j._scott_schrader Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 I will be in South Dakota in 2 weeks. I would like to camp at least 2 or 3 nights in Custer State Park. I am seeking your recomendation on the campgrounds in Custer. Would like to be close to areas where Bison and Prairie Dogs are plentiful...if it is near flowing water (river) or lake that would be a bonus. Any other places where you might suggest camping in Black Hills or Badlands? Thanks in advance for taking the time to respond. Also, anything worth doing/seeing on the eastern side of the state? I have a daughter who will be turning 8 while we are there and would like to do something special on her birthday...we will be near Brookings on her b-day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jess_quincannon Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 south dakota has some great stuff, but for some really great prairie dog, bison, and culture you should head north. The Theodore Roosevelt National Park, who created this park near his cattle ranch after creating the u.s. forest service, in the North Dakota Badlands has two amazing loops. The first one is about 40 miles with all kinds of buffalo, prairie dog towns, wild horses, mule der, elk, and coyote. The other loop is 15 miles and has some amazing wildlife and other vistas. You can drive or take horseback through much of the area. The town of Medora is an old style western town that also hosts a musical during the summer which is listed as one of the top 100 events in the country for tourism and would be a great way to celebrate your daughters birthday. Before the musical you can arrange to have your daughter go on stage with others from the audience to participate in a comedy type audience participation skit. The history here is also pretty amazing and the other activities outside of photography pretty great. Your daughter would probably get more out of this area then the attractive but less engaging badlands in South Dakota. According to Roosevelt, "I have always said I would not have been President had it not been for my experience in North Dakota." www.medora.com http://www.medorand.com/visitor_info.htm http://www.nps.gov/thro/index.htm I know this kind of sounds like an infomercial of sorts for medora, but if you have two weeks, spending a couple of days up in medora would probably be the highlight of your trip. Depending on where you are from the drive between Medora and South Dakota will probably be a unique experience for both you and your daughter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jess_quincannon Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 live view: http://www2.nature.nps.gov/air/WebCams/parks/throcam/throcam.cfm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_autey Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 My wife and I really enjoyed Custer State Park very much, there is a wildlife driving loop there that is great. In addition to the Bison (some 2000 head) there are antelope, prairie dogs and wild mules. We camped at Sylvan lake campground, about 15 minutes away from the wildlife drive, it was a great site with hot showers and beautiful scenery. I awoke in the morning to mule deer standing 10 feet in front of our tent. There are a lot of hiking trails in the area for you to explore. Its really some neat countryside. Although I can't find fault in the TR National Park suggestion either. Aside from bison, prairie dogs and coyotes, it also has a small herd of wild horses, great photographic material. It also is some neat countryside. Plus it has a petrified forest. Back to South Dakota, The area in and around Hot Springs is pretty cool. For you daughter the Mammoth Site would probably excite her. Hell, it excited me and my wife. There are wild mustangs and a herd of elk just outside town. And a plus is it isn't as heavilied touristed as say the Rushmore area is. I'd be glad to share anymore information I have with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two23 Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 There are tons of P-dogs at the south entrance to Custer, a pile more of them on the wildlife loop's central valley. If that's not enough there's a big group of them at the west entrance to the Badlands (gravel road along the rim). Just south of the main Badlands unit, north of SD44, there is a few sections of BLM called "Conata Basin." It's not a P-dog town, it's a metropolitan area! Thousands of the varmints, along with black footed ferrets. And mule deer. And antelope. And buffalo EVERYWHERE. (Only Easterners call them "bison." They are buffalo.) Do keep some distance from any rogue herd bull you come across. They will kill you. If you don't know how to tell a herd bull, keep your distance from all of them until you do. There are lots of calves this year and they are cute. Just watch out for the herd bulls. There is French Creek in Custer Park and it should be running. Not sure about campgrounds. Not sure why you want to camp by water anyway--the mosquitos are horrid this year. Bring repellant!!!! Skip North Dakota. I was just up in Bismarck and Minot all this week and was glad to get home. Spend all your money in South Dakota. Go visit the Prairie's Edge store in downtown Rapid City. Eat in Hill City (Alpine House,) and be sure to ride the 1880 Train. It's a real steam engine! North Dakota doesn't have anything like that, so skip it. Kent in SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_autey Posted July 1, 2005 Share Posted July 1, 2005 "Only Easterners call them "bison." They are buffalo" Or the educated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jess_quincannon Posted July 2, 2005 Share Posted July 2, 2005 Autey, I hate responding this way, but you are an idiot. The animal was called a Buffalo from the very beginning because the only similar looking beast was the Asian Water Buffalo. That is what they were named from the very beginning and those living in the area will more then understand that the reference to a buffalo is the same thing as the reference to a bison. Common sense kicks in and most people know you are not talking about the Asian Water Buffalo . . . had the geographical reference kicked in