Custer State Park, South Dakota. Westward Ho Part 2

We started to see hills in the distance as we crossed the border from Nebraska to South Dakota. The lodge pole pine covered hills look black from a distance, thus, the name Black Hills. General George Custer, a Lieutenant at the time, lead an expedition here that found gold in 1874. The gold rush that followed attracted prospectors and miners into what was Sioux Indian land. It spawned the legendary town of Deadwood where famed outlaws like Wild Bill Hickcock and Calamity Jane lived and now lie buried in the Boot Hill Cemetery. The gold rush was the beginning of the end for the nomadic Sioux as whites moved in and the government reneged on their treaties and took the Black Hills from them. Little did Custer know his discovery of gold was also the beginning of his end.

We didn't know what to expect here. I thought the area was going to be poor, rural, backward, desolate and dirty. I was wrong. It was absolutely gorgeous. For me it turned out to be the surprise of the trip.

As we made our way off the prairie and into the Black Hills the diversions started to multiply. We drove through the enticing town of Hot Springs where natural hot springs and fossilized mammoth bones beckoned. We didn't stop however. We'd been in the car about 9 hours so with blinders on I drive straight through Wind Cave National Park and a Wild Mustang Refuge focused on getting to the Custer State Park Game Lodge before dark.

As soon as we got on Rt87 the magic started. Buffalo. A solitary Buffalo. Wow, what a majestic creature....and huge! Solid, broad shouldered, head down, horns curling outward, black inky eyes following us as we pass. I hoped we see Buffalo. Little did I know, we'd see a lot. Over the course of the next two weeks we'd see a couple thousand but we never, and I mean all four of us, never lost the thrill of seeing or being in a herd of Buffalo.


Here we are on Rt87 entering Custer State Park. This is literally where the Buffalo roam and the deer and antelope play.









When we finally got to the State Game Lodge it was dark. The lodge was woodsy. It had a great porch and field stone fireplaces. Presidents Coolidge and Eisenhower used it as summer White House's. We squeaked in just under the wire for dinner service and dined on Buffalo, Elk, Venison and local trout. What'd you expect at the Game Lodge? They had a wonderful wine list too that Molly & I partook of after which we all went gently into the night and slumber.