We’ve spent the last month or so writing about great places to see in the Black Hills and a little bit into Wyoming (There’s that Devils Tower, you know), so we thought a recap of our trip in May 2019 might be in order. Although we drove through at least 10 or so memorable places, here are our Top Four in the Black Hills — and one in Wyoming — you don’t want to miss. Plus, we’re got info on where to stay and how to get there. So, recap the Black Hills with us!

Logistics

Planning a trip? Here are some of our best suggestions and recommendations.

1. Download a map of the area from Black Hills and Badlands or Black Hills Maps to plan the itinerary that best suits you and your family.
2. Plan your trip using resources from Travel South Dakota and Black Hills and Badlands.
3. Find a central location to use as a base for traveling. We chose Rapid City, SD for our beginning and ending points, choosing a round trip flight from Knoxville’s TYS to Rapid City’s RAP.
4. Book reservations for nights on the road. You can book in advance or “play it by ear,” but with many people staying in RV campgrounds, motels, and bed-and-breakfasts now, check ahead. Here’s where we stayed during our 7-day trip:

• Rapid City, SD: Hotel Alex Johnson — for first two nights and the last night> It was our base while exploring Wall, SD; the Badlands; Rapid City; and
• Creekside Lodge in Custer State Park, Route 16A on the grounds of the State Game Lodge — our base for Sylvan Lake, Spearfish Canyon, and Wind Cave National Park.
• VRBO for lodging in Deadwood, SD — a good base not only for Deadwood but also for Sturgis, Scenic, Belle Fourche, and Beulah, WY.

Our Top Sites to See

Here are several “don’t miss” sites, but, by no means, the only places to see. Click on the links to read full posts on our favorite places, but don’t hesitate to add your sites to see in the Comments section below.

The Badlands

Badlands National Park is one sweet ride — 244,000 acres of sandstone buttes, and mixed-grass prairie — not to mention home to bison, big horn sheep and prairie dogs. When we found at the end of our week in SD that we had an extra day, we returned for a second look at Badlands— and we’re not sorry we did. What we didn’t see at the North Unit on Day One, we saw in the South Unit — grasses swaying in the wind against the backdrop of sandstone formations inviting us to take long, slow walks on boardwalks and trails. Pack good walking shoes, sunscreen, and water — and get ready to be amazed. We’re thinking you’ll wish you had more time there, too.

Custer State Park

South Dakota is home to 13 state parks, but at 71,000 acres, Custer is one of the biggest. With more places to roam, Custer State Park boasts a long list of recreational activities like biking, hiking, fishing, bird watching, camping, showshoeing, and bison watching (if you’re lucky)! Be sure to save time to kayak at Sylvan Lake, follow motorcycles through Needles Highway, look for waterfalls in Spearfish Canyon and wave at buffalo heading home at sundown. (Warning: Don’t put your arm out the car window if a herd is coming your way!)

We haven’t mentioned Wind Cave National Park in any of our posts, mainly because our pictures inside the caves were pretty dark, but also because it’s temporarily closed for now. When it reopens, though, get there: best example of boxwork formations in any cave system in the world and miles — yes, miles — of unexplored caves yet to come. The website cautions against using a GPS to find Wind Cave. Instead, take a look at the routes in this site to make sure you get there before the last tour departs.

Crazy Horse Memorial

You’ll be impressed, as we were, at the 87-foot high head of Crazy Horse, but we were mostly touched by the stories of Chief Henry Standing Bear’s desire to honor the Lakota Indians and their leader. Travel along US Highway 16/385 (the Crazy Horse Memorial Highway) to see this tribute, a marvel of design work and onsite carving, and some of the finest artifacts of Indian culture in its adjacent museum. Located about four miles north of the town of Custer and 17 miles southwest of Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial offers something memorable for every member of the family. We recommend the bus ride to the base of the sculpture, but there’s a more expensive helicopter tour that drops you off at the chin!

Devils Tower

Located in Wyoming, not South Dakota, Devils Tower is right at the edge of the Black Hills, so adding it to your Black Hills itinerary is a no-brainer. You may have seen Devils Tower in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but even if you haven’t, this 867-foot tall tower of rock will astound you, movie connection or not. When you move in close to see its columnar jointing and watch how climbers seem to scale it with relative ease, you’ll want to spend a couple of hours or more at the site. Take the 1.5 mile hike as we did, or just stand and stare amazingly at this natural phenomenon. It’s definitely worth driving about an hour from Spearfish, SD along Wyoming 24 to see. It’s our nation’s first National Monument!

