South Dakota

Our trip through South Dakota in October 2005

Sioux Falls and Mitchell

: Sioux City Falls

: Sioux City Falls

: Mitchell Corn Palace

: Murals made of corn

: Murals in gym made of corn

: Murals made of corn change every year

Travelling west to the Badlands

Badlands National Park is a national park in southwestern South Dakota that protects 242,756 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires blended with the largest undisturbed mixed grass prairie in the United States.

: Old Ghost town

Bear Country – Drive Through Wildlife Park

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a massive sculpture carved into Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. Completed under the direction of Gutzon and Lincoln Borglum from 1927–1941, the sculpture’s roughly 60-ft.-high granite faces depict U.S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. The site also features a museum with interactive exhibits.

: Entrance

: Alley of flags at entrance

: If you enlarge this photo you can see Mr. Rushmore through the arch

Needles Highway

: Result of massive fire in Custer Park which burned an incredible 83,508 acres of timber and grassland in 2000

: Locals taking their time crossing the highway

: View of rock formations

: Needles Highway

: One of many one-way passes through the rocks

The Crazy Horse Memorial, north of Custer, has been a work in progress since it was begun in 1947. The head and upper body portion of Chief Standing Bear have been carved into this mountain, similar to the Mount Rushmore carvings. Although it is not completed it is still an impressive site and has already been dedicated as a memorial.