Hey Guys!

This post will conclude our time in Murphy, NC.

Read Days 1 & 2 here & Click here to see links to all of my blog posts

We started our morning with the delicious donuts that we had purchased the day before from the Crafted Dough!

We also had eggs, bacon, biscuits and ham!

It was like a breakfast buffet! 😅

The cream filled donuts were my favorite!

After breakfast, we headed to the hot tub.

We hadn’t really planned on doing much today so, we just spent the morning relaxing at the cabin for a while.

Later that afternoon, we headed into downtown Murphy for lunch.

We decided to eat at a place called Chevelle’s.…we had only eaten here once before but it was at their location in Hayesville.

The place was pretty crowded but we were seated right away.

We took a few minutes to look over the menu.

We both decided to order a burger….I ordered the California burger  and the hubby ordered the mushroom and Swiss burger.

They were very good!

Read reviews here

After lunch, we headed to the Murphy Riverwalk.

The 4 mile riverwalk is located in downtown Murphy but has several different places you can park to access the trail.

We parked at the old L&N train depot.

There’s a historical marker here that tells about the history of this railroad.

There’s also QR codes that you can scan here and all along the trail that will tell you about the area.

The Louisville & Nashville (L&N) Railroad opened operations in Murphy in 1888 and continued its operations until the early 1970s.

Click here to read about 3 historic railroads in/near Murphy

From this parking lot, you had the choice of either hiking the Cypress Loop or walking along the railroad tracks and picking up another trailhead.

The greenway trail follows the Valley River and the Hiwassee River.

We decided to walk along the tracks and find the other trailhead.

After walking for a couple of minutes, we saw a gravel trail that ran parallel to the tracks so we walked that trail.

Tip: Watch out for the Giant Leech on this trail!! 😉

The trail then led into the woods.

There are several markers all along the path and again, if you scan the QR codes, it will tell you about the area.

I thought the QR codes were a neat feature and I had never seen this before on a trail.

Apparently, there’s been some Bigfoot sightings in this area…if you see it, don’t make eye contact and play dead…it will be your best chance of survival. 😉

Not long after starting the trail, we saw a sign for the Cypress Loop.  It was only 0.3 miles so I recommend if you park at this parking lot, that you just start at the Cypress Loop trailhead from the parking lot.

We decided to keep walking and came to another sign that said Confluence Loop so we decided to take that trailhead.

The trail seemed confusing but I’m not very good at reading trail maps. 😅

Tip: There was a sign that warns you to enjoy the trail at your own risk which, being someone who watches too much Dateline & 48 hours, made me think a serial killer could be lurking in the woods or maybe it was because of the Bigfoot sightings! 😉

Read reviews for the trail here

On or near this trail is where you will find the historic train trestle.

There was a QR code that you could scan that told you about the history of the trestle.

Archeological evidence indicates that this is not the original railroad bridge built when the railroad connected Murphy to points east.

When the river is very low, you might be able to observe old wooden footers under the existing bridge that would have been the foundation for an earlier, wooden trestle.

You are not allowed to walk on the trestle and it’s blocked off to prevent anyone from entering.

Surprisingly, archeologists have not been able to date the bridge.

No train has crossed here since the last train left Murphy on July 4, 1992.

Near the trestle, the trail went from dirt to a wooden boardwalk.

The boardwalk gave you even better views of the train trestle.

We continued along the wooden boardwalk that runs parallel to the river.

There were a few benches scattered along the trail in case you needed to rest after running away from Bigfoot, the leech or a serial killer. So thoughtful of them to think of that. 😉

Be sure to have plenty of water on this trail or you may need the bench to pass out on due to dehydration…it’s a real thing and you definitely don’t want to find out about it on this trail that already has so many scary things that could attack you.

We came to a scenic lookout for the marshy area of the lake….all I could think about was the Giant leech that lurks in this area! 😉

After this stop, we continued the trail ….the boardwalk ended and led us back into the woods along a dirt path.

We spotted the old remains of another train trestle. 

In this area there was a QR code about the Cherokee encampment that was here years ago.

It was here where 1,500 Cherokee People encamped on the hills across the river from where you stand.

Women children and men uprooted from their ancestral homes waiting to be deported to a land unknown by the People….To walk and likely die on what is now known as the Trail of Tears.

If you want to learn more about the Cherokee People that lived in this area, then be sure to visit the Cherokee County Historical Museum in Murphy.

From here, we continued our walk along the trail.

We saw a few wildflowers blooming along the river bank.

We saw a QR. code for the Hunter Pyramid so I scanned the code to see what it was.

The 30 ft tall pyramid, that sits on the other side of the river, was built around 1930 by the granddaughter of the first known settler in this area, Archibald Russell Spence Hunter who arrived here in the 1820’s.

Initially the town of Murphy was named Huntington after Hunter who served as the town’s first postmaster but in 1851 the town was incorporated and renamed Murphy after a prominent North Carolina politician, Archibald D Murphey.

After listening to the audio abut the pyramid, we continued the trail.

After a few short minutes, my hubby decided he would climb a tree and then it dawned on me what the caution sign was for….for people like my husband!

Thankfully, he survived and we were able to continue the trail.😝

We started noticing lots of Cypress trees along the trail.

They were bald cypress trees and they had seeds hanging from them.

As we continued the trail, we came up on a ratty “boardwalk” that someone had made. You could tell that this area had water covering it at one time.

After spending about 1.5 hours on the trail, we drove around for a while.

Later, we spotted a food truck selling barbecue.

So, we decided to stop and purchase that for dinner and take it back to the cabin and eat.

I ordered the bbq chicken with baked beans and potato salad and the hubby ordered the brisket with a double portion of potato salad.

The food was delicious!

Later that evening, we headed to the hot tub before calling it a night.

The next morning, we finished off the rest of our donuts for breakfast.

Later, we enjoyed the hot tub for the last time. 🙁

After the hot tub, we packed up and headed home.

This is probably the last time we rent this cabin…so sad! 🙁

On the way home, we had wanted to stop at Myrtles for lunch but she was closed so we stopped at the Ocooe Dam Deli & Diner instead.

The place was packed out but thankfully, we were seated right away.

We both decided on burgers and they were very good!

Read reviews here

After lunch, we continued our drive home.

Thanks for reading!

Stay tuned for our next adventure…..Vermont and New Hampshire!

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Guys!

As most of you know by reading my blog posts, we spend a lot of time in North Carolina!

We love the areas of Murphy, Hayesville, Blairsville, and the many other small towns. in this area!

We usually stay in Murphy since it’s most convenient for us and has several restaurant options and a wonderful grocery store called, Ingles.…it’s similar to a Publix!

I book our cabins through either Booking, Travelocity or through a property management company called, Mountain Country Cabin Rentals.

We have used this company several times but I always check around for the best price.

We left on a Friday afternoon and arrived just in time for our 5:30 reservation at our favorite restaurant in Murphy called, Murphy’s Chophouse.

After being seated, we spent a few minutes looking over the menu.

However, we wasted no time ordering our favorite appetizer, the mozzarella lollipops!

They are delicious!

For our main course, I ordered the pan seared beef medallions and a sweet potato and the hubby ordered a steak with creamed potatoes.

As usual, the food was amazing!

After dinner, we headed to our cabin that was located 20 mins from the restaurant.

We had rented this cabin once before and was excited to see that it was still available for Labor Day weekend.

This place is so cool and modern! I would love to build a house just like this!

The cabin has two bedrooms and two full bathrooms, a large kitchen, dining area, living room and an incredible covered deck that has an outside fireplace and hot tub!

However, with all of that being said, we were very sad to see that another cabin had been built right next to it!

Thankfully, it was for sale so no one was there while we were there but you no longer have the privacy you once had and, more than likely, we won’t be renting this house again because of it.

We also had people walking up the road in front of the house while we were there and people driving 4 wheelers up the road.

Later that evening, we spent some time in the hot tub before calling it a night.

The next morning, I had a full itinerary scheduled for us….as usual!

After having our coffee on the deck, we headed to Murphy to have breakfast.

My husband had wanted to try the Grizzly Bear restaurant but we decided to just grab something quick and went to Crafted Dough instead.

Click here & here for best breakfast places in Murphy

It’s really cute on the inside!

Crafted Dough offers homemade donuts, cinnamon rolls, muffins, etc.

They also offer lots of different specialty coffees.

We ordered the last two cinnamon rolls they had and they had only been opened for like 1.5 hrs!

We also ordered 6 donuts because they had a special going on…we definitely had no intentions of ordering this many!

The cinnamon roll was delicious!

After our breakfast, we headed to Helen, GA to visit a place that we had never been to called, the Uhuburg Castle.

The drive there from Murphy takes one hour.

I had only recently found out about this place when I saw someone post about it on one of the Facebook Groups I follow.

On the way to Helen, we passed through Blairsville, GA.

They were having some kind of event going as there were vendors set up everywhere!

You can find lots of festivals going on around NC and GA during the fall season!

After arriving to the parking area for the castle, we walked over to the check in area which was just a lady sitting at a table in the parking lot.

Tip: Be sure to check their website for hours because as of now, they are only open on Sat from 10-3 and Sun from 11-3 with the last entrance being at 2.

If you purchased your tickets online prior to your arrival, they will just ask you for your name and then give you a sticker to wear on your shirt.

There are also maps available at the check in table and a map for a scavenger hunt that you can do during your visit.

You will then board a shuttle that will take you to the castle….it’s about a 3 min drive up a hill.

Tip: If you purchase your tickets online, you will also be sent a waiver to sign….everyone in your party must sign their own waiver.

After being dropped off by the shuttle, you will be at the entrance of the castle where you will find employees who will give you all kinds of information about what you can see and do during your visit.

Right outside the main entrance is a huge fountain and lots of statues.

Walking through the main doors.

The construction of the castle began in 2008 and continued for the next 14 years.

The castle is situated on 45 acres at the top of a wooded mountain.

It has twelve towers, one turret, three gatehouses, an eight story lookout tower, Great Hall,  ten guest chambers, two apartments, a master chamber, tropical atrium, grotto, and two acres of courtyard gardens.

You can actually book a stay here, have your wedding here or book a photo shoot!

The tour of the castle is self guided however, there are also tours that are given of some of the areas in and around the castle. These tours are free with your admission to the castle.

We decided not to do any of the tours and just walk around the property using the map that we were given at check in.

The 1300 ft castle walls form the perimeter of the courtyard grounds.

The lower level is where you will find the murals and the gardens.

The gardens are so beautiful!

They have lots of games scattered throughout the grounds that guests can use such as this huge chess set!

This area of the garden known as, the carnivorous bog, is where you will find plants that eat bugs like the Venus flytrap!

There were several ponds, statues and fountains scattered throughout the grounds.

There are tons of photo opportunities at this place and ya’ll know me, I love taking pictures!

The murals are located within the lower levels of the walls.

There are a total of 8 murals but their goal is to have 30.

All of the murals represent some form of religion.

You could tell that the castle grounds are still a work in process as they have plans to add other features such as an owl aviary.

There are tours given of some of the rooms inside the castle …these are short 15 min tours but again, we chose not to do any tours.

You can walk inside and see the Great Hall and this is also where they offer bottled water and snacks and where you will find the restrooms.

We purchased some bottled water because it was so hot! They charged $2 a bottle and you had to pay with either cash or Venmo.

You can also get a peek of the Parlor room from the Great room …the Parlor is one of the common rooms for their overnight guests.

Tip: They don’t offer food but you can bring in your own food and drinks

After purchasing our water, we continued our walk around the castle.

We walked along the castle walls and headed to see the views from the towers.

The steps going up to the top of the towers are really steep and narrow!

From this tower, you could see views of the small vineyard and the greenhouse which, you could tell, was still a work in process.

I cannot imagine the cost of keeping something like this up!

The owner’s daughter lives here full time!

You will find all kinds of fruit trees scattered throughout the grounds.

Walking to the next tower

Views along the way

Views from atop the tower

From here, we headed back down and spotted more murals.

Uhuburg is a renaissance castle and has many of the features of European design.

My hubby taking in the views.

The views from the walls and towers are awesome….definitely make sure you check them all out!

We then headed to the next tower….there are 12 towers to explore!

We stopped several times to take pictures of the incredible views!

We spotted this huge tiger swallowtail butterfly along the walk.

There were so many neat and creative features of the castle….like these planters built into the castle walls.

After walking the walls, we headed back to the Great Room to purchase more water!

I waited outside at a nearby table while my hubby went inside to get the water.

Someone had left a pear sitting on the table so, of course, I used this as a photo opportunity. 😉

After purchasing our water, we headed to the greenhouse to check it out.

It was definitely a work in process because it was almost empty and there was all kinds of wood, tools, etc sitting. around.

After checking out the inside, we headed outside behind the greenhouse where we found a brick path that led to a small flower garden, honey bees, and a small vegetable garden.

We then headed to the tallest tower, the Lookout Tower.

On the way, I took a few more pictures of the beautiful grounds.

To reach the top of the Lookout Tower, you will have to climb approximately 150 stairs.

However, the views are worth the climb!

You will have 360 degree views of the castle grounds and the surrounding mountains!

This place would be great to stay at during the fall!

After spending approximately two hours exploring the castle, we decided to leave and head to one of our favorite places for lunch.

The shuttle runs every few minutes so you never have to wait that long.

While we waited on the shuttle, we took a few more pictures.

The entrance doors to the castle were huge!

Read reviews for the castle here 

After getting back to our car, we headed to the restaurant…. we had to drive through Helen to get there and it was so crowded!

Tip: Look for the back roads through Helen so you can bypass the traffic

Arriving to the Nacoochee Village Tavern & Pizzeria.

This restaurant specializes in brick fired pizza and it is so good!

It’s usually always very crowded but since we didn’t arrive until around 1:30, we were able to find an open table outside.

After looking over the menu, we decided to order our usual, the Dixie Chicken pizza for me and the Carnivore for the hubby.

It took about 30 mins to get our pizza but it was worth the wait!

Read reviews here

After our lunch, we had planned to do a tour of the nearby historic Hardman Farm but the last tour was at 3 and we didn’t think we would have time to make it.

Read reviews for the farm here

So, we headed to another place that my sister had told me about called JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters.

The JumpinGoat is located 7 mins from the restaurant.

We arrived to a packed out parking lot!

We should have known since it was Labor Day weekend!

We decided go ahead and park and check it out since we had never been here.

The place was really nice and had some beautiful views!

There was live music under the covered patio area.

They offered all kinds of signature coffees as well as a gift shop and a wine bar.

