Trip To Black Hills

   Last week we went camping in Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. We didn't make a reservation ahead of time and all the campgrounds that have electric and water hookups (which is most of them) were all booked up. We ended up at the Center Lake campground which has no hookups at all. This will be partially retro back to the days when we tent camped.

The site was very nice, nestled in the tall pines trees and the temperature was cool enough to sleep well. It was so fortunate that Mike fixed us up with a generator. We were only allowed to run it for 2 hours at a time and then only between 8am and 8pm but it was enough to keep the battery on the camper charged so we had lights and refrigeration. Between the generator and the aux plug in the van, we were able to keep our phones, computers and camera batteries charged as well. The camper also has a fresh water tank but we were not sure how long it would last and we had no way to refill it. We could use the commode in the camper but we use water jugs and our gas stove to get hot water.

    Custer State Park is one of our favorite places to visit. It's in the middle of the Black Hills which has many attractions from Mount Rushmore to the Flintstone Theme Park. The park is an attraction in itself. There are three scenic highways, there are historic lodges and lots of wildlife. Besides my husband and myself, we have our dog and my Mother-in-Law and her dog.

Our first order of business was to drive the Iron Mountain Road to Mount Rushmore. This road was built as Mount Rushmore was being carved and was designed to highlight the monument. There are three tunnels on the road and each frames a view of Mount Rushmore. The monument and the surrounding mountains are also viewed from several scenic overlooks along the way.

The road features several "pig-tail" bridges. The supports on these bridges are made from huge wood timbers. You drive over the bridge then circle around under it.

There were several 180 degree turns and many curves. This was the road as depicted on our GPS unit.

No visit to the Black Hills would be complete without a stop at Mount Rushmore National Monument. The monument was carved in the 1930's and 40's by Gutson Borghlum. The Visitor Center contains films and exhibits about the sculptor and how the design was transferred onto the mountain.

My favorite part is just sitting in front of the monument on the tiers of viewing platforms and comtemplating the building of the monument and what it was meant to mean to us. The four presidents were chosen to represent the founding, expansion, preservation and conservation of our country. It occured to me that maybe the people who want to add Ronald Reagan to the monument have a point, if they ever add another head to the monument it may well be the president who initiated the demise of our country. 

Another scenic drive in Custer State Park is the Needles Highway. This road winds it way through an area of the park where the rocks have weathered into tall narrow peaks, called needles. The original idea for what became Mount Rushmore was to carve these needles into famous figures but the rock was too brittle.

One of the needles has an opening that looks like the eye of a needle.

In some places the road squeezes between the rocks. Tour buses drive through this everyday. This is my husband driving our van through the needles.

At the end of the Needles Highway is Sylvan Lake and Sylvan Lake Lodge. This is the prettiest lake in the park and one of the historic and beautiful lodges.

The third scenic road in Custer State Park is the Wildlife Loop. This is the area where the large buffalo (American Bison) herds roam most often. There are hundreds and hundreds of buffalo in the park.

One buffalo herd seemed to like walking around in the area of the State Game Lodge (which has stores, hotels, cabins and a campground). We saw them several times in that area causing a "buffalo jam".

How do you get on your motorcycle when the buffalo are around it?

You wouldn't want one of the buffalo to get too close to your car either. Here is my husband carefully driving through the buffalo herd.

Other wildlife we saw in the Black Hills:

My husband's favorite "wildlife" are the Beggin' Burros. These are wild burros left over from the days when they were used for transport in the park. The park tolerates people feeding them (which is the only wildlife you can feed in the park) so they will come up right to you for food.

The area around Custer State Park has many attractions. There are many little towns like Custer, Keystone and Hill City with shops, restaurants and attractions. There is a historic train that runs between Keystone and Hill City.


Keystone at night



Rapid City is the largest town in the region. The downtown area is filled with shopping and historic buildings including the Hotel Alex Johnson. Unlike the smaller towns, the shopping is more diverse and includes some very nice art gallerys. The sidewalks are wide and there are nice benches with small gardens around them. Some of the alleys are painted with grafitti-like murals.

Rapid City has placed bronze statues on their downtown street corners of most of the presidents (I think they only have 4 left to do) and some other famous people. We took the opportunity to pose with some of the statues.

One day we drove back east from the Black Hills to the town of Wall, home of the famous Wall Drug store. It is also at the terminus of the scenic drive through the Badlands National Park. Wall Drug is the ultimate tourist destination but it is so touristy it is fun. They have billboards all the way down I-90 advertising all the things to see at Wall Drug. They give away free ice water, have nickel coffee and make homemade donuts every day. You can buy almost anything there from postcards to Indian art to camping supplies and, yes, even over the counter medicine. One of my favorite things is the mechanical cowboy band singing harmonized cowboy ballads.

After stoking up at Wall Drug, we drove through the Badlands. I always think of the pioneers in their covered wagons coming up and seeing the terrain. We look at it and think it is beautiful. What they must have thought! Fortunately I think they were able to go around it although it's a long way around.

Another fun day was spent driving to the northwestern part of the Black Hills. This is where the towns of Deadwood, Lead, Spearfish and Sturgis are located. Deadwood is famous for Wyatt Earp (who was shot and killed here) and Calamity Jane. You can visit the saloon where Earp was killed and the cemetery where he and Jane, amongst others, are buried.

The day we visited there was a parade in Deadwood for the Days of '76 festival celebrating the days when the town was booming because of the discovery of gold and other minerals.

Gambling is legal again there and there are many casinos, some in historic buildings like the Seth Bullock Hotel. Jean and I had to partake of the slots but neither of us won anything.

Nearby is the town of Lead which still has a large mine that is open for tours. We did not take the tour (we have toured similar mines in the past). We drove through scenic Spearfish Canyon which took us back to I-90 and then on to the town of Sturgis.

Sturgis is famous for the annual motorcycle rally which was scheduled to start just nine days from the day we visited (we planned to be long gone before the rally started). Still there were a lot of motorcyclists in the area and the tents were going up, some already open for business.

Our last night, we drove over to Mount Rushmore for the night ceremony. The monument is dark while they present a program of patriotic music and readings. Then they slowly light the monument until it is fully lit casting differing shadows on the faces. This was a nice night cap to our visit to the Black Hills of South Dakota.