Visiting the Rosebud Indian Reservation

Image via WikipediaThe Sicangu Oyate or Burnt-Thigh people are one of the bands of the Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires) that comprise the Tetuwan Oyate, Lakota or Great Sioux Nation. The name supposedly comes from a time when the band had to run through a fire on the prairie which left many tribal members with burns.

Lewis and Clark called them the Teton of the Burnt Woods in their journals of 1804, and said they "rove on both sides of the Missouri, White, and Teton rivers." The French trappers and traders thereafter called them the Upper Brule.

Want to learn more? Read on here

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Our Favorite Displays at Storybook Island

Image via WikipediaHave you ever been to Pooh's house? I have! If you visit Storybook Island in Rapid City, South Dakota, you can visit Pooh's house too, along with numerous other displays from some of the world's best-loved storybooks. Come join me as we take a stroll through some of my family's favorite displays at Storybook Island.

And here is Pooh's treehouse! You can enter from the front, or through a tunnel in back. On the ground you'll find Pooh (in a tree stump) and his friends.

Reach the treehouse by climbing directly up, or from the bridge that winds around to the side. The first floor is accessible to nearly every one, the second floor is a bit tougher to reach and the third floor is a climb straight up through a narrow trap door.

Want to learn more? Read on here

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Visiting D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery

The D.C. Booth hatchery was in commercial operation from 1896 until 1983, providing trout stock for lakes in the Black Hills and throughout the country.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took over the property in 1989 and has since turned the property into a living history museum to interpret the rich history of our national fish hatcheries and fish culture.

Today, anyone can visit this historic site, which is still in operation as a hatchery. The D.C. Booth National Historic Fish Hatchery still provides trout to stock Black Hills lakes for fishers.

Want to learn more? Read on here

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Old MacDonalds Petting Farm: Family Fun in the Black Hills

Image via WikipediaOld MacDonalds petting farm is a fun spot to bring your kids when you're visiting the Black Hills of South Dakota.

On the farm you'll find animal displays (some of which you can enter), watch eggs incubate, hold baby chicks, and bottle feed baby animals in the nursery and bottle-baby pens.

You'll also find a centrally-located playground, where adults can relax in the shade while their kids play, a fish pond, barrel train and pony rides.

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Storybook Island Family Fun Park

Image via WikipediaStorybook Island theme park opened its doors in 1959 and has remained a family favorite attraction ever since.

Maintained by the Rotary Club, the city of Rapid City and hundreds of volunteers, Storybook Island is the place to take your kids in Rapid City.

Storybook Island is home to dozens of play sets and displays from children's books and nursery rhymes. Some favorites are The Hundred Acre Woods, complete with a three story tree-house and tunnel, the pirate ship, full-size train engine, Snow White's castle, Cat in the Hat, Santa's workshop, the maze, castle gates, Cinderella's pumpkin carriage and Jack's beanstalk to name just a few of the many attractions this park has to offer.

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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!

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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

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