CUSTER STATE PARK

 Custer State Park is known as the best state park in the nation...no doubt!  We visited there on the last full day of our trip to South Dakota and began the day with a hike around Sylvan Lake.  Then we proceeded to cross the highest peaks of the Black Hills on the Needles Highway and ended up driving through the wildlife area and scoping out a large herd of Buffalo. 

The Needles Highway is very similar to the Badlands, as everywhere you look there is a photograph waiting to be taken.  The views start as often stunning and soon become spectacular!

South Dakota Highway #87 is known as the Needles Highway trekking through Custer State Park, crossing the peaks of the Black Hills. Sylvan Lake marked the beginning of a 14 mile scenic journey to  Legion Lake.  The highway was completed in 1922 and gets its name from the distinctive granite spires that rise from the slopes of the mountains. 

Expect frequent stops as with a small bit of rock scrambling some of the most stunning views can be seen of the surrounding South Dakota Black Hills.

I really believe this is a stunning view but then I move around some rocks and I then think this is a better view...

Then I move again...and I just can't decide anymore which view I like the best, so I just post them all and let you choose!

At the peak of the road is a most unusual tunnel. It is named "Needles Eye" for good reason.  The tunnel has been carved through a solid granite rock needle wall.  It is big enough for one car...at a time...the size of a car in 1922 that is!

Surrounding the "Needles Eye" tunnel are many uniquely formed granite spires. These are the "needles" from whence the name of the highway comes. While waiting for the alternating one way traffic traversing the tunnel to subside, we went rock scrambling and found many opportunities to photograph these granite wonders.

The views from the needles perch on top of the mountain also is unique and spectacular.

The needles form a castle rock wall around the top of these Black Hill peaks which can be seen for miles. The Lakota Sioux believed these hills to be sacred and that the recreational use of these hills by State and Federal governments violate treaties promising these mountains to the native Americans.  Traveling through these Black Hills, I was ever mindful that mountains like these have souls. 

From the other side of the tunnel down a trail leading from the overlook, I was able to view the Needles Eye Tunnel from a distance and give the location some perspective.

As we left the peak of the Black Hills that are marked by the granite needles the road switch backed a few times and standing before us were the spectacular Cathedral Spires.

There is a large overlook which marks the trail head of the Cathedral Spires trail.  The Fat Bald White Guy was eager to take that hike but my companions were eager to find lunch...rain check!

In my blog on Mt. Rushmore I tell the story of how South Dakota state historian had the ridiculous idea of desecrating these geological masterpieces by turning them into sculptures of old west heroes.  Thank goodness Gutzon Borglum rejected this idea and found Mt. Rushmore as the site for his sculpture.

Further down the mountain at another overlook, the distant view of Cathedral Spires resemble a scene from Lord of the Rings.  With the graying skies surrounding the peaks, this photograph takes on the appearance of an oil painting.

My favorite picture.  The Fat Bald White Guy is admiring the view while trying to frame the perfect picture.  Thanks to Whitdawg for memorializing this special moment.  I am reminded of a favorite quote: 

If these mountains had eyes, they would awake to find two strangers within their fences, standing in admiration as a breathing red pours its tinge on earth's shores.  These mountains, which have seen untold sunrises, long to thunder praise, but stand reverent, silent, that man's weak praise should be given God's attention" - Donald Miller

Further down the road, we found a great place to eat on the shores of Legion Lake, then stopped at the Custer State Park Visitor Center.  We watched a great movie about the park narrated by Kevin Costner.  We also passed by the lodge which was once the summer White House for President Calvin Coolidge, marking that place for a future return visit.  

Then we took off for the wildlife loop with pockets full of apples for the wild donkeys.  Trouble is, all we saw were buffalo. A spectacular sight for sure!

Custer State Park is the best state park in the nation. It contains variety of scenery, great roadway vistas, numerous hiking trails and one of the largest buffalo herds in the world.  This is as much of a bucket list to visit as Mt. Rushmore.  

CRAZY HORSE, 1880 BLACK HILLS RR TRAIN and THUNDER GOLD MINE

                 

   CRAZY HORSE MEMORIAL

 Loaming large off the South Dakota Highway #16/385 between Custer and Hill City is large granite mountain. There you can see the finely chiseled face of Ogala Lakota native warrior Crazy Horse. The Crazy Horse memorial was commissioned by Ogala Lakota Elder Henry Standing Bear.  The sculptor was a Polish immigrant Korczak Ziolkowski who worked on nearby Mt. Rushmore. 

Located on private land and funded by non-governmental contributions. Chief Standing Bear intended for the sculpture to pay homage to the noble natives of the Black Hills by depicting one of their most honored warriors, Crazy Horse, astride a galloping horse.

While a massive sculpture, and surrounded by a museum on other cultural arts activities including a satellite campus of the University of South Dakota, I found the memorial both sad and disappointing.  Instead of a beautiful memorial to a Native American I saw an unfulfilled vision and found no promise of the memorial being finished anytime in the next decade.

Perhaps Billy Buck will one day bring his grandchildren back to South Dakota and view the finished memorial.  Because of the overcast weather we did not spend much time at the memorial. There is a bus to the base of the mountain and private tours to the top as well. 

BLACK HILLS RAILROAD

• No trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota will be complete unless you take a ride on the 1880 Train of the Black Hills Central Railroad.  The train station is in Hill City and restored steam locomotives pull a vintage train from Hill City to Keystone.