We decided not to order anything since we were so full from lunch.

We headed back outside to check out the views.

They had several chairs set up where you could sit outside and enjoy the views of the mountains and the cows! Lol!

Tip: This location is in Cleveland, GA – Read reviews here – There’s also a location in Helen but it’s much smaller – Read reviews for that one here

After leaving here, we decided to head back to the cabin.

Tip: If you are ever in Helen during the month of May, don’t miss the hot air balloon festival!

Later that night, we had the rest of our leftover pizza for dinner.

We then headed for the hot tub!

After spending time in the hot tub watching the stars, we called it a night!

Thanks for reading!

Stay tuned for Days 3 & 4!

Click here to find links to all of my blog posts

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Guys!

We recently spent another weekend at the awesome Wildwood Resort & Marina in Granville, TN.

We have spent a lot of time here over the last several years.

It has certainly changed since we first discovered this place….it’s no longer a “hidden gem” as it’s become very well known and popular.

But, with that being said, we still enjoy spending time here.

We were last here back in May of this year….you can read my post about that trip here.

During our stay in May, we had rented a pontoon for the day but ended up having to cancel due to the weather.

Wildwood would have refunded our money however, we told them they could just give us a credit and we would come back and use it at a later date.

So, that’s what we did.

We left on a Saturday and arrived just in time to have lunch at the lakeside restaurant.

After being seated, we took a few minutes to look over the menu.

I decided on the blackberry chicken salad and the hubby ordered the hot honey chicken sliders.

The food was delicious as usual!

After lunch, we walked around the grounds for a while until it was time to check into our room.

The water was much nicer this time than the last time we were here!

They have beautiful flowers growing all around the property.

After killing about an hour, we headed inside to see if they would let us check in early.

Even though our room was ready, they would only let us check in 30 mins before check in which was 3:00 pm.

After getting checked in, we headed to our room.

The resort offers 6-7 different types of accommodations.

We had booked a room in the Lakeside Inn.

The two story Inn, with covered porches, has 14 waterfront or mountainside rooms.

We always choose the waterfront rooms because the mountainside rooms have views of the road.

Our room had a king size bed, a spacious bathroom with a walk in shower, plush bathrobes, a Keurig along with coffee and creamer, a mini fridge and two complimentary cans of water.

After getting settled into our room, we sat outside in the rocking chairs right outside of our room.

Later that evening, we headed back to the Lakeside restaurant to have dinner.

We both ordered the Sutton’s Sirloin dinner which was a 10 oz black Angus sirloin topped with mushrooms and onions and served with broccolini and a loaded baked potato.

It was so good!

After dinner, we watched the sunset from the restaurant…..we have witnessed some incredible sunsets here!

We then decided to walk the boardwalk.

The wooden walkway stretches out into the lake for over a quarter of a mile. It is actually Tennessee’s longest waterfront boardwalk.

We always walk the boardwalk multiple times when we stay here….it’s so peaceful.

Views of the marina from the boardwalk.

At the end of the boardwalk is a pavilion where you can sit and enjoy the views and the sounds of nature.

The moon was reflecting off of the water and made for some beautiful pictures.

The sky was so beautiful

After spending some time relaxing at the pavilion, we headed back to our room and sat outside to enjoy the views.

We then decided to walk over to one of the many fire pits that are scattered throughout the property and make s’mores.

When you check in, each guest is given a s’mores package….each package contains enough to make two s’mores.

So good!

After our s’mores, we headed back to our room and called it a night.

The next morning, we woke up to beautiful blue skies!

A great day to spend on the lake!

Click here for things to do at or near the resort

We enjoyed our coffee on the deck before our boat rental.

After our coffee, we packed up and checked out of the room and then headed to our boat.

The resort now offers lily pads that you can rent…since we hadn’t brought any floats with us, we decided to rent one…the cost for a full day rental was approx. $60.

Heading out for the day!

This lake has beautiful views but I will say, it’s very stressful navigating a boat through the lake because you are constantly having to watch the depth of the water! You could go from 50 ft of water to 5 in a matter of a couple of minutes!

Tip: Keep an eye out as you might just spot an eagle!

After getting settled on the boat, we had breakfast.

The views of the lake were so beautiful….it would definitely be even more so during fall!

We spent some time cruising around the lake.

We spotted an osprey carrying a fish!

After eating our breakfast, we tried out the lily pad.

It was huge!

We loved it as it allowed for us to float around the lake without getting too wet!

We were also tied to the boat so, we didn’t have to worry about floating too far from the boat.

After spending a couple of hours on the lily pad, we decided it was time for lunch.

So, we pulled out all of our food and made sandwiches and a small charcuterie board with fruit and cheese.

After lunch, we headed back to the lily pad, where we would spend the rest of our day.

We both paid dearly for spending too much time in the sun and not using enough sunscreen!

Later, we headed back to the marina as close to 5 pm as we could, as that was our return time and we wanted to get the most out of our rental!

After arriving back to the marina, we headed to the nearby town of Granville just to see if anything was going on.

You can’t go to Wildwood and not drive a mile down the road to the tiny, historic town of Granville.

However, with it being a Sunday and after 5 pm, everything was closed so we headed home.

Thanks for reading!

Click here to see links to all of my blog posts

 

 

 

Hey Guys!

My daughter and I recently visited Cheekwood Estate & Gardens after I discovered that Thomas Dambo had placed some of his trolls there.

I had first learned about the trolls of Thomas Dambo after visiting the Bernheim Arboretum in Clermont, KY.

Read my post about the Bernheim Arboretum here

Thomas Dambo is a Danish artist who quit his job in 2011 to pursue his passion of creating artwork from discarded trash.

His artwork has been placed in 20 countries across five continents.

He does many different types of artwork but his most popular pieces are his giant trolls!

My daughter and I visited Cheekwood on a Tuesday since we felt it would be a lot less busy during the week than a weekend and not to mention, I am off work on Tuesdays. 🙂

Tip: Cheekwood is closed on Mondays

I went ahead and pre purchased our tickets online prior to our visit in order to avoid extra time at the ticket counter.

There are two different types of tickets offered when you visit Cheekwood….the gardens only ticket which is $20 plus a $2 service fee and the gardens and mansion tour ticket which is $26 plus the $2 service fee.

The gardens only ticket allows you access to the trolls, 55 acres of outdoor space, select buildings including 13 Botanical Gardens, Sculpture Trail, Children’s Garden, Frist Learning Center and more.

The gardens and mansion ticket allows you access to the same as above plus a self guided tour of the historic Cheekwood Mansion that was built in 1929.

I noticed that when you purchased tickets online, you had to pick a time slot to visit…I chose 11 am but once we arrived to the park, it really didn’t matter what time you arrived.

We arrived around 10:30 am and were directed to a gravel parking lot.

The parking is limited here so I would arrive as early as possible if you plan on visiting.

After getting parked, we headed to the entrance where we had to have our ticket scanned at the ticket booth.

Once they scanned our tickets, we were given a booklet of the gardens that included a map of the grounds and the location of each of the 6 trolls.

There are also maps of the gardens scattered throughout the grounds.

There are a total of 13 different gardens located at Cheekwood so be sure to visit them all!

We headed to the first troll we could find which didn’t take long!

We found the troll called Ronja Redeye first.

This is the smallest troll of the 6.

However, all of these trolls are huge and you don’t realize just how big they are until you stand next to them!

This troll is 10 feet tall and her flag is 15 feet tall.

After getting our pictures with this troll, we continued our walk through the gardens.

This garden was called the Bradford Robertson color garden.

The flower beds in this garden contain annuals, perennials, and tropical plants, which bring pops of color all along the sidewalk.

It was in this area where we would find our second troll called, Kamma Can.

This troll is wearing a necklace made from all kinds of colorful, recycled plastic “trash”.

This troll is 14 feet and 7 inches tall, making her the second-tallest Troll in the garden.

After this troll, we continued along the trail.

This area of the gardens was called the Dogwood Garden.

Dedicated in 1982, this garden displays many variations of dogwood trees.

Along this path is where we found troll number 3 called, Rosa Sunfinger.

This troll is a little over 11 feet tall and “tends to her garden”.

I found this to be one of the coolest trolls out of the 6 just because of the garden that was growing out of a car!

The details of each troll is really amazing!

Continuing along the path past the troll.

We came to a fork in the trail and took the trail to the right that would take us to the next troll.

This area was called the Howe Garden.

This garden is rich in historical significance and is one of the most beloved gardens at Cheekwood.

After the passing of Mrs. Cora Howe in 1969, her heirs donated the garden in its entirety to Cheekwood, establishing it as the first donated garden installation on the property.

The next troll we arrived to was the Basse Buller troll.

This troll is 12 feet tall while sitting, so you can imagine how tall he would be if standing!

A couple more pictures of this troll

After this troll, we arrived to the children’s garden. 

This 2 acre garden is geared towards families with children.

It offers lots of water fountains and unique and interactive features that are engaging for all ages!

Tip: Look for the turtles in the turtle pond….there are over 20 turtles that call this pond their home.

After leaving this garden, we decided it was time for lunch so, we headed to Cafe 29.

The café is located inside the Frist Learning Center Courtyard, and offers a casual, made-to-order menu including soups, sandwiches, salads, baked goods, a children’s menu, snacks, coffee and more.

You will pass the Cheekwood mansion on your way to the cafe.

The cafe is located to the right of the mansion

It’s located inside what used to be the horse stables.

Tip: The cafe serves Maxwell House coffee because, Leslie Cheek, who ran his family’s wholesale grocery distribution C. T. Cheek & Sons, had invested in his cousin Joel Cheek’s Maxwell House business. It sold in 1928 for $45 million!

After looking over the menu, my daughter and I both decided on the combo meal that included a sandwich, chips and a drink for $17.50.

We both decided on the breezy bleu wrap….it was ok but it had too much blue cheese for our liking!

The cafe offers indoor and outdoor seating

After lunch, we headed outside to check out the old horse stable across from the cafe.

This is where the Cheek family kept their prized horses, Platinum and Rosewood.

There were informational plaques located inside the stables that told about the history of the stables, horses and grounds.

The original light fixtures were still hanging outside the stables!

This picture, taken in 1932, is of Huldah Cheek and the family dogs, Hero and Aristotle.

She was the daughter of the Cheeks.

After the stables, we headed to find the next troll.

We walked back through the Bradford Robertson Color Garden.

So many colorful flowers along the path!

We passed the Ronja Redeye troll along the way.

In this garden you will find eight curved arches, covered with flowering vines.

Continuing our walk along the path

At the end of the path, we arrived to the sculpture trail.

The sculpture trail was established in 1999 and features ten works of art on a 1.5-mile woodland path.

The trail features a diverse range of sculptures, created by artists from Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Not long after starting the trail, we spotted our next troll called, Ibbi Pip aka the birdhouse troll.

This troll stands 15 ft tall and is carrying a bag of colorful birdhouses as well as hanging up birdhouses on the trees.

Near this troll is the Silent Music art work by artist Jaume Plensa.

The sculpture, made from metal pieces shaped into letters and characters from the alphabets of different languages, depicts a seated male figure with their legs tucked up in a pose of rest.

The next sculpture along the trail was the Mohammed’s Circle by artist Guy Dill.

As you continue along the trail, it leads you into a wooded area where you will find more sculptures.

The trail takes you along a wooded boardwalk and it was really peaceful.

We spotted the next sculpture called, the crawling lady hare. 

I don’t know about you, but I find this to be a bit disturbing! 😅

Who could come up with something like this? It’s just weird!

My daughter said it reminded her of something out of a horror movie lol!

Some of the sculptures along this trail were just cheesy!

As we continued the trail, we came up on the sculpture called the Glass Bridge.

I am not one of those people who really enjoys art or even understands the meaning behind some of the strange pieces of artwork! I guess I’m just not artistically minded lol!

A few more sculptures along the trail.

Near the end of the trail, we spotted the 6th troll called, Sofus Lotus.

This troll is 7 feet, 6 inches tall and 24 feet long.

It’s lying with its ear to the ground “listening to the Earth below”.

The head alone was taller than my daughter who is 5’7″!

Continuing the trail

We spotted more sculptures

As we continued the trail, the wooden boardwalk ended and we found ourselves walking along an unpaved path into the woods.

The first thing we spotted along the trail wasn’t a sculpture but a live deer!

The deer was not bothered at all by my presence.

Some of the sculptures we spotted along this path

After walking the wooded path, we turned around and headed back the way we came.

We spotted the Blue Pesher sculpture.

After entering this sculpture, you will walk through a forty-five-foot-long tunnel where you will find a cylindrical room with an oculus, some ten-feet in diameter above.

After this sculpture, we headed to check out the grounds around the Cheek mansion.

We passed an old outdoor water feature along the way.

The back of the house

We passed this old sphinx statue.

We got turned around and ended up in the herb garden.

This garden was installed in 1983 and is devoted to the study and evaluation of herbal plants. It was originally used to determine the types of herbal plants that can be successfully grown year-round in Middle Tennessee.

I spotted this old concrete post that had a gargoyle at the top of it….it looked like it was an original piece to the property.

We then spotted a cool, model train track!

This exhibit is located in the Turner Seasons Garden and is mostly geared towards children but we thought it was really neat!

The exhibit features a series of overlapping tracks that passes through a wooden “tree like structure”.

We saw as many adults here as we did children!

The exhibit also featured interactive sounds that made it sound even more like a train station.

After leaving this exhibit, we headed towards the mansion.

The Cheek mansion is beautiful!

The house was built in 1929 and the Cheeks moved into the house in 1932.

The house had 36-rooms (excluding service quarters). There were eleven bedrooms, twelve bathrooms, and two elevators.

While the bedrooms no longer exist, guests can tour the Drawing Room, Library, Loggia, and Dining Room, among other restored spaces.

Like I mentioned earlier in this post, we decided not to tour the house so we just walked around the outside of the house and took pictures.

After taking a few pictures of the front of the house, we walked behind the house.

Behind the house you will find a large green space with fountains and concrete statues.

You will also find the, not to be missed, Wisteria Arbor.

Not only will you find a gorgeous terrace draped in wisteria, but this location is also known for its breathtaking views of the surrounding Warner Parks and the Reflecting Pool.

Wisteria Arbor consists of two parts; an upper and lower arbor separated by a dramatic fountain and cascading double staircase.

Tip: You can have your wedding at Cheekwood too!

The views from the terrace were so beautful!

I can’t imagine what it would have been like waking up to these views!

It kind of reminded me of the Biltmore House in Asheville, NC but on a much smaller scale!

