After a quick, easy two hour trip, we arrived in Custer State Park which is located in the heart of the Black Hills. Custer offers beautiful granite peaks, rolling prairies, clear mountain lakes, and abundant wildlife. We were nestled among tall pines at Fort Welikit Campground. The boys loved exploring the playground, running in their fields, and playing frisbee golf. Our first day was spent settling into our campsite, resting, and watching football. Ken’s brother, Jake, came over from Montana for a visit too!
We really loved exploring the Black Hills via the Scenic Highways. Needles Highway was a 14 mile road that took us through the spectacular scenery of the Black Hills. A family of mountain goats grazing on the side of the road was a highlight!
The Custer State Park Wildlife Loop took us through miles of grasslands where we encountered bison, eagles, prairie dogs, burros, deer and pronghorn. The Buffalo Roundup takes place at the end of September so we were able to see them setting up for the big event. The bison have all been driven south for the event so we saw all the bison in one location! The boys were thrilled when we were stopped in a Bison jam!
My favorite drive was Iron Mountain Road which is a scenic byway between Custer State Park and Mount Rushmore. The switchbacks and tremendous amount of curves forced us to slow down and enjoy the drive. There were several one lane rock tunnels that framed Mount Rushmore! After the beautiful drive, we spent the day exploring this iconic sculpture up close as well as learning about all that went into the carving of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt, and Lincoln. The evening ceremony and lighting of the mountain was amazing!
We spent the final day at Wind Cave National Park. Unfortunately the elevators were down so we were not able to explore the cave, but we learned about the history of the cave and the boys earned their junior ranger badges! Wind Cave is the 6th National Park and one of the longest and most complex cave systems in the world. Grant is standing in front of the only known natural opening to the cave which “breathes” because of the differences in atmospheric pressure in the cave and outside.
