Road trip from Sioux Falls to Mt Rushmore

driving   /   2 days   /   no pets   /   no RV

Sioux Falls to Mt Rushmore road trip planner

Here's a sample itinerary for a drive from Sioux Falls to Mt Rushmore. If you're planning a road trip to Mt Rushmore, you can research locations to stop along the way. Make sure you check road conditions to double check the weather. Traveling with a dog or cat? Find pet-friendly stops. Camping along the way? Search for RV campgrounds. Find the best hotels, restaurants, and attractions based on the most talked about places recommended by Trippy members.

customize this trip

 Day 1

10:00 am  start in Sioux Falls
drive for about 46 minutes

10:46 am  Canistota
stay for about 1 hour
and leave at 11:46 am
drive for about 54 minutes

12:41 pm  Corn Palace
stay for about 1 hour
and leave at 1:41 pm
drive for about 1.5 hours

3:11 pm  stay at Quality Inn
stay for about 1 hour
and leave at 4:11 pm
drive for about 1.5 hours

5:39 pm  stay at Best Western Graham's
stay overnight and leave the next day around 10:00 am

day 1 driving ≈ 4.5 hours

 Day 2

10:00 am  leave from Best Western Graham's
drive for about 57 minutes

10:57 am  Kadoka
stay for about 1 hour
and leave at 11:57 am
drive for about 54 minutes

12:51 pm  Wall Drug Store
stay for about 1 hour
and leave at 1:51 pm
drive for about 1 hour

2:58 pm  Rapid City
stay for about 1 hour
and leave at 3:58 pm
drive for about 36 minutes

4:34 pm  arrive in Mt Rushmore

day 2 driving ≈ 3.5 hours

Where should I stop along the way?

What are some things to do in Mt Rushmore?

This section could be endless, so rather than trying to suggest every local activity or attraction, we'll leave it open-ended.

Of course, Trippy is the perfect place to ask questions because there's an entire community of travelers talking to each other and sharing tips and advice. Trippy is where you can get answers personalized for your tastes, budgets, trip dates & more!

For example, here are some questions people have asked about Mt Rushmore. Click on any question to see answers from the community!

Click the button below to explore more questions and answers related to Mt Rushmore.

Do I really have to go back home?

Yes, even this step is optional, because if you're on vacation who wants the trip to end? It's okay, you can start planning your next trip!

Want to plan the trip back? Get the reverse directions for a Mt Rushmore to Sioux Falls drive, or go to the main page to plan a new road trip.

Looking for ideas for more destinations within driving distance of Sioux Falls? Try searching for places within 5 hours of Sioux Falls.

You can also compare the travel time if you're flying or driving by calculating the distance from Sioux Falls to Mt Rushmore. Or get a full Sioux Falls to Mt Rushmore flight plan.

Don't forget about exploring your own hometown with a staycation. You can also find some cool day trips or get away for a weekend. Maybe try typing in a faraway location like London, Hong Kong, or Sydney, and get inspired for your dream trip around the world.

And if you know Sioux Falls well, please help your fellow travelers and answer their questions about Sioux Falls!

Driving non-stop from Sioux Falls to Mt Rushmore

How far is Mt Rushmore from Sioux Falls? Here's the quick answer if you are able to make this entire trip by car without stopping.

Nonstop drive: 371 miles or 597 km

Driving time: 5 hours, 16 minutes

Realistically, you'll probably want to add a buffer for rest stops, gas, or food along the way. To get a better idea of how long this trip would really be, scroll down to calculate how many hours it would take if you drive with stops.

Flying non-stop from Sioux Falls to Mt Rushmore

Now let's assume you have a private jet and you can fly in the fastest possible straight line between Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Mount Rushmore. Because of the curvature of the Earth, the shortest distance is actually the "great circle" distance, or "as the crow flies" which is calculated using an iterative Vincenty formula.

Flight distance: 339 miles or 546 km

Flight time: 1 hour, 11 minutes

The straight line flight distance is 32 miles less than driving on roads, which means the driving distance is roughly 1.1x of the flight distance.

