Private Jeep Bison Safari - Custer State Park

Overview

What makes our Bison Safari Tour different from the other Safari Tours?
* We offer a 6 hour Jeep tour to ALL of Custer State Park (not just 60 min)
* We include a lakeside picnic lunch
* We Include: Mt Coolidge Lookout, Stockade Lake and the Bison Center
* Jeeps have been modified with raised seats for best viewing and photos ops
* Our guests are never rushed . . . and Jeeps are never overcrowded

Not the 60 minute limited tour offered by others. Our all-weather Jeeps have been modified to provide comfortable seating and the best viewing. The rear elevated benches allows a more open feel to the Safari and makes a great platform for photos. (And have water-misters to keep cool.)

In the convertible-top front seats, these two rows offer a little more comfort (heat and AC). Each has had the sound bar removed (which previously blocked the view). Seats fold up and you just stand for the best views of the wildlife.

Included: fees, bottled water, snacks and picnic lunch.

City: Rapid City

Mon 30 Jun

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $339.00

Make a reservation

Mon 30 Jun

Starting at $339.00

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Bottled water

Snacks

Minimum of 2 and Maximum of 14 guests per Jeep.

Subs (or salad) chips and cookies. You may bring your own lunch and beverages if you like. Beer/wine and sodas are available on request.

Additional Info

Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Service animals allowed
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Face masks provided for travellers
Hand sanitiser available to travellers and staff
Social distancing enforced throughout experience
Regularly sanitised high-traffic areas
Gear/equipment sanitised between use
Transportation vehicles regularly sanitised
Guides required to regularly wash hands
Contactless payments for gratuities and add-ons
COVID-19 vaccination required for guides
Guides wear masks where required or requested. No Handshakes - No Hugs - No Offense

What To Expect

Custer State Park Visitor Center

Stop to visit the State Game Lodge. Once the Summer White House for President Coolidge. Historical and unique.

Wildlife Loop Road

We drive along the 18 mile long highway through the Park. Bison, elk, deer, pronghorn, prairie dogs, coyotes and more. Stopping for photos, restroom brakes and a visit to the new Bison Center. Here you will find a fantastic museum with hands on exhibits about the bison/buffalo.

Mount Coolidge Fire Lookout Tower

At 6020 feet this fire lookout towers over the southern end of the Hills. From here you can see the Badlands in the distance, Mt Rushmore, Crazy Horse and look down back into the Park and see the route you just drove. Great views and photo ops!

Stockade Lake

This is our place to relax and take in a beautiful serene lake. And then we enjoy a picnic lunch beside the lake (subs/chips/cookies) included with the tour.

Sylvan Lake

We briefly stop lakeside and take in the views. This is a beautiful alpine lake that is famous for summer weddings . . . it is usually pretty busy . . . but worth the stop for photos.

Needles Highway

Famous highway that winds up and through the granite spires at the top of the mountains. Splendid views all along the route. We make stops at the Needles Eye Tunnel and the Cathedral Spires formation. Once again lots of stops. No need to leave the vehicle . . . the Jeeps provide an excellent platforms for viewing and photos.

Iron Mountain Road

With the beauty of the mountains and valleys as its backdrop, this road was specifically designed with a tremendous amount of curves, including what we refer to as switchbacks, in order to limit the speed of travelers to 30 miles per hour so that they could enjoy the beauty of the Black Hills. What makes this road so unique and memorable is not just the amount of curves and the surrounding beauty, but also the architectural features found along this road. These features include wooden structures, called pigtail bridges, and one lane tunnels that were built to showcase the American patriotic symbol Mt Rushmore. Our Jeeps are perfect for these tunnels . . . no matter what direction we are traveling, at each tunnel Mt Rushmore is framed in the distance . . . a spectacular site that you won't miss . . . you just turn around in your seat and see it coming or going. Iron Mountain Road offers: 314 CURVES 14 SWITCHBACKS 3 PIGTAILS 3 TUNNELS 2 SPLITS And its FUN!

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Cancellation Policy

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

Traveler Photos

Reviews (24)

lisafN8103EV

Jul 2021

We toured the Black Hills, Custer Park, Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse with Joe the guide. He was beyond fantastic! Extremely knowledgeable and professional and went above and beyond to show us all the sights. I would absolutely use Joe again to navigate all that South Dakota has to offer! Thank you Joe!

Response from Host

Jul 2021

Thanks Lisa for taking time for your review. I'm extremely happy you enjoyed your tour with Joe. This is Joe's first year with us but he previously guided at Crazy Horse for many years and brings a wealth of information about the southern Hills. Be Well - Rich

Ramvenkateswaran

Jul 2021

Black Hills Open-Top-Tours was a lucky find for us. Rich was efficient and accommodating of our last minute request for a tour on a very busy weekend. And Joe was an excellent and friendly guide through Custer State Park. The van was fun to stand up in and added a wonderful element to our drives and vantage points. We were so impressed we scheduled another trip for the next day!

Response from Host

Jul 2021

Thank you for taking time for you review. Our convertible top vans are a very fun way to tour Custer Park. . . great views and very comfortable. Be Well - Rich

Rosie_Andersen

Aug 2020

Booked a full day tour with this company. Owner was always efficient, courteous, and timely in response to my emails/inquiries. Our tour guide was Kevin and he was good. I forgot to bring lunch as requested but he said we'd make time to stop and get some. We covered quite a bit. Custer State Park and of course ending with Mt. Rushmore. We stopped at several places, outlooks and were shown Mt. Rushmore in the distance and through special tunnel openings, got great views of Mt. Rushmore. The expense was worth it to me to be able to enjoy and hear some info about the area. There was a plastic shield between my family and the driver along with hand sanitizer in view of COVID concerns. Thanks for providing a great day!

Response from Host

Aug 2020

Howdy Rosie - Thank you so much for taking time for your review. Kevin really enjoyed touring with you and your family. He's very engaging and knowledgeable of the Black Hills region. It's agreed by many that Custer State Park is one of a kind. It's the largest State Park in the county. Not only does it have 1,500 buffalo but also 110 square miles of ever-changing landscape . . . with one-way tunnels, pigtail bridges, alpine lakes and granite spires. Custer Park is the 2nd most popular attraction in the Black Hills only after Mt Rushmore. I appreciate your acknowledging our efforts to keep both guests and employees safe a possible. We make every effort to keep our vehicles clean and sanitized. We are using only our open air Jeeps and Convertible-Top-Vans for touring this season . . . lot of fresh air and sunshine. Lastly . . . I want to extend a personal 'Thank You'. Your reaching out to me with suggestions to enhance our services have been implemented and have made us better! Be Well - Rich