A Guide to South Dakota Part 2

So like I said last week, I want to dive a little deeper into my favorite parts about South Dakota. Some of my favorite vacations as a kid was when we would go to Hill City and rent a cabin. We rented the same cabin two different times, a couple of years apart. Both times we went, we went on a lot of adventures; some new, and some were repeats that we could never get tired of visiting. 

It was also nice to get out of town for a while and be able to disconnect from our technology a little bit. The cabin had no tv, and this was before any of us had smart phones, so the only technology we really had was my dad\’s laptop, which we only used to watch movies on family movie nights. We spent our time just hanging out, enjoying each other\’s company, reading, and playing board games. I remember sitting on the porch with my dad in the mornings with my pop tarts and mug of milk (I didn\’t drink coffee yet) and watch as deer would wander by. We also had a magnificent view of Harney Peak from our cabin which was awesome. 

Hiking Harney Peak was my favorite part of these trips, and we always made sure we hiked it at least once while here. It is a beautiful hike. The trail is about 3.5 miles long, all straight up, and takes a good 5 hours roundtrip to hike. Of course, once you get to the top, you are definitely going to want to stay up there and admire the view for as long as possible. We would always bring a picnic lunch to enjoy once we reached the peak. At the base of Harney Peak, is Sylvan Lake. It makes for a great spot to cool off after a long day of hiking! Also, I bet you didn\’t know Sylvan Lake was the actual lake they used in the National Treasure movie. Remember when they made you think there was a lake behind Mount Rushmore? There isn\’t. There\’s nothing but more rocks back there. Sylvan Lake is where Nicholas Cage found the city of gold, and if that doesn\’t convince you to visit, I don\’t know what would! 😉 

In my last post, I mentioned that my family and I did the Volks march up Crazy Horse monument. My dad dug up some photos for me to use for this post, and I laughed the whole time I was going through them. Thinking back, I thought I had a pretty good time, but these pictures want to say otherwise! 

Don\’t listen to pre-teen Megan. It\’s a good time!! It\’s a fairly short hike, but they only let you do this once a year, so it\’s pretty packed when you try to go. Definitely worth it though for a view like that. I think I need to go back and get some better pics taken this time! 😉  

Another favorite of mine is bear country. I have always loved animals, and bears are my favorite animal, so this place holds a special place in my heart. You start by driving through the park in your vehicle. You have to keep your windows up in this park because some of the animals are dangerous, and they don\’t want anyone provoking them. They get right up to your car, and that\’s the closest you\’re probably going to get to some of these animals safely! They also have a separate area where you can get out and walk around and see all the baby critters, which is probably my favorite part! There are so many little bear cubs, I just want to snuggle right up to them.

And of course, the staple of South Dakota: we have to visit Mount Rushmore every time we go! There\’s a great trail leading up and around the monument, but unfortunately, you can only get so close. I\’ve had a lot of people ask if you can climb on the monument, but no you can\’t. There wouldn\’t be anything left if you could! But you can still get pretty close and get some great views of the monument. It really is a spectacular site. 

Well this blog post was a great trip down memory lane, and I hope I\’ve convinced some of you how wonderful South Dakota is. I could fill up a lot more than two posts of the wonders of this beautiful state, but I\’ll leave it here for now. Go discover the rest for yourself! Happy travels!

Until Next Time 🙂

Megan Reiffenberger