Alaska 2013: Day 7 Custer State Park

Day 7 started with driving from Rapid City, SD to Custer State Park, approximately 40 miles. On our way to our camp site in the park we saw four mountain goats that had traffic stopped. Once set up, it was off to find some wildlife. Did we find any? White tailed deer, mountain goats, prong horned antelopes and buffalo. We stopped at a visitor center where a park ranger told us where there were a couple of large herds of buffalo;; with one herd having over 500. Off we go down Fisherman Flats road (dirt and gravel) to find the buffalo. After a mile or two down Fisherman Flats road we found buffalo, I mean buffalo, they were everywhere, in the fields, on the road; in fact everywhere you looked you saw buffalo. We were excited to see all the wildlife.However, poor old Gypsy barked so much she was hoarse… After our safari, it was back to the campsite for a snack and off to Mt. Rushmore.

Some history on the park: Custer State Park is a state park and wildlife reserve in the Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota, USA. The park is South Dakota's largest and first state park, named after Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer. The area originally started out as sixteen sections, but was later changed into one block of land because of the challenges of the terrain. The park began to grow rapidly in the 1920s and gained new land. During the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps built miles of roads, laid out parks and campgrounds, and built three dams that set up a future of water recreation at the park. In 1964 an additional 22,900 acres (93 km²) were added to the park. The park covers an area of over 71,000 acres (287 km²) of hilly terrain and is home to many wild animals.

The park is home to a famous herd of 1500 free roaming bison. Elk, mule deer, white tailed deer, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, mountain, and feral burros also inhabit the park. The park is famous for its scenery, its scenic drives (Needles Highway and the wildlife loop), with views of the bison herd and prairie dog towns. This park is easily accessible by road from Rapid City.

The popularity of the park grew in 1927, when U.S. President Calvin Coolidge made it his "summer White House" and announced from the Black Hills that he would not seek a second full term in office in the election of 1928.

These mountain goats are having lunch by the road

A curious goat standing next to the road?

We think these pronghorns are some of the most beautiful animals in the park. These pronghorns are the fasted four legged animal in North America, 60 miles an hour for short distances. They are also the only animal that in North America that sheds their horns each year.