We got up and had breakfast at the hotel. We were next to some of the Wyoming State police officers who were staying at the hotel as they are helping at Sturgis. We left Gillette, Wy at 7:00 am we headed to Devils Tower and arrived about 8:00 am we were the first motorcycles to arrive. As we approached Devil’s Tower the clouds were hanging around the Tower. It made for some awesome pictures.
We also got to see many mounds with Prairie Dogs. We used our National Park pass for admission to the park. We walked the 1.3 mile paved path around the tower. It was very quiet. We got to hear a lot of animals. We saw a lot of Indian Prayer Clothes as the Indians believe the area to be sacred and after walking the trail I understand why. We saw wild turkeys, chipmunks, and hawks on our hike. After our hike we departed Devils Tower and headed for Spearfish Canyon and drove through the canyon it was a very nice ride. As we approached Cheyenne Crossing traffic came to a complete stop. Up ahead a motorcycle had lost control on a curve and a helicopter had to come to medivac the rider out. After passing through Spearfish Canyon we went to Crazy Horse.
Admission to Crazy Horse was $10. Crazy Horse is a work in progress and is a private venture. The carving was started in the 1940’s and only the face of crazy horse is completed. Once completed it will be the largest manmade carving when it is complete. Then we went a few more miles down the road we arrived at Mt. Rushmore. We had to pay $11 to park as parking here is privately owned. We walked to the observation area and took pictures. Next we went to the auditorium they had there where we saw a video on how they made Mt. Rushmore. I was much more impressed with Crazy Horse than Mt. Rushmore. Maybe we should of done Mt. Rushmore first and then Crazy Horse. We left Mt. Rushmore and headed toward Custer State Park via Iron Mountain Road. Iron Mountain Roads consisted of pig tail turns, and rock tunnels.
It was a beautiful ride, although long and curvy for sure. We finally got to the entrance of Custer State Park where we paid $10 entrance fee for the week. Then we followed the road from the entrance to the park to Blue Bell Lodge where we checked into our cabin. We have a front porch, 2 queen beds and a set of bunk beds along with a kitchenette. After we unloaded we headed down to the lodge where we enjoyed an awesome dinner. Most of us enjoyed some sort of Buffalo, either in the form of meatloaf, burgers or buffalo tips. Corn bread and honey butter was so good we said it was more like a dessert. The food was great and the service was good.
Route 90 to 14/16 to 16 and 16a
Total miles for the day-297
