Our first day trip in this visit to the Black Hills was to Mt Rushmore and Custer State Park to its south. We visited both in our first Black Hills trip in 2006.
This was our first view of Mt. Rushmore form the highway as we approached it. This view gives a more realistic view of the enormity of the statues and the ridge into which they were carved than the traditional views taken from the visitors center.
Jo in the traditional view as visitors enter the National Memorial from the parking garage (parking fee $11).
The traditional closeup view.
This is the most popular place for visitors having their pictures taken.
There are several small tunnels on the Needles highway. This tour bus had just a few inches of clearance coming through this one!
And here are the Cathedral Spires. The highest part of the Black Hills, Harney Peak (el 7242), is just a few miles from here.
These formations are beside the highway.
This group of pronghorn antelope were not the least bit disturbed by our presence.
I expected that any bison we might see would be far from the road, so I brought along a digital camera with a 12 x zoom and a bipod to hold it still at the extreme magnification. (The camera is a Canon Power Shot S2 IS.)The first bison we saw were too far away for getting a picture, but the second one, below, was worthwhile to try.
Then about a mile down the road a herd was within 200 yards of the road, so the telephoto lens produced much better results in the next three.
Then about another two miles down the road here was another herd next to the road, with some even crossing the road!
I did not need to use any telephoto setting to get these! (Taken on a Samsung Digimax D 53 5 mp with 3x optical zoom)
The big bull in the center was not co-operative in pausing in eating to raise his head.
Finally, the road ran next to a prairie dog colony. This one must have been looking for a handout!
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