#59 best destination in the world

Notch Trail, Badlands National Park

Best time to travel: April-June, Sept-Nov
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

National park of sharply eroded buttes and pinnacles, along with the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States
The national park was originally a reservation of the Oglala Sioux Indians and spans the southern unit of the park
The area around Stronghold Table was originally Sioux territory, and is revered as a ceremonial sacred site rather than a place to live
In 1868, at the Second Treaty of Fort Laramie, the United States assured the Sioux that the Badlands shall forever be the property of the Sioux
In 1889, however, the treaty was broken and the Badlands were confiscated by the United States and unilaterally incorporated into a national park.
At the end of the 19th century, the Sioux Indians used this area as the site of the Ghost Dance, a ceremony to revive the souls of buffalo and the dead
After the last ghost dance in 1890, the United States banned the ritual, but it was revived by the Red Power movement, a movement to restore Indian rights that began in the 1960s
In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court awarded compensation to the Sioux for the abrogation of the 1868 treaty, but the Sioux did not accept the money

Best time to travel: May, Sept-Oct
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

Colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore, in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota
The project was executed from 1927 to 1941, and the sculpture features the 60-foot heads of Presidents George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
The four presidents were chosen to represent the nation’s birth, growth, development and preservation, respectively
Each president was originally to be depicted from head to waist, but lack of funding forced construction to end in 1941

Best time to travel: late May-early Sept
Ease of travel: Moderate
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

National park established in 1903, by President Theodore Roosevelt
It was the first cave to be designated a national park anywhere in the world
The cave is notable for its calcite formations known as boxwork, as well as its frostwork
Approximately 95 percent of the world’s discovered boxwork formations are found in Wind Cave
The cave is recognized as the densest cave system in the world, with the greatest passage volume per cubic mile
Wind Cave is the seventh longest cave in the world with 154.2 miles of explored cave passageways and the third longest cave in the United States
Above ground, the park includes the largest remaining natural mixed-grass prairie in the United States

Best time to travel: April-early June
Walk difficulty: Moderate
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $$

South Dakota State Park and wildlife reserve in the Black Hills
The park is South Dakota’s largest and first state park, named after Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer
The park covers an area of varied terrain including rolling prairie grasslands and rugged mountains
Bison, elk, coyotes, mule deer, white tailed deer, mountain goats, prairie dogs, bighorn sheep, river otters, pronghorn, cougars, and feral burros also inhabit the park
The park is known for its scenery, with views of the bison herd and prairie dog towns

Best time to travel: April-June, Sept-mid Oct
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

Mountain monument under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County
It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing to his tribal land
The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski
The monument is being carved out of Thunderhead Mountain, on land considered sacred by some Oglala Lakota
The monument has been in progress since 1948 and is far from completion
If completed as designed, it will become the world’s second tallest statue, after the Statue of Unity in India

Best time to travel: late May-early Sept
Walk difficulty: Easy
Ease of travel: Moderate
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

Jewel Cave National Monument contains Jewel Cave, currently the third longest cave in the world, with 200.3 miles of mapped passageways
It became a national monument in 1908
The Park Service offers three tours: the scenic tour, a half-mile loop through a paved and lighted central portion of the cave accessible by elevator; the historic tour, a candlelight tour through the earliest-discovered part of the cave; and a wild caving tour, through an undeveloped part of the cave near the scenic loop

Best time to travel: late May-early Sept
Ease of travel: Easy
Cost ($-$$-$$$): $

Roadside attraction located in the town of Wall, that consists of a collection of cowboy-themed stores, including a drug store, gift shop, several restaurants, and various other stores, as well as an art gallery and an 80-foot brontosaurus sculpture