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. For more information click HERE.
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. For more information click HERE.
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. For more information
click HERE.
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! For more information click 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. For more information click HERE.
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