While traveling, I like to keep track of exactly how much money I’m spending. I try not to limit myself as I go along, but it’s a good idea so you can make certain decisions like “should we go out to dinner tonight or cook at camp?” My South Dakota travel budget for a week long Black Hills vacation landed pretty close to what I thought it would. I spent a bit too much on some categories, but… you know… VACATION. Haha

There are definitely ways you can reduce cost (um, less beer. but shhh), or make the trip a little more pricey (more beer? I have a brewery problem.)

It’s nice to look at the overall numbers on all categories rather than the big picture of the full price. Things like gas cost a little more in Vincent (my Ford E250 van) than it someone who may drive a smaller vehicle, or compared to a larger class A.

Black Hills Vacation, South Dakota
Travel Budget and Cost Breakdown

8 nights – July of 2020

GAS $334.64
CAMPGROUND $166.50
PARKS ENTRY $110
GROCERIES $71
COFFEE SHOPS $50
RESTAURANTS/BREWERIES $210
TAKE HOME STUFF $50

total cost: $992.14

I try to budget a straight $1000 for vacation, so technically I stayed under my South Dakota travel budget. These above costs are JUST for me though, and I was not the only one paying for things, so I’ll go into more detail and break it down below.

GAS: $334.64

From Texas over through the panhandle, up into Wyoming, and over into the black hills.
From here, we met up with 2 friends and used their car for a big chunk of our driving.
We didn’t have to drive the van or refuel until they left and we spent an extra few days going up to Devils Tower, and then making our way back south through Nebraska, Kansas, etc.

I wish I would have tracked my miles to make this easier for gas, but I totally forgot to look at the odometer before we left. Ack!

CAMPGROUND: $166.50

We stayed in the Big Pine Campground, just outside Custer, South Dakota. We booked 5 nights at a tent site there, and ended up paying an extra day at the end because we loved it so much we wanted to turn it into 6 nights.
Outside of this… on the way up we saved money by boondocking at Lake Meredith in Texas on the first night, and at Grayrocks Reservoir the second night.

Since I bought our campground for everyone, the other couple that stayed there with us ended up “paying off” their tab rather than paying it back… and picking up the bill a few times when we stopped to eat.

PARKS ENTRY: $110

Annual National Parks Pass – $80 at Badlands.
Mt Rushmore Parking – $10
Custer State Park entry – $20

I buy a National Parks Pass every year. Sometimes I visit enough parks that it pays itself off. Sometimes I don’t. Either way, I think it’s vital to purchase in order to help our parks. I’m always happy to pay for one.

If you haven’t ever been to Mr Rushmore, I do think it’s worth seeing once. Oddly, your parking pass you buy is good for a full year. I’m sure someone, somewhere takes advantage of that perk?

Custer State Park can NOT be missed. You’ll want to set aside some of your South Dakota Travel budget for that.

GROCERIES: $71

I like food. A bunch of food.
I spend way more on camping food than home food. Ooops. Thankfully, I’m active enough on these trips that it’s usually okay!
This was how much money I spent for 2 people on groceries. I got some snacks and food just for us, as well as meals for all 4 of us. The other couple also worked it the same way, so many evenings we just took turns cooking.
This included a trip to a local grocery store. I always recommend checking out local markets to see what you can find that isn’t available in your own area.

COFFEE SHOPS: $50

There were 3 coffee shop pitstops on this trip.
One on the way up in eastern Colorado, one where I bought all four of us drinks before Badlands, and one right before leaving town.
Local coffee shops are a thing I love. We also made our own coffee every morning.
If you aren’t a coffee shopper, this is an easy place to slash your budget.

RESTAURANTS/BREWERIES: $210

ooof. yeah. You read that right. Yikes.
This is just what I spent, not including what my partner spent, or what was covered for us by the campground tab payoff of the other couple.
Ideally, I like cooking while I’m at the campground, and saving this money for little specialty stops. A quick ice cream, and beer to share somewhere, a meal when we’re in the middle of driving.

A big portion of this spend was alcohol. We stopped at Mt Rushmore Brewing (I do not recommend), Spearfish Brewing (amazing), Crow Peak Brewing (eh. Good beer.), Sick n Twisted Brewing, and Miner Brewing… all over the course of the week.

It also includes a specialty pie shop, an overpriced lunch in Keystone (not a town worth stopping in), an expensive lunch near Devils Tower, and an “i’m totally exhausted and it’s 11pm and why does everything smell like a feed lot and everything is closed UGH just stop at that Applebees” moment on the way home.

I will say I do not normally do this or spend this much. This was a MASSIVE splurge for me. Yes, I go out to eat and have a beer, but we tend to find the best low cost options when traveling with just my partner and myself, and do a lot of sandwiches in the van during the day.

Traveling in a group with others means taking them into account… and they’re a little more bouji of a couple (an actual response I got when I asked one of them to find someplace for lunch that wasn’t a brewery or alcohol establishment… as in, let’s just grab a slice of pizza… was “that’s not really a thing”). Nothing negative against them, it just isn’t how I really do it, so this was a big expense. Buuuut on the flip side, I knew it would be ahead of time, and we spent the entire month before this trip being frugal AF so we could afford it.

TAKE HOME STUFF: $50

This includes a few stickers with Black Hills designs on them, a 6 pack of Devils Tower beer, and some Huckleberry snack items to bring back to my parents.

On top of this, Brandt paid for ice and firewood throughout the week, Payed for a few restaurants and whatnot, and payed for a few gas fillups in the other couples car. I did not include these costs in my breakdown.

OVERALL

If you have a bigger rig, I would increase the budget. If you want to boondock, there are plenty of places in the area to do so. We opted for a set campground just so we could have a home base with showers, but it would easy to adjust this cost.

I would say that $1000 for a 9 day / 8 night vacation isn’t too bad. It seems like a pretty decent South Dakota travel budget. You can see where we spent money and where you could cut.

For this much, I was able to hike through multiple national parks, national monuments, state parks, historic sites, abandoned homesteads, and more. Explore the hiking trails and waterfalls of Spearfish Canyon. Stop at a dozen locally owned restaurants, breweries, coffee shops. Come face to face with a coyote who got a bit too close. See sunrises and sunsets. Stop at funky roadside attractions, and more.

Want to see what there is to do in South Dakota? Click over to my state page and see what I’ve written about so far!
Have a favorite South Dakota memory? Let me know on Instagram! I’d love to chat!