This is the one area you will want to take your picture! 😉

After taking way too many pictures of this area, we walked back towards the font of the house.

We spotted this huge tree in front of the house…..no telling how hold it was!

More shots of the front of the house

After leaving the house, we decided to head home.

We passed the visitor center on the way out.

Cheekwood holds many events throughout the year.

Beginning on Sept. 14th, they will hold their Cheekwood Harvest event that runs through Oct. 27th.

During the event, Cheekwood will have more than 75,000 pumpkins, three pumpkin houses, more than 4,000 chrysanthemums and a nine-foot-tall P’mumkin topiary made of orange mums arranged in the shape of a giant pumpkin.

Pre Purchase your tickets for this event here

Tip: The trolls will only be at Cheekwood through Sept. 1st!

Thanks for reading!

Click here to find links to all of my blog posts

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Guys!

So, this post will conclude our time in the Dakotas, Wyoming and Nebraska!

You can read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here, Day 5 here, Day 6 here, Day 7 here, Day 8 here, Day 9 here & Day 10 here. Click here to see links to all of my blog posts over the years

Our travel dates were June 26 – July 6, 2024.

After checking out of our hotel in Rapid City, we headed to Bear Country. 

Bear Country was located 20 mins from our hotel.

Tip: Click here for the top 10 things to do and see in/near Rapid City

Once we arrived, there was already a line to get in!

We arrived at 10 am on. a Saturday so I would recommend getting there as early as possible!

The hours vary depending on the time of the year. While we were there, the gates opened at 8 am with the last entry being at 6 pm.

The prices vary as well but we paid $22 pp.

You can also purchase your tickets online which will save you time at the gate.

Please Note: Convertibles, motorcycles or soft-top vehicles are not allowed to drive thru, but they do have complimentary courtesy cars for those visitors to use when available.

After paying our entrance fee, we were given a map of the park that showed what animals we would be seeing on our drive.

Bear Country is a drive through wildlife park located on 300 acres in the Black Hills.

The park features many animals such as black bear, elk, reindeer, deer, cougars, bobcats, rocky mountain goats, bighorn sheep, dall sheep, pronghorn and buffalo.

The road through the park is a one way road and is 3 miles long.

The first animal you will encounter on the drive is the Rocky Mountain Elk.

However, we only got to see him from a distance.

Next was the reindeer.

Once again, we could only see them from a distance.

Next was the Arctic Wolf

He was sound asleep when we passed by.

Most of the animals on this drive, were either asleep or too far away to see.

The only other animals we saw on the drive, besides the bears of course, were the bighorn sheep and the mountain goats.

Arriving to the bear exhibit

There were lots of bears in this park…hence the name Bear Country. 😉

The park is actually home to the largest collection of privately owned black bears in the world.

This one was sound asleep!

We passed by the buffalo.

At the end of the drive, you will arrive to a fairly large parking lot where you can get out and walk around and check out even more animal exhibits.

Some of the animal exhibits

There is also a snack shack and a huge gift shop that you can check out.

However, the most popular animal to see at this stop, is the cute little bear cubs.

There were quite a few and they were very playful!

We stood and watched them for a while before moving on to the next exhibit.

Sadly, they are taken from their moms at a very early age and in a way that was found to be inhumane!

I have very mixed feelings about this place after I read online that the owners were fined for selling bear parts and have had many other violations over the years!

We checked out the nearby river otter exhibit and a few others before heading to the gift shop.

Heading inside the gift shop

The gift shop was huge.

They had one of the bears, that used to live at the park, mounted and on display.

Read reviews for the park here

We couldn’t leave without taking our pictures in front of the park sign 😉

After spending almost two hours here, we decided to head to downtown Rapid City to eat at one of the restaurants I had on my list called, Tally’s Silver Spoon.

The restaurant was located 15 mins from Bear Country.

After finding street parking right in front of the restaurant, we headed inside.

This place was very busy and several people were standing outside waiting for a table.

We had to put our name on the waiting list and go wait outside.

I highly recommend making a reservation if you want to eat here and don’t want to wait for a table!

Since the restaurant texts you when your table is ready, we decided to walk around downtown and check out some of the presidential statues that are scattered throughout the town.

The city used six different artists to sculpt the 40+ life size bronze statues in the downtown area.

A few of the statues we saw

Walking through downtown

The historic downtown area is really nice….I definitely recommend you check it out while visiting this area.

As we were walking, we passed Art Alley.

Art Alley emerged as a community gallery in 2003. In the beginning artists hung largely canvas artworks on the walls, and over time, evolved to painting directly on the walls.

Tip: Anyone can paint here….just click here to obtain a free painting permit.

Click here to find the Greetings from Rapid City mural

We also passed the historic Alex Johnson Hotel.

The hotel is named after Alex Johnson who was a railroad executive and pioneer South Dakotan and one of the state’s best-known citizens before his death in 1938.

The hotel is said to be haunted. 😉

Tip: If you missed purchasing homemade chocolate at the Chubby Chipmunk Chocolates in Deadwood, you can also purchase them inside the Alex Johnson Hotel.

We also passed the Mitakuye Oyasin sculpture.

The piece was created in 2021…..the saying, Mitakuye Oyasin means we are all related.

We also spotted the Main Street square where a huge fountain was located and another presidential statue.

Click here for a one day itinerary of Rapid City

After waiting for about 30 mins for a table, we got a text that our table was finally ready!

This place is known for their breakfast, but we decided to order from their lunch menu instead.

I decided on the pepper peach turkey sandwich with fries and the hubby settled on the cuban sandwich and fries.

The food was pretty good….nothing to rave about and the service was super slow!

Perhaps their breakfast menu is better than the lunch menu. They also serve dinner.

Read reviews here 

After eating lunch, we headed to the airport to turn in our rental car and head home!

Note: After getting home, I realized that Avis had charged us over $70 for gas even though we had returned the car on full. I reached out to them and they refunded my money. So, look closely at your receipt!

About to land in Nashville!

All of our souvenirs we purchased on our trip!

We went just a little overboard!😅

We definitely found it challenging getting all of this stuff home considering we only travel with a carry on and a backpack!

This concludes our time in the beautiful states of North & South Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska!

We loved our trip and I hope this itinerary helps you plan your own trip there!

Thanks for reading!

Click here to see links to all of my blog posts and here to follow me on YouTube

For those who don’t like to read and I know there are many of you, here’s a short version of my itinerary:

Day 1

1. Wall Drug Store
2. Badlands National Park – overnight at Cedar Pass Lodge

Day 2

1. Badlands National Park – breakfast at Cedar Pass Loadge (about an hour in the park)
2. Quick stop at Praire Homestead
3. Giant Prairie Dog Statue
4. Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (about 30 mins here)
5. Keystone – we ate lunch here
6. Hill City – popular place for lunch here is Alpine Inn but they serve German food for lunch
7. Sturgis – we ate dinner at the Knuckles Saloon
8. Bowman, ND – overnight

Day 3

1. Teddy Roosevelt National Park – South Unit
2. Medora – we ate dinner in Medora and then did the  Medora Musical – overnight

Day 4

1. Teddy Roosevelt National Park –  North Unit
2. Medora – did the Steak Fondue dinner
3. Bowman – to spend the night

Day 5

1. Belle Fourche, SD
2. Deadwood -overnight

Day 6

1. Devils Tower
2. Alkalin General Store
3. Vore Buffalo Jump
4. Spearfish – Leones Creamery & Termesphere Gallery
5. Spearfish Canyon – waterfalls & dinner at Latchspring Inn
6. Deadwood overnight

Day 7

1. Custer State Park
2. Mt Rushmore – day & evening
3. Keystone – overnight 2 nights

Day 8

1. Custer State Park
2. Crazy Horse
3. Custer
4. Keystone – overnight

Day 9

1. Carhenge in Nebraska
2. Chimney Rock
3. Scotts Bluff
4. Chadron – overnight – did a rodeo in nearby Crawford

Day 10

1. Hot Springs to see the Mammoth Site
2. Wind Cave National Park
3. Keystone
4. Chapel in the Hills – Rapid City
5. Rapid City – overnight

Day 11

1. Bear Country
2. Downtown Rapid City
3. Airport to fly home

 

More Tips:

If you fly into Sioux Falls, Click here for things to do, here for best restaurants & here for best hotels

When driving from Sioux Falls to Rapid City, don’t miss the following stops:

The huge Dignity Statue 

Corn Palace

1880 Town 

1.5 hrs from Bismarck, ND is the world’s largest Buffalo statue 

45 mins from Bismarck, ND is the world’s largest Sandhill Crane statue 

Click here for 59 cool and unusual sights in South Dakota

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Guys!

This post continues our time in the Dakotas, Wyoming & Nebraska.

Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here, Day 5 here, Day 6 here, Day 7 here, Day 8 here & Day 9 here – Click here to see links to all of my blog posts

After having coffee at our hotel in Chadron, NE, we checked out and headed to our first stop of the day, the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD.

The Mammoth Site is located approximately one hour from Chadron, NE.

It was an hour drive of nothing but flat, prairie land!

Arriving to Hot Springs

Shortly after arriving, we arrived to the Mammoth Site.

After getting parked, we headed inside.

The Mammoth Site is a museum and an active paleontological excavation site.

After getting inside, we purchased our tickets.

Ticket prices were $14 pp for adults ages 13-59.

Near the ticket counter, is a huge replica of a wooly mammoth.

The remains of 61 mammoths, including 58 North American Columbian and 3 woolly mammoths had been recovered at this site. 

This is the only site in the world where Colombian and Woolly Mammoth have been found together.

In 1974, a construction worker had unearthed bones while the area was being prepared for a new subdivision. His son recognized one of the finds as a mammoth tooth.

The landowner agreed to have the site further investigated and during the investigation, a complete skull and tusk were found.

So, he agreed to donate the land and mineral rights to a nonprofit organization. After being excavated by professional excavators, they decided to build a building around the dig site and turn it into a museum.

It was designated a National Natural Landmark in 1980.

The museum now contains an extensive collection of mammoth remains.

You could start your self guided tour with a short film about the dig site.

After watching the film, we headed to the dig site.

The facility encloses a prehistoric sinkhole that formed and was slowly filled with sediments during the Pleistocene era.

Each area was labeled with the types of bones that had been unearthed.

There were QR codes, all along the boardwalk that surrounded the dig that you could scan with your cellphone and it would play a short description of the area you were standing in front of.

We couldn’t believe the size of some of these bones!

There was a lot of signage describing the bones.

Besides the mammoths, many other animals have been found here such as, the rare Giant short-faced bear, the American camel, llama, wolves, coyotes, shrub oxen, other smaller mammals, bird, fish, and invertebrates.

Tip: The Mammoth Site also has a small attached museum that holds additional Ice Age relics, including models of frozen mammoths from Siberia and a model of a complete Giant short faced bear skeleton but we skipped that.

During the month of July, there are volunteers from Earthwatch that participate in excavations.

There was one there when we were visiting.

We spoke to him for a few minutes and he told us that the way they determine if they have found bone or not is they stick it on the tip of their tongue and if it sticks, it’s bone!

Due to bone’s more porous nature compared to rocks, the moisture from a tongue will stick better to it and reveal which parts of a potential discovery are bone and which are rock.

Read more about that here

The ancient pond is approximately 120 by 150 feet across, and bore holes show the pond is at least 65 feet deep approximately 1200 bones and fragments have been discovered so far.

Mammoths and other animals would enter this pond, but due to the steep sides, they often would get trapped and eventually die.

Only around 20 feet of the 65 feet deep pond has been excavated.

There’s an area where you can watch paleontologists clean, repair and catalog the discoveries. You are welcome to ask them questions as well.

A few more shots of the dig site

There’s also a gift shop located near the dig site where you can purchase t-shirts, books, coffee cups and all sorts of souvenirs.

After spending about an hour here, we headed to find something to eat.

Read reviews for the Mammoth Site here

We ended up at a Mexican restaurant called, Jalapeño’s Grill.

Click here for restaurants in Hot Springs,  here for more things to do in this area  & Click here for some nearby swimming holes

We were seated right away.

This place was huge on the inside and really nice!

After looking over the menu, I ordered the Pollo Cabrito which was grilled chicken chunks covered in cheese sauce served with rice and beans.

I don’t remember what the hubby ordered but we also ordered a side of their delicious guacamole.

The food was really good but the service was slow.

Read reviews here

After lunch, we headed to our next stop, Wind Cave National Park.

The park is located just 15 mins from the Mammoth Site.

Driving through the small town of Hot Springs.

There was quite a bit of construction work going on so it took us a little while to get through town.

Apparently, from what I’ve read online, it’s been going on for over two years!

We passed this beautiful mural while driving through the town.

We also passed this restaurant called, Two Cows Creamery & Bistro.…wished we would have seen this before the Mexican restaurant! Just look at their burgers and ice cream they have pictured online!

The downtown area is full of historic buildings.

After arriving to Wind Cave, our first stop was taking our picture in front of the park sign!

Tip: An entrance pass is not required to access Wind Cave National Park.

Wind Cave became a national park in 1903 and is the first cave to be designated a national park. The cave features the world’s largest concentration of rare boxwork formations and is the sixth-longest cave in the world.

Prior to leaving for our trip, I had read that the cave tours were closed due to the park replacing the elevator but the park encompasses almost 34,000 acres and is always open to visitors!

Tip: If you want to visit a cave while in this area, you can also see Jewel Cave National Monument. Jewel Cave is the third-longest cave in the world and features calcite crystals and formations of boxwork, cave popcorn and a long ribbon drapery known as “cave bacon.”

I had also read that there were lots of bison in the park so, we were hoping we would get to see them.

Tip: The park has over 30 miles of hiking trails 

Driving through the park

A few minutes past the park sign was a small pullover that had some informational plaques describing the area.

After this stop, we headed to the visitor center.

The visitor center was constructed in the 1930s.

It’s opened year round, with the exception of holidays, from 8:00 am – 4:30 pm with expanded hours during the summer.

After arriving, we headed to the site of the natural opening into Wind Cave. The natural opening is a small hole in the cave and is one of the only known natural entrances into the cave.

The natural opening is located about a 5 min walk behind the visitor center where the cave tours take place.

There were wildflowers blooming all along the trail

Wind Cave has very few natural entrances and this entrance is the largest and most well-known naturally formed entrance and is only about ten inches wide.

Near the natural entrance, there is a sign that talks about the importance of this site to the Native Americans.

It’s a sacred site to them so you will notice prayer cloths in this area. They are not to be touched or disturbed.

Also near the natural entrance, is the trailhead for the Prairie Vista Trail.