Mount Rushmore National Monument

Perhaps our favorite of all the sites is Mount Rushmore. Carved into the granite of the South Dakota Black Hills, these 60-foot heads of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln make just about every visitor stop dead still at the Avenue of Flags as they view this patriotic tribute for the first time. If you time your trip just right, you can be in the area for the Evening Lighting Ceremony. But even if you can’t stay late, don’t miss the ranger talk on the conception and construction of Mount Rushmore. Then grab a TJ’s Vanilla Ice Cream (yes, it’s a Thomas Jefferson recipe!) at Carver’s Cafe before heading out!

Well, those are the “biggies” of the Black Hills and beyond. But lots of other stops can round out your road trip to South Dakota:

• Deadwood — Where casinos are open for business, and actors recreate a shoot-em-up at 6:00 every night
• Sturgis — Even when it’s not rally time, you can (well, almost) ride like the wind on an Indian motorcycle and buy t-shirts to prove you were there.
• Belle Fourche — See the big round medallion that proves the center of the nation really is in South Dakota
• Scenic — Not a stop really, but a drive-though of a town sporting some of the creepiest abandoned houses in the Black Hills (or maybe anywhere).

So, make a plan. Get out the map, pick what you’d love to see, and then check with each location to confirm what’s open and what’s not. Now that we’re in a pandemic, touring can change every day, but there’s still plenty to see that’s open in South Dakota.

Travel well,

Rusha & Bert

The really happy person is the one who can enjoy the scenery, even when they have to take a detour.

― Sir James Jeans

With an extra day in South Dakota, we reveled in the delight of taking a second look at The Badlands. We didn’t plan a detour. But then again, we never do. Sometimes when we travel, we just sort of look out at the landscape, see something that might be interesting, and then veer off, usually on a road less taken, to see what we can see.

Since our gas gauge dictated a stop, we saw a sign directing us to Scenic Gas Station. Now, the name alone should have given us pause. It wasn’t a scenic gas station at all. It was THE Scenic, South Dakota gas station in an abandoned (well, almost) town — straight out of Hollywood, or so it appeared.

Building after abandoned building lured us beyond the gas station and into the town proper — Scenic, South Dakota — a town with “gen-u-wine” Wild West decay. As much of a real life Ghost Town as we’ll ever see.

We searched for a store, the only store, that had a sign of life and talked to the lady who gave us the skinny. (See photo above.) Scenic, she said, had once been a thriving little town, built in the midst of great scenery (thus the name). It was, and still is, a town with a dance hall, saloon, two jails, art gallery, and an agate museum, only they’re abandoned. Empty. Ghostly. Creepy. But I dare you to stop looking.

According to “South Dakota town for sale: $800,000” by CBS News (August 1, 2011), Scenic was a thriving little town at one time, but, after seeing better days, was for sale: asking price $800,000. The town belonged to Twila Merrill, a rodeo legend, who kept buying up buildings one at a time. In 2011, Merrill hoped to turn the tired little town with nine residents over to a new owner, if only she could find a buyer.

And so it was, that the Philippines-based church, Iglesia ni Cristo, bought Scenic at the price of $799,000. Later, a few church members moved in.

If you go to Scenic today, you’ll find living, breathing people in the U. S. Post Office, the General Store, and the gas station, a working business that’s not really all that scenic, but it’s there and it’s serviceable, which is totally important if you’re in a Ghost Town running on empty.

So, would we recommend a detour to Scenic, South Dakota?

Absolutely. It was just the side trip we needed — no national monuments, no marble markers, and almost no tourists (unless you count the 700 or so cars that come through each day).

Scenic is one of those places that when you get home, you tell your kids, “You won’t believe what we saw in South Dakota. (Eye-rolling at the suggestion.) Wait. You’ve gotta see these pictures! Really, you do.”

To get to Scenic, follow SD 44 east out of Rapid City. And afterwards, treat yourself to another visit to The Badlands. You’ll love it even more the second time around.

May all your drives be scenic ones,

Rusha & Bert

The farther one gets into the wilderness, the greater is the attraction of its lonely freedom.

No trip to the Black Hills — spanning western South Dakota and eastern Wyoming — would be complete without a trip to Devils Tower, named our first National Monument of the United States in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. It’s impressive on its own — without any fanfare, night show, restaurants, or gift shop. Just an awesome structure worthy of your visit.

