48 hours in South Dakota

RAPID CITY, S.D. — A whirlwind getaway jam-packed with world-famous attractions, scenery like nowhere else on earth, wildlife, good food and even, if you want, gambling.

That's what you get in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. In a single weekend, using Rapid City as our base, our family hit Mount Rushmore, Custer State Park, the Crazy Horse Memorial, Wall Drug, Badlands National Park and Deadwood.

Along the way, we saw buffalo, antelope, bighorn sheep, burros and prairie dogs. We met a man who was one of the original workers on the construction of Rushmore, and we had several terrific meals.

Of course there is an argument to be made for a slower style of travel, soaking in the sights. But as New Yorkers on our first visit to the area, traveling with two boys whose travel mantra is, "Show us the wow; never mind the details," a tour of the highlights was perfect for us. Stops along our route were located a half-hour to about two hours' drive apart, so we never had too much driving at once. Mostly, it was remarkable how much fun we managed to pack in to a mere 48 hours.

"So many times people from the coasts look at South Dakota as fly-over country, but we have so much to offer," said Melissa Miller, director of the South Dakota Office of Tourism.

We started at Mount Rushmore. Who hasn't seen photos of this place? And yet to view it in person is astonishing. You simply can't get over the sheer hubris that it took to carve presidents into a mountain. You glimpse the faces as you approach, but then, suddenly, you're right there, staring up Jefferson's nostrils. The reality lives up to the hype.

A highlight of our visit was meeting Nick Clifford, 88, a construction worker at Rushmore from 1938 to 1940. Today he greets visitors and signs copies of his book, "Mount Rushmore Q&A," in the park gift shop. My younger son, 11, was especially thrilled to meet someone with a direct connection to the monument. Later we found his name on a wall listing all the workers.

Next stop was Custer State Park. Driving the park's 18-mile wildlife loop in a mere two hours, we saw buffalo, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep and burros. Deer, prairie dogs and mountain lions live here, too.

"There's probably no place better in the nation than Custer State Park to see wildlife," said park spokesman Craig Pugsley. "In a short amount of time, you have a very good opportunity to see a number of species." The hours just after sunrise and before sunset are best for seeing wildlife, he said.

We encountered a traffic jam in Custer Park as cars stopped to pet and photograph the friendly burros who happily stuck their heads in our car windows.