The trail is an easy, one mile loop trail.

We walked a short distance and discovered the burial site and a memorial plaque for Alvin McDonald who was the first explorer and guide of the cave.

From the age of 16 until his death at the age of 20, McDonald discovered and mapped the first 8 to 10 miles of Wind Cave using candlelight.

His exploration and mapping was so extensive and thorough for the time that it was not until 1963, 70 years after his death, that major new passageways were discovered in Wind Cave.

Read some excerpts from his diary here

A shot of the elevator building from the trail. This is where the cave tours start.

The elevator building was completed in 1938 and the elevator shaft itself was completed in June, 1934 with the first elevator being installed a year later. The elevators have been updated a few times since then.

We then headed inside the visitor center.

There were lots of exhibits and displays ranging from how the Plains Indians used the bison to how the park manages the prairie.

The cave exhibit room explains cave formations, the development of the cave, and the park’s history. A movie, Wind Cave, Two Worlds, about the cave, the prairie, and the park is shown in the auditorium.

The first cave tourists visited the cave without electric lights, concrete stairs or an elevator.

There’s a gift shop located here as well

After spending a few minutes in the visitor center, we headed back to our car to drive through the park in hopes to see the bison.

Shortly after leaving the visitor center, we spotted our first bison!

It was very close to the road!

We also saw tons of prairie dogs nearby!

As we continued our drive, we came to another small pullover.

There was an informational plaque nearby and what looked like a trail so we decided to walk a short distance along the trail.

There were tons of wildflowers blooming all over!

The views from the trail were really pretty.

After leaving here, we continued our drive.

We passed the historic Beaver Creek Bridge.

The bridge was built in 1929 and is 225 feet long and sits 115 feet above the canyon floor.

It is also visible from a pullout near the Centennial Trailhead.

We spotted the historic fire tower. You can hike to the tower via the Rankin Ridge Trailhead.

Shortly after passing the bridge, we spotted a ton of bison!

Bison were reintroduced to Wind Cave in 1913. The park continues to maintain a herd of several hundred animals and is considered one of the most diverse and genetically pure herds of bison in the world.

Tip: In September and October, male elk can be heard bugling

As we continued our drive, we spotted another huge herd of bison!

We saw more bison here than anywhere we had been so far!

Click here to see a map of the park & Read reviews here

As we exited Wind Cave, we noticed we were now in Custer State Park.

Hwy 87 that runs through Wind Cave connects to Custer State Park.

Tip: Be sure to explore the gravel roads in Wind Cave as you can usually spot wildlife on these roads

We passed the Wildlife Loop Road in Custer State Park.

After leaving Wind Cave, we decided to head to Keystone for some ice cream.

Our drive continued along Hwy 87 thought Custer State Park where we spotted three bighorn sheep right next to the road!

We then passed the Legion Lake Lodge.

This is one of the five lodges that can be found inside Custer State Park.

See a map of the park & every town in this area here

Tip: They have a restaurant located inside the lodge

The lodge is located 30 mins from Keystone.

After arriving to Keystone, we passed several historic buildings.

We saw a sign pointing to the oldest schoolhouse in Keystone so we decided to check it out.

It was an old log cabin that was built in 1895.

Right next to this schoolhouse, was another old schoolhouse that was built in 1899  and served as a school until 1988. It is now  a museum.

So, we walked over to check it out.

After seeing that it was free to tour, we headed inside.

The museum housed early day mining tools, historic pictures and photo collections, rock and mineral collections, and historic displays.

We were surprised when we walked into one of the rooms and saw lots of items that once belonged to Carrie Ingalls!

Yes, the same one from Little House on the Prairie!

She had moved to Keystone at the age of 41 and passed away in Rapid City in 1946 at the age of 76.

She is buried in the Ingalls family Cemetery in DeSmet, SD.

Her husband David, stepson Harold, and David’s first wife are buried in the Keystone Cemetery.

Carrie had graduated from DeSmet High School in 1888. She worked in the newspaper business most of her life.

There were also pictures of her parents and sisters.

After leaving this room, we headed upstairs.

There were two rooms upstairs that were still set up as classrooms.

It was so neat!

Read reviews here

After leaving here, we headed to find parking in downtown Keystone so we could continue our mission to find some ice cream.

We passed the Halleys Store that was built in 1895 and is the oldest continuous business in Keystone.

After getting parked, we headed to a place called Turtle Town.

When we arrived, people were lined out of the door!

This place has been in Keystone for 30 yrs.

They specialize in homemade chocolates, confections and ice cream…they also have a coffee bar and a gift shop.

We both purchased two scoops of ice cream and some of their homemade chocolates.

It was so good!

Read reviews here

As we were sitting at one of the tables outside eating our ice cream, we saw a sign hanging on the building about a free walking tour of the town. There were free maps below the sign that you could take for the tour.

After our ice cream, we headed back to our car to head to our last stop of the day, the Chapel in the Hills in Rapid City.

The chapel was located 30 mins from Keystone.

After arriving, we headed to a small museum that was located on the grounds.

The museum was located in a log cabin that was built in 1876 by Edward Nielsen, a Norwegian immigrant gold prospector from Hole, Ringerike, Norway.

It was moved to the Chapel grounds and is now the home of many Scandinavian antiques.

There was a replica of the church inside the museum.

After checking out the museum, we headed over to the church.

On the way, we passed the gift shop.

The gift shop was housed in an authentic grass roofed building that was built in Norway and shipped to Rapid City and reassembled.

We then arrived to the incredible chapel.

The Chapel in the Hills is an exact replica of the Borgund stave church in Norway.

The Borgund stavkirke was built around the year 1150 and is considered the most completely preserved stave church still standing in Norway.

Tip: There are four replicas of this chapel that exist in the US……besides this one, there’s one in Lyme, Connecticut, one on Washington Island, Wisconsin, and the fourth in Minot, North Dakota

Read here on why this church was built in Rapid City

The chapel is absolutely beautiful!

Of course, I took pictures from every angle!

After taking pictures of the outside, we headed inside the chapel.

The inside is very small.

The woodwork was amazing!

They still held church services here.

On the wall near the door, was a button that when you pushed it, played a narration about the building of the church.

There was intricate woodwork around the entrances of the church.

After taking pictures of the inside, we headed back outside where we noticed a “prayer walk” trail. behind the chapel.

So, I decided to go check it out.

The trail led you through the woods.

There were several statues along the trail with each of them including a small plaque with a saying from the Bible.

After walking to the end of the trail, we turned around and headed back towards the chapel.

Read reviews for the chapel here

After seeing the chapel, we decided to call it a day and head to our final hotel in Rapid City.

We had booked our last stay at the Best Western.

Our room had two queen beds and a nice size bathroom.

From our room window, we could see cows grazing in a nearby field.

Read reviews for the hotel here

After getting settled into our room, we headed back out to find something to eat.

We saw a nearby restaurant called the Dakota Steakhouse so decided to go there.

After arriving, we were seated right away.

However, this place was really busy so I would recommend you make reservations if you can.

It was a Friday night around 6 pm so I’m sure it was busier than a week day would be.

After looking over the menu, I decided on a steak with Brussel sprouts.

The hubby ordered a burger with a side of the fried macaroni and cheese.

The food was delicious and the service was great!

Read reviews here

After dinner, we headed back to our hotel that was located just 2 mins away.

Later, I had to try out one of the chocolate pecan turtles that we had purchased earlier from Turtle Town.

It was so good!

After watching TV for a while, we called it a night!

Thanks for reading!

Stay tuned for Day 11!

Click here to see links to all of my blog posts and click here to follow me on YouTube

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Guys,

This post continues our time in the Dakotas, Wyoming & Nebraska.

Our travel dates were June 26 – July 6, 2024.

Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here, Day 5 here, Day 6 here, Day 7 here & Day 8 here. Click here to see links to all of my blog posts

After having our coffee at the hotel, we packed up and checked out our hotel and began our 2 hr 45 min drive to our first stop of the day.

This trip gave us an opportunity to mark 3 new states off of our list so, in an attempt to visit all 50 states, we had to add as many new states to our itinerary as we could!

We had already been to Wyoming on a previous trip so that state wasn’t a new one for us.

It was definitely a challenge mapping out the best route in order to include all of these states on our itinerary because we were going to have to make some long drives.

But, we were up for the challenge because we knew we would probably never be back in this area since we have a long bucket list of other places to see!

Tip: I highly recommend that you have plenty of gas on these drives because there is little around. I also recommend that you download off-line maps so your Google Maps app will continue to work even when you have no service.

About 1.5 hrs after leaving our hotel in Keystone, we crossed into Nebraska.

Of course, we had to stop at the Nebraska welcome sign and take our picture!

After getting our pictures, we stopped at a nearby McDonalds in Chadron to get something to eat.

I hate eating fast food but when you’re hungry, you will eat whatever you can find!

After our stop, we continued our drive to our first stop of the day which would be Carhenge.

You are driving through flat prairie lands the whole way!

About 1 hr after leaving the town of Chadron, we arrived to Carhenge.

Carhenge is located in Alliance, NE.

Tip: Unbeknownst to us, there is a very cute town in Alliance! We hate that we missed it!

Carhenge is a replica of Stonehenge which is England’s ancient mystical alignment of stones that chart the sun and moon phases.

It was completed in 1987 by Jim Reinders and his family in honor of his dad who once lived on the farm that was located here.

At one time, Jim had lived in England so he had studied the dimensions of Stonehenge. When he built Carhenge, he used the same dimensions in order to replicate the same formation that Stonehenge had.

Carhenge consists of 39 automobiles arranged in a circle measuring about 96 feet in diameter.

All of the cars are spray painted gray in order to give the appearance of a stone colored rock…just like Stonehenge.

It was really cool to see!

The visitor center, known as “The Pit Stop”, was added in 2007.

Carhenge has been used in many movies over the years!

In 2023, it was featured in Disney Plus’ Cars on The Road Series.

Click here to see more scenes that have been filmed in Nebraska

There have been several pieces added along the way…like the “Spawning Salmon” that was created by 29 year old Geoff Sandhurst from Canada.

His artwork won him a $2500 prize and placement of his art creation at the site of Carhenge.

There’s also the area called, “Fourd Seasons” which is comprised only of Fords.

There was also a dinosaur made out of car parts.

Of course we couldn’t leave here without taking our pictures standing by this quirky roadside attraction!

A few more pictures

Read reviews here

After leaving here, we headed to our next stop, Chimney Rock National Historic Site.

The site is located approx. 1 hr from Carhenge.

The only “vehicle” we passed on the way there was a train!

After about 45 mins of driving, we arrived to the small town of Bayard, NE.

The place looked like a ghost town!

The only store we saw that was open was a Dollar General.

However, we must have driven through the historic part of town because there does appear to be some things to do/see in this area.

We did pass by the Bayard Depot Museum.

And the Kelley Bean Company

The company started in 1927 and is one of the largest originators and marketers of dry edible beans in the world.

Click here for restaurants in Bayard

As we continued our drive, we could see Chimney Rock rising in the distance!

Getting closer!

About 10 mins past the town of Bayard, we arrived to the Chimney Rock Visitor Center.

The site itself is free to visit however, if you want to tour the museum inside the visitor center, there’s a fee of  $8 for adults and $4 for children ages 5-18 yrs old.

We were surprised how big the visitor center was due to its location and it was just the rock that was here!

We headed inside the visitor center to check it out and to purchase a t-shirt!

We decided not to tour the museum so, I’m not sure if it was worth the money or not.

The visitor center also contains a small theater with a video presentation about the great migration West.

Read reviews here

After making our purchase, we headed back outside to walk the trail to the rock.

Chimney Rock was a significant landmark on the Oregon Trail.

It was mentioned in more emigrant diaries than any other landmark on the Oregon Trail!

The rock rises more than 300 feet above the surrounding landscape and is visible for miles.

There are several different trails that you can take to the rock.

It was so cool looking!

Over the years, its spire has been eroded  by wind and rain and even lightning!

Be sure to take water with you because you are fully exposed on this trail and it was hot when we were there!

The trail is only about 0.5 miles one way so, it’s an easy walk and takes about 10-15 mins.

Be aware of rattlesnakes on the trail!

Sunflowers were blooming all along the trail!

It made for some really beautiful pictures!

There was also a TON of thistles!

We hate these things in Tennessee but they sure made for some pretty pictures! 😉

After walking for several minutes, we decided to stop at a bridge crossing and take our pictures from here instead of walking any further.

There were more sunflowers blooming near the bridge!

We were shocked when we spotted a parking lot for the rock very close to the bridge!

So, just be aware, that if you don’t want to walk or if you have mobility issues, you can park very close to the place we took our pictures!

You could tell the parking lot was very new.

There were some informational plaques located here as well.

A few pictures from the bridge

After taking way too many pictures, we headed back to our car.

Look at all of these thistles!

Once we were back at our car, we headed to our next stop, Scotts Bluff National Monument.

Scotts Bluff is located 30 mins from Chimney Rock.

You will pass through the town of Gering, NE on the way.

Scotts Bluff is another 10 min drive from the town of Gering.

Tip: You will pass the Legacy of the Plains Museum on the way

Click here for restaurants in Gering

We saw a sign that said we were driving the Old Oregon Trail.

After passing through Gering, you will start seeing Scotts Bluff.

Arriving to the entrance

After going through the entrance gate and getting a brochure of the memorial, we began our drive to the top of Scotts Bluff.

Tip: This monument is free to visit

The road to the summit is only 1.6 miles long.

The road was built in the 1930’s and is the oldest concrete road in the State of Nebraska.

The drive features scenic views and the only three vehicular tunnels in the state.

The road  is narrow with sharp curves so vehicles longer than 25 ft and/or higher than 11 ft 7 inches are prohibited as well as all trailers.

After reaching the top, you will find paved trails that lead to two summit overlooks.

There are 4 miles of hiking trails located here.

Views from the parking lot

Scotts Bluff towers more than 800 feet above the North Platte River. It encompasses 3,000 acres.

Click here for  a map of the monument

It has served as a landmark for peoples from Native Americans to emigrants on the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails.

The area is rich with geological and paleontological history.

We headed over to the North Overlook Trail that was 1/2 mile long.

Tip: This trail also connects to the 1.6 mile Saddle Rock Trail which leads to the Visitor Center

Views from this overlook

Along the trail, you will find a metal survey post that was placed here in 1933 that marked  the highest point on the bluff, 4,659 feet above sea level.

You will also see a memorial for Hiram Scott. Scotts Bluff is named after him after he died in this location around 1828.

