The Black Hills of South Dakota has been an amazing area to explore. It seems like all the major sites are within less than a one-hour drive from Rapid City. The Tourism Association provides these convenient and informative maps to assist you in planning your adventures.
I covered Mount Rushmore and The Crazy Horse in Part I of the Black Hills saga, now we are venturing out to Custer State Park, the entertaining Deadwood and the notorious Sturgis South Dakota of the motorcycle rally fame.
Custer State Park is South Dakota's
largest and first state park, named after Lt. Colonel George Armstrong
Custer. The park covers an area of over 71,000 acres of varied
terrain including rolling prairie grasslands and rugged mountains.
The
park is home to a herd of 1,500 bison. Elk, coyotes, mule deer, white
tailed deer, mountain goats, prairie dogs, bighorn sheep, river otters, pronghorn, cougars, and feral burros also
inhabit the park. The park is known for its scenery, its scenic drives (Needles Highway and the wildlife
loop), with views of the bison herd and prairie dog towns. This park
is easily accessible by road from Rapid City.
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| If Mama Ain't Happy... Nobody Gonna Be Happy |
Custer State Park is amazing, the meandering herds of Bison were very impressive. While somewhat docile looking they are warry of anything that moves and very protective of the offspring. We caught this herd coming down off of the hills and crossing the Scenic drive at French Creek… Neal and I proceeded on foot for some great shots of the herd and I managed to get a little too close for one of the Cow’s likings. She took a few quick steps towards the Creek side slope, kicking at the water. I took the hint and backed off. The large bull (below) looked to be the Patriarch and was bringing up the rear, oblivious to our presence. You leave him alone; he will leave you alone.
We continued along the Wildlife Loop Road to
Mount Coolidge look-out (El. 6023 ft) located up trail, a short hike from the
main road. The view of the lower valley is spectacular...
There are breathtaking
vistas throughout the Park, amazing scenery at every vantage point, turn-out or
pull off.
Departing
the Wildlife Loop, we took a left onto the famous Needles Highway (Rt 87) for some
awe-inspiring scenery among towering formations jutting up out of the landscape.
This is another area where pictures simply don’t it justice and must be seen to be
appreciated.
There was a
lot of traffic on Needles this particular day and each of the narrow “tunnels”
cut
through the rock outcroppings became
a traffic jam, seemed like everyone thought they should be first… Californians
and Canadians made one keenly aware of their presence along the byway.
We worked our way back past Mount Rushmore
and Sylvan Lake… I would have liked to stop at Sylvan Lake but the sheer
numbers of ‘beach-goers’ made it look like Coney Island on Labor Day.
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Sylvan Lake - Courtesy of Trip Advisor
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Next up, we headed back through Hill City and
Keystone… both of these are massive tourist traps. Moving along, up Route16A
toward Rapid City, we picked up Interstate 90 North headed for Sturgis and
Deadwood.
All I will say about
Sturgis is just 'Bikers and Bars'… I don’t really get what all the fuss is about.
Since I was never a Harley rider, I guess I wouldn’t understand. We were just
happy to say, “been there, done that” and exit before the unruly swarm invades the town during
“Bike Week”, the first week of August. We will be safely South of the mayhem by
then.
Deadwood South Dakota – The city had its heyday from 1876 to 1879,
after gold deposits had been discovered there, leading to the Black Hills Gold
Rush. At its height, the
city had a population of 25,000, attracting Old West figures such as Wyatt Earp, Calamity Jane, and Wild Bill Hickok (who was killed there). Wild Bill was shot in the back of the head by the cowardly Jack McCall.(Depicted Below)
Travis Pearson (RIGHT) has been doing an excellent job of portraying James Butler AKA “Wild Bill” Hickok at the NO#10 Saloon on Main Street of Deadwood since 2010.
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| Wild Bill Lay Dead on the Poker Table - Aces and Eights in His Hand... |
Audience participation was once again integral to the ‘theatrics’ and
the three young ladies were delightful.
There is a section of the barroom floor that
is 'preserved' in The Buffalo Bodega Complex of the “Face on the Barroom Floor” along
with the accompanying tale. This is an adaptation of a poem originally written by the poet John Henry Titus in
1872. A later version was adapted from the Titus poem by Hugh Antoine d'Arcy in 1887
It was a very warm day with brilliant sunshine, but we stuck around for
the street shooting in front of the Franklin Hotel and gaming house.
John “Jack” McCall was tried by a hastily assembled miners’ court in
Deadwood. Being acquitted, McCall left Deadwood and
bragged about killing Wild Bill.
U.S. marshals lead by Marshall J.H. Burdick
arrested McCall and brought him to Yankton, where he stood trial again, was
convicted and was hanged just north of town.
Join me in the next post
that includes a bucket list Item…
…DEVIL’S TOWER NATIONAL MONUMENT
