Custer and The Southern Hills

Crazy Horse
If you think Mount Rushmore is awesome, then you should take a look at the Crazy Horse Memorial between Hill City and Custer. Started in 1938 by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and continued by his children and grandchildren to the present day, the statue when finished will consume an entire mountain and depict the Lakota Sioux warrior Crazy Horse sitting on horseback and towering 563 feet above the valley of Laughing Water. The sheer size and scale of this carving is almost beyond belief. The horse’s head alone will stand some 22 stories high and when complete it will be so gigantic that the entire Mount Rushmore monument will fit into the armpit of the statue. Work on the memorial continues and over the past few years the nine story face has taken shape and is now two thirds complete. It remains on schedule for completion on June 8th 1998, for a dedication ceremony to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the first blast.

CUSTER

Custer is the oldest settlement in the Black Hills and takes its name from the infamous ‘Blood and Guts’ General George Armstrong Custer, who in 1874 brought in a large expeditionary force to reconnoiter this unknown wilderness, in the middle of Indian territory. Shortly afterwards gold was discovered in French Creek close to the present day downtown area and hundreds of fortune seekers soon followed, trespassing on Indian territory and that marked the beginning of the settlement. The 150 foot wide Main Street is a reminder of times past, as it was built wide enough for eight yoke of oxen to make a U-turn in the middle of the street.

Flintstones Bedrock City
Welcome to Custer’s only theme park, a thirty acre site on the edge of town dedicated to the famous TV cartoon series. As well as finding Fred, Wilma, Barney, Betty and all the other characters, the park also incorporates the stone-age village of Bedrock City. The kids will love it! Mountain Music Show Right next to the Flintstones you’ll find Custer’s Original Mountain Music Show, with some great family humor and toe tapping rhythms. Show time is 8pm nightly.

Jewel Cave
Further west along Hwy. 16 brings you to Jewel Cave which at 104.5 miles long, is the second longest cave in the U.S. and third longest in the world. Speleologists estimate that over 1,000 miles of the cave are still unexplored. Inner sights include aragonite frostwork, gypsum beards, and hydromagnesite balloons. These rare calcite formations gave the cave its name.

Wind Cave
Situated between Custer State Park and Hot Springs, Wind Cave is the world's eighth longest cave, and the United States fifth longest, with over 77.2 miles of boxwork, frostwork, and popcorn formations as well as some amazing tangled helictite bushes. The above-ground park comprises of 28,000 acres of prairie, forests, and wildlife.

HOT SPRINGS

Evans Plunge fed by geothermal springs that gave the town of Hot Springs it’s name, Evans Plunge is now a warm mineral water fun park complete with waterslides, tubes etc. You can even rent swimming gear here!

The Mammoth Site
Visit the world’s largest collection of Columbian and Woolly mammoth bones still in site. This is a National Natural Landmark.