I think I need a vacation after this year’s road trip. I am still amazed at how much there is to see and do at almost every stop. Since I wrote a mid-week blog, I thought the end of the week would make a fairly short blog. Nope. Wrong again.
Before we even left for our next stop, adventurous Greg & Helen left our campground in the wee hours of the morning for a Badlands sunrise hike. The trail description said if you are afraid of heights, this is not a good trail for you, so Dave and I opted out. It was short, only a few miles, and Greg noted the trail was quite wide near the cliffs so I probably would have been okay. They enjoyed beautiful Badlands landscape.
We then left for the Black Hills area of South Dakota, staying at the Blue Bell Campground in Custer State Park, in Custer, SD. So why is this area called the Black Hills? It is because of their dark appearance from a distance, as they are covered in evergreen trees. This beautiful area is in stark contrast to the Badlands we just left and only about 90 miles apart.
After arriving at our campground, we were off! First stop, Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD, an active dig site. Over 140,000 years ago, mammoths would wander down to an inviting warm pool of water for a drink and soak, get stuck as it was actually a sinkhole, and drown. So sad. And it happened over and over again. Didn’t any of them figure out this water site was dangerous? The fossil site was found in 1974, when the land was being leveled for a housing development. A heaving equipment operator struck something with his blade and upon closer look it was a 7-foot tusk, sticking out of the ground with other bones. After calling in experts and further excavations, the landowner realized the site was valuable for scientific study and the non-profit Mammoth Site of Hot Springs was formed. To date, they have found over 60 mammoths and still have many feet below to excavate.
On our way back to the campground from the Mammoth Site, we stopped at Wind Cave National Park. It is the 3rd longest cave system in the United States and the 7th longest in the world, with over 140 miles mapped to date. The only problem was the elevator used for cave tours had been having maintenance issues for many years, and the park service is replacing and modernizing the system. In doing so, they had to close cave tours from May thru September of this year. Dratz. However, we stopped by for a quick peek in the visitor’s center and Helen and I stamped our passport books. Another National Park entry in the book. Yay! We do need to come back and truly explore the cave system. We did get to drive by a bison herd on our way into the park.
The next day we were off again, this time we were headed to Mount Rushmore via the Peter Norbeck National Byway, one of America’s top 10 scenic roads. The history behind why Mount Rushmore was built and the engineering it took to carve it during the years 1927 to 1941 was quite remarkable. I could write a whole blog just on it. And, of course seeing the monument, representing the ideals of freedom and democracy was iinspirational. If you can, zoom in the photo below and read why the four American Presidents were chosen. There is also a link to read a bit more on the history and culture of Mount Rushmore.
So who was Peter Norbeck to have a byway (and lots of other things) named after him? Well, Peter, actually Senator Peter Norbeck, was a visionary and an extremely influential 3 term congressman (and was South Dakota’s governor for 2 terms before that). He was instrumental in obtaining the approval and initial funding for Mount Rushmore, working alongside it’s sculptor, Gutzon Borglum
Senator Norbeck often hiked and rode on horseback around the Black Hills and had the vision to build most of the roads depicted on the map below. He was initially told there was no way those roads could be built, yet here they are. Beautiful, yet twisty roads, with several tight tunnels to go through in our F-350. Yikes! Helen got out and took pictures as we were going through a shorter one on the Needles Highway (headed north). The tunnels were so narrow that Dave had to fold the truck’s side mirrors in and Greg could touch the walls as we went through. On the way back, we took the 17-mile Iron Mountain Road with 314 curves, 14 switchbacks, 3 pigtails (wooden bridges), and 3 tunnels. The tunnels were built to frame Mount Rushmore in the background. Very cool.
If that was not enough for a day, we also stopped by beautiful Sylvan Lake while driving the curvy Needles Highway on our way up to Mount Rushmore. They had a nice 1-mile hike around the lake.
And all of that in 2 days (and it does not even include the awesome dinners we had.) I guess it is time to sign off on this blog and begin a new one. See why I need a vacation? There was so much more to see in this area, we want to come back.
Loving our Country’s treasures Brenda, I need a nap Dave, and I love the forests Murphy.
SO glad you did visit Mr Rushmore area. As you documented, amazing!!
Wow! You have found so many interesting things to do!
Thanks, Brenda for the beautiful pictures and the history lessons. My Dad served on the USS South Dakota in WWII and I’ve always wanted to visit the state. There’s a museum for his ship in Sioux Falls. Can’t wait to see the whole state- thanks for the inspiration.
Hi Gail. Thanks for following along. I am really enjoying South Dakota. There is so much to see in the state and such a variety of terrains. We could easily stay a month or more here. Highly recommend!