Black Hills Road Trip. Colorado to South Dakota.

[ThinAir]

Finally after one year of ownership the girl and I packed up the Volvo, stocked up on beef jerky, topped off the tank and took off to my old stomping grounds- the Black Hills of South Dakota. It is absolutely gorgeous up there with sparse population and great driving roads. Forget the usual tourist traps (Mount Rushmore I am looking at you) and go to Sylvan Lake, The Needles, Spearfish Canyon, and Devils Tower. The Black Hills are a diamond in the sea of the Great Plains. Check the pics and see if you agree. One last note, if you are coming from south of SD take take 85 not I-25 it is way better. Just be sure to watch for black Chargers-Wyoming HP OK!

Cool landscapes in NE Wyoming.

Mmmmm. Open road.

Hay.

Baby.

Old building outside of Torrington WY...I think.

Baby at the border. Notice the bullet holes in the sign, pure South Dakota.

One of all kinds of wild flowers in the Black Hills.

Another great road leading to Devil's Tower. No Traffic, smooth as butter and nice and twisty.

Devil's Tower is super sacred to Natives. Respect.

Devil's Tower.

Devil's Tower.

The badge we all know and love.

Yep.

Spearfish Canyon at 6:30 am.

I love my car so much.

Some sort of control room for a little dam in the canyon. I like the trees growing on top.

I half expected some watery tart to throw a sword at me.

Spearfish Canyon at 6:30 am.

Spearfish Canyon at 6:30 am.

The Needles.

Spearfish Canyon at 6:30 am.

Sylvan Lake.

Needles at sunset.

Black Hills from Harney Peak at sunset.

Sunset. The End.

[matthew1]

Great photos, Thin Air. Just wow.

I thought Devil's Tower looked familiar.


Those Comets look so good on your S70.


Unreal.

Great hanging out with you today!

[ThinAir]

Thanks Matt! Having such beautiful subject matter made taking good photos way easier. Also making a point of waking up at 5:45 to catch the morning golden hour didn't hurt either. I need to drop her a bit to fill out the arches, but even as is I think they look pretty sharp if I do say so myself! If anybody on the forum ever heads up that way let me know and I will give you the down low on where to stay and where to eat.

J

[abscate]

Just found this thread. Beautiful AMERICA has so many things I’ve not even heard of yet....

What are speed limits out there? “ Prudent for conditions”?

[RickHaleParker]

What are speed limits out there? “ Prudent for conditions”?

It is Montana that use to be "reasonable and prudent". Montana is now 75 - 80 depending on where you are.
Most of the states in that area have a top speed limit of 80mph.

[matthew1]

Yes, until late 1998 or so, Montana had no hard upper limit on her big interstates. I drove hundreds of miles through the state in a new SAAB 9-5 in spring 1999, angry I missed the bonanza by mere months.