We finally felt like we had reached “the west” when we arrived in western South Dakota. It took several long days to get here from Milwaukee but the drive was well worth it. We even took a little time out during the drive for another great American roadside attraction, the Mitchell Corn Palace. We camped and explored in three areas in western South Dakota. Even though they were all within about an hour of one another, they were all distinct in their own way. South Dakota is one of those destinations where the week we were here cannot do it justice. We will definitely need to come back.
The Badlands
The first place we camped in South Dakota was the Badlands. I was really looking forward to camping in the Badlands but I was also a little nervous. We were going to be boondocking for free on some government land right outside the park along a cliff overlooking the prairie. I was worried that the road would be bad, that it would be crowded, and that we couldn’t find any level areas. Turns out that it was the best place we have camped yet. Absolutely beautiful and quiet. We had a great spot on top of a hill where we could look out over the prairie for both the sunrise and the sunset. The stars were brilliant at night and it was great to get to show the kids the band of the Milky Way for the first time in their lives.
We spent a day driving around Badlands National Park as well. The park has scenery unlike anywhere else. As we were hiking in one area, we couldn’t help but feel like we were in a Stars Wars movie. There are large mountains and rock formations formed by the erosion of layers of sediments deposited by a shallow sea millions of years ago. As you look out over the formations, you can see stratification that tells the long history of this area. There are fossils all throughout these formations as well. While we didn’t see any out hiking, there are plenty to see in the visitor’s center.
No visit to the Badlands would be complete without visiting Wall Drug. There are hundreds of signs for Wall Drug along interstate 90 for hundreds of miles in each direction. Wall Drug started as a drug store and grew over the years into the delicious tourist attraction it is today. In addition to pharmacy items, you can buy western wear, tourist souvenirs, food, five cent coffee, free water, jackalopes, and other wonderful things. You can even see a Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Rapid City and Deadwood
While we loved our camping spot at the Badlands, the weather forecast was calling for rain. The dirt turns to a mushy substance called gumbo when it rains there. We were camped on a dirt road so, if it rained where we were camped, we would not be able to move the truck or camper until it dried out again. We didn’t want to chance it, so we left that campsite after a couple nights and headed into Rapid City and the Black Hills. It was a good thing we did because the wind and rain really picked up that night. I am not sure how much fun that would have been up on that muddy hill on the side of a cliff.
We stayed at a nice campground in Rapid City and had a good time exploring the city. Rapid City seems like a pretty cool city that is growing. We hit a great brewery called Lost Cabin that had a bike shop right next door. You could see bike trails leading up the hills right across from the brewery. It would be a great place for bikes and brews (I really hope they use that).
The next day, we drove to Deadwood hoping to see some remnants of the old west. I felt like I already knew Deadwood thanks to the HBO series by that name a couple years ago. I was secretly hoping to hear a litany of curse words with 1.56 FPMs (that’s the F$#@’s per minute rate achieved through the history of the show). We heard no cursing, but I guess that is for the best. We did get to go to Saloon No. 10 where Wild Bill Hickok was killed though. They had a great reenactment. We also got to ride our bikes on a great rails to trails, the George Mickelson Trail, up the mountain to the town of Lead. Bombing back down the mountain on our bikes to Deadwood was awesome.
Custer State Park
After a couple days in Rapid City, we hitched back up and headed deeper into the Black Hills to Custer State Park. I hadn’t heard much about Custer until a friend I used to work with mentioned how beautiful it was. He was right! Custer State Park rivals most National Parks. There is wildlife, hiking, climbing, and site seeing here as good as you will find anywhere. The visitor center, education center, lodges, and campgrounds are top notch as well.
Wildlife
On our first day in the park, we went out looking for wildlife on a drive called the Wildlife Loop. We enjoyed the scenery even though we didn’t see any wildlife on that road outside of burros. At a stop, we overhead some rangers talking about where bison had been spotted, so we drove down a dirt road and quickly saw a herd of bison. They are enormous and majestic animals that can supposedly get pretty aggressive. We were not going to test that so we stayed in the truck. A bit further down the road, we saw a group of bighorn sheep and then another herd of bison. Over the next several days, we saw deer, turkey, a mountain goat, and more bison and sheep. This is a great park for viewing wildlife.
Mount Rushmore
While staying in Custer, we also made a side trip to see Mount Rushmore. Jamie and the kids enjoyed getting to see the iconic memorial for the first time. Mount Rushmore is worth a visit, if for nothing else than to drive along Iron Mountain Road with its tunnels and corkscrew bridges. The civil engineer in me really appreciated the bridges and the route cut through the hills. We went to a ranger talk to learn more about the history of Mount Rushmore and it turned out to be pretty interesting. Here are some interesting facts that we never knew about Mount Rushmore.
- The original location for the monument was to be the Needles in Custer. Thankfully, the head sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, talked the original planners out of it since the Needles were so beautiful and the granite eroded too quickly. Because of that, the Needles are still beautiful!
- The original plan was for the monument to be of western figures such as Buffalo Bill and Lewis and Clark. Borglum talked the planners out of that as well suggesting the presidents of the US that are there today.
- Early on, Thomas Jefferson was already carved to George Washington’s right side when a large crack developed in his face. The sculptors decided to blow it up and redo Jefferson on Washington’s left side as it is today.
- The original model of the sculpture had the presidents sculpted all the way down to their waists but the project ran out of money before it could be completed. This is why the monument now only has the presidents’ heads.
The Needles
On our last day in Custer State Park, we went to explore the Needles region of the park. To get there, we took the Needles Highway, which has several very narrow tunnels. The narrowest tunnel only had eight feet horizontal clearance. We watched a small Austin Healey come through the tunnel first (there was an Austin Healey convention in Rapid City) and it looked like it had plenty of room. Then, we started pulling the F-250 into the tunnel… In theory, we would have had a couple inches of clearance, but I chickened out and folded the truck mirrors in for that one.
We did a couple awesome hikes in the Needles region including one to Cathedral Spires and another around Sylvan Lake. The hike up the mountain to Cathedral Spires was great. You hike along the trail looking up at the huge granite spires. The hike ends in a valley between the granite formations. A mountain goat was up on one of the cliffs when we got there. As I was taking my camera out, we could feel a couple drops of rain. The goat quickly scampered back into the cliff side, presumably to find shelter since he knew what was coming. A couple minutes later, we could hear thunder and it started to hail. Luckily, it was not too bad and the kids got to have their first experience hiking in hail. This also provided a great opportunity to teach the kids about always being prepared for weather in the mountains.
The hike around Sylvan Lake was easy but it was beautiful. Sylvan Lake is probably the most picturesque lake we have ever seen with the granite boulders and formations rising from the water. I hoped to sneak in some rock climbing today, but we were not able to make that happen. The rain was coming and we needed to get back so that the kids could do their homeschooling. Oh well, we will eventually pull all that climbing gear out of its bin…
Western South Dakota provided us with a great introduction to the American west. The mountains are starting to get higher, the views are starting to get bigger, the stars are starting to get brighter and more plentiful, and the animals are starting to get wilder. We cannot wait to continue to explore out here as we work our way into Colorado and further south into the Desert Southwest.
