We’ve spent nearly a week in South Dakota, a concentration of attractions in a small area around the historical Black Hills – a place sacred to the Lakota Sioux Indian tribe but also rich in Western history.

Mount Rushmore was awe inspiring – far more spectacular than we had envisaged and a tribute to one man’s vision.  The carving took 14 years to complete, with Borglum (the sculpter) dying just a few months before completion.

Mount Rushmore

Across the Black Hills, the immense Crazy Horse mountain honors one of the great leaders of the Native Americans.  Only partially complete, it is vast in its scale and ambition – funded entirely by private donations and visitor revenue.

This area is a treasure chest of parks: Jewel Cave National Monument, Wind Cave National Park and of course Custer State Park where we stayed.

Wind Cave is one of the largest cave systems in the world – 143 miles mapped to date and an estimated 90-95% remaining!  We went down about 200 of its 500 feet depth, somewhat intimidating if you are claustrophobic but an opportunity to experience TOTAL darkness.

Custer State Park is famous for its herd of about 1600 Bison and this was certainly one of our highlights – experiencing them both in the park and then unexpectedly in our lodge area one morning!   It’s hard to imagine these herds so large that they stretched to the horizon – just driving through a small herd was intimidating enough.

Pronghorn Deer

Bison on the move

A stern bull

Other highlights included a Daddy / Daughter hike to Cathedral Spires, a brisk swim in beautiful Sylvan Lake, and some family adrenalin at the Adventure Park.

Sylvan Lake

Hike to Cathedral Spires

Lazy lunch at Sylvan Lodge

All Custer photos here – next stop, digging for dinosaurs in Wyoming.