Overview
Ellsworth is Air Force Global Strike Command's B-1B base on the northern plains. The 28th Bomb Wing flies the Lancer with the 34th and 37th Bomb Squadrons, the 89th Attack Squadron runs MQ-9 Reapers from the same ramp, and the Air Force Financial Services Center processes pay for the whole service from a building on the south side. Roughly 3,300 military members, 3,500 family members and 1,000 civilians work here, with 8,100 retirees in the surrounding area. The big story is the B-21 Raider: Ellsworth was chosen in 2019 as its first main operating base and formal training unit, a $129.5 million runway rebuild wrapped in late 2025 (the B-1s spent ten months at Grand Forks while it happened), and the first two B-21 facilities — a $161 million low-observable restoration facility and an $81 million wash rack and maintenance hangar — were accepted in summer 2026. Program staff, contractors, inspectors and aircrew cycle through on TDY every week.
The base sits at 3,276 feet just east of Box Elder, ten miles up I-90 from Rapid City, with the Black Hills filling the western horizon. Summers are warm, sunny and dry with afternoon thunderstorms; winters are cold, windy and snowy, but chinook winds regularly push January afternoons into the 50s. For a TDY traveler the practical realities are a rental car (there is no useful transit to the base), a winter kit in that car from November through April, and lodging that gets scarce and expensive from Memorial Day through the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in early August.
Weather
January averages a high of 34°F and a low of 11°F; July and August run highs in the mid-80s with lows in the mid-50s. Rapid City averages roughly 38 inches of snow a year, March is typically the snowiest month, and the Black Hills to the west see far more.
Best months
Late May through September — long, sunny days, warm afternoons, cool nights, and everything in the Hills is open.
Tough months
December through March — sub-zero cold snaps, wind chills, ground blizzards on I-90, and heavy wet spring snow in March and April that can close the interstate for a day.
Getting there
- Fly into Rapid City Regional (RAP), about 10 miles southeast of the base off SD-44. Rent a car — there is no transit to Ellsworth. From the terminal take SD-44 east to Ellsworth Road / SD-1416 north, or SD-44 west to I-90 and go east to Exit 66; either way it is 15–20 minutes to the Liberty Gate. Book the rental early for summer; the airport fleet sells out during Rally week.
- Liberty Gate, just north of Ellsworth Road off I-90 Exit 66, is the only 24/7 gate. Bismarck Gate and Patriot Gate (the 'school gate' near Douglas schools) sit close to I-90 and run about 0600–1800 Monday through Friday, closed weekends and holidays. Gate hours change with manning and construction — confirm on ellsworth.af.mil or the base Facebook page before an odd-hours arrival.
- The 28th Security Forces Visitor Control Center is at the Liberty Gate. Bring a REAL ID-compliant license or passport, vehicle registration and insurance; visitors without a DoD ID need a sponsor. The VCC has historically run roughly 0600–2000 weekdays and 0800–1600 weekends, but confirm current hours on the base's Visitor Control Center page or at 605-385-2895 before you count on it.
- Traffic is light by any standard, but two things bite: I-90 closures in winter storms (check SD511 before driving) and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally the first full week of August, when hundreds of thousands of bikes flood I-90 and Exit 66. Expect slow gates and full hotels that entire week.
TDY lodging
On base
On-base rates · FY2027
$102–$147 per night · VOQ/VQ
October 1, 2026–September 30, 2027. The price depends on your stay dates. Confirm your authorized allowance before booking.
Air Force Inns at Ellsworth
- Phone
- 605-385-2844
- DSN
- 675-2844
- Front desk
- 24/7
- Check-in / out
- 1400 / 1100
- Pets
- Pet-friendly units
- TLF (families)
- Available
- Air Force Inns at Ellsworth (the Inns of Ellsworth — Pine Tree Inn, Cedar Inn and Aspen Inn), 2349 Risner Drive, Building 1103, Ellsworth AFB, SD 57706.
