FUN-photos: Sturgis Bike Rally Road Trip
August 25, 2018 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-photos: Sturgis Bike Rally Road Trip
…& 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…
& 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: Badlands National Park & Hot Springs, SD
August 11, 2018 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Badlands National Park & Hot Springs, SD
Badlands National Park – rolling prairies & grasslands…
…make up the scenery on the two-hour drive via Hwy 44.
- The Loop Road winds through 25 miles…
…of multi colored layered rock formations…
…steep canyons, towering spires & parched basins…
…that preserve the world’s greatest fossil beds…
…of animals from the Oligocene Epoch…
…that’s like 34 million years ago!
- Today bison, bighorn sheep, & prairie dogs inhabit the sprawling grasslands.
Not so FF – They list Hwy 44 as a scenic route and in my opinion it didn’t live up to it! It took twice as long as I-90.
- Hot Springs – Mammoth Site
…contains the greatest concentration…
…of mammoth remains in the world.
- Bones were found in 1974…
…when the site was being developed for a housing subdivision…
…which turned out to be a…
…26,000 year old sinkhole.
FUN-fact – As of 2016, the remains of 61 mammoths, including 58 North American Columbian and 3 woolly mammoths had been recovered. And the first time both species have ever been found together.
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.
…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.