Our final stop in South Dakota was Deadwood for a week β a city about 45 minutes northwest of Rapid City. Deadwood made its name as a Gold Rush town, before becoming somewhat infamous as a city that let prostitution fly under the radar. Its final brothels were shut down in In South Dakota legalized gambling in Deadwood which led to a large number of casinos entering the city. There are several museums, shootout reenactments, ghost tours, etc.
That low rate got me intrigued and, after seeing its location on Main St and many of the activities within walking distance, we decided to book a week-long stay there. It does have a couple of downsides. Guests do get a number of perks when staying though which includes free game play at the attached Tin Lizzie casino, buy one get one free drinks and sushi rolls and more. You can read our full review of the Four Points by Sheraton Deadwood here. Main St is a cute area with lots of casinos, saloon bars, souvenir stores, etc.
Deadwood was a surprisingly dog-friendly place. While walking around Deadwood we spotted a lot of HistoryLink information boards which shared more about the history of the city. This is one that had maybe 50 slot machines max and is presumably named after the character Mr Wu from the Deadwood TV series. The free drinks included a number of draft beers, as well as wine and possibly spirits too.
The free food consisted of self-serve hot dogs, popcorn and potato chips. Wild Bill Hickok was a notorious former resident of Deadwood. Saloon No. The actors pose for photos afterwards, so all three of us got to have our photo taken with Jack McCall and Wild Bill Hickok.
On Saturdays during tourist season which seems to start mid-May there are a number of activities up and down Main St. Some are free, while others are paid activities. There were a few more gunshots with these and they were louder, so be aware of that if you bring dogs along as this one startled Truffles a little towards the end. The Four Points hotel we stayed at is connected to the Hampton Inn hotel.