The discovery of gold in the Black Hills lead to the construction of railroads to attend to the mines. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad laid the a standard gauge track in the Black Hills in the late 1800's from Hill City to Keystone.  This route is the path of the current Black Hills Central Railroad began operation in 1957.  In 1990, Robert and Joanna Warder purchased the Black Hill Central Railroad and began the restoration of vintage trains on the site in Hill City. By 2001 the link between Hill City and Keystone was fully operational providing visitors to the Black Hills a 1880 steam locomotive experience.

On the day we visited, the train was operated by a recently restored 1926 oiler locomotive pulling seven cars up a steep grade outside of Hill City down to Keystone, the home of the famous Holy Terror gold mine.  Our family elected to ride to Keystone and spend the afternoon.

At Keystone, the downtown is buzzing with shops, restaurants and places of interest. The train is unable to turn around but maneuvers to hook the locomotive to the rear of the train and travels in reverse back to Hill City.  While in Keystone, we visited the Big Thunder Gold Mine!

BIG THUNDER GOLD MINE

Keystone boasted many mining ventures, the most productive of which was opened by William B. Franklin in 1894. It reached a depth of over 1200 feet.  Mr. Franklin was known to frequent the saloons of Keystone and was often ushered home late at night by his angry wife, to which he would tell his comrades, "ain't she a holy terror?" When it came time to name his mine, those same comrades over drinks at the saloon convinced Franklin to name the mine after his wife. He agreed. He named it "Holy Terror"

Among the miners drawn to Keystone at the turn of the century were two German immigrants, W.B Krupp and Julius Engle.  They quickly became partners and developed an expertise in the use of dynamite which caused them to be much sought after workers in the area mines. They staked their own claim upstream from a successful "Lucky Boy" mine and worked the mine in their spare time. They named the mine "The Big Thunder".  

Calculating where they imagined the Lucky Boy gold line might have originated they dug their mine shaft straight in to the side of mountain through solid rock.  They used a technique called "double jacking" where one man would hold the bit while the other would swing the sledge hammer.  The mine guide described the technique explaining the man holding the bit would wipe his thumb clean against the end of the bit. It would be the aiming point of the man with sledge hammer.  Counting to three he would move his thumb right before his partner hit the end of the bit with his sledge hammer!

Understanding that the Big Thunder miners were short stocky Germans allows me to better understand the ceiling height of the shaft! Hard hats were essential to keep me from knocking a lump in my noggin.  The men worked this mine for 22 years and eventually were able to purchase a steam powered jack hammer, no doubt saving their thumbnails.

Most claims were 300 feet long and 30 feet wide.  The Big Thunder shaft was about 680 feet long ending in a big room 240 feet underground. There the shaft intersected with the Lucky Boy ore line.  To their disappointment the line was only inches wide and was soon played out.

In the room the guide demonstrated how the miners worked by lighting a candle and turning out the electric lights.  Then he blew the candle out and we were in pitch black darkness.  Hard to imagine working in these conditions for 22 years...and only finding 10 ounces of gold!  But that was the plight of the German part time miners.

Easily the Big Thunder Mine as a tourist destination is far more profitable than it ever was as a functioning gold mine.  Great place to visit on an overcast day.  The guide was knowledgeable and entertaining.  Lots of vintage mining equipment on display including a mobile porta-john. 

If you make it to Keystone, it will remind you a small version of Gatlinburg, Tn.  Shops, homemade fudge, ice cream and creative t-shirts.  Great place to spend an afternoon ending with a leisurely train ride back to Hill City.

BLACK HILLS ATV

 One of the surprise thrills of my visit to the Black Hills of  South Dakota was our ATV venture to the forest roads of the mountains near Mt. Rushmore.

A hidden secret of the Black Hills National Forest are the many forest fire roads that crisscross the mountains.   There are many places to rent street legal ATV's.  Our team of seven took a two seater and a four seater for an afternoon ride spanning 35 miles of back country trails.

The ponderosa pines of the Black Hills have been attacked by a relentless Ips Beetle.  The beetle, which can reproduce four times in a year, has devastated the pine forests.  The beetle infection has cost the Black Hills National Forest 40,000 pine trees a year for the last two decades.  The topography of the region is being changed from  pine forests to grassy mountain balds. While it is sad to see, the views on the backcountry trails have been greatly expanded.

We were told that if we took the right trail we could see Mt. Rushmore.  And sure enough just over the crest of a mountain ridge we spotted the shiny white faces of Mt. Rushmore in the distance.  Seeing this we understood that our elevation was over 6000 feet!

As nice as the picturesque views were to see, the real thrill was riding fast across the forest trails in the side by side ATV whose street speed was 35 mph.  Our 2 seater outpaced the 4 seater, but Grayboy had the responsibility of keeping his family and his mother in law safe, while Big D and I were trying to push the limits of our testosterone!

Of course Billy Buck was itching to drive and after a bit both Big D and Grayboy relented and the seven year old left everyone with a splash of mud, a great big grin and a cloud of dust!

Of the many fun things our family experienced during our trip to South Dakota, the ATV ride was acclaimed by all as the thing we will remember the most.  The scenery, the sense of adventure, and the thrill of the fast ride down a forest trail were the ingredients to a fun afternoon.

The Black Hills while being redefined by the beetle infection retain an ecological resilience.  While the views will no doubt be changing, the grassy balds interspersed with towering pine forests is a beautiful combination of color against the Black Hills.

Make an ATV adventure a part of your visit to the Black Hills of South Dakota, and tell them the Fat Bald White Guy, his little boy Big D and Billy Buck sent you!