South Dakota Community Network

The Black Hills are a noticeable landmark on the face of South Dakotathey jut directly out of the Great Plains and extend to Wyoming, containing the tallest peaks in North America east of the Rockies. The geographical inconsistency of their location is just one of the mysteries associated with the area. For centuries, Native Americans have treated the hills as sacred. The Sioux and Cheyenne tribes both called the Hills the axis mundithe center of the world.There are many reasons for visitors to travel to the region. One is the Black Hills National Forest, a region of over 1.25 million acres covered mostly by ponderosa pines. Traveling through the Hills is truly a life-changing experience, as the beauty of nature is visible at every turn. It’s not uncommon to see elk, mule deer, or pronghorn and white-tailed deer dashing between the trunks of the forest. Mountain lions, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, and coyote have also been seen, along with a number of different birds.Within Black Hills National Forest is Black Elk Wilderness, the area which the Sioux considered most sacred. Black Elk was the Sioux holy man whose words are immortalized in the book Black Elk Speaks. No motorized or mechanized vehicles are allowed within the boundaries of the wildernessthis includes bicycles. Camping and fishing are allowed with permits.Crazy Horse Memorial, the humongous monument of Crazy Horse currently under construction, is located on Thunderhead Mountain, part of the Black Hills. The memorial is planned to be 641 feet wide and 563 feet high, and has been under construction since 1948. This is only 17 miles from Mount Rushmore, which is also considered to be in the region.There have been frequent gold-seeking excursions into the Black Hills, justified in 1874 when General George Armstrong Custer discovered gold in French Creek. By 1880, the Hills were the most populous region of the Dakota Territory, with the gold mines bringing in 4,000,000 per year and the silver mines accounting for 3,000,000 per year.Another popular tourist location is the Jewel Cave National Monument, which contains the second longest cave in the world. This cave contains over 150 miles of mapped passageways and is named after the calcite crystals which line its walls. It’s estimated that only 2 of the total air volume of the cave has been mapped.Black Hills State University is located in the nearby town of Spearfish. BHSU is the third-largest public university in the state, with approximately 4,739 students. The university dates back to 1883 and is dedicated to “Transforming Lives.”Plan a visit to the Black Hills with your friends or family, but be respectful of the natural wonders around you. The Hills have been enjoyed for many generationsmake sure they remain beautiful so they can be enjoyed by many more.