As we passed through Minnesota, we were trying to decide what route to take to continue heading West. We had a week and a half before we had to be in Colorado, and I wanted to squeeze in a visit to North Dakota before looping back down south. But when I saw how cute the titular Falls were of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, I decided it was worth giving South Dakota a little more time and attention. So we opted to visit only one of the Dakota twins on this trip and headed towards the south.
Our first visit in South Dakota was to Falls Park, where we saw the gorgeous and long sloping falls that gave Sioux Falls its name. The park was a lovely spot for a stroll and a picnic, and the park was pet friendly, so Reese and Winston enjoyed their sniffing around the falls too. I was surprised at how much exploring visitors were allowed to do here, we weren’t the only ones heading out onto rocks to get better and different views of the falls. It was a really fun afternoon of scrambling around and enjoying these delightful falls. We put the boys back into the bus so we could head up into the Visitor Center’s observation tower so we could check out some panoramic views of the park and the city.
We then headed downtown, where we wandered down the main street to explore a little bit of the Sioux Falls SculptureWalk. This was such a neat exhibit that’s displayed year-round throughout Sioux Falls. There was even a great guide we picked up at the Washington Pavilion that mapped out where all the sculptures were and provided information about the initiative. As we strolled, we passed the cutest little bar with outdoor seating, so we took a refreshment stop before continuing our tour of the sculpture walk. Once we reached the river, we realized that we stumbled across a lovely little downtown riverside festival! Riverfest had music by the water and local booths set up with games and giveaways. It’s always a delight to stumble onto local fun - there’s something special about seeing what makes a town come together and highlight what makes it special.
After spending the night at a quiet Sioux Falls Cracker Barrel, making a delightful dinner and baking up a dessert, we continued venturing into the state. On our way out of town, we made a stop for a morning walk at Devil’s Gulch, which had some really neat rock features but due to local dry conditions, the waterfalls were nowhere to be found. It was still a nice morning walk before hitting the road, and we enjoyed reading some of the local lore about how Jesse James took a flying, 18-foot leap across the gulch during a pursuit by a posse after robbing a bank in Minnesota. It was a lovely stroll through the rocks, although like we’d seen before, local droughts meant all the waterfalls were no more than water trickles.
As we moved towards the center of the state, there were a few roadside and tourist fun stops ahead of us. First up was The World’s Only Corn Palace, in Mitchell, SD! While this initially felt like a silly town gimmick, it had free entry, and I was more and more impressed by this place as we walked through. They change the exterior design every year, and there was an interesting display about the artist, Oscar Howe, and how he sketches his designs and then coordinates how to best utilize varieties of corn to achieve different colors to bring his vision to life with halved cobs of corn. They had a wonderful gallery of the different designs over the years, showing how extensive and varied the artistry had been since its initial build in 1892. And as a fun extra little bonus, they have a Corn Cam that shows the Corn Palace from the outside, and we were able to snap some silly pictures of ourselves on the Corn Palace balcony! We wrapped up our tour with some fresh popcorn from the gift shop, both delightfully surprised that the Corn Palace was such an interesting attraction with a rich history.
And then, we continued through the state, collecting other tourist stops as we went. Next up was 1880s Town in Midland, SD. Funnily enough, we had passed another 1880s Town on our route, but the other seems to no longer be operational. As we approached Midland, we passed through the time zone, putting us in Mountain Time and making us bright and early arrivers to 1880s Town, so we had our run of the place. And it was dog friendly! So we were able to stroll down the quiet main street and even check out inside the buildings with our pups. We met some other visitors, who upon seeing Winston’s nervousness, swore he could sense the ghosts of the place. The history of 1880s Town was an interesting one. In 1969, Richard Hullinger bought the empty property, eventually forming the idea to put an old west town here. As luck would have it, an old west movie was filming locally, using genuine 1800s buildings and artifacts. When they were done shooting, Richard was able to move the buildings to his lot, and 1880s Town was born. It was a really well done little town, and it was interesting to think about what life would have been like during these times. From the one room houses to the multiple saloons to small newspaper offices, it's very different from the life of convenience many Americans have come to expect. I have to say, I sure love living in a time with antibiotics!
