The Dakotas by road trip loop — how to see both states without doubling back
The two Dakotas sit side by side on the map, but most itineraries treat them as a linear slog from one end to the other and back again. There’s a better way. Run the route as a loop — Sioux Falls up to Fargo, west along I-94 to Medora and Theodore Roosevelt National Park, then south through the Black Hills and back east via the Badlands — and suddenly you have a road trip with genuine shape. Every leg goes somewhere new. Nothing gets repeated.
Allow 10 to 12 days to do it properly. Ten is possible; twelve gives you room to breathe in the places that deserve it.
The loop at a glance
| Stop | Drive from previous | Best known for | Nights |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sioux Falls | Start/finish | Falls Park, food scene, city buzz | 1 |
| Fargo | 3 hrs north on I-29 | Compact downtown, easy pace, great coffee | 1 |
| Bismarck | 3.5 hrs west on I-94 | Missouri River corridor, state history | 1 |
| Medora / Theodore Roosevelt NP | 2.5 hrs west on I-94 | Badlands scenery, bison, wild horses | 2 |
| Black Hills / Rapid City | 3.5 hrs south on I-94 | Rushmore, Custer State Park, Deadwood | 3 |
| Badlands | 1 hr east on I-90 | Otherworldly formations, wildlife, big sky | 1 |
| Sioux Falls | 3 hrs east on I-90 | Home stretch | — |
Total driving across the loop is manageable — no single leg is punishing, and the two longest days both reward you with somewhere worth arriving.
Sioux Falls — start the right way
Sioux Falls earns its place as the starting point because it eases you in gently. Falls Park is the obvious first stop — the waterfall right in the middle of the city still surprises people who haven’t seen it before — and the food scene is good enough to justify a proper meal before the road takes over tomorrow.
One night here, then north on I-29.
Fargo — compact, characterful, underrated
Three hours up the interstate and you’re in Fargo, which rewards travellers who expect nothing and get something rather good. The downtown is walkable and lively for a city this size, the coffee is excellent, and the arts scene punches well above its weight.
It’s also a genuinely easy day — after the drive north, you don’t want a long itinerary. Wander, eat well, sleep. Tomorrow the landscape starts to change.
Bismarck — where the prairie opens up
I-94 west from Fargo takes around three and a half hours to reach Bismarck, and the drive itself starts doing things to your sense of scale. The land flattens and stretches. The sky gets bigger. By the time you reach the Missouri River at Bismarck you’re properly in the American interior, and it feels like it.
The city and neighbouring Mandan sit either side of the river, and that corridor gives this stretch its mood — broad water, old geology, a pace that feels steadier than anywhere you’ve been so far. The North Dakota Heritage Center is free and genuinely worth an hour of your time.
One night is enough. Two makes the most sense if you want to visit the State Capitol or spend a proper evening on the riverfront.
Medora and Theodore Roosevelt National Park — the wild heart of the trip
Two and a half hours west of Bismarck on I-94, Medora is a tiny western town that sits at the entrance to the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. In summer it fills up fast, and for good reason. We’ve written about it in more depth over on Love My Trips — Medora: the Badlands town worth slowing down for — but the short version is this: don’t treat it as a quick overnight. It deserves two nights minimum.
The park is North Dakota’s only national park, and it looks nothing like the prairie you’ve been driving through. The landscape here is North Dakota Badlands — eroded buttes, painted canyons, a winding river valley, and wildlife that treats the road as optional. Bison herds block traffic. Wild horses appear on ridge lines without warning. Prairie dogs run the verges like they own them.
Drive the 36-mile South Unit loop at least once, more slowly than you think necessary. Buck Hill and Wind Canyon are the best viewpoints. Bring binoculars.
Medora itself has the Medora Musical — an outdoor show that’s been running for decades and is genuinely worth attending even if you’d normally avoid that sort of thing — plus the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame and enough good food and drink to fill an evening.
Practical note: from 1 May 2026 the park is cashless, and all campsites require advance reservations. Sort both before you arrive.
The Black Hills — Rushmore, Custer, Deadwood and the Needles
South on I-94 and then I-90 brings you into South Dakota and eventually up into the Black Hills — forested granite mountains that rise unexpectedly out of the western plains and contain more to do than most people plan for.
Base yourself in one place for three nights minimum. Four is better. Rapid City is the most practical option for restaurants and supplies, Deadwood suits those who want frontier atmosphere and a livelier evening, and Custer or Hill City put you closest to the park and Rushmore.
For a genuinely impressive alternative, Shortgrass Resort makes an outstanding hub for the whole Black Hills section. It’s an adults-only, all-inclusive glamping retreat that sits within easy reach of Rushmore, Custer State Park, the Needles Highway and Deadwood — meaning you unpack once, sleep well, and head out each morning to a different corner of the hills. If you’re looking for somewhere that earns its place as a base rather than just a bed for the night, this is it.
Mount Rushmore is the obvious headline, but Custer State Park is where the Black Hills really show off. The Wildlife Loop Road gives you bison, pronghorn and elk at surprisingly close range. The Needles Highway is one of the best drives in the country — narrow, twisting, threading between granite spires with barely a car’s width to spare. Iron Mountain Road, with its pigtail bridges and tunnel frames around Rushmore, runs it close.
Deadwood is worth at least a half day. It’s theatrical and self-aware about its history, which makes it more fun than it has any right to be.
Don’t rush this section. The Black Hills are the reward at the end of the northern leg. Give them the time they’ve earned.
Badlands — the penultimate punch
One hour east on I-90 from Rapid City and you’re at the Badlands, which manage to feel completely different from Theodore Roosevelt’s landscape despite being the same geological category.
Highway 240 Loop Road is the move here — 39 miles through the formations, with pullouts every few minutes and wildlife appearing throughout. Then back on I-90 heading east.
Before you reach Sioux Falls, Mitchell is worth a stop for one of the most genuinely unexpected sights on the entire route. The Corn Palace sounds like it shouldn’t work as a landmark, and then you look up at those onion domes and giant grain murals and quietly change your mind. It takes an hour, it costs nothing, and it’s the sort of thing you’ll still be talking about when you get home.
Home via I-90 — Sioux Falls and the close
Three hours east on I-90 and the loop closes. Sioux Falls looks different on the way back — a proper city after all that space. Falls Park again if you want it, a good meal, and the satisfaction of a route that went somewhere logical.
Final thoughts
What makes this loop work is that the geography does the planning for you. I-29 runs the eastern edge north to south. I-94 runs the northern edge east to west. I-90 closes the southern leg. The landscape shifts meaningfully at every stage — city to prairie to river to badlands to mountains to formations and back to city — and nothing gets retraced.
Ten days is the minimum. Twelve is the sweet spot. Either way, this is the Dakotas done properly.
If you’d like this route built into a fully arranged self-drive itinerary — boutique hotels, transfers, and everything sorted before you fly — the team at Rendezvous Roadtrips specialises in exactly this kind of journey. Get in touch via the contact page and we’ll put something together around your dates and travel style.