Click here for more things to see/do in this area

Walking the trail

We spotted lots of cacti!

Be aware, there are rattlesnakes in this area too!

There were several informational plaques along the trail that told about the history of the area.

Some of the views from the trails were not as dramatic as others.

Tip: The mammals which can be found in the monument include mule and white tail deer, badgers, coyotes, skunks, red fox, raccoons, porcupines, cottontail and jack rabbits, and prairie dogs. Rabbits and mule deer are often seen on the summit. Other mammals seen include porcupines and coyotes, depending on the time of day and season.

We spotted these arrows that pointed to Chimney Rock and Laramie Peak

You could actually see Chimney Rock from this overlook! You definitely needed a zoom lens camera in order to capture it but we could see in the distance!

After completing this overlook, we walked over to the South Overlook Trail.

From this overlook, you could see four of the five rock formations of Scotts Bluff. …Crown Rock, Dome Rock, Eagle Rock, and Saddle Rock.

We had a couple offer to take our picture….we reluctantly agreed. 😉

Walking the trail

You could also see the visitor center from this overlook.

A few pictures from this overlook

After walking to both overlooks, we headed back down to the visitor center.

Arriving to the visitor center

There were a few informational plaques located outside of the visitor center that had trail and wildlife information.

The trailhead for the Saddle Rock Trail can be found behind the visitor center.

We headed inside the visitor center to look for a t-shirt.

There was a small museum located inside the visitor center that you could tour for free.

After making our purchase, we headed back outside where we spotted a concrete sidewalk that led to a replica of covered wagons.

The wagons represented the many people who traversed these lands many, many years ago.

One of the wagons was being pulled by a team of cattle.

Near the parking lot was a memorial for the Pony Express.

The Pony Express passed through here between 1860-1861.

After leaving here, we headed to our hotel in Chadron, NE.

Shortly after leaving Scotts Bluff, we passed this field with hundreds of cattle!!

We had never seen so many cows in one place!

After researching this, I discovered that cattle outnumber Nebraskans nearly four to one and that beef production represents Nebraska’s single largest industry! It is the backbone of their economy!

Chadron is located 1 hr 45 mins. from Scotts Bluff.

The entire drive was nothing but flat prairie land!

But, it was a beautiful, peaceful drive with few other cars around.

We definitely saw more cows on this drive than people!

We passed this old abandoned house in Crawford.

At around 5 pm, we arrived to our hotel in Chadron.

We had booked our stay at the Holiday Inn Express.

The hotel was built in 2017 and still looked fairly new.

After getting checked in, we headed to our room.

We had a king size bed and a nice size bathroom.

The rooms also came with a Keurig, mini fridge and a microwave.

We had a nice view from the window in our room.

Read reviews here

After getting settled into our room, we headed out to find something to eat.

The town was quiet with little traffic

We first headed to a place I had on my list called, the Ridge.

But after we got there, it was closed!

We quickly discovered that all of these restaurants are locally owned and closed early due to it being the 4th of July!

Click here for restaurants in Chadron

We had no choice but to eat at one of the fast food restaurants so we chose Arby’s!

I was not a happy camper having to eat fast food again but who would have thought every restaurant in town would close early for 4th of July?!

Even the fast food restaurants were closing early!

On the way to Arby’s, we passed the Gibbons Honey Farms building.

Fun Fact: Almond pollination in California requires nearly three-quarters of the honeybee population of the US to pollinate. It takes as many as 100,000 bees to pollinate the crop and there’s over a million acres of almonds in California. Gibbons ship their beehives to CA to help pollinate their crops.

After dinner, we headed back to Crawford for the Old West Trail Rodeo.

Crawford is located approx 30 mins from Chadron.

I had really wanted to see a rodeo while we were on this trip and ,as I had mentioned in my last blog post, I had pre purchased tickets to the rodeo in Belle Fourche before we left on our trip but since it was 1.5 hrs from our hotel in Keystone, we decided not to go.

So, I got online and found this one in Crawford and they were having fireworks for the 4th of July!

After arriving to the entrance, we had to pay $17 per person.

We paid an extra dollar to get the brochure that included all of the activities that were scheduled for that night.

After finding a seat in the bleachers, the show promptly began at 8 pm!

They played the National anthem and horseback riders came out flying the American flag.

I loved being in a place that had a love for their country! 🇺🇸

We got to see bronco riding, calf roping, barrel racing, bull riding, bareback riding, steer wrestling and tie down roping.

It was so cool!

After about 1.5 – 2 hrs of events, they started the fireworks!

They turned off all of the lights in the stadium so it would be completely dark before they started.

Talk about an awesome fireworks show!

The fireworks lasted for about 20 mins.

After they were over, we headed back to the hotel.

The drive back to the hotel was so dark as there was zero light pollution around.

I could see tons of stars!

And even spotted the Milky Way on the drive back!!

After getting back to the hotel, we called it a night!

Thanks for reading!

Note: A few other places we had on our list to visit was Fort Robinson History Center, Toadstool Geologic Park and Agate Fossil Beds but we ran out of time.

Stay tuned for Day 10 where we head back to South Dakota!

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Hey Guys!

This post continues our time in the Dakotas, Wyoming & Nebraska!

Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here , Day 3 here, Day 4 here, Day 5 here, Day 6 here & Day 7 here. Click here to see links to all of my blog posts

Our travel dates were June 26 – July 6, 2024.

We woke up to clear blue skies!

It was so cool being able to wake up with these views!

We started our morning with coffee out on the deck.

The hotel offered free coffee but you had to pay for breakfast.

After having our coffee, we checked out of the hotel and headed out for the day.

Our first stop would be, Custer State Park.

Since we hadn’t been able to hike the Cathedral Spires Trail the day before, we decided to go back and hike it.

We also wanted to drive the Iron Mountain Road.

It’s one of the three scenic drives in Custer State Park.

Iron Mountain Road is 17 miles long and connects Custer State Park and Mt Rushmore. The road has 314 curves, 14 switchbacks, 3 pigtails, 2 splits and 3 tunnels that you will drive through that frame Mt Rushmore in the distance!

Our route took us through the town of Keystone.

We spotted two deer on our drive!

About 25 mins after leaving our hotel, we arrived to the first tunnel on Iron Mountain Road called, Scovel Johnson Tunnel. 

The tunnel was named after Scovel Johnson who played a huge role in the construction of the famous Needles highway.

The tunnel is 10’9″ wide and 11’0″ high.

If you zoom in on this picture, you can see Mt Rushmore in the distance!

Less than 5 mins past this tunnel, you will come to the Norbeck Overlook.

Once we arrived here, we parked and walked the short distance to the overlook.

This overlook had views of Mt Rushmore from a distance.

If you climb up onto the rocks, you will get really beautiful views!

I took these pictures with my Canon camera

The overlook was named after Peter Norbeck. He was the first governor of South Dakota and the founder of Custer State Park.

Iron Mountain Road was constructed in the 1930’s under the direction of Peter Norbeck.

Click here for a map of the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway

After this stop, we continued our drive.

The drive is so beautiful but very curvy! The speed limit is 20-25 mph.

Tip: The road does close periodically during the winter

A few minutes after leaving the overlook, we arrived to the CC Gideon Tunnel that was named after Cecil (CC) Gideon who played a big role in the development of Iron Mountain Road.

This tunnel measures 13’0″ wide and 11’0″ high.

Carved through solid rock, it features a unique design where its ceiling opens midway through.

Iron Mountain Road is famous for the “Pigtail Bridges” that allow travelers to drop or gain altitude quickly.

The road is 18 miles long and forms the eastern edge of the Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway which is a total of 70 miles and was named one of the 10 Most Outstanding Byways in America!

Two minutes from the CC Gideon Tunnel was the Doane Robinson Tunnel.

The tunnel was named after Doane Robinson who is known as the “Father of Mount Rushmore.”

He’s the one who contacted sculptor Gutzon Borglum about carving Mt Rushmore.

The tunnel is 12’0″ wide and 11’4″ high.

See a map of the tunnels here

This tunnel perfectly frames Mt Rushmore!

Exiting the tunnel

We passed under another bridge

Shortly after exiting the Doane Robinson Tunnel, you will see Mt Rushmore.

The memorial is located 10 mins from the tunnel.

From here, we headed to the Cathedral Spires Trail.

We passed by the profile view of Washington on the way

The Cathedral Spires trail was located 45 mins from the tunnel and 35 mins from Mt Rushmore.

Heading back into Custer State Park

Driving the Needles Hwy

This was our favorite scenic drive through Custer State Park!

Arriving to the Needles Eye & Tunnel.

After exiting the tunnel, we continued our drive to the Cathedral Spires trail.

The trailhead is located 5 mins from the tunnel.

After arriving to the trailhead, we got parked and headed down the trail.

The trail is 1.6 miles round trip.

This is a very popular trail and I highly recommend it!

The views were incredible!

For most of the way, you are walking through the woods.

There were ferns growing everywhere!

The trail is mostly flat but you will come to a section where you will have to scramble over rocks!

We took so many pictures on this hike!

Tip: Wear good hiking shoes and bring water and a raincoat in case it starts raining!

There were wildflowers blooming all along the trail!

And lots of rocks and exposed roots on the trail so watch your step!

We had an absolute perfect day to hike this trail!

We stopped and took several pictures….it was hard not to!

We had a lady offer to take our picture…..we usually never turn down a couple’s picture!

The further we walked down the trail, the more dramatic the views became!

Tip: There’s a chance you will see mountain  goats on this trail

The trail is very easy to navigate and has some signage along the way.

We saw so many cool rock formations!

More pictures of us near the end of the trail

I spotted these wild flowers that looked like roses.

You will know when the trail ends because there’s a sign posted on a tree that says end of the trail.

We saw this sign talking about the Custer State Park Trail Challenge where a different series of trails are featured every year and you had to collect the rubbings of the medallions located on each trail. You will then turn in those rubbings at the Visitor Center for an official hiking pin.

Located near the sign was the medallion for this trail.

Pictures of the views near the end of the trail

After spending several minutes taking in the views, we headed back to our car.

We spotted some rock climbers at the top of one of the spires!

No thanks! They must have a death wish, right?! 😉

Views on the way back

We saw more flowers blooming!

Arriving to the rocks that you will need to scramble ….be careful, they were slick!

Almost back to our car

After exiting the trail, we noticed a sign for the Mount Rushmore Inspiration.

This was the original site of where Mt Rushmore was supposed to be but due to the quartz, feldspar and mica that was mixed in with the granite rocks here, it ended up not being a good location for sculpting.

After leaving the trail, we decided it was time for lunch so we headed to the nearby Sylvan Lake Lodge.

The lodge was located 10 mins from the trail

Driving through the park

Heading back through Needles Eye Tunnel

Arriving to the lodge

After getting parked, we headed inside.

All of the lodges inside the park offer dining options.

The lodge is so beautiful on the inside!

The hotel was built in the late 1930’s after the first hotel, that was built in the 1890’s, burned down in 1935.

We were seated by a window with amazing views!

After looking over the menu, I decided on the grilled chicken BLT with a side of fruit and the hubby ordered the club sandwich with  fries.

The food was delicious! We were surprised that the food would be so good inside a state park!

Read reviews here

After our lunch, we walked around the lodge for a few minutes.

They had a model of the first Sylvan Lake Lodge that was built in the 1890’s.

The first lodge that was built sat on the shore of Sylvan Lake.

When they rebuilt the lodge, they moved it to this location which is located on a rocky hillside overlooking Sylvan Lake.

If you climb up on the rocks behind the lodge, you will have amazing views!

We sat on the rocks for a while just taking in the views.

A bit later, we headed to our next stop of the day, Crazy Horse Memorial.

We passed this rock on Needles Hwy that looked like a giant foot!

The memorial was located 20 mins from the Sylvan Lake Lodge.

Arriving to the Crazy Horse memorial

Once we arrived, we had to pay an entrance fee of $30 at the gate and after you pay, you’re given a pamphlet about the memorial

Tip: The entrance fee is based on the number of people in your car and the time of year

After getting parked, we headed inside.

The place was much busier than we expected it would be!

My first shot of the memorial

After getting inside, we couldn’t believe how big this place was!

We thought it would be smaller than Mt Rushmore but that was not the case…it was huge!

Your admission includes access to three museums, an orientation film, viewing of the sculpture from the veranda and the wall of windows, and scheduled cultural programming.

The museums located inside the building showcased tons of art and artifacts with most of it being donated.

The artwork was beautiful!

There was a huge window that allowed you to view the Crazy Horse Memorial.

The one thing I regret is not having brought in my zoom lens camera to get better pictures of the memorial as it sat pretty far away from the main building!

For $5, you could take a shuttle bus to get closer views but it was raining so we decided against it.

Tip: They do offer special tours where you will shuttled right up to the face of the memorial  but I’ve read it costs $300 pp!

The memorial carving has been in progress since 1948 and when finished will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing to his tribal land.

The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski.

When finished, it will be 641 feet long and 563 feet high. The face of Crazy Horse, completed in 1998, is 87 feet 6 inches high.

The outstretched arm will be 263 feet and the finger will be 29.5 feet long!

Unlike Mt Rushmore, this memorial accepted no government funding…it’s being financed by private donations!

After walking around the museums, we headed to the cultural center to watch one of the shows.

It was a local musician from the Lakota tribes who was demonstrating the different types of flutes they use for music.

We then walked outside to the outdoors observation deck and took a few more pictures of the memorial.

Tip: There is a gift shop and a restaurant located at the memorial

Near the observation deck, they had a smaller version of what the memorial will look like when it’s finished.

We then walked into the Sculptor home and museum that showcased items that once belonged to the sculptor and his wife.

The museum is located in the actual log cabin that the sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski had built on this site while he was working on the memorial after having lived in a tent for several months prior to that.

The museum featured some of the antiques that belonged to Ziolkowski like a Marie Antoinette mirror, Louis the 16th chairs, and the glass topped table that Korczak made from a four legged piano.

After this museum, we headed back inside to the cultural center to watch a performance showcasing the different types of tribal dances.

It was really enjoyable!

Nearby was a large box that contained rock from the crazy horse memorial…you could take a piece home for free!

Tip: Once a year at the memorial, they hold what’s called the Volksmarch. It’s an organized hike to the top of the Crazy Horse Memorial. The hike is 6.2 miles round trip and take approx 4 hrs to complete!

Tip: Sadly, after 19 yrs, the memorial ended the laser light show that they held each night

After watching the dance performance, we headed to our next stop.

We ended up spending almost 2 hrs at the Crazy Horse Memorial…a lot longer than we thought we would!

