Rapid City South Dakota

[westsloper]

Anyone here from Rapid City? Or spent time there? I received a job offer today - I'm very excited about the job but am curious about the place. How is the camping and hiking and fishing in the area? What's hunting like in SD? Are the Black Hills pretty crowded as far as outdoor stuff goes? I'd appreciate any input anyone has.

 

[rtaylor]

I flew in there back in October for my antelope hunt in Wyoming. I can't speak much about Rapid City because I wasn't there long but just over the border in Wyoming was great. The hunting was superb and you will also be a short drive away from Mt. Rushmore, the Badlands, Devil's Tower and many other cool sites. I can't wait to get back there this October.

 

[KJH]

No state income tax and proximity to Wyoming is a beautiful thing.

 

[bsnedeker]

I went to SDSM&T in Rapid so I spent close to 5 years living there. If I could have gotten a job in that area I would never have left! It is absolutely beautiful and has a tremendous amount of opportunity to be in the outdoors. I wasn't a hunter at that time in my life and I now understand everything I missed out on out there: elk, mule deer, bison, big horns!

I was big into mountain biking and hiking though so I can tell you that it's a great place for that sort of thing. The black hills are a HUGE tourist area so it does get a bit crowded during the height of the summer, but the tourists generally stay pretty close to the major attractions so it isn't hard to get away once you know the local spots. The touristy stuff is actually pretty cool and if you have family visiting you will always have stuff to do with them for that reason.

Another great thing about Rapid: It's has it's own micro-climate to a certain extent. Because it's right on the edge of the black hills and the badlands the winters are extremely mild. Most of the snow tends to dump in the hills so I rarely had to deal with any kind of significant snowfall, it's also usually about 10 degrees warmer there than the surrounding areas for whatever reason.

Two thumbs up from me!

 

[303TrophyHusband]

I went to SDSM&T in Rapid so I spent close to 5 years living there. If I could have gotten a job in that area I would never have left! It is absolutely beautiful and has a tremendous amount of opportunity to be in the outdoors. I wasn't a hunter at that time in my life and I now understand everything I missed out on out there: elk, mule deer, bison, big horns!

I was big into mountain biking and hiking though so I can tell you that it's a great place for that sort of thing. The black hills are a HUGE tourist area so it does get a bit crowded during the height of the summer, but the tourists generally stay pretty close to the major attractions so it isn't hard to get away once you know the local spots. The touristy stuff is actually pretty cool and if you have family visiting you will always have stuff to do with them for that reason.

Another great thing about Rapid: It's has it's own micro-climate to a certain extent. Because it's right on the edge of the black hills and the badlands the winters are extremely mild. Most of the snow tends to dump in the hills so I rarely had to deal with any kind of significant snowfall, it's also usually about 10 degrees warmer there than the surrounding areas for whatever reason.

Two thumbs up from me!

What he said! What's the job? If you decide not to take it can I have it

 

[Fatcamp]

Shhhh.........

 

[rcfireninja]

Nothing to see here......... -15 wind chill the other day and -2 for tomorrow morning.

If you need specifics about anything pm me, I live and work in Rapid.


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[Wireman07]

From Watertown,SD, i would say Rapid would be a great place to live. Plenty of hunting and fishing opportunities. And its beautiful there! Id would like to live there someday

 

[HunterEng]

I went to sdsmt as well. Grew up about 2 hrs from rapid...great place to be....with in 2 hrs in any direction u have access to all kinds of game. Lots of great fishing spots as well

 

[rickjames80]

Oh man, you may have just won the geographical/job lottery. I lived in Rapid City and Hill City for a few years. I moved away for work, but I would go back in a second! If you like to do anything outdoors the Black Hills have it. Hiking, biking, 4x4, hunting, fishing, rock climbing, skiing, caves ect.. We go back yearly and camp at Sheridan Lake outside Hill City. The summers are a bit crowded with tourists and then you have the Sturgis Rally. The winters stay pretty quiet and are generally mild. There is so much to do, nice parks including a spray park downtown and an indoor go-kart track that is a blast. Euro-style, not the regular slow garbage. I am jealous just typing about it.

 

[wannakillabigbull]

I visited the Black Hills for the first time this year and honestly I can’t stop thinking about it. In another life I would definitely consider moving there. Stunningly beautiful, and that’s coming from a Colorado kid.

