The Black Hills

The Black Hills of South Dakota are really beautiful and deserve their reputation as a great place to ride a motorcycle. We have ridden the scenic roads and visited the monuments and loved it all.

My favorite place was Custer State Park. This is one of the largest state parks and has many diverse regions. In the south is the prairie with a herd of more than 500 buffalo. They also have elk (which we did not see), wild burros and, of course, prairie dogs. But the buffalo are my favorite. It is so fun to see them up close.
　

　

The riding in the park is exceptional. The roads were built in the 1920’s when cars were smaller. There are about 6 tunnels. The smallest is only 8 feet wide! The roads are famous for the “pig tail” bridges. Okay, you say. What is a pig tail bridge. It is a short bridge followed by a hair-pin curve which places you under the bridge you just crossed. Some of the turns are so tight that the suggested speed is only 10 mph. It is an amazing ride. In one of the tunnels, as you exit the opening frames Mount Rushmore.
　

　
We also rode to Deadwood and Sturgis. Deadwood is an old mining town which was resurrected using profits from the gambling casinos. It is famous as the location where Wild Bill Hickok was murdered. His grave, as well as Calamity Jane’s, is in the town’s cemetery.

　
　
Sturgis is a rather dull town of a little over 6,000. I cannot imagine what it must be like when half a million bikers descend upon it during Bike Week.

Or course, the one attraction which the Black Hills is most famous for is Mount Rushmore. Over three million persons visit Mount Rushmore each year. It was originally suggested that giant sculptures be carved on the peaks in order to attract tourists to the area. Gutzon Borglum was invited to be the sculptor for this project, and he chose Mount Rushmore and changed the plan to carve four U.S. presidents. It took 14 years to complete. Most of the “carving” was actually done by dynamite.

The other famous carving in the area is Crazy Horse. Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear wanted the white man to know that “the red man has great heroes” and invited Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to carve Crazy Horse. Work was started in 1948, and, as you can see, there is still much more work to be done. Korczak believed that the sculpture should be built without public funds. Korczak died in 1982, but the project has continued through the efforts of his wife and children.

Of all the things we did, I think our favorite was the visit to the mammoth site in Hot Springs.  While preparing the land for a housing development, a bull dozer happened to uncover mammoth bones.  Upon further examination, it was determined that this was the location of a pond created by a sinkhole over 25,000 years ago.  Many animals ventured close to the pond, fell in and were not able to get out.  This is one of the most important paentology sites in the state.  The bones are displayed as they were found.  The Columbian Mammoth, the wooley mammoth and many other animals have been found at the site.  During the month of July, excavation is performed by volunteers. 

Today we have left South Dakota and traveled to Wyoming. We are staying the next couple of days in Buffalo and will then travel to Cody and Yellowstone. We still have a lot to see!