City View Trolley | Accessible Journey | Accessible Tours

I’ll be trustworthy with you, I’m a troublesome critic on the subject of “accessible” tourism experiences. I used to be born and raised within the Black Hills, lived practically my total life as a wheelchair person, and my husband Trevor and I’ve traveled all around the nation and past. We’ve seen the complete spectrum of what “accessible” can imply. The form that genuinely opens a door, and the sort that is nothing greater than a checkbox. So when one thing truly delivers, I really feel obligated to shout it from the highest of Dinosaur Park.

The Rapid City City View Trolley is the true deal.

A Hometown Gem I Almost Overlooked

Here’s the irony of rising up someplace stunning: you generally take it with no consideration. I’ve pushed previous that cheerful trolley extra occasions than I can rely, at all times assuming it was only a vacationer factor. After my expertise driving the Trolley, I can genuinely say I used to be reminded simply how stunning and accessible Rapid City is.

The trolley is run by Visit Rapid City and is without doubt one of the finest methods to get oriented in our metropolis. It’s a two-hour narrated tour winding via Downtown Rapid City, the West Boulevard Historic District, previous the quirky inexperienced dinosaurs of Dinosaur Park, Main Street Square, and extra, all with GPS-triggered audio narration that brings every landmark to life proper as you are taking a look at it. Even as somebody who’s recognized this metropolis my complete life, I realized issues I did not know.

The Accessibility That Impressed Me

Trevor and I’ve been turned away, squeezed in awkwardly, or given the apologetic shrug at so many tour experiences throughout this nation. Historic excursions include traditionally inaccessible points, and after being ready for the “Sorry, no…” we have been pleasantly shocked to search out that the City View Trolley affords a devoted wheelchair accessible seat with a carry, tie-downs, and a seatbelt. I used to be cautiously optimistic. When I truly skilled it, I used to be genuinely moved.

After a easy carry onto the City View Trolley, my chair was correctly secured with tie-downs, and I used to be buckled in with a seatbelt for the journey. The carry accommodates wheelchairs and electrical scooters as much as 800 kilos complete weight when occupied, and you’ve got the selection to switch to a seat or keep in your mobility machine. That alternative issues greater than individuals understand. This is the type of considerate design that makes journey really feel like journey, not like an impediment course.

A couple of sensible notes: there may be one wheelchair-accessible seat per trolley, so reserving forward is important. Tours run every day at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. from mid-May via early October, rain or shine, departing from The Rushmore Hotel. Tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for youngsters ages 3 to 12, with a ten% low cost for navy members and seniors. Book on-line at visitrapidcity.com/city-view-trolley-tour or name (605) 718-8484.

The One Stop: Chapel within the Hills

The tour’s single cease is without doubt one of the most sudden and quietly spectacular locations in the entire Black Hills. And I can say that confidently as an area (additionally as somebody who held their wedding ceremony ceremony right here!).

The Chapel within the Hills is a shocking duplicate of the Borgund Stavkirke, a stave church in Laerdal, Norway constructed across the 12 months 1150. The Norwegian Department of Antiquities supplied the unique blueprints, and the intricate woodcarvings inside and outside, together with dragons on the roofline and carved door surrounds, have been a collaboration between a Norwegian grasp woodcarver and a Rapid City artist. It was devoted in 1969 as the house of a Lutheran radio ministry, a nod to the deep Scandinavian heritage of so many who settled the Dakotas.

Tucked among the many ponderosa pines on the western fringe of Rapid City, the chapel grounds really feel like stepping briefly into Scandinavia. We had half-hour to discover, and I used each one in all them. There’s a meditation path winding up the hillside if you’ll be able to stroll, a grass-roofed Norwegian stabbur that serves because the customer heart and reward store, and a log cabin museum initially constructed by a Norwegian immigrant and gold digger. Pausing to absorb the sights in entrance of that chapel, surrounded by pines and quiet, I felt that specific pleasure you get once you see the great thing about your hometown.

The Bottom Line

Trevor and I’ve traveled far and extensive, and our expertise with The City View Trolley gave us what we hope for with any journey situation: A easy expertise that lets us concentrate on why we journey within the first place. To see new websites, expertise new issues, and to really feel part of the magic of every new place we go to. The carry labored. The tie-downs have been carried out correctly. The seatbelt gave me confidence on the curves. And the tour itself was genuinely great. It was stuffed with historical past, humor, beautiful surroundings, and that stunning cease on the Chapel within the Hills.

If you are visiting Rapid City, e book this tour. If you are an area like me who’s pushed previous that trolley 100 occasions, e book this tour! See our stunning metropolis from a brand new perspective.

Life, as they are saying, actually is jolly once you journey the trolley.

Kelsey is a lifelong Black Hills native, wheelchair person, and avid traveler who explores accessible experiences close to and much together with her husband, Trevor. This submit is a part of her ongoing Accessible Adventures weblog collection.

Book your City View Trolley tickets at visitrapidcity.com/city-view-trolley-tour or name (605) 718-8484.