner, I wanted something authentic (okay, downright touristy), so I headed Ruby House and Red Garter Saloon for dinner and drinks (I recommend the “Red Garter” - it's an alcoholic Shirley Temple and you get to keep the garter). The food is pretty decent, and the atmosphere is very cool.
While much of the original memorabilia and other decor were lost in a flood in the 1970s, and a fire in 2003, it was rebuilt again to emulate the early 1900s, still leaving you with a sense of having stepped back in time.
Things to See & Do
The first steam engine in the Black Hills was brought across the prairie by bull team to the Home-stake Mining Company at Lead, in 1879. In 1881, the Home-stake Company created the first narrow-gauge railroad in the Black Hills to haul its cargo (and the public) from Lead to several mining camps. In 1885, the first standard-gauge railroad reached Buffalo Gap, Dakota Territory, and was extended on into Rapid City the next year.
The standard-gauge Burlington branch that came to host the 1880 Train's operations was built in several portions, between Hill City and Keystone, during the central Black Hills mining boom in the 1890s and the first month of 1900. The Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad pushed its line into the southwestern corner of the newly created state of South Dakota in November of 1889. In the spring of 1890, construction of this began at Edgemont as the first phase of the "High Line."
During the late 1940s, diesel engines became more common than steam. After years of declining use, William B. Heckman (a public relations man with railroad experience) decided to start a railroad where steam actually operated and was not just relegated to static display. He and Robert Freer, a sales engineer of diesel locomotives in the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors, organized a group who believed "there should be in operation at least one working steam railroad, for boys of all ages who share America's fondness for the rapidly vanishing steam locomotive."
On the morning of August 18, 1957, the first official train operated on the Black Hills Central Railroad. Veteran Burlington engineer, Earl Coupens, piloted the Klondike Casey and its two open-air coaches away from the Burlington's vintage 1890 Hill City depot, up the four-percent grade of Tin Mill Hill, and on to Oblivion. The route was nicknamed "the 1880 Train," as it was likened by Heckman to riding a train in the 1880s.
Robert and JoAnna Warder bought the Black Hills Central Railroad in 1990. As a result, the railroad experienced a rebirth. The existing operational locomotives (#7 and #104) were restored to prime condition, as were a number of the pieces of rolling stock. A new stall and machine shop were added to the Hill City Engine House for maintenance and restoration of locomotives, passenger cars and other rolling stock on a year-long basis. Railroad facilities were cleaned up and upgraded. In 2001, the link between Hill City and Keystone was restored, and trains were able to travel the steep grade in between the two depots, providing a vintage steam experience for thousands of tourists who visit the Black Hills on an annual basis.
Roundtrip, the ride is 2 hours and 15 minutes long and costs about $34 per adult. On board, they sell snacks and drinks (cash only), but you may also purchase them at the station.
Big Thunder Gold Mine
Big Thunder Gold Mine (originally named Gold Hill Lode) was discovered in 1892 by two German immigrant miners. Today, it contains the most types of rocks, structures, and minerals indigenous to the area, and it offers mine tours, a mining museum, and gold panning. There is also a full-service eatery and a gift shop. They are open daily, April through October and are open by reservation only, November through March.
Crazy Horse Memorial
Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S. Federal government to fight against encroachments on the territories and way of life of the Lakota people. His most famous actions against the U.S. military included the Fetterman Fight and the Battle of the Little Bighorn. He surrendered to U.S. troops in May 1877 and was fatally wounded by a military guard while resisting imprisonment at Camp Robinson (in present-day Nebraska). He ranks among the most notable and iconic of Native American tribal members.
Henry Standing Bear (an Oglala Lakota chief, and well-known statesman and elder in the Native American community) recruited and commissioned Polish-American sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski, to build the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota. In October 1931, Luther Standing Bear, Henry's older brother, wrote to sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who was carving the heads of four American presidents at Mount Rushmore ,and suggested it would be "most fitting” to have the face of Crazy Horse sculpted there next to the Presidents. Borglum never replied.
On November 7, 1939, Henry Standing Bear wrote a letter to Undersecretary Oscar Chapman of the Department of the Interior, offering all his own fertile 900 acres in exchange for the barren mountain, for the purpose of paying honor to Crazy Horse. The government responded positively, and the U.S. Forest Service, responsible for the land, agreed to grant a permit for the use of the land, with a commission to oversee the project. Standing Bear chose not to seek government funds and relied instead upon influential Americans interested in the welfare of the American Indian to privately fund the project.
The Memorial Foundation finances the project by charging fees for its visitor centers, earning revenue from its gift shops and receiving private contributions. Ziolkowski was offered $10 million USD for the project from the federal government on two occasions, but he turned the offers down. He felt the project was more than just a mountain carving, and he feared that his plans for the broader educational and cultural goals of the memorial would be overturned by federal involvement. When he died in 1982, his wife took over operations and saw to it that the face and head be completed to attract additional donations. In 1998, they were completed. She died in six years later and her daughter, as well as two of her grandsons, took over.