Although geologists have studied Devils Tower for years, the mystery of its formation still remains. According to the National Park Service site, “the Tower is formed of a rare igneous rock, phonolite porphyry, and is the largest example of columnar jointing in the world.” And perhaps it is this rare rock formation — standing alone — that captures your attention even as you drive toward it on Wyoming Hwy. 24.

When you get there, you’ll find that the Tower is the center of attention. Some of you may remember Devils Tower for its appearance in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But the whole site around it is also remarkable for respecting the natural beauty of the landscape and the Native American tribes who revere it as a cultural and sacred site.

We chose to walk the 1.3-mile trail around the base, giving us an up-close, yet distant, look at the structure. We could have been a little more adventurous, climbing over some of the boulders in Boulder Field that surrounds Devils Tower, but we stayed on the path. Although Devils Tower was formed about 50 million years ago, you probably don’t have to worry about falling rock. Fortunately, there hasn’t been a fall in the last 200 years!

As rangers explained to us, climbing is allowed on Devils Tower during all but two months: April when it’s closed to protect nesting falcons and June in respect for Native American cultural values related to the Tower. (Many people feel that climbing on the Tower could be perceived as disrespectful since the site is culturally significant for indigenuous people such as the Lakota, Cheyenne, Shoshone and others.)

We marveled at Devils Tower standing 867 feet tall and boasting a summit of 1.5 acres, about the size of a football field. That summit is said to be slightly dome shaped, covered with native grasses, and home to chipmunks, mice, and snakes — but you’ll have to verify this and let us know!

We were taken by the quiet movement of the people who came to visit and how they, too, were in awe of the formation just as we were. The National Park Service does a great job of maintaining the area to focus on natural beauty and the protection of wildlife. (We loved seeing prairie dogs playing nearby!)

Access to Devils Tower is easy from several directions. It’s about an hour from Spearfish along I-90 W and US 14 W; from Rapid City approximately an hour and forty minutes using I-90.

Devils Tower is a place to visit for hiking or climbing or just marveling at an awesome natural site. If you’re visiting the Black Hills of South Dakota, you’ll want to make the short trip to Devils Tower, Wyoming, just for the sight you’ll see. Planning tips and explanations are all available on the National Park Service website.

Here’s to travel in the good ol’ U.S. of A,

Rusha & Bert

For more information, these two publications are invaluable for your trip:

• Black Hills and Badlands Vacation Guide
• Devils Tower National Monument Free Official Travel Guide from Travel Wyoming

Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway may be only 20 or so miles long, but we dare you to drive straight through without stopping. You just can’t. Waterfalls like Bridal Veil Falls invite you to take a look after leaving your car in an accessible lot. Others — like Roughlock Falls and Spearfish Falls — require short hikes, but well worth the effort if you love seeing rushing water cascading into rocky beds and flowing past natural formations older than the Grand Canyon.

Looking upward at tall trees framing the highway in Spearfish Canyon reminded us of our wanderings through the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee. We also discovered another connection we had with Spearfish: the website for Black Hills & Badlands reports that the canyon was the setting for several scenes in Dances With Wolves! (See the site three miles from Spearfish Canyon Resort at Forest Road 222.)

Occasionally on our drive, we’d stop to enjoy the peacefulness of rushing water . . .

or take a closer look at historic buildings near where mining and logging camps were set up years ago.

With plenty to photograph, we stopped and walked around often. But we tried to move at a good pace: we didn’t want to miss lunch at the highly recommended Stage Stop Cafe in Cheyenne Crossing! We’d heard that Stage Stop is the location for Indian Tacos, “the best in Spearfish Canyon.” And now we can affirm the rumors.

If you’re unfamiliar with Indian Tacos, know this: at the heart of an Indian Taco is a flat, round piece of Indian Fry Bread. Then, that piece of fry bread is smothered in various concoctions but mostly ground beef, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and black olives. It wasn’t enough to just sample an Indian Taco in Spearfish Canyon. We had to have the mix to make our own back home. So we purchased Indian Fry Bread Mix from a company called Woodenknife and made our own. Since then, we’ve relied on a recipe from Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, for great fry bread and toppings!

Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway makes a great Black Hills side trip. Allow a couple of hours if you like to stop along the way for photography and short hikes, a little longer if you want to make it to the falls. From Deadwood, Spearfish Canyon is about 10 miles; from Sturgis about 18.

Once only accessible on horseback, Spearfish Canyon is now open to anyone who wants to soak up history, nature, and pristine beauty all in one short trip.

