We left the Denver area and headed north. Our next stop was Wind Cave National Park and Custer State Park in South Dakota.. We had heard wonderful things about Custer State Park from many people we met on the trip and were excited to check it out. We stopped in Fort Collins for coffee and found a wonderful consignment store – called Repeat Boutique. It had a great selection of clothes in my size and I would which I would travel there again to visit. From there we headed up thru a very flat eastern Wyoming thru Chyenne and up to South Dakota.
Wind Cave National Park was nice buy we opted not to do a cave tour and instead went biking on a section of the George Mickelson Tail, a rail trail that runs 109 miles across South Dakota. We started at Hill City and biked north for about 12 miles then turned around. It is a beautiful trail. We returned and walked thru Hill City where we found a coffee shop and talked with farmers from Iowa and Indiana who were there on vacationa about the drought and tarrf situation. There were many motorcyclists there from the Sturgis Rally which had just ended. On our way to the trail head for the bike trail we passed the Crazy Horse monument. We decided not to spend the $30 to visit as we were able to see it from the road. It seems they have had difficulty raising money to complete the project and it is not expected to be completed for another 12 years if at all. It is quite conroversial as some in the Lakota tribe feel that Creazy Horse would not want to have the Black Hills desicrated for a monument. In fact Crazy Horse went out of his way not to be photographed and was deliberately baried where his grave would not be found. .
After our bike ride we frove by Crazy Horse Monument and checked into our campsite at Custer State Park. We were camping in Stockade North Camoground and had a great site. The next day we woke up and headed over tto the Iron Mountain Road, a scenic drive to Mount Rushmore. We were worried abut the narrow tunnels on the Needles Highway and decided not to attempt itn. The Iron Mountain Highway was svery scenic with wonderful views of Mount Rushmore.
Mount Rushmore was beautiful and very well maintained. We went to hear a presentation by the Lakota tribe which was very intersteting and walked around the memorial. The only cost was $5 to park ( senior discount).
We left Mount Rushmore and decided to go for a hike on the Cathedral Spires Trail. We didn’t realize that to get to the trailhead we would have to go on the Needles Highway. We decided to go for it despite our trepidation about diving thru the narrow tunnels. We drove thru the first one ( which is shorter than the others) and decided to go for it.
After our eventful day, we had dinner in the town of Custer (population 1900 but many more in the summer). It was a western themed town and also where Jon’s partner Lauren’s grand parents lived for over 20 years before moving to be closer to family in Oregon. We did ride past their old house and sent pictures to Lauren. We really enjoyed our time in Custer South Dakota and would return to Custer State Park if we are in the area again. Our next stop is Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota!