30 miles from Rapid City is Custer State Park.

With an area of 114 square miles, it is among the largest state parks in the continental US. The park was designated a game preserve in 1913 and was made a state park in 1919. It is known for its free-ranging herd of about 1,300 bison as well as pronghorn, deer, elk, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, mountain lions, burros, prairie dogs, coyotes, eagles, and wild turkeys. We drove the 18-mile Wildlife Loop Road and here is what we saw…

Original herder’s cabin built in the 1930’s