This entry is a continuation of the previous
one.
After hiking with Cody on several trails near Horsethief Lake and
Stockade Lake in the northwest part of Custer State Park I continued driving east on US 16A
through the park for a few more miles, then turned south on SD 87
through the western part of the park:
.
You can see the whole map larger at this
link.
TATANKA, THE LAKOTA WORD FOR BISON OR
BUFFALO
Both Custer State Park and Wind Cave National Park are renowned for
their large, accessible bison herds. These majestic animals are one of
the biggest tourist attractions in the Black Hills.
As I was driving south through state park lands I saw a few bison along
SD 87 but most of the park's large herd is still grazing in the
meadows near the corrals after the annual buffalo roundup in late
September. You can see the area on the map above where the corrals are
located in the SE part of the park.
Bison at Custer SP about a mile from the corrals on
the Wildlife Loop Road
After the bison are examined, vaccinated, and tagged each year they are
released to roam all over the park. The herd is kept at about 1,500
animals. It appears that the ones above have already been released.
There are also about
350 free-roaming bison in adjacent Wind Cave National Park, which
borders Custer State Park on the south. Bison were reintroduced into
Wind Cave NP in 1913-1914 after herds in the United States were nearly
decimated.
The wildlife
management programs in both parks have been very successful.
Custer and
Wind Cave parks
are two of the last remaining places in the country with thousands of
acres of mixed-grass prairie and forests that are protected to support
bison, pronghorns, elk, mule deer, white tailed deer, coyotes, prairie
dogs, black-footed ferrets, cottontail rabbits, wild turkeys, and many
other species of birds, small mammals, fish, and reptiles.
Fence line separating Custer SP and Wind Cave NP
We've seen herds of bison in Wind Cave NP on
previous visits to the park. One of the best places to see them is near
the trailhead for the southern terminus of the Centennial Trail, and
that's where I saw the most of them today.
When I stopped at an overlook just north of that
trailhead I could see lots of bison poop near the parking area. Cody had
to check out one fragrant pile in the parking area:
That's a
huge pile of poop!!
There were more large bison patties along a
short trail overlooking the prairie in the distance. I watched where I
walked but my main focus was on the group of bison I could see 'way off in the
distance:
As I was driving toward that group of bison in
the distance I saw a mama and her calf about a hundred feet from the road.
Here's the young-un -- that probably
already weighs several hundred pounds:
Isn't it cute? The hair on its head still looks
soft and fluffy.
Soon I saw a small group of bison near a creek as
the road switch-backed down a hill:
I continued driving but discovered that I couldn't see the original
large herd I spotted in the distance from the overlook because the road
had descended through too much hilly terrain and didn't pass near them.
However I got quite close to another herd with several dozen bison as
they crossed SD 87. I stopped
along the shoulder to get some close-ups:
This mom stood motionless by the highway for
several minutes
as her calf nursed and other bison passed her.
They just seemed to keep coming. I was fascinated watching them walk by so
close to me.
Fortunately no one
got impatient and honked or tried to drive through the herd. These roads
are not throughways. There was very little
traffic through either park today and folks were driving slowly and
stopping frequently to watch and photograph the bison and other
wildlife.
PRAIRIE DOG HEAVEN
At the northern edge of the national park I began seeing lots and lots
of prairie dogs on both sides of the road. I can’t believe how many
there are, and how close to the road they dig their holes!
There is a dirt road
(FSR 5) off to the left just past this entrance sign. There are
thousands of prairie dogs near these roads in this vicinity:
I didn't get any good close-ups of the prairie dogs but Cody and I had
fun watching them. He really wanted out of the truck to chase them but I
didn't let him out -- not good for the prairie dogs or
Cody.
I've also seen a lot of prairie dogs on the
Centennial-Lookout Point-Highland Creek trail loop in Wind Cave National
Park and various places along the Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park.
WILDLIFE LOOP IN
CUSTER STATE PARK
After watching the bison in Wind Cave NP I turned around and drove back
north on SD 87 to the 18-mile Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park.
The prairie scenery
along this road is so beautiful and there really is plenty of wildlife
to be seen.
Mule deer in the shade of a clump of cottonwood
trees
Scenic drive and much more wildlife continued on the
next
page . . .
Happy trails,
Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil,
and Cody the ultra Lab
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© 2012 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil