Here is the entrance to the park from the town of Custer. For us this is not how we usually enter the park unless we were in Custer because the past several times we have camped in the Sylvan Lake Area of the park so we take a different route to get to our campground.
Shortly past the entrance you come to Stockard Lake. This is the largest of the lakes in the park and has 2 large campgrounds on it. For those traveling in a large RV these campgrounds are the ones you would want to stay in. On sign that has always caught our eye and makes us smile is the sign for turtle crossing. We have never seen a turtle crossing the road anywhere in Custer but we like the sign because we have a pet tortoise named Yuri who has gone with us on many of our vacations.
Of course any place that is popular with people there will be traffic and with traffic there will be traffic jams. Here is rush hour at Custer complete with a traffic jam.
Custer has lot of wildlife. They are best known for their buffalo, burros and prairie dogs. The most popular way to see many of the animals is driving the Wildlife Loop though there is wildlife all over the park.
This buffalo was not with the herd. He was down the road drinking from a little pond. He walked up drink just as we were driving by so we stopped and took a series of pictures. When he was done he just walked up the road in front of a line of cars to the rest of the herd.
About half we saw a herd of deer but it was father on the loop when we saw the burros. The burros are not native they are animals that escaped or were left go by the miners. Over the years they have formed a herd and have made the park home. The main herd was off in the distance but the several of the animals we right by the road wanting attention from the children who were traveling with their parents. They went up the all the children wanting petted and fed grass (the children were picking the grass from along the parking area) while their parents took pictures, the burros would pose with the children when they realized that a parent was trying to take a picture. One lady drove up while we were there with a lot of bread and no children. The burros totally ignored her for the children. Here is a picture of Jeffery and some others along with a burro.
We saw lot of Prairie Dogs, there are a couple of Prairie Dog towns along the loop. When were at the last prairie dogs town Randy was taking pictures and he heard a noise from right in front of him at the edge of the road. It was this little chipmunk. He wanted his picture taken. Randy was almost ready to take his picture when the camera said the batteries were dead. This little guy just sat there until we had changed the batteries and then posed for Randy. After we had taken a few pictures he then ran off.
Not all wildlife was out away from the buildings. At the visitor center in the middle of the park. There is a kiosk that has signs, maps, and other information for people to look at. Right above them inside the kiosk was a nest with a Momma Cliff Swallow and her hatchlings ignoring all stream of people that entered the area.
Custer has more than just lots of animals it also has some wonderful scenic drives. We took Needles Highway several times because our campground was at the beginning of it. It is a beautiful drive along the edge of the mountains. The views are beautiful and the spirals which were carved in the granite over time are inspiring. Along this road at one of the pull offs we ran into another family from here, Cedar Rapids. They were staying ay Sylvan Lodge while were camping at the campground, unfortunately neither family thought to get a picture together. All this proves is that you can be anywhere and run into someone from your home.
Here is a picture of the Cathedral Spires from a distance and then up close with Randy and Jeffery on one of them.
Here is the formation that gave Needles Highway its name. It looks like a needle's eye. Randy and Jeffery also spent time climbing round some of the formations near the needle. This area is a very popular area for climbing. We were careful and did not climb to any area that was difficult to get to without gear.
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