Self-Guided Audio Driving Tour in Black Hills and Mt Rushmore Discount Tickets

4.3
★★★★★ ★★★★★
Based on 167 reviews |
location pin icon Custer, South Dakota, USA
location pin icon Custer
4.3 /5
167 reviews
View all Self-Guided Audio Driving Tour in Black Hills and Mt Rushmore photos
View all Self-Guided Audio Driving Tour in Black Hills and Mt Rushmore photos

Get your discount tickets for the Self-Guided Audio Driving Tour in Black Hills and Mt Rushmore, save up to 9% !

Select your ticket

9% OFF Refundable
Self-Guided Audio Driving Tour in Black Hills and Mt Rushmore
FROM

$27.33

REG. $29.99

Overview

Don't miss a thing as GuideAlong's Audio Driving Tour takes you on three incredible self-guided routes through the Black Hills mountains, canyons and forests, unique rock formations in Badlands National Park, the gigantic carvings at Mount Rushmore and wildlife spotting in Custer State Park. You'll hear fascinating behind-the-scenes stories, local tips and directions that plays automatically as you drive along the routes. And enjoy the freedom to explore offline at your own pace; spending more time at places that interest you, and bypass any that don’t. ✅ Stories, tips and directions play automatically based on your location ✅ Travel at your own pace ✅ Tours work offline using GPS, no cell service or WiFi needed ✅ Suggested itineraries for half, full or multi day use ✅ Buy once, use forever! No expiry, includes free updates Purchase one tour per vehicle.

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

From the east on I-90, watch the exit numbers as there are no major towns before the start. Commentary begins soon after Exit 143 at Route 73 and directs you toward the Badlands. From downtown Rapid City, you can start any of the 3 scenic loops or join anywhere along the route, with audio included.

