Custer State Park South Dakota - this is great!

     Custer State Park has emerald green grass, granite needle structures, alpine pine trees draped in moss and lakes nestled in the Black Hills of South Dakota. There are no words and no pictures that can do this park justice. It is teaming with wildlife of all kinds, outstanding landmark rock structures and beautiful meadows and tall pines. This is a park not to be missed. It is home to the Cathedral Spires Landmark and the Needle rock formation. Visitors are allowed to hike all of the park both on and off trail.
    Please enjoy some of the pictures from this outstanding area. The entrance fee is $15 a car and is for all week - by far the best buy I have ever made. There are multiple tunnels through the park that cut through the solid granite formations, these tunnels are exceptionally narrow so it is not recommended for trailers. These were taken on different days thus different lighting.

 An alpine pine above and the picture below is of the famous Needle which is granite that has weathered out a part and left this behind.

 Take a look at the ominous sky below.

 Below is what we thought looked like a sentinel for the Cathedral Spires.

 Cathedral Spires is granite but the shape reminded us of Seneca Rocks West Virginia.

 And yes the park allows dogs, there is our dog under the plaque marking the area a National Landmark.

 This view is from behind one of the rocky outcrops. You are allowed to walk anywhere in the park - but be careful as there is no one looking.

This looked like a persons head to me stuck between the rocks.

Deer.

 Rabbits.

Baby bison.

I had never seen so many chipmunks. Someone had put sunflower seeds on a rock and they were coming from everywhere to get them.

Antelope also known as pronghorns.

Mountain goats.

Ah and prairie dogs. These were great. This is their area where they have dug their holes.

  There was the pair we called the teacher and student.

 There was the whistler - once she whistles she falls over backwards.

And of course there are turkeys.

     We picnicked in the park, hiked, explored and drove in the park each of 5 days and saw something different each day. Because of the Needle structure and the National Landmark, the park may win National Park status and I would surely see why. The diversity of flora and fauna and shear natural beauty is at least on the order of any National Park. However, if it were to become a National Park, visitors would no longer be able to scramble over all the rocks and have the complete unrestricted access to the entire park and that would be a shame. By far this park was the crowning jewel of anything seen east of Yellowstone - this is a must see, a bucket list two thumbs up visit!

     This is to all my rock buddies - Fairburn as in Fairburn agate is located within an hour from here in the French Creek campground. Below is where the agates come from. I did not find any Fairburns but we did find a few small agates. 

The agates need no polishing, they look like this when you pick them up - happy hunting!

Sturgis Rushmore and Crazy Horse

     We arrived in South Dakota on I-90 after spending the night in Billings Montana avoiding a snowstorm. Coming from Yellowstone, we saw a few odd sights before arriving at our camping destination. We had not seen an oil refinery with the flame burning – I was surprised at the height of the flame and that it burns at all considering a flame means energy being wasted, but it was an odd sight so I had to flick a picture even though the car was moving.

     There was snow laying on the ground when we arrived in South Dakota but the temperature was about 50 mid day.

     South Dakotas claim to fame is officially Mount Rushmore but unofficially the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is the real money maker. Mount Rushmore gets about 2 million visitors throughout the year and it should be noted the privately owned Crazy Horse memorial gets about 1 million visits a year. The reason for placing Mount Rushmore where it is which is in a rural part of the state, was simply tourism. While South Dakota has beautiful scenery, no one was coming until Rushmore. Both of these monuments are about an hour from Sturgis and we actually saw them when camped a little closer but when speaking of tourism, the monuments and Sturgis really belong together.

There is no charge to get into Mount Rushmore but here is the catch – there is an $11 parking fee. Parking is a privite concession. The monument is quite visible from the road and there are adequate pull offs for pictures. During the peak visitation season I am sure these pull outs are not enough. The monument is carved into course grained granite. Although I had read about the monument, there were items I didn't expect until seeing it in person. The outcrop of stone is not what us eastern folk would necessarily consider a mountain. It is a tall outcrop of coursely granular granite that doesn't weather very well. There is a sealant on the monument to protect it from weathering but rain and wind does take a toll. Also, we both thought the monument would be taller – don't get me wrong, it is an amazing achievement to carve such a thing it is just what you learn your entire life about a monument and then seeing it just doesn't quite measure up to what you were told. It was a nasty rain the day we visited and the pictures reflect that.

The day we saw Crazy Horse the weather was much better.

     Closer to Sturgis is Bear Butte where bison roam with their calves. It is supposed to be sacred to the Native Americans and they hold ceremonies there.

     Sturgis is a small town of less than 7,000 people where a half million bikers descend to have a rally the first week each August. The income made from tourism that one week of the year is what

sustains the town for the entire year with the median household income being $30,000.

There are a few large saloons here, we went to the Knuckle. The food was okay.

     The streets are like any other small western town but the business are mostly saloons and souvenir shops. For the 75^th anniversary this year, they expect 1 million visitors to attend. I think they may get that but I have no idea where all those people will be sleeping. Yeah yeah, I know, sleep at Sturgis – no way! But yeah, you have to sleep sometime.

There is a notable other saloon, Full Throttle. Take a look at the metal sculpture of motorcycle.

   We met a great guy named Prince at one of the souvenir shops who advised us about what to see and do around the area. He highly recommended Custer State Park and the Needles Highway – thank you Prince! It was the highlight of our time in South Dakota.

Buddy plans to be here for the rally – hope he gets to see you there!