South Dakota Part 2
Second Day of our “Wild West” tour. We have also already been to this area with the kids years back, so we did not feel the need to explore everything to see in this area. It is still early in the year, and there is not much traffic. We did a drive-by of Mount Rushmore. The road was so empty, we were able to stop the car and take pictures from the road. We were able to get quite a few good photos. The parking lot at Mount Rushmore was fairly empty as well.
We had heard that Crazy Horse was supposed to be near completion, so we decided to take a quick detour and see how it looks. Now it has been 17 years since we were here last, so we were excited to see the progress. Unfortunately it looks practically the same as it did 17 years ago. Oh well!
We had stayed at Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park with the kids 17 years ago, and wanted to drive through the area again. It does not disappoint. We drove on the Needles Highway. Despite the lack of traffic everywhere else, we managed to find it here. I can’t imagine what it must be like in the busy season! What a spectacular drive. Some very cool rock formations and tunnels.
Since we were not in a hurry, we drove the Wildlife Loop. We saw bison, prairie dogs, burros and antelope. This loop was practically empty of any traffic. We had the road to ourselves.
Next on our stop was an unexplored National Park for us, Wind Cave National Park. We hope to visit all 63 National Parks, this will bring us one more closer!
Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota is home to one of the world’s longest and most complex caves and vast mixed-grass prairies, offering a unique blend of underground wonders and wildlife-rich landscapes. Wind Cave is one of the best known examples of a breathing cave. Changes in barometric pressure cause the cave to blow air in and out, therefore, breath. The cave is also recognized as the densest cave system in the world, with the greatest passage volume per cubic mile. Wind Cave is the sixth longest care in the world with 168.02 miles of explored cave passageways (as of 2025) and the third longest cave in America. Wind Cave is also noted for calcite formations known as boxwork. Once again, we were not prepared and all the tours were booked for the cave. We did enjoy the views and checking out the Visitor Center.
We left South Dakota and headed into Wyoming. We did out best to avoid the freeways adn took side roads whenever possible. The sceanery was amazing and the roads were empty as well. It was really gorgeous and I would highly recommend to take the “Road Less Traveled”. We were hoping to stay in a haunted hotel called The Virginian in Medicine Bow WY. But when we arrived in town, it was closed, as well as most of the businesses. They probably only open during the busy season, we were a bit early. We found a hotel in Rock City WY.
