While the bison are the main attraction along the Custer State Park Wildlife Loop Road, there are still many other things to see here which you should not skip over quickly. Firstly, I think the scenic views along this loop road are worth the drive alone. I didn’t take too many photos this day because I was just really enjoying the peaceful drive, but you’ll see various terrain along the way in the form of rolling hills and some splashes of fall color in places where the tree diversity is more than just blocks of Ponderosa Pines.
Another view with some taller hills in the distance. The prairie seems to stretch to the horizons and beyond here with big open skies.
“Oh no,” I thought as I came across some stopped cars that were suspiciously close to wild animals. “Don’t these tourists ever learn or read the park rules?!” I watched on as multiple cars stopped and either rolled their windows down or even got out and walked right up to a group of wild burros on the road as if they were pets. On the other hand, maybe I’d get to watch someone learning a lesson today…
Now that I’m back home I learned the lesson was all my own. In Custer State Park there is a band of wild burros, often called the “begging burros”, that roam the park and solicit visitors for food. Apparently this is allowed by the park rules which to me is shocking as feeding wild animals is never a good idea. I didn’t have any suitable snacks to share which was disappointing for this hungry four-legged friend as they trotted off empty mouthed.
The burros have set up camp today in this small line of shaded trees some 50 feet off the road. Overall I counted 10 in total but only 2-3 were interested in the passing cars.
Prairie dogs are a common site on the loop road. I could have spent all day taking pictures of them as they don’t easily spook from humans. Cute but I’ll view them from a distance – they are known carries of the plague, tularemia, hantavirus, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
Today’s weather was fairly warm so I didn’t see many other animals but I did briefly catch this threesome of wild turkey hens as they crossed the road and darted into some shrubs.
And that concludes my time at Custer State Park. I could easily stay longer but my foot pains were preventing any hikes, and I needed to start making my way south so that I can ultimately wind up in New Mexico. It was time to make that shift and put some mileage on the truck – more adventures are right down the road!
Lat = 43.6813278 , Long = -103.4465790 -- Show at Google Maps