A SOUTH DAKOTA ROAD TRIP CELEBRATING 15 YEARS

This trip marking our latest milestone anniversary was reminiscent of how we started the trip for our big 10th-anniversary adventure, when we headed to South Dakota and also hit many other locations. For 15 years, we had some time constraints that called for sticking just to this single state — but with the great hiking and abundant wildlife sightings it served up, South Dakota gave exactly what we needed for a great fall getaway.

day 1 • 10.10.25

15 years and 500 miles

Setting out on our anniversary, it was only fitting to stop in St. Joseph, Missouri, to continue our tradition of taking portraits at the museum where we had our wedding reception. We did this for our fifth anniversary, our 10th and now our 15th (with me wearing my wedding shoes each time!).

From there, we had a long drive northwest to a motel along the Missouri River in Chamberlain, South Dakota. Since we were married in a city that sits on the banks of this river, it seemed especially fitting to overnight along its banks for this anniversary.

day 2 • 10.11.25

Badlands and beyond

Just like on the trip for our 10th anniversary, our first “official” destinations of this trip were Badlands National Park and a prairie dog colony that’s just outside of it. It was fun to revisit these spots — this time wearing our Badlands T-shirts from our previous visit — and also to make another stop at Wall Drug on our way to our next destination.

day 3 • 10.12.25

A high point

We continued this trip in the Black Hills. At the top of our list for this location was hiking to the top of Black Elk Peak — the highest point in South Dakota, not to mention the highest point from the Rockies to the Pyrenees. But an even more fitting fact for a 15th-anniversary celebration is that this summit happens to be the 15th-highest state high point in the country!

The hike starts in Custer State Park and continues into the Black Elk Wilderness. We experienced a strange phenomenon near the top of sleet coming down while the sun shone, and by the time we reached the summit — which is home to an old fire lookout tower — that weather had transitioned into heavy sleet and snow. In cloud cover and cold conditions, we didn’t stay long — but it also wasn’t long into our descent that the sun returned.

This was a really enjoyable hike with great views, including of the back of Mount Rushmore. And while the hike alone would have made for a full day, we were able to wrap up with a golden-hour drive along Wildlife Loop Road in Custer State Park, where we were pleasantly surprised to have way more animal sightings than we’d expected.

day 4 • 10.13.25

Stunning Spearfish Canyon & beautiful Buzzards Roost

We started this day in Spearfish Canyon, where our highest hope was for our first-ever mountain goat sighting. And we were fortunate to see a number of goats not long after arriving! The canyon also offered some awesome waterfalls and fall foliage not too far past its prime.

We drove through the town of Deadwood on our way back to Rapid City, where we were staying. Just outside of the city, we stopped to do a hike to a point called Buzzards Roost — which offered surprisingly great views for being so close to civilization.

day 5 • 10.14.25

Bison and prairie dogs and burros, oh my

… And some antelope also. We made the most of this last day before our long drive home, seeing a lot more wildlife (and even capturing a photo of a prairie dog wahoo-ing).

This was our second time to visit Wind Cave National Park — the first being part of our 10th-anniversary trip — and also our second time not touring the cave. It was closed in 2020 for elevator repairs and this year due to a government shutdown. But this time, we did at least find the natural entrance to the cave and felt the wind coming from it — and I’m sure our third time to this park, someday, will be the charm when it comes to actually touring the cave!

Fortunately, there’s much more to Wind Cave than the cave itself, including plenty of natural beauty above ground. (And fittingly for our 15th anniversary, it holds the designation of being the 15th site protected by the National Park Service).

Because Wind Cave adjoins Custer State Park, we also made our way back there and drove the Wildlife Loop Road one last time — a great albeit bittersweet goodbye to this adventure.

day 6 • 10.15.25

On the road again

Waking up to rain, we were thankful this weather held off until we were leaving. We left it behind eventually, along with the crisp autumn air that had turned to Indian summer by the time we hit Iowa. And we were back home in Missouri by bedtime — with work to return to the next day but also many fresh travel memories to sustain us until our next trip!