Today was our last full day in the Rapid City area and we chose to head up the Iron Mountain Road into Custer State Park. We took the same course we did a couple days ago but we liked it so much we figured we were not obliged to follow a new route. Iron Mountain Road is quite circuitous with pigtail curves, narrow tunnels and many switchbacks. We love it.
Along the way up Iron Mountain there are superb views of Mount Rushmore and the weather cooperated so we got several eyesfull of nifty carving. Soon we were in Custer State Park and ran across some solitary male bison, one of them rubbing his face on a pine. He must be a regular because he has worn off all the bark. Not too much further down the road we spotted some pronghorn males and females chasing each other around. It is rutting season and that has brought out all the critters and some randy behavior.
We wandered off on a few dirt roads but the first two resulted in solely prairie dog sightings. The third one, however, took us up a road around Mount Coolidge. At the top is the Mount Coolidge Observation Tower, an ancient ashlar masonry three-story structure that is still open to visitors. It was built by the CCC back in the Depression as part of the make-work projects that benefited state and national facilities nationwide. Mount Coolidge must be one of the highest points in the Black Hills and the views are stunning.
On our way back to our RV park in Rapid City, we passed by the park administrative office housed in a log building. There we saw a lone smart deer doe taking advantage of the government’s apple tree in the yard. Although we were only about 25 feet away in our big noisy diesel pickup, it seemed that nothing was going to spook the deer off the apples.
See the critters and rocks. Click the asterisk *