FUN-photos: Sturgis Bike Rally Road Trip
August 25, 2018 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-photos: Sturgis Bike Rally Road Trip
78th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally…
…& the hills are alive…
…with the sound of motorcycles!
…& Harley’s were clearly the “Rulers of the Roads.”
- We started in Denver seeing our grandson Brayden & his fiance Haley, then on to Boulder to see our niece Cindy, Dave, Sam & April with a stop in Estes Park, CO before arriving in the Black Hills of South Dakota for 6 days.
- We drove all the Top 10 Scenic Hwys with Needles being the most spectacular & scenic – 14 miles of impressive tall granite peaks & spires, sharp turns & low tunnels.
Highlights included Mt. Rushmore, Custer State Park, Crazy Horse Memorial, Badlands National Park, Hot Springs Mammoth Site, Historic Deadwood where Wild Bill Hickok & Calamity Jane are buried, & Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming.
FUN-travel: Black Hills, SD – Spearfish Canyon & Devils Tower, WY
August 23, 2018 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Black Hills, SD – Spearfish Canyon & Devils Tower, WY
…52 miles from Belle Fourche…
…this massive rock monolith…
…stands 867 feet high…
& escalates to 1,267 feet…
…above the Belle Fourche River…
- Hwy 34 offers more open…
…& rolling landscape…
…than the Black Hills…
…and a whole lot prettier scenic drive…
…than Hwy 44 to the Badlands!
- Return via I-90 took us to…
…Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway…
…a stunning 19-mile cruise…
…through towering limestone walls…
…& dense deciduous forest…
…flowing next to Spearfish Creek with multiple waterfalls.
FUN-fact – President Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed Devils Tower National Monument, the first national monument in 1906.
FUN-travel: Black Hills, SD – Deadwood
August 18, 2018 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Black Hills, SD – Deadwood
- Just 13 miles west of Sturgis…
…makes it a great place to stay…
…as the entire city is a National Historic Landmark District…
…for its well-preserved Gold Rush-era architecture.
…sitting high atop a plateau…
…overlooking Deadwood Gulch…
…featuring grave sites of…
…Wild Bill Hickok & Calamity Jane.
FUN-fact – It was named after the dead trees found in its gulch.
FUN-travel: Black Hills, SD – Crazy Horse Monument & Hill City
August 10, 2018 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Black Hills, SD – Crazy Horse Monument & Hill City
FUN-fact – South Dakota’s unique landscapes spawned one of the most unusual and complex railroad histories in our nation.
…the world’s largest mountain carving…
…& memorial for all Native American tribes.
- Rising over 563 feet high…
…Crazy Horse Memorial dwarfs…
…the carved portraits of Mount Rushmore…
…by nearly 10 times.
The Black Hills are alive…
…with the sounds…
…of motorcycles…
…& mostly Harley’s.
Today’s Treat – A Yellow Bellied Marmot! And ever so delightful as he stood and posed for us appearing to love all the attention.
FUN-travel: Black Hills, SD – Needles Highway
August 9, 2018 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Black Hills, SD – Needles Highway
Peter Norbeck Scenic Byway – 3rd leg – Needles Highway –
- Yet another windy road…
…weaves through Custer State Park…
…deemed “impossible” to construct by its critics…
…was completed in 1922…
…& includes 14 miles of sharp turns…
…low tunnels…
…impressive tall granite peaks & spires…
…aka needles…
…which makes for lots of crazy rock formations…
…& epic landscapes…
…incredibly spectacular…
…& my #1 favorite drive on this trip!
- The most famous part of the drive…
…the Needle Eye Tunnel…
…is one-way tunnel only 8′ 4″ wide by 12′ high.
FUN-fact – The roadway was carefully planned by former South Dakota Governor Peter Norbeck, who marked the entire course on foot and by horseback.
