Lakes and Spires and Bison, Oh My!

Truth be told, we had never heard of Custer State Park before researching areas in South Dakota near Mount Rushmore. But we have to say it is now one of our favorite state parks anywhere, even rivaling Valley of Fire in Nevada and Dead Horse Point in Utah. Set in the Black Hills, it features scenic drives among spectacular granite spires, beautiful lakes and open-range wildlife on all sides. While state parks tend to get less love than national parks, we’re here to tell you that this park deserves your attention.

Set in a pine forest, our campsite near Stockade Lake was cool, quiet and a respite from the crowded roads. Koda loved exploring all around the campsite, re-discovering squirrels and being ever vigilant when she heard the rustle of falling pine cones from the trees. While she often gets bored when we do a lot of driving, she sure loves the camping part of it. She’s an outdoor girl for sure.

We had the lake to ourselves for breakfast with the exception of a young boy and his grandpa who were fishing nearby. Morning was definitely the best time to get out and enjoy the park without the crowds.

Driving the Needles Highway was probably the highlight of the park for us — a spectacular drive through pine and spruce forests, meadows and rugged granite mountains to the needle-like formations that give the road its name.

With three narrow tunnels, two of which the Revel wouldn’t fit through, we drove most of the road before having to backtrack. Does it look like we will make it through the Iron Creek Tunnel (below)? We did, but we didn’t press our luck on the others.

On the Wildlife Loop Road, it’s not a matter of if you will encounter wildlife, but when. Depending on the day, you might see bison, pronghorn, elk, coyotes, prairie dogs, big horn sheep or a roving band of burros. The big draw is the nearly 1,500 bison that wander the park. Literally, rule #1 in the brochure you are given when entering the park is DO NOT approach the buffalo. By now, most of you have probably seen the video of the woman who got too close to a calf, causing another bison to toss her around (tearing off her jeans). This happened two days after we were there, in the exact same spot! 

Our favorite lake was probably Sylvan Lake. We visited twice: once in the afternoon when we saw lots of people swimming, and we picnicked for a while, and once the following morning when it felt particularly secluded and peaceful. 

The small town of Custer was our go-to for groceries and gas. It also had a dog park, which we visited twice in order to let Koda have some off-leash time, which she loved.