Black Hills Car Rentals

Daily rentals cover the full Rapid City metro and Black Hills

Black Hills Car Rentals operates out of Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP) and focuses on serving visitors heading to the Black Hills area, including Mount Rushmore and Badlands National Park. They run every day, matching typical flight banks into RAP morning and evening. Vehicles are set up for regional driving: think higher-clearance cars and SUVs that handle I-90 plus the two-lane state highways around Rapid City, Keystone, and Custer.

Rates usually price by the calendar day, not by the hour, and often beat the big-name counters in town by roughly 10–20% for multi-day bookings. Black Hills Car Rentals does a lot of 3–7 day contracts tied to long weekends and week-long stays, so they’re used to early pick-ups after the first arrivals and late drop-offs after the last departures. Check fuel terms closely; most contracts specify returning the vehicle full to avoid per-gallon surcharges that run several dollars above local pump prices on Highway 44.

Step-by-step: using Black Hills Car Rentals at RAP

• 1. Book ahead online or by phone. Inventory tightens in June–August and around events like the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, so locking a car in at least 7–14 days before arrival at RAP helps with both price and vehicle size.
• 2. Confirm your flight details and arrival time. Give them your airline and flight number into Rapid City (for example, American from DFW or Delta from MSP) so staff can track delays and hold your reservation past the scheduled time.
• 3. On arrival, pick up luggage on the main level. RAP is small, so baggage claim usually clears within 10–20 minutes of touchdown. Have your driver’s license and a major credit card ready while you wait at the single carousel area.
• 4. Meet the representative at the agreed point. Depending on current procedures, this might be just outside the terminal doors by the public curb on Airport Road or at a nearby off-airport office a short drive away; confirm the exact spot in your confirmation email.
• 5. Inspect the car before leaving the airport. Walk around the vehicle in the RAP parking area, note any dings or windshield chips, and snap timestamped photos. This matters on gravel-heavy routes like SD-240 through Badlands and the Needles Highway near Custer State Park.
• 6. Plan your return timing. Aim to be back at RAP at least 90 minutes before departure on mainline flights and 2 hours if you still need to check bags. Factor in 30–45 minutes of driving from Rapid City hotel areas off I-90 to the airport on SD-44.

Practical tip: If you’re driving into higher elevations or shoulder-season snow near the Black Hills in March–April or October–November, ask specifically about all-weather tires at booking and get that note written into your RAP rental confirmation.