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South Dakota Mountain Lion Visits Chicago

by Dustin
A disgustingly cute photo of a mountain lion kitten walking in the snow from the National Park Service.

Credit goes to Kim in Rapid City for pointing out this interesting story. According to the Chicago Tribune, a mountain lion was found by police in a neighborhood on the city's north side earlier this month. That's pretty amazing all by itself, but here's the really remarkable part: wildlife officials think the big cat may have journeyed there from the Black Hills.

That's about a 1,000 mile trip, give or take. Aside from the sheer distance, consider the kinds of obstacles between Chicago and western South Dakota. Like, oh, let's say the Missouri River. And the Mississippi River. And Interstates 29, 35 and 39. Those are some pretty significant barriers for any size animal.

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April 28th, 2008   Comments 1 Comment


Archaeology Summer Camp in Deadwood Gives Kids Indiana Jones Experience

by Dustin
Many of Deadwood’s archaeology digs have been in the Chinatown district, where the Fee Lee Wong family lived. Kids in the summer archaeology camp may get to dig here.

All right, admit it: at some point in your life, you wanted to be an archaeologist. You were probably 11 and had just seen Indiana Jones for the first time. Then again, maybe you were 35 and had just seen Indiana Jones. It doesn't matter. Since the days of Heinrich Schliemann, Arthur Evans and Howard Carter, archeology has been a dream job for most people - somewhere between astronaut and fireman.

Deadwood's Adams Museum knows that, so they've teamed up with the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission to organize an archeology camp for 20 children for one week in Deadwood this summer, from June 23 through June 27. Alas, the camp is only open to kids ages nine through twelve (between the third and seventh grades), so if you're just a kid at heart, you'll have to settle for sending your children and experiencing it vicariously. Either that or do a lot of shrinking.

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April 27th, 2008   Comments 1 Comment


Laptop Campers Won’t Be Roughing It In Custer State Park

by Dan
recr_camping_hires.jpg

Roughing it won’t be so rough beginning this summer in Custer State Park. Park officials and the concessionaire Regency CSP Ventures LLP are looking at plans to extend wireless Internet service to campgrounds near the State Game Lodge, the Sylvan Lake Lodge, the Legion Lake Lodge and the Blue Bell Lodge.

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April 18th, 2008   Comments No Comments


Guided Night Hikes in the Black Hills National Forest

by Dustin
Hiker in Badlands National Park in South Dakota with a sunset behind them.

Hiking is one of my favorite things to do in the Black Hills. It's easy to do almost any time of the year, you don't need any fancy equipment, the views are amazing and you never know what you're going to come across while you're walking. And then there's the bit about it being both exercise and fun - any combination like that rates pretty high in my book.

But having lived in the Black Hills for many years, I'm always trying to find new hikes. I mean, you can't knock the classics (the hike up Harney Peak and along the Flume Trail are practically annual rituals), but it's always fun to discover something new. Enter the folks at the Black Hills National Forest. They've created a great program called Moon Walks.

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April 6th, 2008   Comments 1 Comment


Banff Film Festival Brings Global Mountain Experiences to Rapid City

by Dustin

Extreme sports. Epic alpine landscapes. Wild animals. Indigenous cultures.

Yes, you can experience all these things in South Dakota, and if you haven't gotten a chance to really explore the types of mountain adventures you can make for yourself in the Black Hills, you should start making some plans. If you need help getting started, try a South Dakota adventure guide [PDF].

And after you're done rock-climbing in the Needles, scaling the sheer vertical walls of Devils Tower National Monument, exploring the passages of the second-longest cave in the world, getting up-close with a herd of wild bison and watching a traditional Lakota powwow, take a nice evening to yourself. Really. You've earned it.

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April 2nd, 2008   Comments No Comments



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