Skyline Drive: A Scenic View of Rapid City

Image via WikipediaRapid City, South Dakota is a mountain town located on the edge of the Black Hills. Its original name was Hay Camp, as the open grasslands along Rapid Creek provided hay for miners in the Black Hills gold rush towns.

Rapid City is split in two halves by a hogback ridge. The road that traverses this ridge is known as Skyline Drive, one of the most scenic spots in all of Rapid City.

Skyline Drive is the home of Skyline Drive Wilderness Park, Dinosaur Hill Park, and several TV and radio stations. It is also the location of "Hangman's Tree", a site that features prominently in the story of an 1877 lynch mob-style hanging.

A drive over Skyline is breathtaking, and sometimes harrowing as you make your way around sharp turns from which you can look down a steep mountain ridge in both directions. If you visit Rapid City, don't miss this one!

Want to learn more? Read on here

Related articles

• What can you do learn or see at the Black Hills of South Dakota (wiki.answers.com)
• Library to Host Presentation about new Hé Sapa Arts and Performance Center in Rapid City (rcpldigitalpressroom.wordpress.com)
• Getting My Griswold On - Day 4: Black Hills (markmywordssite.com)
• On Your Way to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally? 40 Weird Stops to Make on the Trip (motorcycleinsurance.com)
• Badlands and Dinosaurs (intransit.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Its all just rocks, but what rocks! - Rapid City, SD (travelpod.com)
• Attendance Surge Expected for 70th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally; Vendor Spaces Filling Fast (prweb.com)
• Wyoming and Back Again - Part II (waywardpioneer.wordpress.com)
• Discover Mountain Lions at the Library (rcpldigitalpressroom.wordpress.com)

Best Places to See Bison in South Dakota

Image via WikipediaIf you have never visited South Dakota, you're in for a surprise. The state is split in two by the Missouri River. The land east of the Missouri is called "East River", the land to the west is "West River".

When people think of South Dakota, many picture the flat farmlands of east river. West river is completely different - the prairie starts to roll, the sky opens up to fill the horizon in every direction until you finally reach the Badlands and Black Hills region on the western edge of the state.

This is bison country, the home of the Lakota Sioux people who were the original hunters of the majestic American Bison. In the late 1800s these animals were hunted nearly to extinction by settlers who would kill an animal and take only the tongue to sell as gourmet food to easterners, leaving the corpses to rot under the prairie sky.

American bison were reintroduced to western South Dakota in the early part of the 20th century. Bison are making a comeback today with free-roaming herds such as you can see at Custer Sate Park or Wind Cave National Park or on private ranches such as 777 Ranch or privately and tribally owned herds of the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Indian Reservations.

Want to learn more? Read on here

Related articles

• Flandreau Santee Sioux Revive Organic Bison (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
• Buffalo Trend: Grass-Fed Bison Key to Marketing the Lean Meat (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
• What can you do learn or see at the Black Hills of South Dakota (wiki.answers.com)
• What are five fascinating facts about South Dakota (wiki.answers.com)
• 45th Annual Buffalo Roundup (prweb.com)
• Travel: Wind Cave National Park gets new lands (summitcountyvoice.com)
• What do buffalo and bison eat (wiki.answers.com)
• Where do buffalo and bison live (wiki.answers.com)
• Yellowstone to the Great Lakes-Update Part I (trippingawake.wordpress.com)
• Should You Be Eating Bison? (blisstree.com)
• Reflections from the Great Bison Roadtrip (northernvirginiaoutside.wordpress.com)

Visiting Bear Butte

Image via WikipediaMato Paha (Bear Butte) is perhaps the most well known sacred site in South Dakota. It is a prayer site for over 30 American Indian tribes, many of whom perform yearly ceremonies here.

By walking just a few feet along the trail to Mato Paha, you'll begin seeing colorful swatches of fabric tied here, there and everywhere on tree branches, bushes and even stumps. These are tobacco ties, and they represent the prayers of the faithful pilgrims to this beautiful mountain.

Mato Paha is designated as a National Historic Landmark (#73001746)

Want to learn more? Read on here

Related articles

• Board Allows Downscaled Drilling at Bear Butte (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
• Into Bear Country! (With a Guide) (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
• Sturgis Rally Threatens Native American Sacred Site (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
• Two Native Sites Make List of 11 Most Endangered (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
• America's most endangered places (gadling.com)

Visiting Badlands National Park: Tips for Travelers

Image via WikipediaOf all the places we get to visit in our western South Dakota "backyard", Badlands National Park is one of our favorites. There is so much to see and do, from the majestic buttes and eroded spires, to the big horn sheep nimbly making their way up impossible looking cliff faces.

This site was once the location of a warm inland sea. Limestone and sandstone formed during that time, which over the eons has eroded into the fantastic buttes and spires we know as the South Dakota Badlands.

