Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota

May 14th and 15th

Custer State Park is a 71,000 acre park with three distinct landscapes. The sections are connected by three scenic roads--the Needles Highway, the Wildlife Loop Road, and Iron Mountain Road.

The Needles Highway is the highest section with winding roads and granite spires. It's also the coldest section. Note the snow still on the ground!

              

The Cathedral Spires are the most famous rock formations in the Black Hills.

This rock formation is called the Needles Eye, so named for obvious reasons.

We saw mule deer wandering in the forest along the Needles Highway.












The Wildlife Loop Road is open rolling grasslands. The 1,300 buffalo roam freely throughout the park, but are most often seen in this area. They move quickly, so you never know when or where you'll spot them. I was told by a ranger that they can sustain a 30 mph pace for an hour! They move at about 5 mph while grazing.

This group started out far back in the field, and before we knew it, they were just a few feet from our car!














It's a bit disconcerting to have a buffalo staring at you at close range!

We were lucky to get to see lots of buffalo calves too.

Other animals along the loop were elk,

pronghorn antelope,

and, of course birds!

Here are a mountain bluebird

and a chipping sparrow.












There were unpaved roads to explore also, so of course, we took them!

The third section of the park was the Iron Mountain Road, winding through pine forests.

There were several tunnels along this section of road, and they were well planned so that when you passed through the tunnel, you could see the faces on Mt. Rushmore.

I highly recommend visiting this area if you're ever in South Dakota!