Big Horn National Forest Questions ---From Black Hills
Sep 18th, 2013, 10:12 AM
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Big Horn National Forest Questions ---From Black Hills
We will have 5 days in Black Hills Area. Staying at Custer State Park.
We plan on spending one day at Badlands and see Wall Drug.
Also plan on seeing Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore, will likely hike in Custer or area one of the day. We will drive the Wildlife Loop Road/possibly might take a guided jeep tour at Custer(not sure about this). Might do the Presidents Alpine Slide. Might also kayak or canoe Sylvan Lake or one of the lakes in Custer.
Any must do hikes at Custer? I'm considering Haney's Peak, but not sure if I want to give that much effort, but would probably be willing if it's indeed a really good hike.
The big question is- we are thinking one of those days starting early(like 5AM) and doing a huge driving loop to include Devils Tower and Battle Of Little Bighorn Site. I was also considering swinging through Bighorn National Forest. If we did go through BHNF, which would be the best road to choose? It appears there are 3 different scenic roads. I suppose I could is as a loop to include 2 segments of the roads thru the area. That would be a lot of driving for one day, so we would only have time for a short hike/walk if there is any in that area. It also looks like very limited places to eat. Perhaps at Devils Tower, Gillette and Sheridan would be about it for food and gas.
Oh, this will be Memorial Day Weekend 2014. We would probably do it on that Monday/Memorial Day. We depart of Tuesday morning(I'm actually staying close to the airport on Monday night) I'm assuming that the roads in BHNF are normally open by then? Any comments or suggestions on this would be appreciated. I'm not sure I'm going to do any of the Devil's Tower, Battle of Little Bighorn, or Bighorn Forest--just considering right now.
We plan on spending one day at Badlands and see Wall Drug.
Also plan on seeing Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Crazy Horse, Mount Rushmore, will likely hike in Custer or area one of the day. We will drive the Wildlife Loop Road/possibly might take a guided jeep tour at Custer(not sure about this). Might do the Presidents Alpine Slide. Might also kayak or canoe Sylvan Lake or one of the lakes in Custer.
Any must do hikes at Custer? I'm considering Haney's Peak, but not sure if I want to give that much effort, but would probably be willing if it's indeed a really good hike.
The big question is- we are thinking one of those days starting early(like 5AM) and doing a huge driving loop to include Devils Tower and Battle Of Little Bighorn Site. I was also considering swinging through Bighorn National Forest. If we did go through BHNF, which would be the best road to choose? It appears there are 3 different scenic roads. I suppose I could is as a loop to include 2 segments of the roads thru the area. That would be a lot of driving for one day, so we would only have time for a short hike/walk if there is any in that area. It also looks like very limited places to eat. Perhaps at Devils Tower, Gillette and Sheridan would be about it for food and gas.
Oh, this will be Memorial Day Weekend 2014. We would probably do it on that Monday/Memorial Day. We depart of Tuesday morning(I'm actually staying close to the airport on Monday night) I'm assuming that the roads in BHNF are normally open by then? Any comments or suggestions on this would be appreciated. I'm not sure I'm going to do any of the Devil's Tower, Battle of Little Bighorn, or Bighorn Forest--just considering right now.
Sep 18th, 2013, 10:48 AM
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Sep 21st, 2013, 06:57 AM
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Sounds like you are packing quite a bit into this trip. Since you are staying in CSP I will keep most of my comments to that area. Wild Life loop is best at dawn or dusk. Needles highway and Iron Mountain Road are two great scenic drives. Sylvan lake is the most beautiful lake in the park and there is a trail that takes you all around the lake. It is a short easy hike with only one moderate hill to climb. You can bag Harney from here as well (it is worth it). Hill City, Custer, and Keystone are the three towns you will be around the most. Jewel and Wind caves are both great. Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse are also nearby. If you plan your days and map them out ahead of time you will be able to cover your list. Be sure to save some time to hang out in camp around a fire and listen to the wind in the trees. It can be down right cold at night so plan for that. Enjoy!
Sep 21st, 2013, 08:53 AM
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That's an ambitious day trip, but I won't discourage you from doing it because Devils Tower and the Little Bighorn Battlefield are well worth seeing. (We visited both on our trip to the Black Hills, staying in Custer, in June, but not on the same day.)
I would definitely pack a picnic lunch, drinks and snacks for this trip as there is little-to-nothing in the vicinity of either Devils Tower or Little Bighorn. There is a good walk around the base of Devils Tower which you should definitely do and a couple of other hikes there too. There are a couple of historical walking trails at the Battle of Little Bighorn which we greatly enjoyed doing. We did not visit Bighorn National Forest, but I'd say you have more than enough to do (especially with an 11- 12 hour drive) so that you might want to skip it.
The Sylvan Lake trail which Richard mentioned is short, easy and scenic. But if you want a longer walk that's a bit more of a challenge, then Harney Peak is a great choice. I did it this summer for the 4th time and I'll admit it was a bit harder this time, but my granny did it when she was 80 years old, so I'm not complaining! The views from the fire station at the top are magnificent and you can even see the back of Mount Rushmore if you know where to look.
Unfortunately, I can't recommend the jeep drive in Custer State Park. We went based on the recommendation of a friend who had done it and said he'd had a great experience. I think it's a hit-or-miss operation and we did it on a "miss" day. It had rained hard a couple days before our jeep ride and the jeeps were not allowed to go off-road except in one place where we saw no wildlife. We saw much more wildlife on our own driving early in the morning as Richard suggested.
I would definitely pack a picnic lunch, drinks and snacks for this trip as there is little-to-nothing in the vicinity of either Devils Tower or Little Bighorn. There is a good walk around the base of Devils Tower which you should definitely do and a couple of other hikes there too. There are a couple of historical walking trails at the Battle of Little Bighorn which we greatly enjoyed doing. We did not visit Bighorn National Forest, but I'd say you have more than enough to do (especially with an 11- 12 hour drive) so that you might want to skip it.
The Sylvan Lake trail which Richard mentioned is short, easy and scenic. But if you want a longer walk that's a bit more of a challenge, then Harney Peak is a great choice. I did it this summer for the 4th time and I'll admit it was a bit harder this time, but my granny did it when she was 80 years old, so I'm not complaining! The views from the fire station at the top are magnificent and you can even see the back of Mount Rushmore if you know where to look.
Unfortunately, I can't recommend the jeep drive in Custer State Park. We went based on the recommendation of a friend who had done it and said he'd had a great experience. I think it's a hit-or-miss operation and we did it on a "miss" day. It had rained hard a couple days before our jeep ride and the jeeps were not allowed to go off-road except in one place where we saw no wildlife. We saw much more wildlife on our own driving early in the morning as Richard suggested.
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