The Conata Basin, part of the protected wilderness area of the park, is the site where the black-footed ferret, once the most endangered animal in North America, has been re-introduced after a lengthy but ultimately successful breeding program that began after only four surviving members of the species were found.

At Badlands National Park you can find places to camp, hike, take in a movie, eat a bison burger, or watch the bison - from a safe distance of course!

Badlands National Park has kept us coming back for more season after season, year after year. We are not alone! Each year the park hosts over one million visitors from all over the world. If you're never seen Badlands National Park, you're missing out on a truly unique treasure.

Want to learn more? Read on here

Related articles

• South Dakota Vacation (munsonhsr.wordpress.com)
• National Park Service Plans to Return Bones to Oglala Sioux (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
• Oglala Sioux Partners with Black Hills Resort Owner on High-End Tour (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
• Badlands aren't so bad. (shannonmarielcasey.wordpress.com)
• Getting My Griswold On - Day 5: Badlands (markmywordssite.com)
• Day 2: Beautiful Badlands, SD (jennifermerck.net)
• USA: Sleeping in the Badlands, SD (wanderfull365.com)

Visiting Mato Tipila (Devils Tower)

Image via WikipediaScience fiction fans may recognize this site from the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" . To the Lakota and other tribes that make the northern plains their home, this is a sacred site; the site where the Seven Sisters became the Pleiades.

You may know it as Devils Tower, but to the Lakota, this place is the Bear's Lodge, as a giant bear plays a big part in the story of the Seven Sisters.

If you are traveling to Mato Tipila, keep in mind that it is the equivalent of a church, mosque or synagogue. Ceremonies may occur year-round, but are especially frequent during summer months.

If you do come across someone in prayer or ceremony, please be respectful; don't gawk, stare, point, start asking questions, giggle, take pictures or otherwise interrupt.

If you plan to climb Mato Tipila, please also be respectful of the voluntary ban on climbing during the month of June, the height of the ceremonial season at Mato Tipila. By working together and being respectful of each other, we can do our part to ensure that Mato Tipila remains open for people of all faiths and backgrounds.

Want to learn more? Read on here

Related articles

• Close Encounters (thezebu.wordpress.com)
• The Legend of Devils Tower (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
• Into Bear Country! (With a Guide) (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
• Climbing Devils Tower (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
• Wyoming and Back Again - Part III (waywardpioneer.wordpress.com)

Dinosaur Hill Park: Scenic View of Rapid City, South Dakota

Image via WikipediaWant a nearly 360 degree view of Rapid City and the Black Hills? Take a ride up Skyline Drive, a scenic road that winds its way up the hogback ridge that divides Rapid City in half.

Near the top of the hill, you'll find historic Dinosaur Hill Park, a great place for all ages!

From the head of the 28 foot tall Brontosaurus to the tail of Triceratops, kids will enjoy playing on the five giant displays in the park and parents will love the view.

Want to learn more? Read on here

Related articles

• What can you do learn or see at the Black Hills of South Dakota (wiki.answers.com)
• Custer Park and Buffalos - Rapid City, SD (travelpod.com)
• Its all just rocks, but what rocks! - Rapid City, SD (travelpod.com)

Sandstone Buildings of Hot Springs

Image by bradleygee via FlickrOriginally called Mni Kahta (warm water) by the Lakota who used the spring-fed waters here as a healing tool, the town of Hot Springs, South Dakota became famous by sharing its mineral waters with the world.

Hot Springs, founded in 1879, was widely promoted as a resort destination beginning in the 1890s. With the building of an enormous mineral pool at Evan's Plunge and a railroad line through the center of town, Hot Springs was on its way to prosperity.

The health spa business was booming, and a building boom came soon after. Beautiful sandstone buildings quarried from local rock began springing up all over town and Hot Springs came into full flower.

By the mid-20th century, the health spa business was a bust. That didn't effect Hot Springs, however, as it was still booming as the city nearest the Black Hills Army Depot and Igloo, South Dakota and the mining operations in nearby Edgemont, South Dakota.

After the Army Depot shut down and the mining operations ceased, Hot Springs came to a standstill. Today, there are only about 4,000 people left in the once-thriving city. Many of the beautiful and historic sandstone buildings in town fell into disrepair.

Today, with the rebirth of interest in the health spa industry, many of these buildings have been restored to their original glory, and some are even being used in the same way they were used over a hundred years ago.

Want to learn more? Read on here

Related articles

• Historic Plaque Unveiled During National Public Lands Day at Wind Cave National Park (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
• Mountain Lion Killed in Connecticut Came from Lakota Country, via Wisconsin (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
• What are five fascinating facts about South Dakota (wiki.answers.com)
• What can you do learn or see at the Black Hills of South Dakota (wiki.answers.com)
• How were the Black Hills of South Dakota formed (wiki.answers.com)
• South Dakota Vacation (munsonhsr.wordpress.com)
• Wyoming and Back Again - Part II (waywardpioneer.wordpress.com)