Decent park with a large green space area. My kids loved collecting the acorns (we visited in October/November). Playground is well-maintained but on the medium-small side (compared to some of the amazing parks in Memphis).
Beautiful, sprawling park! Multiple playgrounds on each side of a naturally wooded area (straight though it’s about 0.5 miles one way). Dog park, zoo ($$), art museum all super close by. Well maintained. Wide open park green space with a pond. Playground next to pond is surrounded by stone wall and gate to keep children from accidentally wandering to water. Loved this park!
For families with kids of school-age children: most of my kids thought it was incredibly boring. Most everything is behind glass and/or not allowed to touch and interact with. A few exceptions: confederate articles (pistol, rifle, comb made of bone, metal matchbox, dress up clothing, etc); planetary and science games & interactive exhibits right inside entrance; circus playroom & pully system puzzle; & grocery lists for country store & Piggly Wiggly (hunt for items on list but not touch items). Circus room would have been a hit, except it wasn’t turned on. Not sure why so many locals suggested this place when they spoke with us.
For adults and older children that like to look & read: amazing collection of fossils, science history finds from the local area, pioneer memorabilia, confederate army memorabilia, gemstones, crystals, taxidermy birds and other local animals such as an armadillo & python skeleton, plus much much more.
The mansion itself was a bit disappointing. Many walls are very modern and dry walled with modern looking baseboards. The exterior, entryway, and windows were the only impressive parts—giant murals, giant Victorian mirror, large plastered arches.
We didn’t see any shows in the theater or planetarium ($$), so can’t vouch for any of those.
Hard to believe there aren’t more reviews for this amazing park! There are miles and miles of trails (hiking, biking & rentals available), multiple playgrounds, amazing lights at Christmastime, multiple lakes (fishing & kayak rentals available). There is also horseback riding, and a treetop adventure & zip line. You could spend an entire week here and do something different every single day!
This is an epically beautiful hike! There’s lots of variety in steepness, but definitely not as strenuous as I expected. Lots of fun big boulders to climb on for kids. Super glad we were able to do this hike in Custer State Park! I think this was the highlight of our Black Hills trip.
Custer State Park is an amazing park all around! Wish we would have spent a day or two here and not just a hike and drive through. This tunnel was slightly terrifying to drive through! Everybody comes through slowly, so watch out for a back up of traffic!
The cave itself was OK. I felt like the tour could have been shortened quite a bit. We did the Natural Entrance tour. My kids’ favorite part was riding the super old elevator (tour guide said it was built in 1939, if I remember right, but it operates smoothly and doesn’t even look very old) up and out of the cave at the end.
The best part of the park were the prairie dogs and bison (but especially the barking prairie dogs!).
We have ancestors that crossed through here, so it was extra special for us! It is not only the Oregon Trail, but the Mormon trail and the California gold rush Trail.
Easy hike to a beautiful view! We did the short, upper trail to the Overlook. Definitely worth five dollars!
We did this on a whim and I am so glad we did! It felt like I was walking through a fairy storybook! Such a beautiful, well-planned park with more than 60 gardens. We went in early October when the leaves were all changing, making it even more magical.