See South Dakota,

Rusha & Bert

The center of the nation, however, wasn’t always there. According to “In the Middle of Nowhere, a Nation’s Center” published in the New York Times on June 2, 2008, the center of our nation had “bounced around the heartland like the ball on an old movie-screen singalong.” Prior to Alaska joining the Union the center was Lebanon, Kansas. (See, we were right with our assumption after all.) But when the U. S. took in Alaska, the center moved to prairie land in Butte County, South Dakota. And then when Hawaii became a state, the National Geodedic Survey announced that the center had moved again — about 21 miles above to Belle Fourche, SD — where it remains today.

In October 1959, folks gathered to commemorate the spot, that was, at first, pretty inconspicuous — a rest area, a 40-foot flagpole, and some “Center of the Nation” signs that disappeared on a regular basis. But in 1999, Teresa Schanzenbach, president of the Belle Fourche Chamber of Commerce, spearheaded numerous efforts (fundraising mostly) to mark the spot in a dignified way with a massive map of the U. S. on a compass rose, made of 54,000 pounds of South Dakota granite. (After all, the Geographical Center of North America in Rugby, ND has a 15-foot stone obelisk to mark the spot — and you know about competition among the states for bragging rights.)

So that’s about it, as centers go. Belle Fourche (pronounced bell-foosh) is a good side stop for seeing the Geographic Center of the Nation, especially if you are touring the Black Hills on your way to see Devils Tower in Wyoming, as we were. But there’s more. If you can time your trip just right, you might be lucky enough to catch the Black Hills Roundup that pulls out all the stops with a Cattle Drive, Ranch Rodeo, Parade, Miss Black Hills Roundup, and a whole lot more — ending with fireworks on the Fourth! This year’s 101st Black Hills Roundup is June 28 to July 4, 2020.

How to get there: From Sturgis, Belle Fourche is about a 35-minute drive if you take I-90 W and SD-34 W. And when you arrive, you can stand near the compass rose, have your picture taken among the flags, visit the Tri-State Museum & Visitor Center, and then get you some cowboy gear in downtown Belle Fourche.

If nothing else, you’ll have bragging rights when people ask, “Where is the Geographic Center of the Nation?” Because you’ll know the answer!

Happy road trippin’ —

Rusha & Bert

So, when we left Deadwood, South Dakota, I wanted to at least pass through Sturgis, home of the now-famous rally that began in 1938 and, in 2019, attracted over 500,000 riders to this town of about 6,900 residents.

After all, I can appreciate something I’ve never done, right?

We rode through town, looking at venues and places that might hold that many people. And to this day, we can’t figure out how. Videos on YouTube show the main drag lined with cycles, bunched tightly together, waiting for action. And since then, we’ve heard about campgrounds that fill up fast like Buffalo Chip and Pappy Hoel Campground reminding us another big gathering in Tennessee: Bonnaroo.

But on this day, we saw little action. After all, we were there in May, and the rally happens the first week of August . . . if there’s not a coronavirus or something that might put a crimp in this gotta-be-there event.

What we did see was something we’d only heard about in the movies: legendary Indian Motorcycles (The World’s Fastest Indian)!

That’s right — the headquarters, no less, of Indian Motorcycles came to Sturgis in 1936 courtesy of C.F. “Pappy” Hoel, a founder of the Jackpine Gypsies motor club and founder of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

And so it was, that with an unplanned, spur-of-the-moment decision to go see this place (that’s the best way, sometimes), we marched into what we thought would be an ordinary showroom only to find that this one was first class, all the way. From helmets, to leather jackets, shot glasses, tote bags, and yes, motorcycles, this showroom would be a showstopper even on New York City’s Fifth Avenue. It was somethin’ else.

Now you might be thinking that salespeople wouldn’t give us, the non-riders of the world, the time of day. But we were treated like royalty. And we got the full treatment: information about the quality of the cycles, what happens at the Sturgis Rally, and what merchandise sells best.

To top it all off, I asked if I could just sit on one, expecting to hear that sitting wasn’t allowed on these finest of fine Indian specimens. But, lo and behold, the salesman helped me up on one of the most deluxe models (sticker shock: well over $97,000) in the showroom. And that’s how I became an Indian fan, as I imagined myself driving through Spearfish Canyon with the wind in my face!

Truth is, it was the people of Sturgis that made the best impressions during our half day in town. From the riders we met standing in the check-out line at the grocery store to the girl serving coffee, we found people who talked to Southerners just like we’d be welcome any time in Sturgis — rally or not.

