On September 1 we left Wall, SD and continued driving towards Rapid City, SD via I-90. At Rapid City, we exited I-90 and headed south through Hill City and on to our destination of Custer. We stayed 4 nights at Custer’s Gulch RV Park, 2.5 miles east of Custer and near the entrance to Custer State Park.
Custer Gulch RV Park has a place in history. In 1874 it was the permanent camp for the Black Hills expedition of George A. Custer. In 1875 Gold was discovered on nearby French Creek.
Custer’s Gulch RV Park was our home for four days. The weather was perfect! In fact, in was so perfect that we removed the top from the jeep to enjoy the sunshine and scenery. We traveled in and out of Custer State Park too many times to count. (Double click photo for larger view)
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We drove on all three of the designated scenic loops; Wild Life, Iron Mountain, and Needles Highway. Driving on the 18 mile Wild Life Loop, we saw prairie dogs, burros, bison, pronghorn antelope, mule deer, and wild turkey’s. We drove on this loop several times! (click the yellow dot to move through photos one by one or click arrow for slideshow)
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The Wild Life Loop turns into the Iron Mountain Road Scenic Drive which ends near Mount Rushmore. It was a twisty/turning road with pigtail bridges, fabulous scenery, and a tunnel that created a frame for Mount Rushmore. We also passed several open spaces with views of Mount Rushmore. Spectacular! (click the yellow dot to move through photos one by one or click arrow for slideshow)
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Thirty-seven years ago, we visited Mt. Rushmore with our 3 month old Lindsay. This trip…just the two of us! Things seemed a little different at the memorial, but Mount Rushmore is still pretty special! (click the yellow dot to move through photos one by one or click arrow for slideshow)
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During our four-day stay in Custer, we visited Hill City and Keystone. In Hill City, we ate lunch at the Bumpin buffalo Bar and Grille, an old saloon type restaurant. We also stopped at the Prairie Berry Winery. We stopped to taste some Red Ass Wine that we saw advertised on a billboard. We tasted 5 different berry flavored wines and ended purchasing four bottles. We are going to use two bottles of the Red Ass Wine to make Red Assarita’s! (click the yellow dot to move through photos one by one or click arrow for slideshow)
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The highlight of our stay in the Black Hills, was the Mount Rushmore evening memorial ceremony. The ceremony included a ranger talk and historical film about the 4 Presidents. At the conclusion of the film, the audience joined in singing “ America the Beautiful” and “ The Star Spangled Banner”. As the song ended, the lights began to fade up and the mountain was illuminated with a steady beam shining on the four faces. As the mountain remained illuminated, all veterans were invited to the stage for the lowering of our flag. Once the flag was lowered, each service member gave their name and branch of service. It was a very patriotic evening! (click the yellow dot to move through photos one by one or click arrow for slideshow)
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On our last day in Custer we enjoyed a relaxing 20 mile roundtrip train ride between Hill City and Keystone on the 1880 train. The ride was a two-hour, narrated trip in the Black Hills. From the train we were able to view Harney Peak, mining encampments, and granite rock formations. We also saw several deer along our route. (click the yellow dot to move through photos one by one or click arrow for slideshow)
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On our way to Hill City, we had an unexpected surprise… Crazy Horse Mountain, with the Crazy Horse face in bright sunlight! (click the yellow dot to move through photos one by one or click arrow for slideshow)
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We had a fun four days exploring Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore, Hill City, Keystone, and Custer. It is a very long distance to travel to this area, so we probably won’t be back…at least not in the near future!