As we headed down towards the end of the lane, we couldn’t help but notice the adorably silly little sculpture further out in the field of a man walking a dinosaur. We just had to do a drive by to get a better picture!
We continued venturing west, this time following the beckoning signs to Wall Drug. Another wonderful surprise - Wall Drug is also pet friendly! We took a walk around with the boys, browsing souvenirs, enjoying their FREE ICE WATER, and even had some 5¢ coffee! Wall Drug also had a fascinating history. In 1931, the Hustead family moved to Wall, SD to open up a drugstore. It was a small town, and business was struggling, until one day Dorothy noticed a line of travelers heading westward on the nearby highway. She thought “what would entice these travelers to detour over to our little shop after a journey across the hot prairie?” And Wall Drug’s history of FREE ICE WATER and enticing signs was born! Now Wall Drug is a booming tourist stop, full of cute little shops, a spot for a meal, and of course, a nice cup of FREE ICE WATER.
The day was getting quite hot at this point, so we decided to head towards our first night on free federal lands and take it easy. We ended up on a gorgeous cliff, overlooking the rippling rocks of the Badlands as they spilled out onto the South Dakota prairie. Not a bad first venture into boondocking! We set ourselves up to relax to the stunning views, and even spotted a f goats strolling up and across the cliffside! I was very much looking forward to stargazing, but the true nighttime stunner was the red moon as it crept over the horizon and shone down over the prairie. I was absolutely in awe of this place, and I was overwhelmed with gratitude that this beautiful little spot was our backyard for the night. We woke up early the next morning to enjoy the hazy sunrise over the Badlands before continuing west to our next stop.
As we’ve previously mentioned, one of our favorite reasons to stop at campsites is to chat with other travelers and get some inside tips on places to see and things to do. When we were in the Adirondacks, we met a lovely couple from the midwest who told us we absolutely had to check out Custer State Park. We initially planned to spend a day or two here, but I quickly fell in love with the place, and we ended up spending 4 lovely days here, enjoying all the wildlife and scenery this beautiful park had to offer.
We were lucky to find Center Lake campground, since they were a walk-ins only campground, and we were easily able to get a site. The campsite hosts were a delight to chat with as we got ourselves settled into camp for a relaxing evening. As difficult as it is for me to admit, sometimes we need to just take a break and not fill every day with adventure. Besides, I had some big plans for our visit, and we needed to rest up to do it all! After a gorgeous evening under the stars, we were ready the next day to set out on Black Elk Peak - South Dakota’s high point and the highest point from the Rockies to the Pyrenees! We headed over to the trailhead at Sylvan Lake and begin our trek up on Trail #9. For a 7,000+ ft mountain, I was surprised at how gentle and accessible the trail felt. I guess when you’re starting at over 5,500 feet, there’s less gains! This was such a novelty to me, since I’m originally from New Jersey, I’m pretty used to being at sea level! The trail to the summit was beautiful, and we made it to the top of the tower at the summit, which was dizzyingly high and offered amazing 360 views of South Dakota. It was breathtaking, recognizing how high up we were and how much of the world we could see unfurling beneath us. We had started at about 8:30, and just as we were leaving the summit, we could see that the trail was getting more and more crowded. I was glad to avoid most of that, as we decided to descend on Trail #4, the less popular trail for Black Elk Peak, and make a detour up Little Devil’s Tower. The trail up to LDT was more challenging but I find rock scrambles make a hike so much more fun. And even though he’s almost 11, our Reese loves finding the most fun and challenging route up the rocks and crushing it! I honestly felt like the hike to LDT was more fun and offered the same, if not slightly better views. The Cathedral Spires, a stunning series of notable rock formations in the park, was closer in proximity to LDT, so it was easier to appreciate these gorgeous towering rocks. Especially since we weren’t able to drive Needles Highway due to tunnels, this was our best view of the Spires.
