Custer State Park

To be honest, we didn't really expect much from this park. We left the motorhome at 7:15 am and it took us about 35 minutes to get to the park. The best time (we were told) to see animals was either dawn or dusk, and we had missed dawn, so we figured we had also missed our chance to see animals.

Not so! We saw hundreds of bison, two groups of burros, deer, prairie dogs, and pronghorns.

Bison have always fascinated me. As a teenager, I used to visit my high school French teacher's bison farm, not far from our home. Germaine St. Maurice and her husband, Arthur J. St. Maurice owned Willow Brook Farm in Southborough, Massachusetts and raised buffalo. As a French teacher, Mme. St. Maurice was strict but fair, and I can still remember her standing in the doorway to French class. Each student who walked in front of her to enter the room had to say "excusez moi" or else was dragged back by the collar until they excused themselves. A good leason to learn.

But I digress into my memories, and you, dear blog reader, are probably more interested in my travels today. So I will show you some more photos, n'est pas?

I'm not sure if you can see, but the entire herd of bison is off in the distance in this shot. In 1840, as many as 60 million bison roamed the plains from Canada to northern Texas. By 1886 there were fewer than 100 free-roaming buffalo. In 1914 the Philip family sold 36 bison to Custer State Park from their private herd of 900 animals. In the 1940s that herd of 36 had increased to 2,500 bison and the animals were over-grazing the park lands. The park began culling the herd and numbers are now strong and sustainable at eight hundred fifty to fourteen hundred fifty bison. As numbers increase, animals are sold at auction. It is estimated that there are now 200,000 bison in all of North America, about 1300 of which reside in Custer State Park.

There is also a herd of wild burros in the park that are not native to the Black Hills but are descendents from the herd that once hauled visitors to the top of Black Elk Peak. The burros were released into the park when the rides were discontinued and have become a popular visitor attraction.

They were quite friendly and bold, looking for carrots that many visitors bring (despite rules forbidding visitors from feeding the animals.)

As we moved on, we saw that the scenery in the park was breathtaking and varied from one area to the next.

We couldn't get enough of this place. In fact, Bob and I plan to return one evening in hopes of catching a glimpse of some elk, mountain goats, or maybe even a mountain lion. Fingers crossed!