May 31, 2021
We're taking a day off and just hanging out at the campground (Mount Rushmore Shadows in Rapid City) after spending the last three days driving around and hiking in Custer State Park and Wind Cave National Park. This post will focus on Custer State Park.
The most popular way to see the park is to drive the 18-mile loop road to look for wildlife. Everyone wants to see the bison herds wandering freely throughout the park.
As you can see, sometimes they come right up to your car! Once a very large bison was actually licking our back bumper.
At this time of year, they're shedding their winter hair, so they look a little shaggy.
This time of year there are lots of calves. For the first few months they are orange-red color, hence the nickname "red dogs." After a few months their hair starts to change to dark brown and their hump and horns begin to grow.
Mom and nursing calf
We watched as this little one ran back and forth over and over again. It was very entertaining.
This appears to be three generations.
In addition to bison, you can usually see pronghorns.
I think they're such graceful animals.
The comedy relief on the loop road are the wild donkeys. They don't hesitate to come right up to your car looking for treats. These are the only animals you are permitted to feed. I haven't tried it though.
Of course, there's always a bird. The Western meadowlarks were seen all over. This one was sitting on a fence and singing his little heart out.
If you want to get off the Wildlife Loop Road, there are several dirt roads to explore. Some of them are shortcuts from one section of the loop road to another. Others lead to trails or streams.
This road led to a trail. We followed the trail to the stream. Continuing on the trail meant getting your feet very wet. Lee is using his binoculars to look for bighorn sheep on the hill.
No bighorn sheep, but we did see a snake.
In 2017 there was a fire that burned about 54,000 acres of the park. This is a small sample.
Another scenic portion of the river
I spotted this Canada goose family in a small pond off one of the unpaved roads we explored. Is there anywhere these birds don't live??
On our last day in the park, we decided to hike the Cathedral Spires trail on the Needles Highway. The Needles Highway is at the western entrance to Custer State Park. Lots of hairpin turn switchbacks and narrow tunnels through the granite to make it interesting.
When entering the park from the Needles Highway you have a view of the beautiful eroded granite pillars, towers, and spires that are the Needles of the Black Hills.
The Cathedral Spires and Limber Pine portion of the Needles was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1976. It was also the inspiration for Mount Rushmore.
It is popular with hikers and rock climbers. We were the former! 3.6 miles roundtrip.
A selfie at the start
This is the section that gives the trail the "strenuous" designation. It wasn't too bad. The hiking poles helped on the way down.