We continued our descent back to Sylvan Lake, and wrapped up our 7.7 mile hike in just about 5 hours. With Reese and Winston being thoroughly pooped, we left them to nap in the bus while we took a little stroll around Sylvan Lake so I could fully appreciate the scenery… and also re-enact National Treasure: Book of Secrets, which was filmed here!!! You may not know this, but Charlotte is named after National Treasure. In the first film, the initiating clue of the treasure hunt is “the secret lies with Charlotte”, so it was a delight to get to bring Charlotte a little bit into the National Treasure world.
After a big day of hiking and crossing another state high peak off our list (4/50), we were glad to have a campsite to return to for some relaxation. Nothing helps with post hike recovery like gently swinging in a hammock under the pines. The next day we opted for some of the easy and varied scenery Custer had to offer. We took a nice morning stroll around Legion Lake, where we discovered the first of our summer trail challenge rubbings. Although we wouldn’t have time to complete all 8 trails to find the associated 8 rubbings, I was still excited to nab one as a souvenir. And it’s on my list to return one summer to complete the challenge and win myself a Custer State Park pin!
Next up was a drive on Wildlife Loop Road, where we had read we were certain to see some bison. And did we ever!! We were fully caught up in a bison traffic jam! These furry friends know that they run the park, and they took their time crossing and playing in the road. It was incredible seeing them so closely on their terms, since you should never approach one on your own. They are peaceful animals, but like all others, don’t like feeling threatened, and can charge you at up to 40 mph! After seeing them lumber along the roadways, it was surprising to learn how fast they can move, but who doesn’t love a leisurely afternoon stroll? As we made it through the bulk of the bison herds, we also kept an eye out for other potential park wildlife. Although we didn’t get to see a bighorn sheep, we did see a pronghorn antelope and some prairie dogs. We took a break from the loop for a short jaunt out on the Prairie Trail, to see a different side of Custer State Park. After our adventure in the Black Hills forests, it was so interesting to cross to the other side of the park and see flat rolling prairies and the small pockets of forests competing for space against the prairies.
After a day of adventuring, I was excited to head back to camp for some relaxation. I had forgotten how truly wonderful it can be to spend time at a good campground. Nothing like napping in a hammock before roasting marshmallows on the fire.
Our next morning, we sadly packed up camp and got ready to head out of Custer State Park. But not before we explored a few more things. We got an early start and headed back to Sylvan Lake, where we took a stroll part way around the lake before finding a hidden little rock tunnel that led us to the start of the Sunday Gulch trail. We opted to do the trail clockwise, and I was happy with our route. The 4 mile trail started with a journey through the rocks that lined Sylvan Lake to get to a nice, easy path through the woods. It was a beautiful trail filled with wildflowers and trees and descending next to a nice stream. We saw our first little trickles of a waterfall, and then the real fun of Sunday Gulch started. There were big rocks to scramble and streams to cross and waterfalls to see, and then more big rocks to scramble. All the serious rock scrambling bits had decently solid handrails built in, which I thought was a nice way to make a more challenging trail more accessible. As we neared the final ascent, we both decided we were glad to have done the bulk of the hiking first and have this fun challenge near the end. Besides, I think it’s easier to go up slippery rocks than down them, especially with our little mountain goats, Reese and Winston! We emerged from the rocky gulch to the stunning views of Sylvan Lake.
I knew we couldn’t leave this place without a little kayaking here, so we threw our boats in the water for a little goodbye paddle. While Reese likes to take a nap as I paddle him around, Winston has gotten a little more nervous in the kayaks. We’re trying to see if we can get him to enjoy it more, but until then, we opt for short trips out. Not short enough, I guess, since Winston decided to swim himself ashore as we pulled up to the launch! Now we’d really done it all here - some hiking, some kayaking, even a little swimming. As sad as it was to leave this gorgeous place, our next stop was one I had been pretty excited for, so that helped ease the sorrows.
South Dakota was a lot more beautiful and enjoyable than I had expected. From the silly tourist fun to the stunning Badlands views to Custer State Park, we really enjoyed our trip to South Dakota. I’m sure we’ll be back… since I have my eyes on a Custer State Park summer trail challenge pin! And I want another visit to this wonderful state park that completely stole my heart.
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