In South Dakota, you and your kids will discover heroes, Western history and legends in awe-inspiring dimensions as well as explore state and national parks that feature herds of bison, intricate underground caves and fantastic rock formations.

 

Literally bigger than life--at 60 feet high--the chiseled faces of presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt, heroes that carved U.S. policies, gaze out from Mount Rushmore. Their gigantic stone images remind viewers of the nation's aspirations as well as the perseverance of sculptor Gutzon Borglum, whose studio you can tour. A walk on half-mile Presidential Trail gets you close to the base.

Balance the history lesson by visiting a fifth face, nine stories high, at the Crazy Horse Memorial. When complete, the sculpture of the Native American hero astride his horse will be 563 feet high and 641 feet long-the world's largest mountain carving. Begun by Korczak Ziolkowski and continued by his family, the monument portrays the Lakota leader after the Battle of Little Big Horn when many Sioux were pushed onto reservations. Crazy Horse points, his 227-foot arm extended, immortalizing his words, "My lands are where my dead lie buried." For more Native American history, browse the site's Indian Museum of North America - there's a real tipi to sit in - and stay for the evening laser show of images projected on the stone.

At Custer State Park, situated on 71,000 acres of rolling grasslands and pine forests, about 1,400 bison-one of the U.S.'s largest herds-graze the meadows. Jeep safari drives get you out in the back country to see these living icons of the west as well as the resident deer, elk and pronghorn sheep. During the Buffalo Round-up Arts Festival, held September 30 to October 2, families enjoy face painting, craft shows, musical entertainment and on Monday, October 2 be at the park before 7:30 a.m. to watch the rounded-up buffalo come thundering into the corrals.

About 13 miles west of Custer is Jewel Cave National Monument, where you can wriggle through 24-inch passageways that are eight-and-a-half inches high to see clusters of hydromagnesite, some of the rarest formations on earth. These spelunking tours are available in summer for ages 16 and older (reserve ahead). To see the cave, reputedly the third-longest cave in the world with 133 miles of mapped passages, you can also take a one-and-a-half-hour, well-lit tour through wide passageways.

Wind Cave, the highlight of Wind Cave National Park, Hot Springs, is reputed to be the fourth-longest U.S. cave with nearly 120 miles of mapped passages. Guides lead you through a one-half mile tour that takes about 75 minutes and features abundant boxwork-thin calcite fins resembling honeycombs. Also in Hot Springs is the indoor Mammoth Site, one of the richest mammoth finds in North America, revealing 53 skeletons, many of them in "situ," or, as found. With the Junior Paleontologist Excavation, kids ages four to 13, from June 1 through August 15, can dig for fossil replicas (reserve ahead to dig).

Erosion--by wind, water and ice--designed the Badlands, carving the landscape into jutting cones and peaks, twisting gorges and canyons.

Do more than just drive through Badlands National Park; take time to get out of your car to walk near the unusual formations. The Fossil Exhibit Trail is one-quarter mile long and accessible by strollers.

In Rapid City visit the Journey Museum, which recounts two versions of Great Plains history, a scientific explanation based on fossils and geologic cross-sections as well as the mythological explanation of the Lakota Sioux. The Native American exhibit with its hologram of a woman talking in a tipi is especially interesting as are the discovery boxes. Kids can pull out these drawers beneath the glass exhibit cases to touch turkey feathers, deer antlers or sinew used for thread.