Language Offered

English-AUDIO

Itinerary

1. The Black Hills
As the audio guides play commentary based on your gps location, you can create your own itinerary along the tour route(s) to match your interests and schedule. Or you can use our trip planners for our suggestions on half, full or multi day itineraries. Some of the many highlights are listed below;
Duration: 24 mins
2. Mount Rushmore National Memorial
The most famous and recognizable memorial celebrating the nationhood of the USA must be the 4 presidential faces that look out from Mount Rushmore. Though you will have seen it many times depicted on TV, movies and photos, there is no equivalent to seeing it with your own eyes and feeling the scale and depth of the sculpture.
Duration: 15 mins
3. Custer State Park
Take a leisurely drive through an enormous area of natural habitat of rolling prairie hills with open grasslands and some pine forest. Though the drive is officially only 18-miles long, expect to spend at least 1 hour, but if you enjoy spotting wildlife, its easy to spend 3 or more hours watching. Also explore some of the side roads that branch off the main route.
Duration: 20 mins
4. Devils Tower National Monument
Devils Tower was always a place of intrigue and fascination since it became the nation's first National Monument. For a multitude of generations before that, and continuing to this day, Native Americans celebrate the site for its spiritual importance. The Tower was thrust into pop culture in the 1970's sci-fi classic as the geographical star of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Duration: 25 mins
5. Badlands National Park
Western South Dakota delivers a wide variety of spectacular landscapes ranging from the prairies grassland and rock formations of the Badlands National Park, through to the mountains, canyons and forests of the Black Hills for you to explore.
Duration: 30 mins
6. Crazy Horse Memorial
In 1948, Sioux Chief Henry Standing Bear approached a Polish sculptor about creating another larger than life sculpture on Thunderhead Mountain - this time celebrating Sioux and other Northern Plains native groups through a depiction of Crazy Horse.
Duration: 20 mins
7. Keystone
Once a mining boom town, Keystone today is the nearest community to Mount Rushmore. It is filled with hotels, restaurants, cafes and stores to find your perfect Mount Rushmore souvenir.
Duration: 10 mins
8. Rapid City
The hub of the three best scenic drives in this part of South Dakota is Rapid City and it is the ideal place to base your accommodations, and to do some exploring in this lively town.
Duration: 20 mins
9. Sylvan Lake
Located along route 87, Sylvan Lake is described as the Jewel of Custer State Park. If time allows, it's very worthwhile to allocate 45 minutes or so to enjoy the relatively easy 1.1 mile trail around the lake. The combination of grassy shores, still lake water and granite formations rising from the water are truly scenic. For more dedicated and prepared hikers, this is also the starting point for the Black Elk Peak trail, a 7 mile loop that rises 1100 feet to South Dakota's highest point.
Duration: 10 mins
10. Iron Mountain Road
The final 45 minute approach of the recommended direction to Mount Rushmore follows the amazing Iron Mountain Road. We'll encounter tunnels, pigtail bridges, superb lookouts and 314 curves. It is a scenic delight! The most magical moment of the drive is the view through the Scovel Tunnel where 4 presidential faces greet you at the other end, like a postcard.
Duration: 10 mins
11. Bridal Veil Falls
This 60 foot, narrow, wispy spray of water sits right beside the road in Spearfish Canyon. It's easy to capture that perfect photo right from the viewing platform.
Duration: 10 mins
12. Deadwood
One of the most famous wild-west towns in the entire country - Deadwood became legendary for it's gold rush boom and the multitude of characters who we recognize to this day.
Duration: 120 mins
13. Roughlock Falls State Nature Area
From the tiny ex-sawmill town of Savoy on the Spearfish Canyon Road, Roughlock Falls is an easy and popular spot to visit with an attractive waterfall easily accessed by boardwalk. Extend your visit with a 1 mile stream-side walking trail to the falls from the Spearfish Lodge.
Duration: 60 mins
14. Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway
Spearfish Canyon is a superb 19 mile stretch of road with stunning waterfalls and 1000 foot high limestone walls. This scenic drive connects the town of Spearfish with Savoy and Cheyenne Crossing, following the Spearfish Creek all the way.
Duration: 60 mins
15. Badlands Wall
At different times during the drive through the Badlands, we will pass through the Upper and Lower Prairie. The barrier that separates these 2 levels is known as the Wall.
Duration: 30 mins
16. Door Trail
The 3/4 mile Door Trail is the most popular as you follow a boardwalk until reaching a notch in the rock - the Door. Through the Door, hikers can venture into the amazing rock formations, characteristic of the Badlands. The shorter option is known as the Window Trail, just 1/4 mile long.
Duration: 60 mins
17. Fossil Exhibit Trail
This easy 0.25 mile boardwalk is dedicated to the stories of fossils that have been found throughout the park. During its history, what is now the park has experienced perfect conditions leading to animal, plant and insect life forms to be quickly buried in silt of mud. When these events are timed just right, bones, teeth and shells especially are preserved to provide us a window to past times. Fossil finds are active to this day.
Duration: 60 mins
18. Minuteman Missile National Historic Site
For a complete change of theme in the Badlands, there is an opportunity to experience an important location from the Cold War arms race era. The Minuteman Missile Visitor Center serves as a museum and an opportunity to visit now decommissioned nuclear missile silos and control centers.
Duration: 60 mins
19. Yellow Mounds Overlook
One of the best vistas in Badlands National Park, the view from this overlook reveals classic buttes and erosion. The unique coloring in bands across these mounds, ranges from yellow and beige through to pink. The formation originated as black, ocean mud which has weathered through exposure to air into this highly photographic yellow display.
Duration: 20 mins
20. Wind Cave National Park
These 2 cave systems are incredible and if you have time in your itinerary, should not be missed. Both locations require driving on side trips off the Black Hills Loop tour route. If you follow the loop, the commentary will include descriptions of where to turn off for these these places, and details of how to visit. Simply return to the tour route when you are done.
Duration: 5 mins

Inclusion

Support: Toll free phone, chat and email

Easy To Use: Pre-download and tour offline

Trip Planners: In-app, web and PDF

Location Based: Stories, tips & directions that autoplay

Buy once, use forever! No expiry, includes free updates

GuideAlong (GyPSy Guide) Audio Tour: 535+ Points

Includes an app based self-guided experience, so you do not need any in-person guide.

