1 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
Sixth Stop: Custer, South Dakota
Before I begin, it was while we were in Custer that my father passed away. He’d struggled for nine years after a stroke took the best of him. He’d been in a nursing home the past year. A nursing home was the last place he wanted to be. He really wanted to be doing exactly what we’re doing now - traveling the country - which is why we continued. I know it’s what he would’ve wanted - to travel, write, and take photos. So…here we go, Dad!
“Oh give me a homeeeee, where the buffalo roam……”
STOP, unless you’re looking to settle down in Africa or South Asia. Did you know there are technically NO buffalo living in the United States? They’re all called bison. I guess the two-syllable bison didn’t fit the songwriter’s tempo. Or maybe he just didn’t know. But now you do. And I do, too.
This little lesson on the giant, furry creatures introduces our next stop on this crazy, cross-country adventure - Custer, South Dakota - which happens to house its fair share of bison.
2 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
I booked a site at Ft. Welikit campground in Custer simply so we could visit Mt. Rushmore. It was all I knew about the area and it seemed like a nice, educational stop and the only thing available to see. Boy, was I wrong. In fact, Mt. Rushmore was our least favorite of all the things we saw in the Custer area. There’s so much more and could easily fit into a family’s week-long vacation.
Our favorite part of Custer? Custer State Park. Don’t let the state park designation fool you. The park covers 71,000 acres and is just as impressive as the national parks. We really had no idea.
When I booked our campsite, I didn’t know we were a few miles down the road from one of the prettiest lakes in Custer State Park - Sylvan Lake. It has a Flintstones-like feel with giant rock formations towering over it’s clear waters. But more on that later.
3 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
4 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
We started our first day with lunch at a Mexican restaurant we later learned was owned by a church with parishioners volunteering as waitstaff. It was surprisingly good, and unusual for a midday dining experience in a midwestern town.
Why?
During lunch, a storm trooper casually walked by outside. Yes, a Star Wars storm trooper. Full-body, white suit complete with a giant, hard helmet.
Because street photography is a passion of mine, the opportunity to photograph a storm trooper walking through South Dakota past giant statues of bison was too tempting to miss. I shoved my husband out of the booth and bolted to the door with two eight-year-old boys from one table over. We were too late. The storm trooper had moved on. Defeated, I slid back in the booth, accidentally scraping my elbow on the terra-cotta wall and bled during our meal. Typical for me.
But the storm trooper sighting brings up one of my favorite parts of traveling and this post’s first tip…
TIP #1 - EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED.
Always be on the lookout for the unusual. Look up at store windows, read signs, walk places when you can. You’ll never know what you’ll find like…a storm trooper.
After lunch and hoping to swim, we asked the girl in the campground office what she thought would be a pretty lake for an afternoon visit. At the time, we weren’t aware of the beautiful Sylvan Lake that was just up the road. She pointed us in the other direction - Stockade Lake. Apparently, she likes to eat her lunch there. I’m not faulting anyone on their favorite lunch spot. It was a pretty area. It just didn’t compare to the Flintstone lake. (Campground Carrie, next time families ask for a lake recommendation, send them to Sylvan. It’s what they’re looking for.)
But we took Campground Carrie’s advice and headed to her lunch spot.
5 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
We waded in the freezing waters until our limbs were numb. Once back in the car and looking for something else to do, I turned to the Trip Advisor app and saw a mention of the wildlife loop. Again, we were going into Custer with zero planning or excursion ideas. Since I was driving, I made an executive decision and we headed down the road to begin the wildlife loop. Next tip when traveling with teens…
TIP #2 - NEVER, EVER MENTION THE EXACT MILEAGE OF ANY DRIVE, HIKE, OR BIKE RIDE. NEVER.
One mile to a teen sounds like 10. In fact, don’t tell them where you’re headed until you pull up outside the place. Most likely, they’ll be on their phones and unaware of how they got there.
