On our South Dakota adventure, after the amazing Badlands experience, I was taken to the Black Hills. It was outstanding, it made me miss my home state of Chihuahua because some of the landscapes reminded me a lot of the Copper Canyon🏞 And from afar they do look black due to all the massive and thick evergreens, and its name derives from the Lakota paha sapa, meaning hills that are black. 🌲
Beauty of South Dakota, the Black Hills.
In Custer Park we saw bison. And I learned that actually the ones in the American continent are bison, wrongly called buffalo, which is the term for the creature of similar qualities that lives in Asia and Africa, they differ on the horns shape. Buffalo have them long and pronounced like an arc, while bison horns are smaller, they have a 'beard' and they have a big hump on their back between their shoulders, this last one their biggest characteristic.
Bison are primitive looking, big and honorable. Being close to them I was able to observe their strength and beauty and understand the level of respect from the Native tribes towards them. It is a humbling experience.
The cherry on the top was Mt. Rushmore. My eyes opened wide as we were approaching it and I guess I never anticipated the feeling of seeing Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln represented in 60 ft. sculptures: America's Shrine of Democracy.
South Dakota felt like a hidden gem to me, I had to no idea so much could be seen and experienced in this awesome state. Its biodiversity from the Badlands to the Black Hills is something that should be experiences by all nature lovers!
Visit Travel South Dakota to know more!