Outside of our trip to Alaska last year, this may be Cindy’s favorite stop during our travels across and around the country. We had both been here before; me when I was deployed to South Dakota seven years ago and then the two of us when Cindy came to visit me while I was deployed there, so we knew we would enjoy it. But after this visit it was all Cindy could talk about for many days. I have a feeling we’ll be back, lol!
On Friday, June 23, 2023 we left the Left Tailrace Campground in Fort Thompson, South Dakota and drove 246 miles across the state to Custer State Park which is about 45 minutes south of Rapid City. We stopped in Rapid City to stock up on groceries and re-fuel Voyager. By the time we got set up at our site in the campground it was 2:15 (well 3:15 for us until we turned our truck and RV clocks back one hour to match our phones which automatically changed time zones) and we walked over to the nearby Legion Lake Lodge for a late lunch/early dinner.
After strolling back to our site we hopped into Voyager and drove the Wildlife Loop where we saw buffaloes, prairie dogs and antelopes before returning to our campsite around 5 pm. We had bad thunderstorms that started around 9 pm and lasted until 2 am. That led to a low temperature overnight of 51 degrees, so I pulled out a blanket for my side of the bed because I’m a Chilly Willy.
Saturday morning June 24th, after a nice breakfast by Cindy we took a hike near Legion Lake and the Lodge with Bella, then in the mid-morning we returned to the Wildlife Loop because Cindy just LOVES seeing the baby buffaloes and squeaky little prairie dogs. We also stopped at two of the Visitor Centers in the park, with a goal of seeing all of them before we leave.
Back at the site our camp hosts stopped by to warn us of a tornado watch which we appreciated even though we already knew about it because we keep an eye on weather as a matter of habit. They also confirmed, as we had read on some of the groups we follow, that sometimes buffalo DO come strolling though the campground sites so Cindy is REALLY hoping for that. (Spoiler alert; they never did during our stay)
Sunday morning June 25th we took Bella and hiked around Legion Lake this time. It was not an easy trail, especially when you’re wrangling a dog AND your wife, but we had fun and got a lot of photos.
On Monday, June 26th we did another drive around the Wildlife Loop. The highlight of the morning was seeing a herd of wild burros and Cindy even got out and petted some of them. These are the only wildlife in the park that rangers allow you to touch and feed. We wished we had some carrots or apples with us so she could feed them. We’re going to put some in Voyager while we’re here so we have some on hand if we run into the herd again. (Spoiler alert; we did and we didn’t)
We also visited another Visitor Center and the new (just opened last year) Bison Center where we learned a lot about these shaggy behemoths. We decided after lunch back at Nomad and a nap that we would drive the Wildlife Loop again at twilight in the hopes of seeing some Big Horn Sheep and elk. It was a nice drive, as always, but we had no luck seeing those two kinds of animals.
Tuesday morning, June 27th we took another hike with Bella near the Legion lake and Lodge. We were fortunate to get a shot of a Bluebird with a worm in its beak on top of a bat box, and Red Robin on the ground in the grass. After our hike we drove to Rapid City to do our laundry, pick up a prescription, buy groceries for our next week and to have lunch at Culver’s. When Cindy came to visit me here seven years ago I took her for her first ever taste of Culver’s burgers and shakes at this location. She has loved them ever since so it was fun to return to the same one she first experienced.
We returned to the campsite and spent the remainder of the day reading and relaxing.
We got up with the sun at 5:30am on Wednesday June 28th and entered the Wildlife Loop at 6am trying to see some elk, big horn sheep and pronghorn antelope, which we haven’t seen at that point during our entire stay. We ended up seeing one, solitary pronghorn, lots of deer and buffaloes, and some prairie dogs just emerging from their burrows after a night of sleep.
Got back to Nomad around 7:30am and Cindy made a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs with mushrooms/cheese and sweet cinnamon rolls. My tummy was full and went back to bed for about an hour, then we spent the rest of the morning reading and relaxing. During lunch we watched episode 2 of Secret Invasion and then took Bella for a walk up to the lodge around 5:30pm to get some ice cream. Sadly, they were out of ice cream.
Thursday, June 29th we took Bella for a walk and then decided to drive the Wildlife Loop one last time for this visit around 11am. That’s not a good time of day as most of the wildlife is going to be somewhere in the shade trying to escape the midday sun and heat. We saw MORE prairie dogs, a couple of more deer and an antelope’s ass. Spent the rest of the day getting ready to travel the next day (Friday) and relaxing.
As I mentioned at the beginning, this was one of Cindy’s favorite places to visit and I’m sure we’ll be back again at some point. If we ever decide to “workcamp” at a place for a few months, I’m sure she’ll want this to be the spot we pick for a Spring or Summer stay, lol.
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