South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming

South Dakota

The south-western corner of this state has a number of places that are well worth visiting and relatively close to each other. If you prefer to stay outside the main towns a very good option is Custer State Park, from which all the sights mentioned below can be visited on day trips.

Custer State Park

This is a relatively unknown park outside the USA judging from the small number of foreign visitors I encountered during the week I spent there. This may be because it lacks the spectacular sights that draw thousands of people to other, more famous, destinations like Yellowstone or Yosemite. But if you’re not looking for majestic peaks or towering waterfalls, there is much to see in Custer SP. For me, the standout feature are the three very different scenic drives. If you take the Wildlife Loop Road, you are almost certain to see the park’s magnificent herd of bison.




Bison herd on Wildlife Loop Road
(click on images to enlarge them)

The Iron Mountain Road is an excellent approach route to Mt. Rushmore as it takes you through beautiful scenery, tunnels hewn through solid rock and over wooden bridges, all the while offering glimpses of the famous landmark in the distance. Finally, the Needles Highway winds its way through dramatic rock formations before arriving at picturesque Sylvan Lake, where you can stroll, swim or hire a canoe. Another highlight is the State Game Lodge, highly recommendable for the quality of its accommodation and restaurant, which serves excellent bison and elk dishes. All in all, this park is a little gem which exceeded all my expectations.

Link: https://gfp.sd.gov/state-parks/directory/custer/
Link: http://custerresorts.com/lodges-and-cabins/state-game-lodge/

Mt. Rushmore

View from the Presidential Trail

Even though you’ve probably seen hundreds of photos of this iconic site, it still has the power to impress due to the size and quality of the sculpted heads of ptesidents Washington, Jefferson, (Theodore) Roosevelt and Lincoln. Take the Presidential Trail for a closer look (https://www.nps.gov/moru/index.htm).

Crazy Horse Memorial

Just off Highway 385, north of Custer, is the granite memorial to the famous Teton Sioux warrior Crazy Horse. Only his face has so far been completed and judging from the scale and detail of the model of the finished product, which is on display in the visitors centre, it will be many years before it’s completed. Definitely worth a visit (https://crazyhorsememorial.org/).

Badlands National Park

Turnout in Badlands NP

Another good day trip from Custer SP is to Badlands NP. Take Highway 79 to Rapid City and then Highway 44 to the Sage Creek Road turn off. Despite being unpaved, this road is perfectly drivable in a normal saloon car. It takes you past farms and fields until you enter Badlands NP, where the first thing you encounter is the Roberts Prairie Dog Town, a community of cute rodents that you won’t be able to resist photographing. You then turn right onto Highway 240, which takes you through the spectacular Badlands landscape with plenty of turnouts where you can park and take a closer look at the colourful rock formations (https://www.nps.gov/badl/index.htm).

As you approach Interstate 90, take half an hour to visit the Prairie Homestead, an interesting site featuring the original home of a pioneering settler family (http://www.prairiehomestead.com/).

Finally, on your way back to Custer SP, stop off at Wall Drug, a huge store which sells “trinkets, art, clothing, Christmas ornaments, leather goods, jewelry, and everything in between!”, as their website boasts (http://www.walldrug.com/).

Deadwood and Lead

Street in Deadwood

The last day trip I did from Custer SP was to these two gold-rush-era towns. I was expecting them to be more evocative of the 1870s when they were founded, but there are many modern buildings among the older restored ones. That said, it’s pleasant to stroll around and visit some of the stores and saloons that endeavour to recreate the frontier-town atmosphere, when the likes of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane lived here (https://www.deadwood.com/).

Nearby is Lead, with its enormous open-cut mine (http://sanfordlabhomestake.com/).

The Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway is also close:(http://www.spearfishcanyon.com/scenicbyway).

 

Montana

Little Bighorn Battlefield

Before arriving at this site I’d been reading a book about this legendary battle (“The Last Stand” by Nathaniel Philbrick) and trying to imagine the terrain over which the different phases of the encounter unfolded. Visiting the site really brought the story to life and made it much easier to envisage where and how the engagement developed. I strongly recommend anyone interested in the Indian Wars and this battle in particular to visit this national monument and take a guided visit with Apsalooke Tours. The park rangers also make a great effort to help visitors relive the skirmishes that took place here over the two days (June 25-26, 1876) that the battle raged, including how some of the soldiers were wounded with all the gory details. One girl fainted while listening to one of these accounts, although I’m not sure if this was due to the graphic nature of the descriptions or because of the intense heat! The visitor centre shows an interesting video about the battle (https://www.nps.gov/libi/).

