Saturday morning, I packed up the tent in Elk Mountain Campground and headed north, spotting some buffalo along the way.
First ride of the day was Needles Highway in
Custer State Park.
Sometimes you see a couple that was just meant to be together.
Needles Eye:
Sylvan Lake:
I had a late breakfast in Keystone and then it was time to ride my favorite... Iron Mountain Road.
I rode Iron Mountain Road 4 1/2 times. Keystone-to-Custer, Custer-to-Keystone, Keystone-to-Custer, and Custer-to-Keystone again. At the suggestion of the woman in the gift shop, I rode halfway down towards Custer, almost to the gift shop, and turned off on Playhouse Rd and then onto Rockerville. After a coffee break back in Keystone, I decided to head towards Rapid City. For fun, I stopped in the
Dinosaur Museum, somewhere I hadn't been before.
Continuing the dinosaur theme, I headed up Skyline Drive (beautiful!) to the Dinosaur Park, another place I had never been.
The 1930s statues were delightfully cheesy. No trace of feathers here. They kind of looked like giant versions of kids' clay sculptures. I'm not trying to be disrespectful - these things were awesome, just not in a very realistic way.
The triceratops was my favorite of the sculptures. The swooping head is amazing.
Stegosaurus has always been my favorite dinosaur.
I left Rapid City and headed back towards the Badlands, taking a route south of I-90 I hadn't been on before. Don't let Google tell you Scenic, SD doesn't have a gas station - it does.
I had a reservation at
Cedar Pass Campground, right in the park. From the KOA where I stayed on Friday you couldn't see the Badlands but here you have a front row seat. Most campers had trailers and RVs. I think I was the only one camping off a motorcycle.
I had dinner at Cedar Pass Lodge.
I used a tripod and experiemented with night photography in the park. Most of the photos didn't turn out due to lack of focus. It was a bit creepy being pretty much alone in the park at night.
I tried using my flashlight (both white and red light) to experiment with.
It's crazy these photos were taken when it was very dark because they look like daylight.
After a nightcap at the Wagon Wheel, I was back in the tent and a storm was coming.
Strong wind, rain, and lightning rocked the tent around midnight.
It lasted just over an hour and I managed to get this shot (long shutter exposure).
Monday morning, I packed up the tent for the 3rd and final time and rode out through the Badlands.
Here's Scrappy the deer in Kadoka, SD. I didn't deliberately stop to see Scrappy - I needed gas and it was right there.
I left I-90, headed north and stopped in Pierre for a late breakfast and then rode all the way back home. I left camp at sunrise and got home at sunset. Overall, the trip was awesome!!! I covered 1,678 miles over 4 days and 3 nights.
- Friday: 582 miles
- Saturday: 301 miles
- Sunday: 263 miles
- Monday: 532 miles
I love riding around the Badlands and Black Hills and can't wait until next time.