Your plane flies much faster than a car, so the flight time is about 1/4th of the time it would take to drive.

This is a relatively short flight in a private plane, but you might be planning to book a commercial flight. In that case, your travel time would really need to include how many minutes to get to your local airport, wait for security, board and taxi on the runway, land at the other airport, and get to your destination. Scroll down to see a more realistic calculation that takes into account all these factors to get a more accurate estimate of your actual flight time.

Sioux Falls to Mt Rushmore road trip

Let's say you're actually planning a road trip to Mt Rushmore, and you want to stop along the way to rest. If it's a real road trip, you might want to check out interesting stops along the way, eat at great restaurants, and maybe even find a hotel to stay overnight. That's what Trippy is perfect for, helping you figure out travel plans in detail.

Based on the length of this trip, we think you could spread out this fun road trip over more than one day.

Road trip: 2 days of driving

With the full itinerary planned out, we can estimate your total travel time for this trip.

Travel time: 8 hours on the road with 1 overnight

Itinerary

Start in Sioux Falls.

Drive for about 46 minutes, then stop in Canistota and stay for about 1 hour. Next, drive for another 54 minutes then stop at Corn Palace and stay for 1 hour. Drive for 1.5 hours then stop at Quality Inn and stay for 1 hour. Drive for 1.5 hours then stop at Best Western Graham's. Stay overnight.

The next day, drive for about 57 minutes, then stop in Kadoka and stay for about 1 hour. Next, drive for another 54 minutes then stop at Wall Drug Store and stay for 1 hour. Drive for 1 hour then stop in Rapid City and stay for 1 hour.

Finally, drive for about 36 minutes and arrive in Mt Rushmore.

To see all the details on this itinerary, including recommended restaurants, hotels, and things to do along the way, check out the full road trip planner:

Sioux Falls to Mt Rushmore airports and flights

In the quick calculation above, we assumed you had a private plane and just wanted to know the time in the air from city to city. But for most of us, we're going to be flying on a commercial airline (whether it's first class or coach). So that means we really need to account for all the extra travel time getting to the airport, waiting for our flight, and making it to the destination.

To give you a better estimate of real-life travel, we've put together a flight itinerary with actual airports. Eventually you'll be able to customize this plan, choosing your own airports and flights. But for now, here's an example we've selected to give you an idea of how traveling might work between airports.

Departure airport: Sioux Falls Regional Airport (FSD)

Arrival airport: Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP)

With the airports selected, we can estimate the travel time to and from the airport, based on how far the airport is from downtown.

Getting to the airport: 9 minutes

Getting to your destination: 69 minutes

Now finally, let's look at an example flight from FSD to RAP and figure out how long it would take to fly including take-off and landing, and time to taxi on the runway.

Commercial flight time: 1 hour, 11 minutes

So now we can finally get an idea of the total travel time from Sioux Falls to Mt Rushmore including time spent getting to/from the airports, an estimated wait time of 2 hours at the airport for TSA security lines and waiting at the gate, and the actual flight itself.

Total travel time: 4 hours

To see the details on this flight plan, including recommended airports, airline, and route, check out the flight planner:

Plan a trip to Mt Rushmore

Trippy has a ton of information that can help you plan your trip to Mount Rushmore. Start by reading the Trippy page on where to stay in Mt Rushmore. Check out some of the questions people have asked about Mt Rushmore like Family activities. Click the button below to explore Mt Rushmore in detail.

How far is it the other way?

The distance is the same either way if you're flying a straight line (or driving the same roads back and forth). But for a real trip, there can be plenty of differences so go ahead and check the reverse directions to get the distance from Mt Rushmore to Sioux Falls, or go to the main page to calculate the distance between cities.

If you happen to know Sioux Falls, don't forget to help other travelers and answer some questions about Sioux Falls!

What is there to see between Mount Rushmore and Sioux Falls?

How far is Sioux Falls from Rushmore?

How many days do you need to visit Mt Rushmore?

How long should I plan to spend at Mount Rushmore?