Home Button Places By Name Places By Type State Parks Road Trips
Places > Places By Type > State Parks > Custer State Park, South Dakota

Custer State Park, South Dakota

Introduction Iron Mountain Road Game Lodge / Blue Bell Related Links
Needles Highway Bighorn Sheep Needles and Eye of the Needle
Wildlife Loop Road Bison - 1996 Bison - 2006 Burros - 1996 Burros - 1998 Burros - 2006 Prairie Dogs
Pronghorn Sheep Turkeys Deer

Custer slideshow
Click to go directly to the slideshow
In 1996, my first real foray to the West, I had no plan. Well, yeah, I did have a plan, and that was to out West and drive part of the Montanabahn, before it went away. The second part of the plan, was to see Mount Rushmore. Just because. Everything else along the way would just be a bonus.

One of those places was Custer State Park. A piece of tourist propaganda said to bring a bag of carrots for the burros. See Eye of the Needle. Drive the pigtail bridges.

Custer Map
Reduced map of Custer State Park.
Click for a larger view.
Custer State Park
200608PNW_2126C09083

Iron Mountain Road

Iron Mountain Road
199609MNW_226F0624CSP 199609MNW_230F0701CSP 200608PNW_2169D09100 200608PNW_2170D09100 200608PNW_2171D09100 200608PNW_2174D09100 200608PNW_2175D09100 200608PNW_2178C09101

Game Lodge / Blue Bell

US-16A / SD-87
200608PNW_2168D09094 199609MNW_273F0804CSP 199609MNW_281J0310CSP 199609MNW_284J0311CSP 199609MNW_285F0816CSP 199809NW_716F1825 199809NW_718F1903 199809NW_739F1918 199809NW_740F1919

Needles Highway

EyeOfTheNeedle.jpg
Eye of the Needle...
Bighorn Sheep
199609MNW_286F0817CSP 199609MNW_287F0818CSP 199609MNW_289F0820CSP 199809NW_722F1907 199809NW_725F1910 199809NW_726F1911

Needles Highway / Eye of the Needle
199609MNW_290F0821CSP 199609MNW_293J0313CSP 199609MNW_294F0823CSP 199609MNW_296J0314CSP 199609MNW_297J0315CSP 199609MNW_298J0316CSP 199809NW_729F1914 199809NW_730J0719 199809NW_731J0720 199609MNW_299F0825CSP 199609MNW_300F0900CSP 199609MNW_301F0901CSP 199609MNW_302F0903CSP 199609MNW_304J0317CSP 199609MNW_305F0905CSP 199609MNW_307F0907CSP 199609MNW_308P0204CSP 199609MNW_309F0908CSP 199609MNW_310F0909CSP 199809NW_735J0724 199609MNW_312F0910CSP 199809NW_734J0723 199809NW_733J0722 199609MNW_314F0912CSP

Wildlife Loop Road

I was down the Wildlife Loop Road three times, and the bison and burros were in different places every trip. So instead of documenting the road from landmark to landmark, I'm going to document the road from animal to animal...

Wildlife Loop Road
199609MNW_233F0703CSP 199609MNW_239J0303CSP 199609MNW_241J0305CSP 199609MNW_248F0709CSP 199609MNW_267P0201CSP

Bison
1996
199609MNW_234J0302CSP 199609MNW_236F0705CSP 199609MNW_237F0706CSP 199609MNW_238F0707CSP 199609MNW_242F0708CSP 199609MNW_343F1012CSP 199609MNW_344F1013CSP 199609MNW_345F1014CSP 199609MNW_346J0324CSP 199609MNW_347F1015CSP

2006
200608PNW_2142D09084 200608PNW_2147C09084 200608PNW_2148C09084 200608PNW_2149C09084 200608PNW_2150C09084 200608PNW_2151D09084 200608PNW_2153C09085

Burros
1996
199609MNW_250F0710CSP 199609MNW_251F0711CSP 199609MNW_253F0712CSP 199609MNW_254F0713CSP 199609MNW_255F0714CSP 199609MNW_256F0715CSP 199609MNW_257F0716CSP 199609MNW_258F0717CSP 199609MNW_259F0718CSP 199609MNW_349F1016CSP 199609MNW_350F1017CSP 199609MNW_351F1018CSP 199609MNW_352F1019CSP 199609MNW_353F1020CSP 199609MNW_356J0403CSP 199609MNW_358J0405CSP

1998
199809NW_742J0801 199809NW_744J0802 199809NW_745F1921 199809NW_746F1922 199809NW_747F1923 199809NW_748F1924

2006
200608PNW_2157D09090 200608PNW_2160D09091 200608PNW_2161C09091 200608PNW_2165C09091 200608PNW_2166C09091

Prairie Dogs
199609MNW_261F0720CSP 199609MNW_262F0721CSP 199609MNW_263F0722CSP 199609MNW_265F0724CSP 199609MNW_266F0725CSP

Pronghorn Sheep
199609MNW_260F0719CSP 199809NW_720F1905 200608PNW_2129C09083 200608PNW_2138D09083 200608PNW_2139D09083 200608PNW_2140D09083 200608PNW_2141C09084

Turkeys
200608PNW_2128D09083 200608PNW_2134D09083 200608PNW_2135D09083 200608PNW_2137C09083

Deer
199809NW_737F1916 199809NW_738F1917 200608PNW_2136C09083 200608PNW_2154D09090 200608PNW_2156D09090

Related Links

Black Hills
Black Hills Link The Black Hills, long a sacred area for the local tribes, is now more a tourist destination. You can easily plan a weeklong vacation in the area, with attractions like Mount Rushmore, Wind Cave, Custer State Park, and the Western Towns such as Deadwood.

Just don't go there during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, unless you're specifically going for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally...

Western South Dakota / 11 Images.
Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Mt Rushmore Link Mount Rushmore National Memorial represents a monument as big as the sculptor's ego. I admit, it's an impressive piece of art and national pride, and if you're in the Black Hills area, a definite must-see attraction. Just do it in the morning if you're planning on taking pictures.

Oh, and don't go there during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, unless you want to go to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

Near Rapid City, South Dakota / 40 Images. Visited Sep 1996, Jul 2006.
Wind Cave National Park
Wind Cave Link Wind Cave National Park was originally created to preserve Wind Cave, but was expanded to almost 30,000 acres, preserving the grasslands and other wildlife habitat of the area. There is a sizable bison herd here, as well as the obligatory prairie dogs...

The cave tour (the general tourist one) is very easy and either level or downhill, and best of all there's an elevator at the end.

Near Hot Springs, South Dakota / 40 Images. Visited Sep 1996, Jul 2006.

Custer State Park Trip Reports: Sep 1996, Sep 1998, Jul 2006.

Return to: State Index South Dakota State Page State Parks

Revisions:
  • 04/30/2016 - Initial deployment
  • April 2017 - Upgrade to v3.4.
  • August 2022 - Upgrade to v5.0.
Help! About This Site Contact Me