Black Hills Adventure

From the Badlands, we headed into the Black Hills of South Dakota, which have been considered an “island in the Plains,” because this region has a wonderful amount of hills and eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires, in the middle of the Great Plains. 


We are glad we took the time and paid the entrance fee to explore Custer State Park. We had heard so many rave reviews, we couldn’t not do it.
There were more animals, like pronghorns…

and burros (not native to the Black Hills, but descendents of the burros who long ago took visitors to the highest point in the park)…

One of the largest groups of bison live here (their population is managed by the park). We just got to see one – who was intent on relaxing in the distance. The herd averages 1450 every year, after the calves are born. Bison are also known as buffalo (or tatanka, the Lakota word) and they are the largest land mammal, often called the “Lord of the Plains.” The land was hunting grounds for various Native American tribes 11,000 years ago and bison seems to have been their main focus.
The Black Hills have a rich history of vast oceans, uplifts, and volcanoes. This history, along with millions of years of erosion have sculpted the rocks of the hills into their interesting present shapes and elevations.

Needles Highway, completed in 1922, is pretty remarkable. A 14-mile road winds around the granite mountains. In time, this granite yields large crystals containing minerals. Mica creates flakes that sparkle everywhere.  Feldspar gives the granite its overall color. Quartz  is shiny and gives part of these formations a glassy look. Rock climbers travel from all over to scale these rocks.
Can you believe this?!

There was a lot of hiking to do.

It was another very sacred place.

I got to go swimming in Sylvan Lake!

What a trip we are having! I have found that I love to learn about the geology and history of these places, though I often only can fathom a little bit of it.