Black Hills

I went to the Black Hills when I was a child living in Minnesota, but I don’t remember much about it. Bob had never been here and was excited to see several things in the area, so off we went.

Mount Rushmore was bigger and more impressive than I remembered. They have a great new visitor center and a wonderful trail where you can walk under the sculptures. It was a lot of fun to be there.

We also went to the Mammoth site in Hot Springs, SD. This is a working archeological dig that has been covered by a building. They think that this site was a sinkhole that 55 or more mammoths fell into and couldn’t get out of. There are remains of many other animals in the site as well. This is a very interesting place to visit if you’re ever in the area.

Custer State Park is fabulous. It’s filled with bison, pronghorn, prairie dogs, burros and great trails. We hiked the 7-mile roundtrip Harney Peak Trail and really enjoyed it. This is the highest peak (7,742 feet) between the Rockies and the Alps and gave great 360 degree views. It was little tough for me since I’ve been suffering from a virus with laryngitis and coughing, but I made it to the top.

This is an area we would visit again. We only scratched the surface.