We really enjoyed this all day tour. We started out with their all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast at 7:30 a.m. We only had two big pancakes and sausage and coffee. You could also get biscuits and gravy or biscuits and honey. You can have more if you wish. They were ok - not like IHOP - but decent. There was a great piano player playing Western and Americana songs to serenade us while we ate breakfast.
We then loaded onto the bus and had an all day tour of the Black Hills. Our driver, Sheriff Ken, was very informative and entertaining. We starting out at the magnificent Mount Rushmore and spent an hour there before driving over the Peter Norbeck National Scenic Byway into Custer State Park to see some stunning views and vistas. We passed some beautiful scenery. We then made our way to the State Game Lodge, which was the presidential summer White House for former president Calvin Coolidge, for lunch, which is not included with the tour. You could either have table service for lunch or a buffet meal. We then proceeded to drive through Custer State Park onto Needles Highway to see some unusual and beautiful rock formations. Continuing on to beautiful Sylvan Lake just to stretch our legs before stopping at Crazy Horse Memorial. We spent about an hour there. Unfortunately, throughout the whole bus tour we never saw any buffalo or other animals.
By 5:30, we returned back to the Fort Hays Old West Town. We had a chance to look around the Dances with Wolves Film Set before heading over for the Chuckwagon Buffet Supper and Music show. There is assigned seating at the long, long tables and benches. There is a very orderly way in which the diners go up to get their food. Dinner is served cowboy style in tin plates. As we stood in line, because of a thunder shower, the electricity went out. Luckily, the lights went back on a few minutes later. The choice for dinner was: sliced beef or baked chicken, a baked potato, baked beans, biscuits and honey, chunky applesauce, spice cake and lemonade or coffee and tea. Everything was very good. After dinner, the show started. There was a great band playing all kinds of Cowboy and Country Western songs. It was great fun and they were terrific. The show ends with a flag lowering from the ceiling while the band played “G-d Bless the USA” and “America the Beautiful”.
I would highly recommend the Ft. Hays all day tour and dinner show. It was so much fun and we had a great time.