Custer State Park

After a birthday lunch for Austin at Cattleman's in Custer, SD, we headed for an afternoon in Custer State Park. We drove the 18 mile Wildlife Loop in the southeast part of the park. It covered lush, green, open grasslands and ponderosa pine covered hills. It is home to bison, pronghorn, deer, burros, and prairie dogs. We saw all of these animals on our drive around the loop and stopped at a couple of the interpretive sites to talk with the rangers.
As we drove, we saw burros who freely roam the park...in the field and in the road. They are not native to the Black Hills but are descendants of the herd that used to carry visitors to the top of Harney Peak but were released into the wild when they discontinued the ride.
The prairie dogs are the cutest little rodents. Not a member of the dog family, it is related to squirrels and rats but was called a "dog" because of the yipping sounds they make. They live in large social groups called towns, in round mounds of dirt that surrounds the prairie dog hole to keep out the rain water and to serve as a watchout post. There were many fields that were dotted with many, many prairie dog mounds!
As we were coming to the end of the loop, we finally saw the bison. They were on both sides and in the road, and we had to wait for them to decide to move! Many of them had babies, too. The park has around 1300 head of bison which can grow to 6 ft tall and weigh more than 2000 pounds. They are considered the largest native terrestrial mammal in North America. In order to keep them from over-grazing the land, they have a round up in the fall and sell some to keep the herd to around 1300 after the spring birthing season.
Though the Loop should only take 45 minutes to drive, it took us a couple of hours to appreciate all the gorgeous scenery and animals that were out and about! Though Custer State Park was not on our original itinerary, we are glad we had time to enjoy a small part of it!

Valley view in Custer SP

Bison on Wildlife Loop

Burros in Custer SP

Johnstons in Custer SP