The Missouri River runs wide and slow below the lodge porch, and if you sit there long enough with a drink in your hand, watching the buffalo graze in the last light, the prairie starts to feel like it belongs to you. Then come the Badlands, ancient and jagged and like nothing else on earth. And then Mount Rushmore, which no photograph ever quite prepares you for. You stand at the base of those four presidents carved into granite and you feel it somewhere deep in your chest. This is the American West, wild and wide open, and for six days it’s all yours.

May 12-May 18, 2027
7 Days / 6 Nights

Overall Trip Highlights

• Historic Thunderstik Lodge One of South Dakota’s most legendary properties — 7,000 acres of private wilderness, a private lodge chef cooking every meal, Missouri River views that go on forever, and nights by the fireplace that feel like they were made for exactly this.
• Your Own Private Lodge Chef No restaurants, no menus, no decisions. Every dinner at Thunderstik is prepared by your own private chef, made just for your group, and served around a table that gets warmer every night.
• Private Guided Boat Ride on the Missouri River Climb aboard and let the river do the rest. Your guide knows every bend and every story. Cast a line if the mood strikes — or simply sit back and let one of America’s most historic waterways remind you how big and beautiful this country is.
• The Shooting Range — Your Second Amendment in Full Effect Expert instructors, sporting clays, long-range rifle, and the .50 BMG waiting at the end of it all. One shot included. Whether you’ve never held a gun or you shoot regularly, this experience stays with you.
• Private Tour of Badlands National Park Jagged spires, canyon walls painted in amber and rust, and bison, bighorn sheep, and prairie dogs moving through it all like they own the place. A private guide, no crowds, and one of the most dramatic landscapes in America — all yours.
• Mount Rushmore Private Tour Stand at the base of four presidents carved into Black Hills granite and feel what it means to love this country. No tour buses. No strangers. Just your group and a guide who brings every inch of it to life.
• Crazy Horse Memorial The largest mountain carving in the world, and it’s still being carved. Started in 1948 to honor the great Lakota leader, this is a monument to a people and a place unlike anything else on earth.
• Historic Deadwood Wild Bill Hickok. Calamity Jane. The gold rush. The cobblestone streets. Wild West shootout reenactments on Main Street and inside Saloon No. 10. History doesn’t get more alive than this.
• The Wildlife Loop at Custer State Park One of the largest bison herds in North America, roaming free across 71,000 acres of open grassland. Drive through, pull over, and let the American West remind you what wild looks like.
• Needles Highway & Iron Mountain Road Cathedral Spires. Eye of the Needle. Panoramic views from Norbeck Lookout. Two of the most spectacular drives in America — both on your itinerary.
• Hike & Picnic at Sylvan Lake Tucked into the granite peaks of the Black Hills, Sylvan Lake is the kind of beautiful that makes you go quiet. A gentle hike, a picnic on the water, and a moment to catch your breath.
• Sunsets Over the Missouri River Every evening at Thunderstik ends the same way — wine in hand, buffalo grazing in the fading light, and a sky that turns colors you didn’t know existed. Some of the most beautiful sunsets in the world happen right here.
• Women Who Get It One group of like-minded, patriotic American women who can say exactly what they think, love this country out loud, and laugh until their sides hurt. No editing. No apologizing. No exhausting conversations with people who don’t share your values. This is the part no itinerary can fully capture — and the part you’ll remember most.
• Everything Included Every meal, every activity, every transfer, every tip. Once you land in Sioux Falls, your wallet stays in your bag. The only thing not included is your flight in.

Don’t just tour South Dakota, Experience South Dakota 

Every Beatrice Bradley trip is crafted to maximize the experiences had during the trip.
The itineraries are specially made to allow time for engaging in conversation and having belly laughs with a new friend. We hope that the activities and experiences may allow you to come out of your comfort zone and to try new or unique things.
These trips are made to replicate a ‘friends get-away trip’. 

Day One: Welcome to Thunderstik

Fly into Sioux Falls and the South Dakota prairie begins immediately — wide open, rolling, and so vast it makes the rest of the world feel very far away. By the time Thunderstik Lodge appears above the Missouri River, you’ll know you’re somewhere completely different.

Your First Evening at Historic Thunderstik Lodge:

• Settle into your private accommodations and take in 7,000 acres of wilderness, buffalo, and the kind of quiet you forgot existed.
• Sit down to a dinner cooked fresh by your own private lodge chef — every meal on this trip made just for your group.
• End the night at the bonfire under a sky full of stars, cocktail in hand, new friends on either side of you.

As the sun drops behind the Missouri River and the prairie goes gold, you’ll feel the week ahead of you like a wide open door.

Fun Fact: The Missouri River stretches over 2,300 miles — the longest river in North America, longer even than the Mississippi. For centuries it carried explorers and pioneers heading west. Tonight, it’s yours.