 

[westsloper]

Wow sounds like I lucked out. I'm in New Mexico and was kind of hoping to go back to Colorado where I'm from, but SD was my second choice and I'm happy about it. I jumped the gun on the job offer part - it's one of those "you have the job but we can't say it officially yet" sort of things. Just enough to make me nervous that it will fall through. This conversation has me really excited.

 

[jmez]

Great place to live. I live right outside of Rapid in the Hills. There are a ton of outdoor opportunities here. It is a very "touristy" area but if you get off the roads and main trails you won't see anyone.

Great trout fishing in the hills, both lakes and streams. Three hour drive to Pierre to the Mo River which is one of the best walleye fisheries in the country. A lot of little prairie lakes around that have perch, crappie, bass, walleye and pike.

The hunting is great. The hills are full of WT and the prairie has a lot of mule deer. Antelope on the prairie. Plenty of good public ground available and you can get permission on private ground by knocking on some doors. Large elk herd and big elk with not a lot of pressure on them. Hunting them is like a Primos video. Getting a tag is an issue however. Points game here like everywhere else. If you happen to draw it is the hunt of a lifetime. Also have a Bighorn (new world record taken this year) and mountain goat season. If you get either of those tags go buy a powerball ticket before your luck runs out.

World class pheasant hunting is a two hour drive down the interstate. No pheasants out here. Waterfowl hunting is very good about 50 miles north of here around Spearfish and Belle Fourche. Generally not hard to get permission to field hunt for geese.

Mountain lion season in the late winter and spring. We have a lot of lions. Hounds aren't allowed but they still kill a lot of them by calling and tracking. Predator hunting is outstanding out on the prairie. Trapping is also really good if you like that.

Great turkey hunting, both in the Hills and out on the prairie. No draw for the tags in the hills and you can get 3 of them if you include archery.

Small ski area in Lead, it isn't Colorado but it is a fun place to go ski if you are into that. 1.5 million acres of Black Hills National Forest to explore, camp and fish on.

It is a 4 hour drive to the Beartooth Mtns in MT. 3 hour drive to the Bighorns in WY. 6 hrs to either Denver or Bozeman. Nice sized airport.

 

[rbljack]

spent lots of time in the black hills back in the 90's. Lots of hunting opportunities. we actually hunted across the border in WY. One of the biggest motorcycle rallies in the world is right there every august (Sturgis). Lots of fishing opportunities to include fly fishing. Lets not forget snowmobiling! A great trail system and back then plenty of public land. You weren't restricted to the trail systems either....you could find fresh powder and go for miles!! Great place, but long cold windy winters.

 

[Runningwater]

Another SDSMT grad. I grew up 100 miles south in the panhandle of NE and spent 4 years in Rapid for college. Just re-enforcing what everyone else has stated. Little bit of nearly everything either right there or within a couple hour drive. Probably one the bigger disappointments you might have is the local big game hunting. Plenty of deer and elk - but most of Blacks Hills are pretty inundated with logging roads so it can be pretty hard to get much relief from trucks, utvs, and snow machines. Not much of a bad country hunting culture up there (or wasn't 30 years ago!) Can be done, just takes some work and forethought. Nice, interesting variety of people - farmers, cowboys, Air Force, Native American, bikers, professional, right, left, libertarian, couple small colleges. Just a nice eclectic mix where you can find some like minded people but also some folks to stretch your comfort zone a bit and broaden your mind.

 

[NebraskaStickHunter]

Well I guess I have to represent the BHSU grad crowd then. People are forgetting the best thing about western sd, the antelope and a short jaunt into wy for speedgoats as well. It is very touristy but locals are friendly and outdoor opportunities are plentiful so good luck with the job and have fun.

 

[westsloper]

Thanks everyone for the info. I'm excited to get up there in the next few months and start exploring.

 

[GPool1842]

Good discussion. Congrats, OP! I was looking st something in Spearfish for a little bit. Sounds like a cool area up there!

 

[Newtosavage]

I guess "mild winters" are like our "mild summers" down here. LOL I suppose it's all in what you get used to. I sure liked Rapid City when I was there with the family several years ago. But damn it was hot! Over 100 degrees at Custer SP when we stayed there. But the area sure is nice.

 

[Jordan Budd]

I live about 2 hours south. Spent a lot of time in the black hills and there’s some descent hiking opportunities and fishing also. Like someone said it’s also not far from Wyoming or Montana. Hunting in the black hills I’m not real sure about. But there are good animals in South Dakota and good opportunity. Nebraska is also OTC tags.


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