The town is named for General Custer but is not near the battlefield where he was defeated and killed, sometimes called "Custer's Last Stand". That is at Little Bighorn in Montana.
Understand
[edit]Tourist information
[edit]Visit Custer website
Get in
[edit]Located in the Southern Black Hills - Hwy 385.
Get around
[edit]
Map of Custer
See
[edit]- Four Mile Old West Town, 11921 West Highway 16 (4 miles west of Custer on US Hwy 16). Four Mile is situated in the heart of the Black Hills and was named Four Mile by the earliest stagecoach line that came through this area.
- 1 1881 Courthouse Museum, 411 Mount Rushmore Rd., ☏ +1 605-673-2443.
- 2 Crazy Horse Memorial, 12151 Avenue of the Chiefs (on US-16/385), ☏ +1 605-673-4681. The incomplete, and controversial, memorial's mission is to honor the culture, tradition and living heritage of North American Indians. Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski (an assistant to Mount Rushmore's Borglum) and Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear officially started Crazy Horse Memorial June 3, 1948. It dwarfs Rushmore in size, and is intended to be the world's largest sculpture, but only the head, face, and basic outline of the outstretched arm have been completed. The project relies exclusively on private donations and admission to the visitors center, which features a theater and a massive collection of Indian art and history. $35 for 3 or more people in a vehicle, $30 2 people in a vehicle, $15 1 person in a vehicle, $10 per person on a motorcycle, bicycle, or walking.
Do
[edit]Take a wander through all of the unique stores and businesses.
Buy
[edit]- Ken's Minerals & Trading Post, 12372 US Hwy 16A, ☏ +1 605-673-4935, [email protected]. Lots of rocks, crystals, and fossils.
Eat
[edit]- Purple Pie Place, 19 Mount Rushmore Rd, ☏ +1 605-673-4070. It would be worth stopping in Custer even if Mount Rushmore were elsewhere, if only for its rhubarb pie. Also, soups, sandwiches, and ice cream. $8-15.
Drink
[edit]- Gold Pan Saloon.
- Frontier Bar & Grill.
- VFW.
Sleep
[edit]- Bavarian Inn, 855 N 5th St, ☏ +1 605-961-0203, [email protected]. Check-in: 3-10PM.
Go next
[edit]- Mount Rushmore - 20 miles away from Custer. Go north on US-16 and east on SR-244 to get to the famous monument.
- Jewel Cave National Monument - The main Visitor Center and cave entrance is thirteen miles west of Custer on RT 16. This 136 mile long cave is one of the longest caves in the world. It is filled with calcite crystals and other wonders that make up the "jewels" of Jewel Cave National Monument.
- Wind Cave National Park - Wind Cave National Park is located 6 miles north of Hot Springs, SD. One of the world's longest and most complex caves and 28,295 acres of mixed-grass prairie, ponderosa pine forest, and associated wildlife are the main features of the park. The cave has an outstanding display of boxwork, an unusual cave formation composed of thin calcite fins resembling honeycombs. The park's mixed-grass prairie is one of the few remaining and is home to native wildlife such as bison, elk, pronghorn, mule deer, coyotes, and prairie dogs.
| Routes through Custer |
| Gillette ← Jewel Cave N.M. ← | W  E
|
→ Keystone → Rapid City |
| END ← Deadwood ← | N  S
|
→ Hot Springs → Chadron |