Since then, we’ve looked up information on this year’s 80th Anniversary Sturgis Rally. The verdict from the June 16, 2020, meeting of the Sturgis City Council reveals that there will be a rally, but a modified one — as safe as they can make it — from Friday, August 7 through Sunday, August 16. For more discussions and information on what you can and cannot do, here are some sources you may want to check out.

• Official website of City of Sturgis, SD
• Bob & Tam’s Excellent Adventures YouTube page
• Riding in the Ozarks YouTube video
• Top 10 Things to Do at Sturgis Motorcycle Rally
• Indian Motorcycles website
• Full Throttle Saloon
• Sturgis.com
• Twitter for City of Sturgis, SD

So, if you’re road tripping through the Black Hills of South Dakota, Sturgis is worth a pass through, at the very least. Or stay a while and dine, check out the goods at Indian Motorcycles, and cruise the streets imagining the vroom, vroom you’d hear during rally week.

It’s good times . . . rally or not.

Wishing you safe travels,

The temporarily cool duo of Rusha & Bert

Consider a brief history of the start: It was the summer of 1874 when General George Armstrong Custer led an expedition to the territory in search of a suitable location for a fort. But on August 2nd of that year, two prospectors found GOLD, and the rest was, as they say, history.

Soon after, wannabe business men set up gambling casinos, drinking establishments, and places where ladies of the night could ply their trade — all along Main Street (the “Bad Lands” of Deadwood, as it was called). And then the prospectors came, along with some unsavory folk and a few politicians.

Today Main Street is known for good eatin’ places (sometimes attached to casinos), shopping, and a nightly street dramatization (in the summer tourist season) of a famous shoot-out. People line up three feet deep on the sidewalks waiting for the nightly drama to begin at 6:00 p.m.

It seems that Wild Bill Hickock was shot from behind while playing poker by a ruffian named Jack McCall. McCall was acquitted by a jury the very next day. But later, he was tracked down and hanged by authorities of the Dakota territory. Today, you can watch a re-enactment on Main Street — that is, if you get there early enough to find a place with a view of the action. And the whole shooting match is clean enough for kids, families, and old folks like us.

While in Deadwood, you can shop for cowboy boots, western antiques, and magnets to take home and put on your fridge. But you might also want to pay your respects at Mt. Moriah Cemetery to Wild Bill Hickok and the infamous Calamity Jane. Calamity was a larger-than-life person, dressing in men’s clothing instead of saloon girl finery. And she had the reputation for saying whatever she pleased however she pleased. On the other hand, she may not have been all bad: it’s said that during the smallpox epidemic, she had a heart for helping others. Perhaps she died with a good reputation after all.

Although Wild Bill was a married man, it’s Calamity Jane who’s buried beside him in Mt. Moriah — maybe to spend eternity with him? Well, who knows?

You can wander through Mt. Moriah on your own, but plan to climb up to the location where Wild Bill Hickok was put to rest and pay your respects to the man who reportedly said, “Can you let me go to hell the way I want to?” (We don’t know if Mt. Moriah granted him this wish, but lots of people want to see his grave nonetheless.)

If you’re touring South Dakota, Deadwood is centrally located for an overnight visit. You can drive to area towns of Sturgis, Lead, Central City or even north to Spearfish Canyon with Deadwood as the center for lodging, casinos, and restaurants and bars.

So, even though Deadwood can make a great pass-through to other places, we think it deserves a stop on its own. With good food, shopping, gamblin’ places, and a shoot-out on Main Street, Deadwood is alive and kickin’!

Happy trails, podnuh,

Rusha & Bert

But all that went out the window when we passed through Custer, South Dakota, in the Black Hills. I mean how could we pass up a pick-up truck filled with sheds sitting outside the store in the parking lot? We had to go in. No time like the present.

Bert hardly got past the front porch of Claw, Antler, and Hide, Inc., before he was stroking furry goods and asking me (as if I would know) what kind of store this is. I stood there reading the tags: Coyote, Raccoon, Otter, Ermine, Kit Fox, Arctic Fox, Red Fox, and you-name-it. And then we decided we had to see more . . . inside.

We noticed the big fellas first: mounts of buffalo, deer, black bear, mountain lion, big-horned sheep.

And then the little ones: jackalope, squirrel, raccoon — some dressed in costumes; others playing cards in a foursome.

In the middle of the room, small and large bins held parts (antlers, bones, horns) categorized by size, color, and animal. Each labeled. Each more interesting than the last.

But the soft goods were our favorites — pelts, tails, hides, and skins — each begging to be touched and admired for their softness or patterns or distinctive markings.