Read reviews here

As we were leaving, dark clouds started to roll in!

They get some crazy storms out here!

We headed to the town of Custer and hoped it wouldn’t be raining!

Custer is located 10 mins from the memorial.

After arriving to Custer, we headed straight to the Purple Pie Place to try out their delicious pies that I had read all about!

They call it the Purple Pie Place for a reason….the entire building has been painted purple!

Don’t miss having your picture taken on the purple pig that sits right outside the door! 😉

The Purple Pie Place also serves food and ice cream.

The restaurant opened in 1981 and has been serving pies ever since.

They offer a range of flavors, including blackberry, blueberry, strawberry rhubarb, raspberry rhubarb jalapeno and many more!

The inside is really cute!

I decided on the popular bumbleberry while my hubby opted for the strawberry rhubarb.

The pies were delicious to me but my hubby wasn’t crazy about the chunks of rhubarb in his.

Read reviews here

After our pie, we headed to the historic downtown area of Custer so we could get out and walk around.

One of the first things you will notice about this town is, they have lots of  decoratively painted buffalo statues all through the downtown area.

Tip: If you want to see them all, the Custer Area Chamber of Commerce has a map of all the buffalo wandering through the town including their names and the names of the artists who painted them.

Tip: The owner who oversaw this project, has 6 painted buffalo in her yard. Click here for the address

We parked near an old historic cabin called the Flick Cabin that sits in Way Park.

The Flick cabin was the first building erected in the Black Hills. It was built in 1875 by Dr. Daniel Flick.

We walked inside the cabin to check it out.

We then begin our walk through the town.

We spotted the Baker’s Cafe & Bakery. I had read a lot of good things about this place but we never had the chance to try it out.

Click here for best restaurants in Custer, here for a list of all restaurants, here for best hotels & here for things to do

As we were walking, we made sure to take a picture of all the painted bison we passed along the way!

We passed by what used to be, the First National Bank. It was built in 1881 and is now occupied by the popular Horatio’s Ice Cream.

More pictures of the painted bison!

As we were walking, we spotted a mural on the side of the building that said, Greetings From Custer so, of course, we had to take our picture in front of the mural!

We then passed the Custer County Museum.

We spotted a painted buffalo that I couldn’t miss taking a picture with! 🇺🇸

After spending about an hour walking through town and taking pictures of all the painted bison, we headed to find the largest carved buffalo that we had seen a sign for on our way into Custer.

The buffalo was located about a 5 min drive from the downtown Custer area.

Once we arrived, we got out to take pictures.

The buffalo stands 37 ft tall and was built out of wood scraps by the Dahl brothers in early 2023.

Tip: Click here to read about 8 other sculptors around the state

After leaving here, we headed back to Keystone to have dinner.

We decided to go back to the Powder House Lodge and try their dinner menu.

After being seated, we took a few minutes to look over the menu.

It was much more extensive than their lunch menu!

We started out with the crabbed stuffed mushrooms and they were delicious!

For our main course, we both decided on the 8 0z filet Mignon wrapped in bacon with a side of mashed potatoes.

The food was so good and so was the service!

Read reviews here

After dinner, we headed back to our hotel.

On the way, we passed a beautiful rainbow!

The sun was starting to set too and the sky was so gorgeous!

After arriving back to our hotel, we headed to our tent.

Prior to leaving for our trip, I had purchased tickets to the rodeo & fireworks show in Belle Fourche but it was was 1.5 hrs from our hotel so we decided not to go!

After hitting the sack, I laid in bed for what seemed like hours watching the sky…it was so cool!

Thanks for reading!

Stay tuned for Day 9 where we head to Nebraska!

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Hey Guys!

This post continues our time in the Dakotas, Wyoming & Nebraska!

Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here, Day 5 here & Day 6 here. Click here to see links to all of my blog posts

We started our morning with coffee and a pastry that we had purchased from Lynn’s Dakotamart the night before.

We decided to have our breakfast sitting outside on the rooftop since we didn’t really have a place to eat inside our room.

Read reviews for our hotel here

After breakfast, we packed up and checked out of the hotel and headed to our first stop of the day, Custer State Park.

A few more shots of Deadwood before heading out.

Custer State Park is located 1 hr 15 mins from Deadwood.

Our route took us through Rapid City where we passed some of the presidential statues that they have scattered throughout town.

Heading to Custer State Park

As we got closer to the park, the granite peaks started to stand out above the trees.

Custer State Park is South Dakota’s largest state park.

The park encompasses 71,000 acres in the Black Hills and is home to abundant wildlife.

The park offers something for everyone such as rock climbing, camping, hiking, biking, swimming, fishing, and horse back riding.

The park also holds annual events such as the Annual Buffalo Roundup and Buffalo Roundup Arts Festival, the seasonal Volksmarch and the Buffalo Wallow Chili Cookoff.

We had Sylvan Lake as our first stop inside the park.

We drove through Hood Tunnel on the way.

The tunnel measures 10 ft 6″ wide by 9 ft 10 ” tall.

There are several tunnels located in Custer State Park.

About 5 mins past the tunnel is where you will find the beautiful Sylvan Lake Lodge.

The lodge was built in 1937 at a construction cost of $140,008.

There are a few different lodges located inside the park.

Five minutes past the lodge is where you will find Sylvan Lake.

Read reviews for the park here & here for Sylvan Lake

Tip: There is a $20 entrance fee to the park and it’s good for 7 days. Your America the Beautiful pass will not work at state parks. However, you can purchase an annual pass for $30.

After arriving to the lake, we then had the challenge of finding somewhere to park. This place was packed out!

And I could see why, it was breathtaking!

The lake is surrounded by huge granite boulders and beautiful pine trees!

Sylvan Lake consists of seventeen acres and was formed in 1881 when the creek at Sunday Gulch was dammed.

At the lake you will find the Sylvan Store which offers retail & casual dining. Sylvan campground can be found on the other side of the lake.

You can rent canoes, kayaks, stand up paddle boards at the lake and swimming is also permitted.

Tip: There is one visitor center located inside the park

Tip: Motorized watercraft is not permitted on the lake. Besides Sylvan Lake, there are 4 other lakes located in the park.

After finding parking, we started walking around the shore lake trail.

As we approached the lake, I spotted an eagle dive down into the lake and catch a fish!

Unfortunately, I didn’t have my good camera with me so this is the best I could get with my Iphone camera! 🙁

The views here are breathtaking but sadly, shortly after arriving, it started raining pretty hard so we headed back to our car.

Tip: Scenes from the movie, National Treasure II were filmed at the lake

Tip: Click here to read about 8 epic swimming holes in South Dakota

During the spring and summer, lots of storms can pop up in the Dakotas so always keep an eye on the weather!

We decided to continue our drive through the park.

The road we were driving was called the Needles Highway and it’s the most scenic road that runs through the park!

The Needles Highway is 14 miles long and takes you through spectacular granite mountain peaks and pine forests!

The road’s name comes from the needle like granite formations that are seen all along this scenic drive.

The roadway was carefully planned by former South Dakota Governor Peter Norbeck, who marked the entire course on foot and by horseback. Construction was completed in 1922.

Tip: If you don’t want to drive the road yourself, you can book a tour here

The speed limit is 25 mph….it’s also a very twisty and winding road so be prepared with motion sickness medicine if you are prone to getting car sick!

After a few minutes of driving, we arrived to the most popular area on Needles Hwy…the Needles eye and the Needles Eye Tunnel.

There are usually lots of vehicles backed up here because people want to get out and take pictures.

There is room for just a few vehicles to park so you can get out and take pictures before driving through the very narrow tunnel.

The Needles eye is a unique rock formation that sits right outside of the tunnel.

It got it’s name from the opening that was eroded by the wind and rain.

It was really cool!

The tunnel is a one way tunnel so you will have to make sure no one is coming through before you enter.

Thankfully, you can see through to the other end so that makes it much easier to know when you can enter the tunnel!

It’s also very narrow….It’s only 8′ 0″ wide by 9’9″ high!

Tip: Needles Highway closes to vehicles with the first snow of the season and does not reopen until April 1, or later depending on conditions. The trails remains open for hikers, walkers, bikers and skiers.

After exiting the tunnel, we pulled over at an overlook to wait for the rain to pass.

The views from this overlook were beautiful!

The temperature in the park dropped down in the low 50’s during the rainstorm!

While we were waiting for the rain to pass, it started to hail!

Thankfully, it was small hail!

This area is known for their hailstorms and can get hail the size of golf balls!

You will see lots of cars driving around with hail damage!

Tip: Make sure you get the full insurance on your rental car just in case you are caught in one of these damaging hailstorms!

After sitting at the overlook for several minutes, we decided to go eat lunch.

As we were driving through the park, we came up on the Iron Creek Tunnel.

The tunnel is a 9′ 0″ wide x 11′ 4″ tall.

After exiting the tunnel, we saw lots of hail on the sides of the road! It looked like snow!

We also spotted two huge deer …..this was the best picture I could get of them.

Click here for a list of wildlife that can be seen in the park

We decided to eat in the nearby town of Keystone at a place that I had on my list called the Powder House Lodge.

The restaurant was located 12 mins from the Iron Creek Tunnel.

After arriving to the restaurant, we headed inside.

The Powder House Lodge restaurant offers breakfast, lunch and dinner.

You can also book a room or cabin at the lodge and it’s very nice!

Once inside, we were seated right away.

After looking over the menu, I decided on the shaved prime rib dip with fries and the hubby settled on the BLT and fries.

The food was pretty good…a lot better than the Ruby House Restaurant that we had eaten at earlier in our trip!

Read reviews here

After lunch, we decided to head to Mt Rushmore.

It was located 10 mins from the restaurant.

After arriving, our first stop was taking pictures in front of the park sign.

We then continued our drive to the park.

We could see that iconic mountain as we were driving towards the entrance!

I was so excited about seeing Mt Rushmore…you hear about it all of your life but seeing it in person is surreal!

Once you arrive, you will have to pull a ticket at the gate.

There is no entrance fee here but you have to pay $10 to park.

Tip: Your America the Beautiful pass will not cover the parking fee

We were very impressed with how organized the parking was!

After pulling your ticket, you will be directed by attendants on where to park.

There are several parking garages located here!

Tip: Click here to read all about how the parking works

After you park, make sure to take your parking ticket so you can pay for parking and get your ticket validated.

You can do this at one of the many kiosks scattered throughout the park or inside the gift shop or the cafe.

After getting parked, we headed to the monument.

Getting closer!

You can’t see Mt Rushmore without taking lots of selfies lol! 😉

We passed a sculpture of Gutzon Borglum.

He designed the Mt Rushmore sculpture, called Shrine of Democracy, and oversaw the project’s execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln.

In 1927, he began sculpting the 60-foot-high heads of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt on the face of the mountain, and in 1929 the United States government began financing the project, which would become a national memorial.

The walkway to the memorial is lined with flags on both sides…..it’s called the Avenue of Flags.

There are 56 flags that line the walkway.

The 56 flags represent the 50 states, one district, three territories, and two commonwealths of the United States of America.

The flags are arranged in alphabetical order. The names of each state, district, commonwealth or territory are listed on the plaques directly below each flag.

Of course, we had to find the flag of our great state of Tennessee!

It was right beside the South Dakota Flag!

As we approached the end of the viewing area, we took our pictures in front of that iconic and amazing sculpture!

I took more pictures and video here than I can count….it’s just one of those places where you don’t want to miss anything!

But sadly, we did….the visitor center that sits below the top viewing area! 🙁

At the visitor center,  you can see the place where Guzton Borglum worked from 1939 to 1941 and view the 1/12th scale model of Mount Rushmore.

You can also hike the Blackberry Trail while you are here.

I think it’s also called the Presidential Loop Trail.

Once we found out that there were 422 stairs on the trail, we quickly decided against it! 😉

Tip: Click here to read about 76 fascinating facts about Mt Rushmore

Thankfully, I had brought in my Cannon 50x zoom lens camera and was able to capture some really good close up pictures of the monument!

After taking way too many pictures, we headed to Carver’s Cafe to purchase some ice cream.

I had read that the cafe served the vanilla ice cream that was the recipe of Thomas Jefferson so, I couldn’t miss trying it!

Once inside the cafe, you can’t miss the ice cream because they have it well signed!

Some years back, Xanterra, the company that manages tourist operations at Mount Rushmore,  put out a call to ice cream makers.

Xanterra challenged the makers to craft a vanilla ice cream made using the recipe that was written by Founding Father Thomas Jefferson in 1780.

Jefferson had served the ice cream, which specifically called for Madagascar vanilla bean pods, to visiting diplomats and dignitaries.

Several ice cream makers submitted their samples….Xanterra ended up choosing Pride Dairy as the winner so their vanilla ice cream began being offered at Mt Rushmore!

Mt Rushmore sells about 8k gallons of the vintage vanilla ice cream during an average tourist season!

I ordered a scoop of the vanilla and a scoop of the huckleberry and it was so good!!

The hubby ordered a scoop of the huckleberry and a scoop of the chocolate.

After eating our ice cream, we decided to head back to Custer State Park since it had stopped raining.

Tip: We had our parking ticket validated at the cafe. Once you leave the park, you will need to enter your ticket into the machine at the exit gate. The ticket is good for one year!

As we were driving back to Custer State Park, we passed the profile view of George Washington!

At the Profile View you can get a one-of-a-kind view of George Washington framed by the surrounding rock outcroppings!

This viewpoint is found just a couple of miles outside the entrance to the park.

There was a parking lot located at the viewpoint so you could get a good picture.

I used my cannon camera to get some closeup shots!

After leaving here, we continued our drive to Custer State Park.

See a map of the park here

I couldn’t get over how beautiful this park was!

I’ve read that some people think it should be a national park instead of a state park!

Going through one of the tunnels

There are a few scenic drives that you can do through Custer State Park and I highly recommend that you do them all!

Besides the Needles Hwy, there is the Iron Mountain Road and the Wildlife Loop Rd.

Since we had gotten rained on at Sylvan Lake, we decided to head back there first so we could hike the trail around the lake.

The lake is located approx. 30 mins from Mt Rushmore.

Tip: There are several lakes inside Custer State Park. There’s also another lake 40 mins from Sylvan called Pactola. It looks beautiful too! You can rent boats on that lake!

After arriving and getting parked, we headed to the trail.

The trail is a 1 mile hike that goes around the lake.

We decided to climb up on some of the huge granite boulders along the shore.

The views from the rocks are incredible!

You definitely want to take the time to climb some of these rocks but be very careful as they are slick and have sheer drop offs!