Flexible Routes: Suggested itineraries or create your own

Exclusion

Entry Fees, National Park Passes, Reservations

Cancellation Policy

Check mark icon Refundable tickets

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

  • 100% refund if cancelled 1+ days before the start date
  • 0% refund if cancelled less than 1 day(s) before the start date

Additional Info

Suitable for all physical fitness levels

How to Access: After booking you’ll receive an email and text with instructions (search “Download Audio Tour”). Click the link in the email/text to sign in with your preferred Apple or Google account and redeem your voucher code ahead of time.

Download The GuideAlong App: Download the free app over WiFi or cellular data and sign in with the same Apple or Google account.

Download The Tour: Download the tour in the GuideAlong app under 'My Tours' over WiFi or cellular data.

Start The Tour: Open the tour in the GuideAlong app to preview the start locations, tour route and trip planner, or start the tour.

Location-Based Stories: Audio commentary plays automatically as you drive using your phone’s GPS chip. Wherever you are and whichever direction you’re going, you’ll hear the best stories and tips.

Flexible Travel Date: Tours are a one-time purchase with no expiry or date/time limit. If your plans change to a different day, there’s no need to change your travel date.

Tour at Your Leisure: With GuideAlong, you control the pace. Start, stop, and resume the tour any day, anytime, adapting it to your schedule.

Driving Tours: Group Savings: One purchase covers everyone in the vehicle, making it a cost-effective way to explore.

Works Offline: No internet or cell service is required once the audio tour is downloaded to your phone, so you can relax and tour offline.

Bring A Charger: Pack a USB/C car charger for charging and easy sound connectivity, and make sure your device is fully charged.

Technical Support: The GuideAlong support team is available daily by toll-free phone, online chat, and email.

Vehicle Restrictions on the Black Hills Loop Drive: Height restrictions apply along the Black Hills Loop Drive, as large RVs cannot fit through the tunnels on Needles Highway and Iron Mountain Road. If possible, drive a regular vehicle, or if towing, detach and leave your trailer behind.

The app’s audio will play through your car’s Apple CarPlay and Android Auto display, while the app’s map will display on your phone. You can connect your phone to the car via Bluetooth to listen to the commentary through the car stereo.

Important Visitor Update: The Presidential Trail at Mount Rushmore is partially closed until 9:00 PM on July 8, 2026 due to temporary restrictions. Guests can continue to access the historic stairs leading to the Sculptor's Studio, Borglum View Terrace, and Nature Trail. Other sections of the Presidential Trail are currently unavailable. Visitors are encouraged to plan their visit accordingly.

Supplied by GuideAlong (GyPSy Guide)

Reviews

4.3

★★★★★ ★★★★★
Based on 167 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

5 stars
123
4 stars
12
3 stars
9
2 stars
3
1 stars
20

Explore other options

Private Sundowner Dinner Experience in Grand Teton National Park

Private Sundowner Dinner Experience in Grand Teton National Park
Yellowstone Wildlife and Photo Upper Loop from West Yellowstone

Yellowstone Wildlife and Photo Upper Loop from West Yellowstone
Self-Guided Grand Teton National Park Driving Tour

Self-Guided Grand Teton National Park Driving Tour
Murder Mystery Detective Experience in Cheyenne WY

Murder Mystery Detective Experience in Cheyenne WY
Private GTNP Sunset Wildlife Safari & Field Dinner From Jackson

Private GTNP Sunset Wildlife Safari & Field Dinner From Jackson
Kicking Red Canyon Wild Mustang Bus Tour Deals 8am Daily

Kicking Red Canyon Wild Mustang Bus Tour Deals 8am Daily
3 Hour Horseback Riding in Jackson Hole

3 Hour Horseback Riding in Jackson Hole
Yellowstone 2-Step 2 of Days Of Upper/Lower Loop West Yellowstone

Yellowstone 2-Step 2 of Days Of Upper/Lower Loop West Yellowstone
Dinner Cookout Ride at Heart Six Ranch

Dinner Cookout Ride at Heart Six Ranch
Private Arrival Transfer from Jackson Hole Airport JAC

Private Arrival Transfer from Jackson Hole Airport JAC