...South Dakota 3....
Trip Start
Feb 25, 2010
1
33
60
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Rod and Gun Campground
Lawrence South Dakota, South Dakota
Saturday, August 21, 2010
We spent the next couple days wandering around the northern part of the Blackhills. We visited Deadwood, which was a cool looking town, but really just a place to gamble. So, we kept driving this small loop, and we were able to see 3 beautiful waterfalls, including Roughlock Falls. We took a mile long walk to the top of the falls, which was honestly one of the prettiest hikes we have done. At one point, you can walk on a bridge over this small lake where mountains, pine trees and wildflowers surround you. It was nice to have the entire day to just casually enjoy the park, stopping to check out whatever we want without feeling rushed.
We did need to find our next camping spot, but we figured we would just come across several while driving around. At one point, we decided to go a little off the main road and check out these camping spots around a lake, which we had seen on our map. The ride there was on rough, back roads, and I was certainly thinking that we found a quiet, secluded camping spot for the evening. We were simply trying to avoid the high costs and the crowds at all the National Forest parks.
When we arrived at the lake, it turned out to be the beach resort town for all of South Dakota. There was a small beach, which slightly resembled Ocean City, MD – covered with kids, towels, umbrellas and coolers. Sadly, this was not going to be our quiet camping spot for the evening, so our search continued. Of course, in classic Kelly and Jason style, we were cutting it close at the end of the day. After driving back and forth between a few camping spots, we finally settled on one that was a National Forest Park – but it ended up being very quiet and surrounded by beautiful mountainsides. We set up in plenty of time to hike around a little bit to find firewood, and then the park ranger gave us a good bit of chopped wood when he came by for us to pay him.