- Front desk 605-385-2844 option 0 (DSN 675-2844), staffed 24/7; check-in 1400, check-out 1100.
- Cedar Inn has 48 visitor quarters, Pine Tree Inn 32 quarters plus 8 business suites, and Aspen Inn holds the temporary lodging (TLF) units with the only pet-friendly rooms.
- Rooms go fast in summer and during exercises; if the desk can't place you, ask for a non-availability number and book commercially.
- Reserve at af.dodlodging.net.
Off-base per diem
- Confirm the current lodging allowance for your duty location and travel dates with the official rate lookup and your travel office.
- No current rate is quoted here.
- Alaska and Hawaii use DoD OCONUS rates.
- A published ceiling is not proof of reimbursement eligibility.
The crashpad option
Base Crashpads has two homes in Rapid City serving Ellsworth: Black Hills Haven (3 bed / 1 bath) and Bison Trail (3 bed / 1 bath), each 15–25 minutes from the Liberty Gate. Both are fully furnished with full kitchens, laundry and parking, and are priced inside the $110 Rapid City rate with DTS-ready receipts — so you clear per diem even in the off-season and save serious money in summer.
Ellsworth AFB crashpadsHousing & BAH
Housing
- On-base family housing is privatized under Balfour Beatty Communities, with a mix of older and newer homes just inside the Liberty and Bismarck gates; Military OneSource lists 605-929-9000 for waitlist projections, and the Military Housing Office sits under the 28th Civil Engineer Squadron.
- Off base, the average Rapid City rent in mid-2026 is about $1,820 for a three-bedroom (roughly $1,640 for an apartment, $2,000 for a house), and the median home sold for about $320,000 in early 2026.
- Box Elder is cheaper and closer; Rapid City's west side is pricier and prettier.
- Plenty of Ellsworth families buy — VA loans and a steady rental market make it a reasonable bet with a B-21 buildout coming.
BAH 2026
- 2026 BAH for the Rapid City, SD MHA (SD264), per published tables: E-5 approximately $1,986 with dependents / $1,545 without; O-3 approximately $2,475 with dependents / $2,124 without.
- Confirm your exact rate on the DTMO BAH calculator.
Box Elder
The base town, straddling I-90 at Exits 63 and 66 — newer subdivisions, mobile-home parks and the Douglas School District's Purple Star schools, where nearly half the kids are military; the cheapest and closest option but with little beyond a few restaurants and gas stations.
Rapid Valley
Unincorporated east side along SD-44 between the airport and town — 1990s–2010s ranch homes and duplexes in the $280–350k range, feeds Rapid City Area Schools, and puts you 10 minutes from the gate and 10 from downtown.
Downtown / North Rapid
Older bungalows and rentals near Main Street's breweries, the Presidents statues and the Monument Health hospital; walkable and cheaper, with the base a straight shot east on I-90.
West Rapid City (Canyon Lake / Skyline)
Where officers and retirees land — bigger lots, hills and pines, Canyon Lake Park and the trailheads to the Black Hills, the priciest homes in town and a 25-minute cross-town run to the gate.
Piedmont / Black Hawk / Summerset
New construction and acreage along I-90 northwest of Rapid City in the Meade School District, popular with families who want a barn or a view; reverse-commute to Ellsworth via I-90 with a winter-driving penalty.
Schools & childcare
- No DoDEA schools on base. Kids in base housing attend the Douglas School District in Box Elder, and a contracted bus serves Douglas schools only from base housing.
- Douglas School District (about 2,900 students, nearly half military-connected) was South Dakota's first Purple Star district in 2021 and has an on-purpose military-family transition program. Rapid City Area Schools is the big district for anyone living in town; Meade School District covers Piedmont, Black Hawk and Sturgis; New Underwood is the small district to the east.
- Ellsworth School Liaison: 605-385-5385, 28fss.slo.poc@us.af.mil, 1000 Ellsworth Street Suite 2000, Room 2006, Monday–Friday 0800–1630. They handle enrollment, special-education transfers and district questions across all four districts.
