Black Hills National Forest, SD & WY.

Black Hills, in western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming, consisting of 1.2 million acres of forested hills and mountains.

The Black Hills rise from the adjacent grasslands into a Ponderosa Pine forest. This area has been described as an “Island in the Plains,” the Forest has diverse wildlife and plants reaching from the eastern forests to the western plains. This is a multiple-use Forest with activities ranging from timber production, grazing, hiking, camping, mountain biking, horseback riding, rock climbing, mining, wildlife viewing and many more adventures.

I pleasantly enjoyed climbing and viewing the many rugged rock formations, canyons and gulches, open grassland parks, streams, and clear lakes with sandy beaches.

The Black Hills have since prehistoric times had a mystique about them that has drawn man to the area for eons. The Indian Tribes considered the Black Hills Sacred Ground and very few ever entered the area of the higher hills. One reason was that they heard loud booming noises and thought that the Black Hills was the home of many spirits that they believed in. The consensus now is this was from thunder storms that made these noises.