As of 2018, the foundation had accrued $77 million in assets, including $12.5 million, annually, from donations and admissions.
TIP: I say this with the utmost respect, but if you are trying to save money, skip Crazy Horse. While he was certainly a very important historical figure, you can only see a side view of his face, from the viewing terrace, a few miles away. For an additional fee, you can get about a mile closer by their bus system.
Mt. Rushmore
In the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, the U.S. government granted exclusive use of all of the Black Hills, including Six Grandfathers, to the Sioux, as it was a significant part of their spiritual journey in the early 1870s, by Lakota leader Black Elk (the 6th grandfather). U.S. general George Armstrong Custer summited Black Elk Peak a few years later in 1874, during the Black Hills Expedition, which triggered the Black Hills Gold Rush and Great Sioux War of 1876. In 1877, the U.S. broke the Treaty of Fort Laramie and asserted control over the area, leading to an influx of settlers and prospectors. Among those prospectors was New York mining promoter, James Wilson, who organized the Harney Peak Tin Company, and hired New York attorney, Charles E. Rushmore, to visit the Black Hills and confirm the company's land claims. During a visit, Rushmore saw Six Grandfathers and asked his guide, Bill Challis, the mountain's name. Challis replied that the mountain didn't have a name, but that it would henceforth be named after “Rushmore”. This name was officially recognized in 1930.
In 1923, the Secretary of the South Dakota State Historical Society, Doane Robinson, who would come to be known as the "Father of Mount Rushmore", learned about the "Shrine to the Confederacy", a project to carve the likenesses of Confederate generals into the side of Stone Mountain, Georgia, that had been underway since 1915. Seeking to boost tourism to South Dakota, Robinson began promoting the idea of a similar monument in the Black Hills. So, on August 20, 1924, Robinson wrote to Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of "Shrine to the Confederacy", asking him to travel to the Black Hills region to determine whether the carving could be accomplished.
Carving started in 1927 and ended in 1941.
For $10 per vehicle, there is so much to do! I took all of the hiking trails around the monument, stopped for ice cream at their large grill/ice cream place, shopped in the gift shop, viewed the small museum, dedicated to the creation of this; and sat on a bench to take in the view, one last time.
How to Get There
From Cody, Wyoming to Keystone, South Dakota, you have about a 5 1/2 hour drive. It's definitely one of the most beautiful drives I took, thanks to Google Maps' "fastest route" filter, which took me on roundabout ways through back roads, and other National Forests and Parks.
Recommendations For That Drive
Take a picture of the town sign of Otto, Wyoming - they have a population of 50. It’s one of the smallest towns in the U.S.
Stop at the Dinosaur Dig in Manderson, Wyoming - There's been a hotbed of dinosaur digging going on in that state, and while I didn't have time to stop, you definitely should!
Ten Sleep is a beautiful historic town with a lot to see - Had I known this town existed, I would have made it a point to stop there for a few hours. I definitely recommend you take your time to drive through it, as well as explore it (if you can) - even if just for lunch.
Big Horn National Forest - If you are taking the drive from Cody to Keystone, you will be driving through it anyway. Definitely take your time to view the beautiful scenery - there are a lot of picture-worthy spots!
A History Summary
1870s - Keystone was established as a miner placer camp.
1880s - Lode mining activity was in full swing and a stamp mill opened.
1891 - Keystone became a stable community when the Keystone mine was discovered.
1892 - The post office was established.
1898 - The Keystone mine was sold to the Holy Terror Company. The combined properties have been the largest gold producers in the southern Black Hills.
1900 - The success of the mines justified the expense of building a railroad to the town of about 2,000 residents. The Keystone Bank was incorporated.
1903 - The Holy Terror mine reached a depth of 1,200 feet. However, that same year, the mine ceased operations, as a result of litigation, stemming from the numerous death of miners that was blamed on poor safety practices, and due to increasingly problematic water levels in the mine.
1908 - A fire destroyed the business district.
1917 - Another fire destroyed the business district.
1920s - The mining of feldspar became economically viable - a grinding plant was built near the town. Gold mining also made a resurgence in the area.
1921 - A third fire destroyed the business district,
1927 - Construction of the Mount Rushmore monument provided jobs for Keystone residents.
1937 - A 4th fire destroyed the business district.
1938 - 1942 - The Holy Terror mine was put back into production.
1970s - New environmental regulations restricted logging and mining operations, which caused many businesses to close, leading to high unemployment. It was then that local leaders decided to leverage the town’s proximity to Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills, and other natural attractions to bring in tourist dollars.