for you, maybe you wouldn't have sounded like such an ass . . . but I guess, at the risk of sounding like an ass myself, you were missing the common sense part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ducksquat Posted July 2, 2005 Share Posted July 2, 2005 Some folks are too anal retentive for their own goods! East in SD - go to Devil's Tower Ntl Monument. The Badlands Ntl Park is also a great place to visit. Consider visiting Cave of the Winds Ntl Park too. I think for better wildlife as you described, NoDak is better around Medora but that may be too far for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_autey Posted July 2, 2005 Share Posted July 2, 2005 Jess, this is personal between Kent and me, he insulted me and mine, by sticking your nose in it you became the f****** ass ****. So F*** OFF. Don, consult a map, sometimes it pays to be anal retentive, at least I won't waste a week looking for something in the wrong state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jess_quincannon Posted July 2, 2005 Share Posted July 2, 2005 wow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two23 Posted July 2, 2005 Share Posted July 2, 2005 Devil's Tower is actually in eastern WY, and is worth the trip if you've never seen it. There are lots of semi-tame mule deer in the immediate area. If you go, take the road from Belle Fourche, SD (a real cowboy town) to get there. There are antelope all over the place just west of Belle Fourche. (Pronounced bell-foosh.) Eastern SD is generally skipped by tourists, which is too bad. In the northeast corner there are thousands of glacial lakes. These are home to millions of birds. Honest, when I've gone to places like "Ding Darling" etc. I was most unimpressed because I'm used to the numbers of birds in northeast SD. There are all the usual critters such as red fox, skunks, raccoons, and white tail deer (no mulies east river.) This is a prairie area with abandoned farms and churches and semi-ghost towns everywhere. The area ranges from fairly flat to very hilly glacial morraine (such as Sisseton.) I enjoy the history and culture of the areas I live in and also travel. Everyone here calls a buffalo a buffalo, and an antelope an antelope. This ties us to our culture and history. I actually am fairly well educated with two college degrees including one in medical science. I have had a college level taxonomy course and more than my share of biology courses. But really, saying "bison" or "pronghorn" just seems pretentious somehow to us folks actually living where the critters do. And really, "Bison Bill Cody" just doesn't have the same cachet, does it? ;-) Finally, to quote Shakespeare, "Would a buffalo by any other name still smell as sweet?" Kent in SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ducksquat Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 Sorry about the wrong state. I guess I was still a bit awed by the lack of certain decorum by what I perceive to be, well, let's just so "not so mature" dialogue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_thompson Posted July 3, 2005 Share Posted July 3, 2005 I would second the Hill City Alpine House as a fine place to dine. Be sure to check out Sylvan Lake in Custer Park. Makes for wonderful reflections shots early in the day with HUGE Boulders in the background. Your daughter may enjoy Evans Plunge in Hot Springs, a sort of old time water park. Brookings is a college town so not a great deal there for an 8 year old. Perhaps the best would be to tour The Garden at the State Unniversity, McCrory Gardens. free BTW.http://www3.sdstate.edu/Academics/CollegeOfAgricultureAndBiologicalSciences/HorticultureForestryLandscapeandParks/McCroryGardens/History/Index.cfm The eastern part of SD has some unique State Parks. Most weekends there are some special programs scheduled. http://www.sdgfp.info/Parks/index.htm If your daughter likes "Little House on the Prairie she may enjoy a trip to De smet (near Brookings) to visit the Ingalls Homesteadhttp://www.ingallshomestead.com/Looks like they have a Pageant going on July 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17 22, 23, 24. http://www.ingallshomestead.com/events/pageant05.html Have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_gifford Posted July 5, 2005 Share Posted July 5, 2005 <<Also, anything worth doing/seeing on the eastern side of the state? I have a daughter who will be turning 8 while we are there and would like to do something special on her birthday...we will be near Brookings on her b-day.>> Well, if she likes Laura Ingalls Wilder books ("Little House on the Prairie" etc.) then she might love to see De Smet, SD, and Walnut Grove, MN. While in the Black Hills, you're just a short hop from a fascinating dig full of Columbian Mammoth remains. The site is both a museum and an honest-to-goodness academic work in progress. My kids (including a daughter who was 8 when we were passing through there) absolutely loved that. Devil's Tower (yes it is in northeastern WY) and the Badlands and the Black Hills and Rushmore and Crazy Horse and the mammoths and the trillion acres of corn in the eastern part of the state... I'm sure you will have a fine time. Did you set aside an hour or two so you can go to Sturgis and buy a Harley? Sorry, I have no worthwhile advice on campgrounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glen peterson Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 Noone mentioned Wall Drug. Is it still there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Two23 Posted July 7, 2005 Share Posted July 7, 2005 Of course Wall Drug is still there. There is a really cool display of hundreds of photos taken by a dentist/photographer around ~1910 of real cowboys, real Indians, homesteaders, 4-4-0 railroad engines, early towns and people, army wagon trains, and so on. It alone is worth the trip. Kent in SD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glen peterson Posted July 8, 2005 Share Posted July 8, 2005 Also, Remember that the name of the state capital is pronounced 'PEER'. From a former resident of north central Nebraska... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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