Case in point - when I pulled up the wildlife loop online, it listed the drive as 18 miles long with a recommended speed of 25 MPH taking 1-2 hours to complete. My family, who had just completed a full three days of driving, would in no way agree to another hour or two in the truck so I did what all moms do - I lied. Or conveniently forgot to mention the distance.
6 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
We started on the wildlife loop laughing at the lack of wildlife we saw at the start of said loop. There was a tiny fawn in the distance but because we regularly see those in our backyard, we kept moving. After 20 minutes, we were ready to give up.
Then it happened.
We topped a hill, saw a line of parked cars, and it was like an oasis in the vast wasteland of Custer State Park. Donkeys. Lots of donkeys (or burros if you want to be specific). They trotted to the road to greet tourists like some Wildlife Loop Welcome Committee. We couldn’t be happier. I’ve since learned that these donkeys are called Begging Burros because of their hope that a carload will include a free snack.
(The burros have been in the park for almost a century. They were first used as pack animals to help those make the trek to nearby peaks. When they were no longer needed, the donkeys were released to the wild where they remain today.)
7 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
8 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
9 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
10 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
11 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
12 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
The donkeys alone will make the wildlife loop worth it. But it wasn’t the only animal encounter we had. Soon after, we saw pronghorn antelope, bison, mountain goats and more deer.
Our favorite experience, after the donkeys, was the herd of bison blocking the road as we left the park, especially the one bison happily scratching an itch on a nearby fire hydrant.
13 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
14 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
15 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
16 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
17 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
18 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
The wildlife loop did take almost two hours but no one noticed, which is why it is imperative to follow Tip #2.
The next day we found Sylvan Lake. It was otherworldly with its calm waters and giant rock formations. The boys climbed the rocks and swam while I did a solo hike to see the Cathedral Spires. (I’d lost my father that morning and it seemed like a nice way to remember him.)
It was a beautiful hike but a little rough on the way up.
TIP #3 - DO NOT EAT SUSHI RIGHT BEFORE A HIKE.
I could see my dad laughing as I stopped more than once to keep myself from hurling. But I made it to the top vomit-free and the views were amazing.
This side of the park was just as incredible as the wildlife loop but offered an entirely different experience. While the wildlife loop had us singing Home on the Range, the other end was more fitted for John Denver’s greatest hits with Metallica on backup. Here, the landscape was extremely dramatic with tall, slender, rocky spires. A winding road wove through the mountains, quite literally, at one spot known as The Needles Eye Tunnel. Here, cars took turns driving through the very narrow space in the mountain.
19 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
20 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
21 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
22 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
23 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
For our third and final full-day at Custer, we visited Mt. Rushmore.
It was nice to see but I considered it a “one and done” stop. The museum film was interesting and showed how workers used dynamite to carve the faces. But one son was not impressed with the monument and rightfully so. Mt. Rushmore was criticized by Native Americans who blamed white men, the ones who massacred their families and stole their land, for drilling on the sacred mountain. He didn’t sit through the film and wasn’t excited about being there. The woman we watched when we first arrived being photographed by a friend as she "flipped off" the mountain probably agreed. Mt. Rushmore also featured a large number of tourists in Trump t-shirts which I didn’t exactly understand. Trump’s head on a mountain? Nah.
24 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
25 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
Our next stop made up for Mt. Rushmore when we visited the Crazy Horse Memorial.
The memorial started in response to Mt. Rushmore when Chief Henry Standing Bear invited Polish sculptor Korczak Ziolkowskito to carve a memorial to the great Sioux chief Crazy Horse. Once finished, the sculpture will be larger than the heads of Mt. Rushmore. Sadly, Ziolkowski died before he finished but his family continues the work today. So far, Crazy Horse’s head has been carved. The finished sculpture will include the chief riding a horse and pointing to his tribal land. It’ll be the second largest sculpture in the world.
26 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
27 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
28 of 38
© 2024 Katie Linsky Shaw
So in just three full days, we saw a lot in Custer. There was more to see and do and we could easily go back. But we were ready to head to our main destination.
Next stop...
Glacier National Park!