Wildlife Loop at Custer State Park

Time for our vacation to come to an end and I am so not ready for it to end. 

Courtney and I were both not ready for it to end, so we decided to head back to Custer State Park and take the wildlife loop and from there, start our travels back to home. 

Unfortunately, we didn't see too many animals, well, until the very end when we came across all the bison. But, we did see a few pronghorns and lots of prairie dogs. We also came across some burro and the kids, once they saw other people getting out of their cars to see them up close, they needed to do it too.

As you will see in the pictures of our drive through out the wildlife loop, there is a lot of burnt down trees or at least chard trees. In mid December of 2017 there was a 50,000 acre fire that went through the park.

Custer State Park is home to 1,500 free roaming bison. 

Once we got closer to the bison, it was a dead stop, due to the bison crossing the road, and with all the people taking pictures. It took a while for us to reach the bison, but once we got there, what a sight. It is pretty amazing seeing these animals up close like that. 

These two were fighting in front of the cars

Before heading out of the state park and starting our drive home, I wanted to go to Mount Coolidge, which was an over look you could drive up to. That was one of the scariest drives we have been on, and so glad that Courtney was driving. But, I got to say it was well worth the scary drive up. 

Unfortunately, it was a hazy day, so it was hard to see off in the distance, but still the view was amazing. We walked up to the fire tower and when you looked straight out you could see the Crazy Horse Memorial in the distance and if you look to the right of that you could see Mount Rushmore. Even though it was hazy, you can kind of make out the monuments in my pictures. 

Crazy Horse Memorial  

Mount Rushmore 

And just like that, vacation is over. It was a great few days spent in South Dakota. South Dakota is a beautiful state and we're looking forward to going back sooner then later!