We climbed up and down several of the boulders along the trail for different views of the lake.

We then continued our walk along the trail.

Parts of the trail are flat while some have rock stairs that you will have to climb.

Views from some of the rocks we climbed along the way.

This short loop trail gives you so many different perspectives of the lake!

Continuing the trail

You will most likely see rock climbers along the trail as it’s a very popular activity here.

Along the shore trail, you will also see the trail for the popular Sunday Gulch Trail.

This is a 4 mile loop trail that’s rated as hard.

I walked about 50ft down the trail just to snap a quick picture.

Tip: Click here for a 40 page detailed guide of Custer State Park

As we were walking the trail, we spotted a bald eagle sitting in a nearby tree!

I was able to get some great shots with my cannon camera!

Shortly after spotting the eagle, we saw another eagle flying around and they started fighting!

It was so cool to see!

As we continued our walk, we came to the Sylvan Lake Dam.

Sylvan Lake was created in 1881 when Theodore Reder built a dam across Sunday Gulch.

Tip: Click here for 12 things to do at Sylvan Lake

One section of the trail will lead you through a narrow passageway where you will have to climb several stairs.

It was a bit freaky walking under huge boulders that were balanced above your head between the cliffs!

After walking through this section, you are close to the end of the trail.

The views are breathtaking all along the trail!

After finishing the trail, we continued our drive through the  park.

We arrived back at the Needles Tunnel where we were able to get out and take some pictures since the rain had moved out!

The rock formations here are so cool looking!

This was definitely our favorite drive through the park!

Another shot of the Needles Eye

We walked behind some of the rock formations at this stop and discovered some cool places for pictures!

More shots of this area

After taking our pictures, we headed back to our car so we could drive through the tunnel!

Heading towards the tunnel

Driving through

Once you exit the tunnel and drive a little ways, you can look back and get another cool shot of the tunnel!

We made our way to our next stop, the Cathedral Spires trail.

This is a very popular hike and it has very limited parking!

Thankfully, we were able to find a parking spot so after getting parked, we started our hike.

The trail is 1.6 miles round trip and offers incredible views of the granite peaks!

The start of the trail was pretty flat.

I couldn’t get over the views!

Sadly, shortly after starting the trail, it started thundering so we didn’t feel comfortable continuing the trail.

Note: We do go back the next day and hike the trail so I will blog about this trail in my next post.

So, we headed back to our car and continued our drive through the park.

Tip: Another really popular trail inside the park is the Black Elk Peak Loop...it’s 7 miles round trip.

We decided to head to the Wildlife Loop Road.

Highway 16A and the Wildlife Loop Road form the core of the park. This is where you will find most of the wildlife, visitor centers, and lodging in the park.

Our route took us through the Iron Creek tunnel

We passed the Blue Bell Lodge & Resort along the way. This is one of four lodges that are inside the park.

Tip: This place offers a chuck wagon dinner…there are several different ones in this area

Arriving to the Wildlife Loop Road

The loop road is 18 miles and gives you the best opportunity to see the wildlife in Custer State Park.

Tip: Expect a minimum travel time of anywhere between 1.5 and 2 hours to complete the loop that creates a “U” from one end to the other.

Along this road you have a chance to see the “begging burros”, bison, mountain goats, prairie dogs, mountain lions, coyotes, burrowing owls and more!

The road twists and turns its way through the prairie and ponderosa pine.

It’s a beautiful drive!

As we approached a sign for the Bison Center, we noticed several cars were parked alongside the road that led to the center.

It didn’t take us long to see why so many cars and people were gathered along the roads….it was the famous begging burros!

We were so excited to see them as had hoped we would find them!I had found out about them on the Facebook page that I follow!

These burros were added to the park in the 1920s. They were used to carry visitors from Sylvan Lake Lodge to the top of what is now Black Elk Peak. The service stopped in the 1920s and they let them loose in the park.

At one time, there were as many as 100 of these feral donkeys however, the park controls the number of donkeys they allow in the park.

Today, there are only 12 adult donkeys left in the park. Sadly, the Legion Lake Fire in 2017 destroyed many of the herd burros and the park has been rebuilding since then.

During my research, I discovered that the park allows you to feed the donkeys so, we had brought some carrots with us that we had bought at Lynn’s Dakotamart in Lead!

Tip: These are the only animals in the park that you are allowed to feed

Once we got parked, we got out with our bag of carrots and headed to see the donkeys!

Let me tell you, they are not shy if they know you have food….actually, they become aggressive and try to take whatever you have to offer!

My hubby and I took turns feeding them..

It was such a neat experience!

I was disappointed that we hadn’t bought a bigger bag of carrots because it didn’t take long for them to gobble them up!

One of the donkeys had recently given birth .…the baby foal was so cute!

Tip: You need to be cautious around these animals as they can and will kick you!

The begging burrows will walk right up to your vehicle if they think you have food!

After spending a few minutes with the donkeys, we continued our drive.

Not long after leaving the donkeys, we came up on two pronghorns that were sparring!

So many twists and turns!

As we continued our drive, we spotted bison in the distance!

The park is home to approx. 1500 bison.

Tip: If you want to make sure you see the bison in the park, you can book a buffalo safari jeep tour

Shortly after seeing the bison, we exited the Wildlife Loop Rd.

It had taken us approx. 1 hr 15 mins to complete the drive.

Tip: Make sure to drive the gravel roads along the Wildlife Loop….a lot of times that’s where you will find the wildlife

We spotted the Custer State Park sign so stopped to take our picture in front of the sign.

We then headed to our next hotel called, Under Canvas Mt Rushmore.

The majority of our hotels on this trip were very reasonably priced so, I thought I would splurge on at least one of our hotel stays and this was our splurge.

Under Canvas are big tents that you can rent out in the middle of the woods. I thought it looked really cool!

The “hotel” is located in Keystone down a long gravel, bumpy road!

It took us approx 35 mins from the Custer State Park sign to get to our hotel.

Once we were parked, I headed inside the big tent to check us in.

After getting checked in, one of the employees will take you and your luggage to your tent on a golf cart.

After arriving to our tent, the employee offered to take our picture standing in front of the tent.

I had booked one of the star gazing tents.

This tent has a large, clear viewing window above the bed so you can view the night sky!

The tent came with a private bathroom and a wood burning stove but not much more.

Some of the tents don’t come with bathrooms…you have to use a public bathroom near the check in tent.

The tent also comes with two battery powered lamps, two battery packs so you can charge your phones, two battery powered fans, two  chairs, two nightstands, firewood and starter, shampoo and conditioner.

When we arrived, the tent was really cold so my hubby had to immediately start a fire!

Tip: The tents have no electricity so, if you need to blow dry your hair, you will need to do it at the community bathroom & you have to keep the pulley handle held down with one hand while you are taking a shower inside the tent!

Read reviews here

After getting settled into our tent, we headed back to the tent where we had checked in as they also had a restaurant located inside that tent.

The restaurant had a very limited menu!

Here’s their menu that I found online but they did not have all of these options when we were there! They had like 4 options for dinner!

We both ended up ordering the grilled pesto chicken sandwich that came with chips.

The sandwich was actually very good!

Tip: They have around 13 under canvas locations throughout the US with the majority of them being close to parks

After dinner, we headed back to Mt Rushmore for the lighting ceremony.

I had read that it wasn’t to be missed so we had to fit it into our itinerary!

After getting parked, we first headed to the gift shop to purchase a t-shirt.

After making our purchase, we headed to find a seat.

The lighting ceremony is held beginning the Friday before Memorial Day to September 30 each year.

From May through early August, the ceremony starts nightly at 9 p.m., and from early August through September 30, it starts nightly at 8 p.m. From October through May, there is no ceremony, but the sculpture is illuminated nightly at sunset.

The ceremony starts with a ranger speaking about the history of the memorial.

Later, he calls for all active and retired military to the stage to be recognized  and for the folding of the flag.

At approx. 9:30 pm, they lit up the faces of Mt Rushmore!

It was very cool to see!

The ceremony was very patriotic and we really enjoyed it!

After the ceremony, we headed back to our hotel.

Since we had already paid for parking earlier in the day, we just had to insert our parking ticket at the gate. So, make sure to keep up with your parking ticket if you plan on going more than once during your trip!

We once again passed the profile view of Washington

After getting back to our hotel, we sat outside on our small deck for a while before calling it a night!

We had clear skies and saw shooting stars right from our bed!

Read reviews here

After watching the stars for a while, we called it a night!

Thanks for reading!

Stay tuned for Day 8!

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Hey Guys!

This post continues our time in the Dakotas, Wyoming & Nebraska.

Our travel dates were June 26 – July 6, 2024.

Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here, Day 5 here & Click here to see links to all of my blog posts

I’ll start by saying, that this day was one of my favorite days. We really enjoyed everything we did on this trip, especially seeing Mt Rushmore, but I really enjoyed the stops that we had on our itinerary for this day!

We were up around 7 am and by 8 am, we were heading to our first stop of the day, Devil’s Tower.

Devil’s Tower is located in Wyoming and 1 hr 15 mins from Deadwood.

Passing into Wyoming

On the way to Devil’s Tower, we passed the Vore Buffalo Jump.

A buffalo jump is a cliff formation in which Indigenous people used to hunt and kill plains bison in mass quantities. They would herd them and then drive them off of the cliff.

Buffalo jumps have been found throughout the Dakotas.

The drive to Devil’s Tower was really peaceful….there was hardly any traffic on the roads to the tower!

After driving for about an hour, we could see the tower rising in the distance!

There was literally nothing else around but the tower!

We passed the Devil’s Tower Tipi Campsite.

Read reviews here for the campsite

Getting closer to the tower

And closer!

Once you arrive, you will go through the entrance gate where you will have to pay the $25 entrance fee.

Tip: I had purchased the America the Beautiful pass prior to leaving for our trip. It’s $80 and covers the costs of all National parks and monuments for 1 yr from date of purchase. You will have to show your driver’s license when presenting an America the Beautiful pass at the gate.

After arriving to the entrance gate, we were given a map of the area.

Continuing our drive to the tower

Tip: Word of advice, this place gets super busy and the parking is limited. I highly recommend that you get here no later than 9-9:30 am or after 3 pm or you may sit in line waiting for a parking spot for up to two hours!

After getting parked, we headed towards the tower.

There are restrooms and a visitor’s center located here.

We walked around and read some of the informational plaques before heading to the trail around the base of the tower.

The tower stands 867 feet from summit to base. The summit is 5,112 feet above sea level.

Devils Tower was the first United States national monument. It was established on September 24, 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt. The monument’s boundary encloses an area of 1,347 acres.

Tip: Scenes from the movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, were filmed here

The name “Devil’s Tower” originated in 1875 during an expedition led by Colonel Richard Irving Dodge, when his interpreter reportedly misinterpreted a native name to mean “Bad God’s Tower”.

After reading about the tower, we began our walk on the Tower Trail.

The loop trail, that takes you around the base of the tower, is approx. 1.5 miles.

It’s a paved trail that is mostly shaded. It was very peaceful.

Click here for the best trails in Devils Tower

Along the trail, you will notice lots of cloth tied to tree limbs. These are prayer cloths that have been placed here by Native Americans.

Tip: These are not to be moved or touched by visitors.

Of course, we stopped and took lots of pictures along the way!

You will see lots of informational plaques along the trail.

Walking along the trail

One of the most popular things to do here is rock climbing.

There are around 5-6k people that climb this rock every year!

Tip: There is no rock climbing allowed the month of June. Also, during Sturgis week, the park changes the parking & closes campgrounds so read up on that.

Click here for a local’s guide on climbing the tower & Click here for camping near the park

We spotted several people climbing the tower!

More pics along the trail

As we were walking along the trail, we started noticing tons of trees that were snapped into!

We could tell that it had happened recently…it looked like a tornado had ripped through the park!

As my hubby and I were standing there talking about what we were seeing, a couple overheard us and told us that the park had just opened back up the day before because a storm had blown through the park and downed many trees!

Click here to watch a video of a guy in the park at the time of the storms and narrowly avoiding being hit by a falling tree!

We couldn’t get over how many trees had fallen! Some were snapped into like a toothpick!

So glad we didn’t show up when the park was closed! Always check the park’s website before heading out to any park!

We noticed a sign showing a list of closed climbing routes due to nesting falcons on the rock.

A short while later, we saw a sign for the “window” in the rock.

The window is one of the tower’s most distinctive features. It’s a 300 ft alcove that sits above the boulder field.

Here you can see shades of orange and green lichen that cover the rocks.

Geologists are still uncertain how Devils Tower was formed, but some believe it is a special volcanic feature that formed when magma encountered groundwater, which then became superheated and exploded to the surface, puncturing the overlying sediments.

It looked like the basalt columns that we had seen in Iceland.

The tower is composed of symmetrical columns which are the tallest and the widest in the world!

Some measuring up to 600 ft tall and 10-20 ft wide!

Continuing the trail

If you zoom in on this picture, you can several climbers on the tower!

In 1941, parachutist George Hopkins, landed atop the tower. However, after landing, his 1,000 ft descent rope fail out of reach. He spent several nights atop the tower waiting to be rescued!

More pictures in front of the tower!

Along the trail we saw a sign that told about the first people to have climbed the tower in 1893!

With binoculars, you can still see the ladder they used for one section of the climb!

That ladder is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Tip: The first woman to climb the tower was the wife of the first man to climb the tower

A few more shots along the trail

Near the end of the loop trail, you will come to a boulder field.

You are allowed to climb the rocks but will need a permit to climb the tower.

After finishing the trail, we left the park.

We made a quick stop near the entrance to take our picture with the park sign.

Tip: If you get hungry or want some ice cream or a souvenir, the Devils Tower Trading Post sits right beside the entrance sign.

Click here for restaurants near Devils Tower. The Ponderosa Cafe is the one with the most reviews and was recommended in the Facebook page that I follow

Read reviews for the tower here

After getting our pictures, we headed to our next stop of the day, the Aladdin General Store.

On the way there, we passed through the cute town of Hulett, WY that has a population of around 310!

We passed the R Deli and the roof was covered with bones!

We also passed this old church.

After driving for about 40 mins, we arrived to the Aladdin General Store.

The general store is the best preserved of Wyoming’s five remaining 19th-century mercantiles, it’s been amassing inventory since 1896.

It is the oldest continuously operating general store in Wyoming.

Right outside in front of the store is a working gas pump and a historic gas pump…so cool!

The inside of the store is full of souvenirs, coffee mugs, T-shirts, wallets, postcards, key chains, books and much more!

