Visiting South Dakota

Sundown over a South Dakota Farm

Our plans for this summer are somewhat fluid as usual.  We have learned it is best to make reservations early for holiday weekends and popular vacation destinations.  Using this philosophy, we made reservations at two Yellowstone National Park campgrounds covering a three week period in July and one week near Glacier National Park in Montana early August.  We made these reservations about six months ago and have been wandering our way toward those destinations at the appropriate time.  We try to wander through areas of the country we have not visited before and of course see interesting sites along the way.  Often we find very unique and interesting things to see; but other times, it is just somewhere to stop with not much to do.  

Geographic Center of the United States

We really enjoyed the western side of North Dakota and the Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  There was so much to see and do there with some fantastic hiking trails.  Once we crossed into South Dakota the landscape changed back to rolling grass hills as far as you could see.  We camped at Rocky Point State Park near Belle Fourche, SD.  You may recall that we passed through Rugby, ND and stopped to take a picture at the geographic center of North America.  Well, Belle Fourche, SD is the geographic center of the United States not to be confused with the geographic center of the contiguous United States in Lebanon, KS.  

Center of the Centers?

Clear? Well the center of the United States was Lebanon, KS until we added Hawaii and Alaska and that changed the center of the nation to Belle Fourche, SD.  Of course, each location has a marker and draws tourists who spend their dollars there.  Not being one to leave things alone, I decided to map the center of the three geographic centers and suggest a monument for the Center of the Centers and let the Cheyenne Indians make a dollar as well.  

We spent three days near Belle Fourche that was at least a day longer than what you need to see everything. We did find a fellow downtown that has a collection of about 30 pristine AMC automobiles.  He was very nice and we walked around his cars and discussed the various engines and parts used during the later years of AMC and the subsequent purchase of the company by Lee Iacocca CEO of Chrysler.   

Private AMC Collection Belle Fourche, SD

Next we traveled to a private campground south of Rapid City, SD near Hermosa.  From here we were able to visit some friends who live in Rapid City as well as spend a couple days driving along scenic roads thorough Custer State Park.  We had visited Mt Rushmore before but it was neat to see it from the perspective of driving north through tunnels on the Iron Mountain Road.  

Iron Mountain Road builders purposefully aligned the tunnels to frame Mt. Rushmore

We visited the Crazy Horse Memorial that is under construction and probably will be for our lifetime. The onsite museum is a great collection of Native American history and educational displays for events that occurred in the western United States.  In the basement, they have an entire area dedicated to Bison history that really explained the rapid decline and near extinction of these great animals.  

 Moving a little further south, we stopped for a few nights near Hot Springs, SD where we visited the Mammoth site.  This is a significant research facility and ongoing paleontological dig where 30 or more male Mammoths were drawn to a sinkhole pool of warm water that did not freeze during the winter.  They either tried to drink and fell in or entered the pool to drink and bathe.  Either way, the bank all the way around the pool was covered in slick red clay and they could not climb out.  They probably became exhausted with the struggle and drowned.  Entombed in a small pool that was subsequently filled with clay, their skeletons and everything else that was trapped in the pool are well preserved.  

Mammoth Site Hot Springs, SD

With the Fourth of July on a Wednesday this year, we made reservations at out of the way places for the weekends on either side of the holiday.  This gave us time in a small Nebraska city park campground to wash The Bus and get the oil changed in the Jeep.  I keep a log of tire mileage on the Jeep that we tow behind The Bus by simply adding the miles we drive in the Jeep with the number of miles we towed the Jeep.  In seven months, we have put 21,139 miles on the tires.  It is kind of shocking to think we will need to replace Jeep tires every two years at this pace.  

Random Prairie Dog

RV Tip:  South Dakota like North Dakota and several other states, charges a vehicle entry fee in addition to the campground fee to enter their state parks.  It is something like $7 per day or $30 for an annual pass.  We have found it is usually better to pay the annual fee and put the sticker on your TOAD (scout vehicle) so you can cover your days in the current park as well as breeze through the gate of other parks you may visit even if you don’t camp there.