We probably entertained the sales people there with our oohs and ahs in addition to our Southern accents — but after all, we’d never seen anything like Claw, Antler and Hide, Inc. And it showed.

So just to satisfy our curiosity, we asked one of the ladies who had been an associate for years what people did with all of this. Her answer? Designers use pieces in art constructions, costume makers need authentic furs and horns for head pieces and garments, and some people just want something to decorate their homes. And, she added, Claw, Antler and Hide, Inc. does a great business on the internet . . . shipping pelts, sheds and bones all over the world.

And so it was that we veered off our original “things to see today” list with no regrets. An afternoon visiting Claw, Antler and Hide, Inc., and talking with a lady who’s spent a lifetime helping people find valuable cast-offs made for a vivid South Dakota memory.

So, do you ever get side-tracked in your travels? We’re listening.

Rusha & Bert

Claw, Antler and Hide, Inc., 735 Mt Rushmore Rd, Custer, SD 57730

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clawantlerhide/

My lands are where my dead lie buried.

Between Hill City and Custer, South Dakota, travelers can see an unfinished yet amazing carving of Lakota leader, Crazy Horse, even from the highway. But as you approach the complex known as the Crazy Horse Memorial, the completed 87-foot-tall head of Crazy Horse looms large in the distance.

Following up on his dream to create a memorial to show that “the red man has great heroes, also,” Chief Henry Standing Bear contacted sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to design and carve a likeness of Crazy Horse in the southern Black Hills. The statue reveals Crazy Horse, the leader credited with fighting government encroachment upon native lands, riding on horseback, pointing into the distance.

Today, you can visit the site and hear tour guides explain the process involved in creating something of this magnitude on private land — all funded with admission fees and private donations. Blasting began on the mountain project June 3, 1948, and when finished, the carving will stand 563 feet high and 641 feet long.

If you visit today, you can view at a distance the work in progress on the sculpture from the area that surrounds the gift shop and the Indian Museum of North America. Or you can take a bus ride (with an on-board narrator) to the base of the mountain for a better look at what has been done to date. (Although we heard that helicopter rides were available to take us much closer, we did not pursue this option since we had to reserve a spot in advance.)

Various outbuildings of the Visitor Complex contain workshops such as the Mountain Carving Room, the original home of the Ziolkowski family, and the Orientation Center with theaters, museum, and information. But we were most impressed with the collection of authentic Native American artifacts on display, many with descriptors of their use and construction, in the Indian Museum of North America.

Although the full Crazy Horse sculpture will probably not be completed in our lifetime, the site is definitely worth a trip. You observe work in progress by a small crew who drill, feather, and wedge in very limited work space. But maybe more importantly, you come away with a respect for the culture and work of the Lakota and an admiration for sculptor Ziolkowski’s dream.

Be sure to check the website for information on hours, events, and availability of tours since changes are frequent due to the shut-down of the coronavirus pandemic. Because there’s much to do in addition to seeing the mountain carving, you can spend a half day, whole day or even just a couple of hours at the Crazy Horse Memorial. It’s a “worth it” South Dakota stop.

Never forget your dreams.

Korczak Ziolkowski

Travel safely,

Rusha & Bert

But we definitely shorted ourselves on time to spend at Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park.

On a map of South Dakota, Sylvan Lake appeared to us as other lakes do — a blue amoeba-like form. “Should we stop here?” we asked each other. When we looked at a different photo in a travel book, we saw not only the lake’s clear blue waters but also these unusual boulders looming large at water’s edge. “Worth a stop,” we said. “After all, where else would you see boulders of this magnitude in a lake? It’s would be worth an hour or so for a quick visit, for sure.”

But when we arrived, we realized how unprepared we were. Sylvan Lake is a haven for activities — from hiking to kayaking, or climbing rocks, fishing, and picnicking. We watched as families enjoyed the space to the fullest, taking long walks at water’s edge and then hiking in, around, and through the boulders that define this extraordinary area of Custer State Park.

Later, we learned that Sylvan Lake had been a star in its own right, serving as a featured area (albeit not behind Mount Rushmore as it was pictured) for the movie National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

But no matter the star status of Sylvan Lake — the real benefit is its outdoor space for couples or families, hikers or sitters, boaters or photographers. What you have to do is what we didn’t do well enough: allow extra time to enjoy this breathtaking natural space in your own way. So bring a lunch. Wear your hiking shoes. Rent a boat. Prepare to climb.

And by all means, schedule well. Sylvan Lake is a South Dakota treasure.

Rusha & Bert