Custer State Park in the Black Hills encompasses 71,000 acres of spectacular terrain and an abundance of wildlife. Within the park, you'll discover a world of adventure!
A herd of 1,300 bison roams freely throughout the park, often stopping traffic along the 18-mile Wildlife Loop Road. The herd is one of the largest publically-owned herds in the world.
The Needles Highway, Iron Mountain Road, Horse Thief Lake Road and Sylvan, Lake Road make up this oval-shaped route through the most rugged real estate in the Black Hills. The Byway includes picturesque lakes, towering granite formations, six picture-perfect tunnels, tight hairpin curves, spiral “pigtail” bridges, and the wildlife ranges of Norbeck Wildlife Preserve, Black Elk National Wilderness Area and Custer State Park.
Devils Tower is a monolithic igneous intrusion, or in other words, it is the core of a volcano exposed from erosion. It is located in the Black Hills in Crook County, Northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises dramatically 1,267 feet above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,112 feet above sea level.
Medicine rock was a place of big medicine where Indian hunting parties conjured up magical spirits. Weathering has given the soft sandstone rock formations a Swiss cheese look. Medicine rock State Park is 320 acres in size and is at an elevation of 3441 feet. There are approximately 12 campsites with vault bullets, fire rings, picnic tables and drinking water.
Makoshika State Park is located in the rugged Badlands of eastern Montana in Glendive. The name Makoshika is a variant of a Lakota phrase meaning land of bad spirits or badlands. Although the area resembles the Badlands of the Dakotas, these badlands expose older rock layers. Makoshika is the largest state park in Montana, covering over 11,400 acres.
Glacier National Park is located in the NW corner of Montana. The mountains of Glacier National Park began forming 170 million years ago when ancient rocks were forced eastward up and over much younger rock strata. These sedimentary rocks are considered to have some of the finest fossilized examples of extremely early life found anywhere on Earth.
This is the last in the Out West series of 2005. The trip lasted just over three weeks and a total of 8989 miles. All photographs shown in the series were taken with an Olympus 4 megapixel digital point and shoot. This was my first digital camera and now have moved up to a Canon Mark II 5D.
Slide show of this trip can be viewed at the link below:
Out West 3
A herd of 1,300 bison roams freely throughout the park, often stopping traffic along the 18-mile Wildlife Loop Road. The herd is one of the largest publically-owned herds in the world.
The Needles Highway, Iron Mountain Road, Horse Thief Lake Road and Sylvan, Lake Road make up this oval-shaped route through the most rugged real estate in the Black Hills. The Byway includes picturesque lakes, towering granite formations, six picture-perfect tunnels, tight hairpin curves, spiral “pigtail” bridges, and the wildlife ranges of Norbeck Wildlife Preserve, Black Elk National Wilderness Area and Custer State Park.
Devils Tower is a monolithic igneous intrusion, or in other words, it is the core of a volcano exposed from erosion. It is located in the Black Hills in Crook County, Northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises dramatically 1,267 feet above the surrounding terrain and the summit is 5,112 feet above sea level.
Medicine rock was a place of big medicine where Indian hunting parties conjured up magical spirits. Weathering has given the soft sandstone rock formations a Swiss cheese look. Medicine rock State Park is 320 acres in size and is at an elevation of 3441 feet. There are approximately 12 campsites with vault bullets, fire rings, picnic tables and drinking water.
Makoshika State Park is located in the rugged Badlands of eastern Montana in Glendive. The name Makoshika is a variant of a Lakota phrase meaning land of bad spirits or badlands. Although the area resembles the Badlands of the Dakotas, these badlands expose older rock layers. Makoshika is the largest state park in Montana, covering over 11,400 acres.
Glacier National Park is located in the NW corner of Montana. The mountains of Glacier National Park began forming 170 million years ago when ancient rocks were forced eastward up and over much younger rock strata. These sedimentary rocks are considered to have some of the finest fossilized examples of extremely early life found anywhere on Earth.
This is the last in the Out West series of 2005. The trip lasted just over three weeks and a total of 8989 miles. All photographs shown in the series were taken with an Olympus 4 megapixel digital point and shoot. This was my first digital camera and now have moved up to a Canon Mark II 5D.
Slide show of this trip can be viewed at the link below:
Out West 3
