If you’ve never considered yourself a bird-watcher, there’s no better place to start than Spearfish Canyon. It’s home to 130 bird species, including some you’re unlikely to find in your backyard. This is where eagles launch themselves from the high rimrock and glide on canyon air currents, then suddenly drop … Read More
Nothing lasts forever except maybe Black Hills granite, some of the planet’s hardest rock. But everything else disappears eventually, including some Black Hills summer attractions you may recall from your youth. Remember summer nights spent watching greyhounds run at the dog track between Rapid City and Black Hawk? Yes, you … Read More
This is Sylvan Lake, a movie setting fans will recognize from National Treasure II a few years ago. Since the 1920s, when Hollywood discovered Russ Madison’s ranch in the heart of the Black Hills, the region has been a favorite on-location site for movie shoots. Major films shot here include … Read More
World’s biggest mountain sculptures, world’s biggest motorcycle rally, western hemisphere’s biggest gold mine, two of the planet’s biggest caves, and probably the number one biggest cave once we determine where Jewel and Wind caves intersect. If you’ve missed it, the operative word here is “biggest,” a Black Hills obsession, whether … Read More
When Wild Bill Hickok got shot in Deadwood in 1876, it wasn’t a classic Old West showdown. It was plain, unadorned, John Wilkes Booth-style, bullet-to-the-back-of-the-head assassination. It’s a safe bet that no community on earth has embraced and celebrated assassination quite like Deadwood. You can’t get out of the place … Read More