Last Stand Hill

The nearby Custer Battlefield Trading Post has a café and sells a wide variety of Native American products (http://laststand.com/pages.php?pageid=6).

Wyoming

Devil’s Tower

This impressive geological feature is a must-see if you’re driving between South Dakota and the national parks of Wyoming. Geologists agree that the tower was formed through a process called “igneous intrusion”, although there are different opinions about what happened after that. These theories are explained on interpretative signs found on the Tower Trail, a 1.3 mile paved path that takes you all the way round the tower. It also has great views of the surrounding countryside. There is a prairie dog town near the entrance to the park (https://www.nps.gov/deto/index.htm).

Sheridan

I used this as a base from which to visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield, which is an easy 90-minute drive north from here on Interstate 90.

Other places in and around the town that are worth a visit are the Sheridan County Museum (http://www.sheridanmuseum.org/); the Historic Sheridan Inn (https://sheridaninn.com/), which has a good restaurant; Trail End Historic Site, the mansion home of cattle baron and politician John Kendrick (http://www.trailend.co/kendrick-mansion.html); the Brinton Museum and adjoining house (http://thebrintonmuseum.org/); and the Fort Phil Kearny Historic Site, near where the Fetterman Massacre occurred in 1866 (http://wyoparks.state.wy.us/Site/SiteInfo.aspx?siteID=21).

A good place to have dinner in Sheridan is Frackleton’s, on Main Street (http://www.frackeltons.com/).

Cody

Entrance to Buffalo Bill Center of the West

Several hours’ drive over the Bighorn Mountains brings you to Cody and its Buffalo Bill Center of the West. This superb complex has five excellent museums all under one roof (https://centerofthewest.org/).

A good place to stay is the Irma Hotel, which was built by Buffalo Bill himself and named after his daughter. The restaurant is decorated to evoke how it must have been in Buffalo Bill’s day and the food is very good. It was full on both nights I was there. Outside there’s a large porch where you can listen to live music and every evening there’s a re-enactment of a wild west gunfight right outside the hotel (http://www.irmahotel.com/).

Yellowstone National Park

The world’s very first national park is vast and full of spectacular sights. Be prepared to do a lot of driving to get to the main attractions, especially if you’re staying outside the park – West Yellowstone has lots of motel-style accommodation options (https://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm). Top of my list is the Lower Falls and the canyon below it. There are many excellent viewpoints from which to see the falls, but the view from Artists Point is the most impressive.

Lower Falls from Artists Point

My second favourite spot is the Mammoth Hot Springs, where a series of boardwalks lead to terraces that mineral-rich waters have covered with a brilliant white substance called travertine. Other highlights are Lamar Valley, where you can see a herd of bison, the Grand Prismatic Spring, Old Faithful Geyser and the nearby Inn. If you have a bit more time, other interesting sights include Gibbon Falls, Tower Fall, the Upper Falls and the Hayden Valley. The approach road from Cody is also very scenic.

Mammoth Hot Springs

I stayed in West Yellowstone at the Three Bear Lodge, which I highly recommend for both the accommodation and the restaurant (http://www.threebearlodge.com/).

Grand Teton National Park

This park, with its impressive range of mountains, is due south of Yellowstone. I spent two whole days there, so I was able to visit all the viewpoints, but if you have only one day the best viewpoints, in my opinion, are the Oxbow Bend Turnout, the Mount Moran Turnout and the Jenny Lake Overlook. The impressive Jackson Lake Lodge is worth a visit with its panoramic views.

Bison herd and Grand Teton peaks

A good base for visiting the park is the town of Jackson to the south. Don’t miss the Museum of Wildlife Art, just outside town (https://www.wildlifeart.org/).

A good place to stay is Buckrail Lodge, which is only a few blocks from the downtown area (https://www.buckraillodge.com/).

The Snake River Grill is an excellent place to have a gourmet meal (http://snakerivergrill.com/).



Jackson Lake and Grand Teton peaks from Jackson Lake Lodge