MWRT – 2025 – First Day in Deadwood South Dakota

I started this day with a trip out to Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument. Southwestern South Dakota is so remote and far from anywhere that it is not visited as much as one might think. But travel through the southern half of this state is an amazing road trip. Mount Rushmore was only a 40 minute drive from Deadwood and Crazy Horse only another 30 minutes. Crazy Horse is privately funded, mainly through the $15 vehicle entry fee and is still under construction.

There is a lot of beautiful sites along the highways here in the Black Hills. The area was named by the Lakota Indians and clearly the granite hills are all very dark and appear black from a distance.

Upon my return to Deadwood after a short rest I walked around the town and visited six different casinos to play Blackjack and collect a $1 chip from each for my collection. I’ve been keeping one chip from each place I’ve been and now have about 21 one dollar chips. Deadwood is pretty low end with small casinos that all have $5 or $10 minimum tables with $100 limits. The games are usually crowded and not really very favorable to a player. I didn’t spend much time, just played a shoe each place just for the experience and fun of it. And to collect my chip 🙂

The names of the places I played are Deadwood Mountain Grand, Gold Dust Gaming, Midnight Star, Mineral Palace, and Silverado. I think there are a couple more to hit before I leave this place. Tomorrow I plan to visit Spearfish Canyon and enjoy the beauty of this place one more day.