They had all kinds of candy, snacks, as well as grocery items.

They had a bar as well.

You name it and they probably had it!

The store retained many of the original features that gave it an antique, historical feel. That includes cabinets that are more than 130 years old, and an old wooden cabinet, whose bins have been filled with bright and colorful candy.

There’s an old-fashioned wood stove, old-fashioned registers, and even an old switchboard operating system.

It was so cool!

After checking out the downstairs, we headed upstairs to check out the different rooms that were full of even more stuff!

It was almost like a museum!

They had different rooms that had all kinds of antiques, clothes, shoes, handbags and so much more!

My hubby even found a hat while we were there! 😉

We saw these stuffed badgers with prairie dogs in their mouths.

I had read where some people had seen badgers chasing prairie dogs in the Badlands National Park...I would have loved to have seen a badger!

After checking out the upstairs, we headed back downstairs….we couldn’t leave without purchasing a t shirt!

A few more pictures of the inside

After making our purchase, we continued our drive to our next stop.

Read reviews here

Tip: One mile from the general store is the historic Aladdin Coal Tipple. It’s an old coal mine. Sadly, we missed it!!

On the way to our next stop, we once again spotted the Vore Buffalo Jump so we decided to stop and check it out.

The buffalo jump was located in Sundance, WY just 15 mins from the general store.

A sign in the parking lot told about the history of the buffalo jump.

We headed inside the tipi to purchase our tickets.

Ticket prices for adults were $12 and children ages 7-12 were $5.

The buffalo jump is open daily from 8 am-6 pm.

We arrived about the time a tour was starting so they let us join the tour.

The tours are guided and last about 45 mins.

The tour will begin in the tipi and your guide will talk about the history of the jump and how it was discovered.

As I mentioned earlier, a jump is either a man made hole, cliff or sinkhole where Native Americans would round up buffalo and chase them over the cliff into the hole where they were later killed.

The Native Americans depended heavily on the bison for survival.

This site was discovered during the construction of I-90 in the early 1970s. In 1989, the family of Woodrow and Doris Vore donated the site to the University of Wyoming, and today, the sinkhole is known as the Vore Buffalo Jump.

Archaeologists estimate that at least 4,000 bison were killed over a period of about 250 years at this place.

After listening to the guide explain what the jump was and how it was discovered, we walked outside behind the tipi where the actual jump is located.

We had to walk down a steep sidewalk to get to the building that had been built over the bison remains.

The pit is about 40 feet deep and 200 feet wide.

There were informational plaques along the way that explained what a jump was.

I know that most of us eat animals and heck, I love a good steak but I couldn’t help but feel sorry for how these animals met their demise! What a way to go lol!

Less than 10% of the Vore site has been excavated.

After a few mins of walking, we headed inside the building that contained the remains of the bison.

There is a wooden boardwalk that is built around the bones.

The Vore site was used as a kill site and butchering site from about 1500 AD to about 1800 AD. Archeological investigations in the 1970s uncovered bones and projectile points to a depth of 15 feet.

They had tipis and lots of informational signs that talked about the Native Americans and how they used every part of the bison for food, clothing, shelter, tools, jewelry and in ceremonies. The decimation of millions of bison in the 1800s was pivotal in the tragic devastation of Indian people and society.

It was really interesting to see!

The pit is estimated to contain the remains of 20,000 buffalo!

There were lots of signs hanging inside that talked about the site and the Native Americans.

After spending almost an hour here, we continued our drive to our next stop.

Read reviews here

On the way, we passed the huge water park in Spearfish.

Arriving to Spearfish

Our next stop was an ice cream store called, Leones Creamery. I had found out about it on the South Dakota Facebook page that I follow.

The creamery is located 20 mins from the Vore Buffalo Jump.

After finding street parking, we headed inside.

There was a beautiful mural painted on a wall right outside the creamery.

The historic city hall building sat across the street. It was completed in 1939.

Tip: You can do a historic walking tour of Spearfish

A picture of the creamery from the outside

After heading inside, we tried to decide on what flavor we wanted…they all sounded so good!

Leones hand crafts their own ice cream so once that flavor is gone, it’s gone!

They only offer 8 different flavors a day. They change their flavors out daily or even weekly depending on how fast that flavor sells out.

On this day they were offering vanilla bean, dark chocolate, mint oreo, orange speckled chocolate, red, white & blueberry, London Fog, pistachio and a vegan almond joy.

You can have your ice cream in a cup or one of their homemade, gluten free waffle cones.

I decided on one scoop of the vanilla bean and one scoop of the dark chocolate.

The hubby decided on the dark chocolate and a scoop of the red, white & blueberry.

It was so good!!

Read reviews here

After our ice cream, we headed to our next stop, the Termesphere Gallery.

It was located down a gravel road 10 mins from the creamery.

I had learned about this place on the Facebook page that I follow.

I highly recommend you join several Facebook pages of the places that you will visit. You can learn so much and get a lot of insight from locals.

The  gallery looked like a hobbit house!

Tip: You can actually rent this place out on Airbnb as the owner used to live here but has now moved out but his studio is still here. Read more about renting the “Turtle House” here

No other visitors were here when we arrived so we weren’t sure if it was even open.

Thankfully, it was so we headed inside.

Tip: They are open 7 days a week from 9 am to 5 pm.

Follow their Facebook page here

The artist of these master pieces is Dick Termes. Dick is an internationally acclaimed artist whose work has been recognized from San Francisco to Paris, France and from New York to Japan.

His one of a kind spherical paintings have been published in books all over the world!

Unlike any other painter, Dick does his paintings on spheres, which when completed, are known as Termespheres.

Each Termesphere is a revolving, three dimensional exploration of an entire picture that revolves around you.

It’s like you standing in the center of a building and it is revolving around you!

These were the most amazing pieces of art that I had ever seen!

Dick has patented this type of painting and is the only person in the world that paints like this!

He has been painting these type of spherical paintings since 1968 after receiving his masters degree in Art at the University of Wyoming.

These are not recreations or mass produced ….it takes him months to finish one piece.

I could have purchased one of each…they were so cool!

The lady who worked at the gallery was very friendly and knowledgeable and we spent about 30-40 mins here talking to her about the different pieces.

Tip: You can purchase a unique piece online. Don’t miss the clock tower in downtown Spearfish where one of Dick’s creations sits atop the tower. Click here to find murals that are painted in Spearfish.

Read reviews here

After leaving here, we headed to our next stop, the Spearfish Canyon.

Tip: I also had the D C Booth Historic Fish Hatchery on the list to visit  but we ran out of time. Read reviews here

Click here for best restaurants in Spearfish, Here & here for best hotels, and Here for best things to do

The start of the scenic Spearfish Canyon drive is located 10 mins from the Termesphere Gallery.

Spearfish Canyon scenic byway is a 22 mile drive that offers beautiful canyon views as well as waterfalls.

There are 3 different waterfalls located on this drive and you will want to see them all!

The drive is located in the Black Hills National Forest.

Tip: Click here to see all of the stops that you can do along this drive

The views along the drive were beautiful!

After driving for about 5 mins, we came to our first stop, Bridal Veil Falls.

Tip: Your 1st stop would be Spearfish Community Cave Trail

After getting parked, we noticed several people that had gathered on the side of the road and was looking up into the mountainside.

They had spotted mountain goats!

I didn’t take any pictures with my Cannon camera so this is the best I could take with my phone!

They are commonly seen in this area.

After taking a few pictures of the goats, we walked across the street to see the falls.

Bridal veil falls is a roadside falls so there’s no hiking involved.

The 60 ft falls can easily be seen from a observation platform that has been installed for optimal viewing and photos.

I had read that hiking to the falls was prohibited but we saw several people at the base of the falls.

There are a couple of informational plaques at the observation deck

After leaving here, we continued our drive through the canyon.

Tip: After leaving Bridal Veil falls, your next stop would be the very popular Devils Bathtub trail – we didn’t hike this but I’ve read a lot about it! It has several creek crossings & takes about 30-45 mins to hike. Read reviews here

We stopped to snap a quick picture of the historic Homestake Mining Co Hydro Electric Plant that was built in 1917.

Continuing our drive

Later, we arrived to our next stop, Spearfish Falls.

You can park at the historic Latchstring Restaurant in order to access the trail for this falls.

Ok, this trail was a bit confusing but if you are facing the restaurant, walk to your left and take the trail behind the restaurant.

Tip: There are bathrooms at the start of the trail

The trail is mostly flat and more importantly, shaded!

There are a few informational plaques along the trail.

Tip: There are mountain lions in this area

You will cross over the Spearfish Creek along the way.

There were wildflowers blooming all over!

At one point, you will come to a grove of pine trees.

After about 10 mins of walking, we heard the sound of rushing water and Spearfish Falls came into view.

This marks the end of the trail, where a spacious wooden platform gives visitors plenty of room to admire the waterfall.

There was only one other couple there when we arrived!

The waterfall cascaded over the hillside and dropped 80 ft into the creek below.

There were flowers blooming near the waterfall that made for some beautiful pictures!

The couple there offered to take our picture.

The water was so clear you could see fish swimming around!

After taking way too many pictures of the falls, we headed back to our car.

Once we were back, we walked to the Roughlock Falls trailhead.

The trailhead is located near the Spearfish Canyon Lodge.

You can also drive and park at the trailhead.

This trail is 2 miles round trip but, I’ll let you in on a secret, if you continue the dirt road past the trailhead parking lot, you can park right at the waterfall!

Sadly, we didn’t know this until we had already hiked a mile to the falls!

However, with that being said, it was a very pretty hike to the falls!

There were several informational plaques along the trail.

The views along the trail were so beautiful!

I was actually glad that we had hiked it but if you are short on time or have mobility issues, you can just drive to it.

Everything was so green!

I took so many pictures on this trail because I couldn’t get over how green and lush it was!

And by the way, none of these pictures are edited! It was really this green!

We had our first wildlife encounter on this trail….a shrew!

It was so tiny!

They look similar to a mole or a mouse but smaller.

After walking for about 20 mins, we arrived to the falls.

There are several overlooks here so make sure to see them all.

The first one is a small, cascading waterfall that runs through the creek.

It was pretty but definitely lacked the wow factor in our opinion.

Read reviews here

We walked up the short but steep trail to the top of the falls.

You had much better views from here but again, I wasn’t overly impressed with the falls.

It’s definitely worth a stop and the hike itself is worth it!

Tip: At the beginning of the trail is a spur trail that leads to a spillway where you can watch trout as they try to find food

After checking out the falls, we headed back to our car.

After arriving back, we decided to eat at the Latchspring Restaurant as we were starving!

The inside of the restaurant was so beautiful!

The restaurant has been serving food for over 100 years!

We were seated outside with views of the canyon!

After looking over the menu, we decided to start out with the lobster stuffed mushrooms.

They were delicious!

For our main course, I decided on the trout almondine and the hubby ordered the grilled walleye.

Our meals came with a small salad

The food and the service was amazing!

Read reviews here & see their breakfast menu here, their lunch menu here & their dinner menu here

After dinner we headed back to Deadwood.

On the way, we passed this huge statue of Abraham Lincoln so we stopped for a quick picture.

Near the statue, was a sign that read President’s Park. However, it was permanently closed in 2010.

I googled it while writing this blog post and it looked so cool! It was a park that featured 43 president’s heads that were arranged chronologically along a path winding up into a rocky knoll of tall pines.

After this quick stop, we continued our drive…our route took us through the small town of Lead.

Incorporated in 1876 after the discovery of gold, Lead was home to the largest, deepest and most productive gold mine in the Western Hemisphere until the Homestake Mine closed in 2002.

Now the mine has been transformed into the Sanford Underground Research Facility.

The small town was so cute!

We passed lots of old buildings

We decided to make a quick stop at Lynn’s Dakotamart in Lead to pick up some bottled water and a few more snacks.

After making our purchase, we continued our drive back to our hotel in Deadwood.

Once we were back in Deadwood, we passed the Pumphouse Coffee & Deli.

I had this place on my itinerary but we never made it there.

I also had a place called the Chubby Chipmunk on my list but we never got there either!

They make homemade chocolates! Read reviews here

Heading to our hotel

After getting parked at our hotel, my hubby spotted this coffin and just had to have his picture taken inside the coffin! 😉

Across from our hotel, we saw where people were lined up for the Trial of Jack McCall.

Tip: Something else I had wanted to do was a Stagecoach ride but we never saw them!

Heading inside of our hotel

We decided to walk around and check it out before heading to our room.

One of the employees started talking to us and asked us if we had seen the lock of Elvis Presley’s hair that they had on display.

He told us where it was so we went and checked it out.

The lock of hair was won by a lady who had entered a contest where she had to write a letter saying how Elvis could best serve our country by accepting the draft notice.

The prize was a lock of Elvis’s hair and an unpublished picture of him.

How cool!

We checked out a few more displays that we had missed when we looked at them the first time.

We then headed to our room.

We noticed a door near our room that led outside to a rooftop area.

There were tables and chairs and a fire going.

So, we decided to sit outside for a while and people watch before hitting the sack.

The sun was starting to set as were sitting outside.

After sitting outside for a while, we headed to our room and called it a night!

It had been another long but enjoyable day!

Thanks for reading!

Stay tuned for Day 7!

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Hey Guys!

This post continues our time in the Dakotas, Wyoming & Nebraska!

Our travel dates were June 26 – July 6, 2024.

Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here, Day 4 here & Click here to see links to all of my blog posts

After having coffee at our hotel in Bowman, ND, we began the 2.5 drive to Deadwood, SD where we would be spending the next two nights.

On our drive we saw lots of pronghorns!

North Dakota allows these animals to be hunted since there are so many of them in the state. However, the pronghorn population has recently declined so, not as many are allowed to be killed like in years past.

Make sure you have plenty of gas on this drive as you will drive for miles without seeing anything !

When we were driving to ND from SD, we had passed the Welcome sign to North Dakota but didn’t stop since it was almost dark.

So, on our way back to South Dakota, we decided to stop and take our pictures in front of the North and South Dakota welcome signs.

It’s obviously something a lot of people do because both states had paved, circular pullovers at both welcome signs!

After about two hours of driving, we arrived to the town of Belle Fourche, SD.

I was unaware that our route would be taking us through Belle Fourche but I had this place on our itinerary because it holds the distinction of being “The Center of the Nation.” 

So, when we spotted the stop on our drive, we immediately pulled over to check it out!

Also located here is the log cabin that belonged to “Buckskin” Johnny Spaulding.

Some of the walls still had the original stencils.