2020-05-01_Lonely_Planet_Traveller

US ROAD TRIPS

)ROUGHLOCK FALLS
STATE NATURE AREA
Its rugged name belies
the elegant beauty of this
park near Lead in the
Black Hills, an evergreen
island in a sea of
high-prairie grassland.
The region’s name
(‘black’ comes from the
dark ponderosa-pine-
covered slopes) was
conferred by the Lakota
Sioux. Paved paths and
relatively nearby parking
mean accessible strolls
through gorgeous woods
(colourful in autumn) and
picturesque waterfalls.
blackhillsbadlands.com
)MAMMOTH SITE
Budding
palaeontologists of
all ages will enjoy the
ongoing excavation site
at Hot Springs. Hundreds
of animals perished in
a sinkhole here about

26,000 years ago, and

you can walk around the

active dig. The site is

home to the world’s

largest mammoth

research facility, and

visitors can participate

in indoor digs.

mammothsite.org

ARTS, HISTORY

& CULTURE

)CRAZY HORSE

MEMORIAL The Crazy

Horse Memorial

(pictured right) has been

under construction since

1948. Located in the
      Black Hills, it is the
      world’s largest mountain
      carving. Visitors can
      learn about the culture
      and tradition of Native
      Americans at the
      museums of Crazy Horse
      Memorial. During
      warmer months the
      multimedia Legends in
      Light laser light show is
      presented aer dark.
      crazyhorsememorial.org
      )MINUTEMAN
      MISSILE NATIONAL
      HISTORIC SITE This first
      national park dedicated
      to the Cold War
      preserves one silo and
      its underground launch
      facility. In the 1960s
      and 1970s, a thousand
      Minuteman II
      intercontinental ballistic
      missiles, always at the
      ready in underground
      silos across the Great
      Plains were a 30 minute
      flight from their targets in
      the USSR. The missiles
      have since been retired
      (though modern ones still
      lurk underground across
      the northern Great
      Plains). An impressive

visitor centre has displays

and films about the

missiles and the Cold

War, and there are

tours of the nearby

underground Launch

Control Facility Delta-01,

where two peoplestood

ready around the clock

to turn the launch keys.

nps.gov/mimi

)MT RUSHMOREA trip

to South Dakota feels

incomplete withouta

stop at Mt Rushmore,

near Keystone, though

expectations are

sometimes outsize.

Conceived in 1927as a

way to draw touriststo

the state, this national

memorial continuesto

inspire wonder at just

how lead sculptor

Gutzon Borglum andhis

team of several hundred

carved the giant facesof

Washington, Jeerson,

Lincoln and Theodore

Roosevelt from therock

face. Hint: the majority

of the work was done

with dynamite.

nps.gov/moru

)SANFORDLAB

HOMESTAKEVISITOR

CENTERSeewhat

open-pitminingcandoto

a mountainat 380-metre-

deepHomestakeGold

Minein Lead.Shas

plungemorethanone

anda halfmilesandare

nowusedforphysics

research.It’sbeencalled

therichestspotonEarth;

over 126 years,more

than 41 millionouncesof

goldand9 millionof

silverwereextracted.

sanfordlabhome

PINERIDGEINDIANRESERVATION stake.com

In thecentreof PineRidgeIndianReservation,

a signdescribeswhathappenedin 1890.A few

yearsaer CrazyHorseandthelocaltribesrouted

Lt GeneralGeorgeCuster’sbattalionat LittleBig

Horn,theUS7thCavalryenteredWoundedKnee

to disarmtheLakota.Whena deaftribesman

refusedto giveuphisweapon,a shotrangout,and

the7thCavalryopenedfire.At least 150 Lakota

werekilled(otherreportsputthenumberas highas

300).A barememorialmarksthesite,butexhibits

elsewhereonthe3,500-sqmileReservationoutline

themassacreandtheeventsof thelargerSioux

Wars.TheHistoricalCenterat theOglalaLakota

Collegegivesthehistoryof theOglalaLakota,

includingwhathappenedat WoundedKnee.

GETTINGTHERE

& AROUND

SouthDakota’stwo

majorairportsarein

RapidCityandSioux

Falls.Greyhoundbus

stationscanbefound

throughoutthestate,

butSouthDakotahas

82,576milesof road,

muchof it scenic,so

drivingmeansyoucan

setyourownpace.