It was a 5 hour drive from Colorado to the Black Hills of South Dakota. We went through the rolling verdant grass covered hills of Colorado and Wyoming entertained by Jake looking for antelope, prairie dogs and cattle. The hills of South Dakota were covered with pine trees and the roads were curvy prompting Sandy alerts to slow down.
Black Hills
Even though it was Memorial weekend, the area was not crowded. There were numerous buffalo calves. The Black Hills are an isolated mountain range surrounded by the Great Plains located in western South Dakota. From a distance, the hills appear dark because they are covered in trees. Gold was discovered in 1874 by the Colonel George Armstrong Custer group, triggering the Black Hills Gold Rush. The last major Indian War of the Great Plains was the Black Hills War in 1876 resulting in the breakup of the Great Sioux Reservation.
Beaver Lake Campground Custer, South Dakota
Its nestled in trees. The owners were very personable and kept a well maintained campground. We had 50 amp service, 60 psi water, sewer, and good internet. Our site was on the end and spacious. During our stay, a pair of robins liked the Jeep’s front tire for a nest site, even though we drove the jeep everyday.
Custer State Park
Custer State Park is South Dakota’s first and largest state park. There are pronghorn, deer, elk, cougars and coyotes. It’s a picturesque park of rolling green grass and pine hills.
The park has a herd of about 1,400 bison. Each year at the annual bison roundup, several hundred are sold at auction.
There are feral begging burros that are happy to be fed carrots. Jake enjoyed watching the tail flicking prairie dogs.
The Needles Highway (87)
It’s a 14 mile long twisting highway through the Black Hills that has an incredible scenery of rock spires. The highway goes through numerous rock tunnels, which only one vehicle can go through at a time.
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse was a Oglala Lakota war leader. He fought in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876. Henry Standing Bear, a Oglala Lakota chief, recruited and commissioned the memorial to be built. The monument was started in 1948, is a work in progress, and is far from completion.
Mount Rushmore
To promote tourism in the area, the memorial began in 1927. Originally, the sculptures were to be from head to waist, but because of lack of funding the construction ended in 1941. Mount Rushmore is an iconic symbol of the United States and attracts over 2 million visitors annually. In 1933, the National Park Service took the Memorial under its jurisdiction.
Deadwood
Because of the Black Hills Gold Rush, the settlement of Deadwood began illegally in the 1870s on land granted to the Lakota people as part of the Treaty of Fort Laramie. Deadwood attracted gamblers and prostitutes. The population swelled to over 5,000 in the 1870s. Lawlessness was rampant. Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane frequented Deadwood. In 1876, Wild Bill Hickok was murdered by a gunman while in Deadwood. The gunman was eventually hanged. Al Swearengen controlled the opium trade in the late 1800s.
It wasn’t until 2002 that gold mining operations ceased in the area. In 1989 gambling was legalized, revitalizing the town.
Sturgis
Even though the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally isn’t until the first week of August, there were still a lot of motorcycles in the area. It’s understandable because the well maintained winding roads through the Black Hills would be a dream to ride. The first rally was in 1938 by a group of Indian Motorcycle riders called the Jackpine Gypsies. Now, over 500,000 people attend generating over $800 million in revenue for South Dakota.
We had lunch at The Knuckle Saloon. There was so much to see in the Black Hills but we ran short on time because we spent so much time in Denver. Bummer! The Black Hills are gorgeous and we could definitely live in this area.