- Childcare: McRaven Child Development Center, 1314 LeMay Boulevard, 605-385-2488, weekdays roughly 0615–1730. Waitlists are real — request care on MilitaryChildCare.com the day you get orders, and ask the Military & Family Readiness Center (605-385-4663) about Family Child Care homes as a bridge.
Healthcare
- 28th Medical Group, 2900 Doolittle Drive, 605-385-6700 — an outpatient clinic (primary care, flight medicine, pharmacy, dental, limited specialty), open Monday–Friday roughly 0730–1630 with a Wednesday-morning training closure. No emergency room and no inpatient beds. Active duty can call at 0630 for same-day sick appointments; confirm the appointment line on ellsworth.tricare.mil.
- Emergencies go to Monument Health Rapid City Hospital (the former Rapid City Regional Hospital), the Level II trauma center about 15–20 minutes west on I-90; urgent care options are scattered along the east side and in Box Elder. Call 911 — don't drive to the clinic with a true emergency.
- TRICARE West Region, administered by TriWest Healthcare Alliance. Prime enrollees are empanelled to the 28th MDG; families in Rapid City often use network primary care in town.
On base
- Commissary
Full commissary on base near the Exchange; hours vary and tend to close Mondays — check commissaries.com before a Sunday-night run.
- Exchange
Main Exchange with food court, roughly 0900–1900 weekdays, 0900–1800 Saturday and 1100–1700 Sunday, plus an Express and Class Six; Walmart and Sam's Club are in Rapid City if it's not on the shelf.
- Fitness
Bellamy Fitness Center, 2368 Risner Drive — 24/7 access with CAC, indoor track, courts and a separate strength area; the Pride Hangar hosts indoor sports in winter.
- Dining
Raider Café DFAC, 2016 Doolittle Drive — weekday breakfast 0600–0900, lunch 1030–1330, dinner 1630–1830, grab-and-go between meals and a midnight meal 2300–0100; hours differ on weekends.
- MWR
- Outdoor Recreation rents campers, kayaks, ski gear and trailers for the Hills; Bandit Lanes bowling, Dakota's Club, Holbrook Library, Auto Hobby shop and ITT discount tickets for Rushmore-area attractions.
- FSS main office 605-385-4321.
- Newcomers
- Military & Family Readiness Center, 605-385-4663, runs Right Start and sponsorship; the base operator is 605-385-1000.
- The South Dakota Air and Space Museum outside the Liberty Gate — with a B-1B, B-52 and Minuteman II silo tours in summer — is the first place to take visiting family.
Off duty
Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills
The obvious one is 45 minutes southwest via US-16 through Keystone. Go for the evening lighting ceremony in summer, then loop back on Iron Mountain Road's pigtail bridges and one-lane tunnels framed on the faces. Crazy Horse Memorial is another 20 minutes past it.
Wikipedia ↗Photo by Dean Franklin, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain) · source
Custer State Park
About an hour south — the Wildlife Loop's free-roaming bison herd, the Needles Highway's granite spires and a swim at Sylvan Lake. The late-September Buffalo Roundup is worth a 0500 alarm.
Official site ↗Photo by Spc. Zane Craig, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain) · source
Badlands National Park
Fifty minutes east on I-90 to Wall (stop at Wall Drug for the free ice water) and into the Badlands Loop Road. Sunrise at Pinnacles Overlook and the Notch Trail are a perfect half-day, and the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site is right off Exit 131 for the AFGSC crowd.
Official site ↗Photo by MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain) · source
Downtown Rapid City
Main Street has the bronze City of Presidents statues on every corner, Firehouse Brewing, Murphy's Pub, Lost Cabin Beer Co. and a Main Street Square skating rink in winter. The Journey Museum and Art Alley are easy rainy-day fills.
