Badlands and Black Hills - The Most Scenic Drives in America: 120 Spectacular Road Trips - page 531

For a bird's-eye view of the town and a glimpse of the Black Hills beyond, take a
quick jaunt up Skyline Drive, cresting the hill that bisects the town. (Be prepared to share
the view with Rapid City's strangest residents: Seven concrete dinosaurs, remnants of the
Depression-era Works Progress Administration, stand atop the ridge, as if surveying their
lost domain.)
RapidCityisalsoknownastheCityofPresidents.Walkamongbronzestatuesofofour
nation's Presidents. The statues are life-size, standing as pedestrians on the street corners
ofdowntownRapidCity.Buildingsintheoldcommercialdistricthavebeenrestored.West
Boulevard Historic District includes stately Queen Anne and Colonial-style homes. North
of Historic Downtown, on New York Street between Fifth Street and E. North Street, visit
the Journey Museum—filled with exhibits that tell the story of the western Great Plains.
6. Black Hills National Forest
On Rte. 79, jog south to the town of Hermosa and then west on Rte. 40. The drive rises
gentlythroughfoothills,thenbeginsasharperclimbintothepinesthatmakeupBlackHills
National Forest. If you sense the presence of something timeless, it's no wonder. Though
not the most imposing mountains in America, the Black Hills are ancient, thrust upward
from the plains some 60 million years ago, just as the dinosaurs exited the stage.