Day Two: On the River, On the Range

Wake up to a South Dakota sunrise and fresh coffee by the fire in the lodge’s stone hearth, the Missouri River quiet below you and the day wide open. Today is full and good — and every bit of it was made for this.

Highlights

• Private Guided Boat Ride on the Missouri River Climb aboard and let the river do the rest. Your guide knows every bend, every story, and every reason this water has captivated people for centuries. Sit back, take it all in, and let the Missouri remind you how big and beautiful this country really is.
• Drop a Line — Your Guide Does the Work Never caught a Walleye? Today might be the day. Your guide baits the hook, puts the pole in your hands, and the Missouri River does the rest. No experience needed. Just be ready to brag about it at dinner.
• Learn to Shoot — From the Best Never shot a gun? Good. Our expert instructors start from the beginning — safety first, confidence second, and before long you’ll be working the long-range rifle range and talking yourself into the .50 BMG. One shot included. You’ll never forget it.

Evening at the Lodge

• Happy hour with appetizers and wine poured generously.
• Dinner around the table, made by your private lodge chef, unhurried and good.
• Take a sunset walk across the property as the buffalo graze in the fading light — sunsets over the Missouri River are some of the most beautiful in the world. Or pull up a chair and lose yourself in a lively game of cards with women who already feel like old friends.

Fun Fact: The most legendary explorer of the Missouri River wasn’t a man at all. Sacagawea, a young Shoshone woman, guided Lewis and Clark along this very river in 1804 — with a newborn strapped to her back. She navigated the terrain, negotiated with Native tribes, and kept the expedition alive. The West was built by women like her, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

By the time the fire burns low, you’ll already be wondering what tomorrow looks like.

Day Three: Guns, Grit & God’s Country

The last full day at Thunderstik doesn’t slow down — it leans in. Gather for a hearty breakfast at the lodge, because this morning you’re heading to the range, and this afternoon you’re going off-road into some of the most breathtaking backcountry in South Dakota.

Highlights

• The Shooting Range — Your Second Amendment, In Full Effect Whether you’re stepping up to a firearm for the first time or sharpening skills you already have, our expert instructors meet you exactly where you are. Work the sporting clays, take on the long-range rifle range, and yes the .50 BMG is waiting. One shot included. This is what the Second Amendment feels like when you actually live it.
• 4×4 Off-Road Tour Across Thunderstik’s Backcountry After lunch, climb into a 4×4 and hit the trail. Rolling hills, hidden wildlife paths, and panoramic views of the Missouri River stretching out below you — this is Thunderstik’s 7,000 acres the way it was meant to be seen. Hold on and take it all in.

Evening at the Lodge

• Happy hour with appetizers and wine poured generously.
• Dinner around the table, made by your private lodge chef — the last one here, so savor it.
• Bonfire under the stars, the Missouri River glowing in the distance, and women around you who started as strangers and leave as something else entirely.

Fun Fact: Women are the fastest-growing group of new gun owners in America. Millions have picked up a firearm for the first time in recent years — and most say they’d do it again. Today, you’re one of them.

By the time the fire burns down tonight, you’ll already be thinking about how to describe this place to everyone back home.

Day Four: Into the Badlands

After one last breakfast at the lodge, you’ll say goodbye to Thunderstik and head toward a landscape that stops people cold the first time they see it. The Badlands don’t look real. They look like God was showing off.

Highlights

• Private Tour of Badlands National Park Seventy-five million years of wind, water, and time carved this place into something unlike anything else in America. Jagged spires, layered canyon walls painted in amber and rust, grasslands that stretch to the horizon — and moving through all of it, bison, bighorn sheep, and prairie dogs going about their day like they own it, which they do. Your private guide brings it all to life, no rushing, no crowds, no one telling you to move along.
• Picnic Lunch in the Badlands Lunch is a picnic right in the middle of it all — because eating surrounded by 75 million years of American landscape is exactly as good as it sounds.

Evening in Rapid City

• Check into your historic hotel — a Rapid City landmark dating back to 1928 with a story of its own.
• Dinner together, good food, and the kind of conversation that only happens after a day this full.
• End the night with a nightcap at the bar, the Badlands still fresh in your mind.

Fun Fact: The Lakota people called this place “mako sica” — bad lands — because of the brutal terrain, extreme heat, and scarce water. The same landscape that once stopped pioneers cold is now one of the most spectacular national parks in the country. Perspective is everything.

You came to South Dakota for an adventure. Today delivered.

Day Five: Mount Rushmore. Crazy Horse. Deadwood.

Some days you check things off a list. This is not that day. This is the day you stand at the base of four presidents carved into a granite mountain and feel it in your chest. This is the day you walk through a town where Wild Bill Hickok was shot and Calamity Jane is buried and the gold rush happened right under your feet. Today is the one you’ll talk about for years.