Official site ↗Photo by Michael Keller from Summerville, SC, USA, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain) · source
Spearfish Canyon and Deadwood
An hour northwest on I-90 — Bridal Veil and Roughlock Falls in the canyon, then Deadwood's Wild West main street, casinos and Mount Moriah Cemetery. Terry Peak is the local ski hill, and Lead's Sanford Underground Research Facility does tours.
Official site ↗Sturgis and the Rally
Sturgis is 30 minutes up I-90, sleepy 51 weeks a year and home to half a million motorcycles the first full week of August. Go once for the spectacle (Buffalo Chip concerts, Main Street), then plan your TDYs and hotel bookings around it.
Official site ↗Hiking, biking and fishing close in
Black Elk Peak (7,244 feet, highest point east of the Rockies) is a 1-hour drive and a 7-mile round trip. Closer: the Mickelson Trail rail-to-trail for bikes, Pactola Reservoir for trout and paddleboards, and the Skyline Drive trails right in Rapid City for after-work runs.
Insider tips
- 01The per diem jump is your friend: lodging goes from $110 to $158 June–August, and most hotels price above even that during the Sturgis Rally. Lock your lodging the day orders drop for any summer TDY, and confirm the rate in DTS matches the month you're traveling.
- 02Winter is serious. Keep a blanket, water, a shovel and a full tank in the car November through April, check SD511 before every I-90 drive, and don't trust a 50°F chinook afternoon — it can be 5°F with a ground blizzard by morning.
- 03Liberty Gate is the only 24-hour gate. If you land after 1800 or on a weekend, route to I-90 Exit 66 and Ellsworth Road, not Bismarck or Patriot, and expect the VCC to have shorter hours than the gate.
- 04Hail season runs May through August — Rapid City sits in one of the hail-prone corridors of the plains. Park in the garage or under cover when the sky goes green, and take the rental-car damage waiver seriously.
- 05The B-21 construction program has contractor traffic and lane closures moving around the base and Box Elder; leave five extra minutes and follow the base Facebook page for gate and road changes.
- 06Base housing waitlists move slowly and summer PCS season stacks up. Put your name in with Balfour Beatty as soon as you have orders, and have a 30–60 day off-base plan — a furnished crashpad bridges the gap without a hotel bill.
- 07Altitude and dryness sneak up on people from sea-level bases: 3,300 feet plus single-digit humidity means more water, lip balm and lotion, and a slower first PT test.
- 08Pack for two seasons in one day. Even in July, evenings in the Hills drop into the 50s; even in January, a chinook can put you in a t-shirt at lunch. A shell jacket lives in the car year-round.
FAQ
Will a crashpad get reimbursed on my Ellsworth TDY?
What do I need to get through the gate the first time?
Is there a hospital on base?
Where do Ellsworth families actually live?
Helpful resources
Official
Things to do
List your resource
Run a business, park, church, gym, or service that helps Ellsworth AFB travelers and families? Have a correction? Email basecrashpads@gmail.com with the link and a sentence on why it's useful. We review every submission and list the ones that earn it.
Sources & disclaimer
- Military OneSource — Ellsworth AFB in-depth overview ↗
- Ellsworth AFB — Visitor Control Center ↗
- 28th FSS — Air Force Inns at Ellsworth ↗
- GSA FY2026 per diem — Rapid City, SD ↗
- Ellsworth AFB 2026 BAH rates (SD264) ↗
- MyBaseGuide — Ellsworth AFB BAH 2026 ↗
- 28th FSS — School Liaison ↗
- Douglas School District — Purple Star ↗
- Health.mil — 28th Medical Group facility profile ↗
- NWS Rapid City — Black Hills climate overview ↗
- Air Force — SecAF visit, B-21 facilities milestone ↗
- Wikipedia — Ellsworth Air Force Base ↗
Photos: U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Austin McIntosh (Public domain); Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain). Full attribution on the photo credits page.
Rates, hours, and policies change — BAH resets every January and per diem every October. Confirm specifics with the official sources above and your orders. This guide is written by Base Crashpads and is not an official Air Force or DoD resource.