Photo Blog with Waterfalls, Hiking, Outdoors, and other Adventures
Made a brief stop at the Custer State Park Visitor Center to learn about the history and gather ideas on best places to visit. I came here several times only to find it was closed – if you plan to visit as well, check online for their hours in the off-peak season as they are … Read more
The Needles Highway (SD-87) is a 14-mile scenic drive through some of the best scenery in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It is also part of the larger double-loop Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway. This is by no means an exhaustive guide to the road – just some photos I took during my adventure. Less … Read more
After getting skunked on my morning run across the Needles Highway and then dilly-dallying with breakfast and laundry watching some clouds grow in the sky, I finally said “screw it!” and drove up to Sylvan Lake to the Trail #9 trail head for Black Elk Peak. The clouds continued to build as I watched from … Read more
Started the morning attempting to drive across the Needles Highway from east to west but it was closed off at the intersection with America Center Road. I didn’t expect that so no backup plan, and decided to head into the city of Custer to come up with a new plan. While cruising down the main … Read more
The Scenic Tour of Jewel Cave National Monument explores deeper into the cave than the short Discovery Tour which I also joined this morning by mistake. Prepare yourself to traverse up & down over 730 stairs through a 1/2 mile loop that descends several hundred feet. After starting again at the Target Room we immediately … Read more
Due to my scheduling blunders I had a break for lunch and to strategize on how to use my time for the remaining daylight hours. There are a some hiking trails in the monument that look pretty interesting, but as I sat in the shady forest eating my sandwich the ominous clouds rolled in across … Read more
The visitor center at Jewel Cave National Monument is split into two parts: a small building that has a theater and film about the monument, and a slightly larger main building with the visitor center, gift shop, and modern entrance/elevator to the caverns. I watched the film and it is definitely worth seeing to help … Read more
Took a bit of a drive today to the southwestern part of the Black Hills, and after heading west from Custer about half way to the border with Wyoming I stopped to check out Jewel Cave National Monument. Proclaimed a National Monument by Teddy Roosevelt back in 1908, Jewel Cave is currently the fifth longest … Read more
Overnight temps were very mild in the 60’s and I could have lounged at the lake drinking coffee all day without much argument, but instead I arose and broke camp quickly to maximize the daylight hours that are now growing noticeably shorter all the time. One of the main “to-do’s” of my trip was to … Read more
Eastern South Dakota is about as exciting to drive through as southern Minnesota, which is to say that if you enjoy long stretches of flat land and straight roads then this is your place. For the rest of us, any small diversions on a route like this are welcome to break up the monotony. Thankfully … Read more