Highlights

• Private Guided Tour of Mount Rushmore No crowds, no rushing — just you and four of America’s greatest presidents carved into Black Hills granite. Your private guide tells the full story behind the carvings, completed in 1941 after 14 years of work. By the time you’re done, you’ll never look at this country the same way again.
• Crazy Horse Memorial The largest mountain carving in the world, and it’s still being carved. Started in 1948 to honor the great Lakota leader, this is a monument to a people and a story that belongs to this land. Stand at the base of it and let the scale hit you.
• Picnic Lunch and Hike at Roughlock Falls Deep in Spearfish Canyon, Roughlock Falls is lush, quiet, and completely unexpected after days of open prairie. A short hike, a picnic, and a waterfall — the perfect way to catch your breath before Deadwood.
• Explore Historic Deadwood Founded in 1876 during the Black Hills Gold Rush, Deadwood is where legends were made and sometimes ended. Walk the same Main Street as Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, feel the cobblestones under your feet, and step inside Saloon No. 10 where history got a little wild.
• Wild West Shootout Reenactments On Main Street and inside Saloon No. 10, the Wild West comes back to life. Cowboys, drama, and more excitement than you bargained for — it’s history, it’s theater, and it’s an absolute blast.

Evening in Rapid City

• Dinner at a historic Rapid City restaurant, local food, local charm, and a table full of women with a lot to say about the day.

Fun Fact: The Crazy Horse Memorial has been led by a woman for over 40 years. After sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski passed away in 1982, his wife Ruth took over and has devoted her life to completing the largest mountain carving in the world. Under her watch, it’s getting there.

Today is the one you flew to South Dakota for.

Day Six: One Last Ride Through God’s Country

This is the last full day, and South Dakota saves something for it. The Black Hills are waiting — granite spires, open wildlife roads, a lake so still it looks like glass, and a farewell dinner at the end of it that nobody is going to forget. This is how a great trip ends.

Highlights

• Iron Mountain Road & Norbeck Lookout The drive alone is worth it. Iron Mountain Road winds through the Black Hills with sweeping panoramic views at every turn — pull over at Norbeck Lookout, take the photo, take a breath, and let the landscape do what it does.
• Needles Highway — Cathedral Spires & Eye of the Needle Granite spires shooting straight up into the sky, a narrow eye of rock you can barely believe exists — Needles Highway is one of the most dramatic drives in America, and today it’s yours.
• Hike & Picnic at Sylvan Lake Tucked into the granite peaks of the Black Hills, Sylvan Lake is the kind of place that makes you go quiet. A gentle hike, a picnic on the water, and the kind of beautiful that reminds you why you came.
• The Wildlife Loop — Buffalo, Deer & Open Country Wind through Custer State Park’s Wildlife Loop and keep your eyes open. Bison roaming the grasslands, white-tailed deer moving through the brush — this is the American West, still wild, still magnificent.

Evening — The Farewell That Stays With You

• A proper South Dakota steak dinner at the historic State Game Lodge — the meal that closes the trip the way it deserves to be closed.
• Raise a glass to the women around you, the miles behind you, and everything ahead.
• End the night with a nightcap at the hotel or pile into a car for an ice cream run — because some of the best moments of a great trip are exactly that simple.

Fun Fact: The State Game Lodge where you’ll have your farewell dinner served as the Summer White House for President Calvin Coolidge in 1927. He loved South Dakota so much he stayed for three months. After a week here, you’ll understand exactly why.

You came as strangers. You leave as something else entirely. South Dakota has a way of doing that.

Day Seven: Go Home Different

Nobody wants this morning to come. But here it is — last coffee, last table full of women who started as strangers and somehow became the people you’ll text when you get home. Take your time. Soak it in. South Dakota isn’t going anywhere, and neither is what happened here this week.

Highlights

• One Last Breakfast A local café and roastery — great pastries, good coffee, and one more hour around the table before the real world comes back. Take the photo. Hug it out. Do it twice.
• Stroll Main Street If time allows, wander through Rapid City’s Main Street one last time — a few shops, a little charm, and a town that turned out to be a pretty great place to end an adventure.
• Depart for Rapid City Regional Airport The ride to the airport is quiet in the best way. Windows down, the Black Hills behind you, and a week of memories you are going to be talking about for a very long time.

You came here a little nervous, maybe. Not sure what to expect. Not sure if you could keep up, if you’d fit in, if it would be worth it. And then the Missouri River happened, and the Badlands happened, and Mount Rushmore happened, and somewhere in the middle of all of it — so did you. Drag that luggage through your front door, look up at the ceiling, and say it. You know what you did. South Dakota knows too.

The next trip is already waiting. Don’t make it wait long.

This itinerary serves as a general guide to what we will be doing, seeing, and eating, with the final version provided approximately two weeks prior. The published itinerary is an example and may be adjusted to include accommodations, tours, or restaurants of comparable quality to ensure the best experience. The itinerary is subject to change.