Chicago to the Black Hills recommendations?

[paul_wasserman]

I'll be driving from Chicago to the Black Hills (for the NANPA forum)

next week, and hope for some fall color along the way. I have plenty

of information for the Black Hills/Badlands, but would appreciate any

suggestions for photo stops along the way.

 

I'll be travelling via Interstate 90 through Wisconsin & Minnesota,

so any recommendations in that vicinty are welcome.

[tim geiss]

I haven't headed that way in a while, but I do recall that there some quite scenic areas around the Lacrosse, WI area where you cross over the Mississippi from WI to MN. On the other side, Winona has some great East-facing views.

 

I did a Chicago/Cali trip via Badlands MANY years ago and from Central MN to the Badlands, the only point of interest that I remember is Mt. Rushmore.

 

Sorry I can't advise further. Have fun.

Tim

[Two23]

Leaves are already changing now, due to drought. They are mostly brown and dull yellow this year, again due to drought. This is in South Dakota. Elk hunting season has already started in Custer State Park (I go in a couple of weeks), and I've been scouting heavily all summer. Wildlife numbers are drastically down from the past couple of years. What a year to draw a tag!!! Anyway, eastern Minnesota did not get the drought and I suspect colors will be good there. They usually start the last week of Sept. and peak around the first weekend of October. Things were late this year, so it may take longer, I don't know. It was 36 degrees this morning where I live,and frosted. It snowed already in the Black Hills. This can knock the leaves off, depending on how much and what direction the wind came from. The best area I've ever seen anywhere for leaves is the Arrowhead of Minnesota, and it should be peaking very soon. The second area I really like is not Winona, but rather the limestone bluff area directly across from LaCrosse WI. Towns like, Harmony, Preston, etc. Very very nice! I'm not counting on much here in my state this year. I just hope I can find an elk.

 

 

Kent in SD

[del_gray]

In Minnesota the town of Stillwater right on the St Croix river is very nice with bluffs, a bridge, and a wonderful downtown. The parks in downtown Minneapolis are also beautiful, especially Lake of the Isles. The area around Longfellow's house is nice - Minnehaha falls, Lake Nokomis. I also like the Mississippi river near St. Thomas University. Old Fort Snelling and the park below it on the river are also very nice areas with lots of trees and bluffs along the river, including a bike/hike path. The big cathedral downtown Minneapolis is also beautiful, as well as the govt. buildings in St. Paul, if you like that type of photography. There's also a pathway smack downtown Minn. where you can walk over the Miss. river on the really old bridge, but I forget it's name. Have a great trip.

[stemked]

The Twin Cities are a nice places to photograph, but likely they are too far north.

 

If you are into Native American sites, there are excellent opportunities at Jeffers Petroglyphs in SW Minnesota. (from I-90 head north on 71), also Pipestone Natl. Monument where the red stone was mined and made into pipes, a nice museum is there as well.

 

In South Dakota there are falls to see in Sioux Falls (surprise, surprise). In Mitchell the Corn Palace is worth a stop as is the lookout on I-90 as you cross the Missouri River. I don't know about the timing but you can get some nice sweeping landscapes at Fort Pierre National Grasslands. Things are pretty flat until you hit the Badlands only thing that breaks up the landscape are the VERY ugly 'Wall Drug' signs that show up every few miles.

[Two23]

The Wall Drug signs often give shade and shelter to numerous creatures. I sometimes get permission and poke around them and have found all kinds of wildlife in their vicinity.

 

More importantly is Wall Drug itself. In the back courtyard building is one of the most surprising and riveting photography displays I've seen anywhere in the region. Around the turn of the century there was a dentist (or was he a pharmacist?) who had a very eccentric hobby. He liked to take his camera out in his spare time and take photos of what he saw. Imagine someone doing that! Anyway, in the rear building of Wall Drug you will see this huge collection of photos made with an 8x10 view camera of the land and the people here during that time period. The photos show a land that was still very much wild, and cowboys doing cowboy things as well as stoic Indians. This is not to be missed by any serious photographer. It would be easy to spend an afternoon studying them, but you can see quite a bit in 45 minutes.

 

BTW, not many people know it, but there are two genuine slot canyons in eastern South Dakota with decent accessibility.

 

 

Kent in SD

[a long time ago]

it's not on your way this trip but if you ever make this trip in january (the colder the better) on I-80 be sure and stop on the mississippi for eagles