Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota

[Jeff Bannow]

Does anyone have any recommendations on where to shoot while in the Badlands / Black Hills of South Dakota? We are driving from Michigan and planning on staying 5 nights in the Black Hills and 3 nights in the Badlands, with a day trip planned to Devil's Tower in Wyoming.

Thanks for your tips.

- Jeff

[Walter Calahan]

There's this great tree in the sea of grass with broken land surrounding it, but it's probably been photographed.

In the Black Hills you can do a study of billboards. They're everywhere. Hit the Wyoming border and they disappear. Zoning.

I'm fond of the Badlands of North Dakota, instead. HA!

Just have fun, and go with the flow.

[GSX4]

Jeff,

If you can, explore the Black Hills near Sylvan Lake. It's at the start of the Needles Scenic Drive as well. Sylvan is a man made structure/dam with wonderful granite outcrops and a clear trout filled reservoir. Also close to that is Cathedral Spires hike. It's a fairly strenuous hike uphill with camera gear, but worth it once you get up there. As for the Badlands, I would turn off of I-90 at the turn off for the town called 'Interior'. Once in the park, you have many options open on routes through it. the Park service will give you a pretty good map. When I go, I camp at the KOA, where are you staying near the Badlands? One good route is towards the Pinnacles Overlook, which is really cool at sunrise. Anywhere really along the loop drive towards the town of WALL is good at sunrise and should present many photo opportunities until about 9:30am when the light gets really harsh. Watch out for Mule deer if you get up really early. I nearly hit a few last summer. Rattlers can be a problem in the Badlands if you get off the beaten path, but I never encountered any, or my city boys eyes just missed them!

If you have a chance to drive to Wyoming, don't rule out going to Devil's Tower, it's relatively easy to do as a day trip

[Jeff Bannow]

Thanks for the tips. We're staying in the park in the Badlands, and I'm hoping for some great dusk photography.

- Jeff

[jnantz]

i'd also suggest sylvan lake,
its beautiful there.
if you get a chance to go to lead sd, that is fun too.

as a side trip, stop at the pioneer auto village in murdo.
it is airplane hangers filled with antique cars, 3-wheeled bmw's
as well as elvis's harley in a showcase that takes quarters and plays
elvis music. there used to be a hanger filled with pinball machines too :)

have fun
john

[lenser]

As an aside, don't miss Wall Drug just for the kitsch, and if you are camping, Devil's Tower has the best campground I've ever enjoyed including the huge raccoons and the Indigo Buntings and Western Tanagers. There's also a gigantic prairie dog village and lots of mule deer up near the tower and a two mile walk around the base that is not to missed, especially at sunrise. I'm jealous.

Tim

[Kuzano]

Buried in Deadwood SD, somewhat near (in the Black Hills Territory). Buried nearby his grave is Martha Jane Cannary-Burke (aka Calamity Jane). Both buried in the Mt Moriah Cemetary in Deadwood. Interesting look-see, but not sure about the photographic benefits.

Went there once and got caught up in the history.

[Eric Leppanen]

Here's another source of information for you:

http://shop.photographamerica.com/product-p/059-pdf.htm

[Jeff Bannow]

Seems there are lots of interesting spots to hit - I'm glad we planned so much time in the area.

Has anyone seen the Photograph America PDFs? I am not familiar with them, but the price seems reasonable.

- Jeff

[Eric Leppanen]

Has anyone seen the Photograph America PDFs? I am not familiar with them, but the price seems reasonable.I have been a regular subscriber for the past five years or so. In general, they are excellent. A typical newsletter consists of a variety of sample photographs, one or more maps documenting photo locations, and descriptions (hiking location, best time of day to shoot, etc.) of how to get a wide variety of shots. The Badlands/Black Hills issue is 11 pages long and includes 15 B&W photographs and an annotated map (between one third and one half a page in size) of the Badlands/Custer/Wind Cave national park area. It was originally written in 1999 and updated in 2004.

[Colin Corneau]

I'd really love to go back to Devils Tower again, now that I know which end of my 4x5 is which. It's a really amazing place, from what I remember of my trip there 3 years ago.

[Jeff Bannow]

Anybody know of any "real" ghost towns in that area? You know, like the Bodie of South Dakota? :)

- Jeff

[GSX4]

Jeff, great to meet you and Eva at Bill's gathering! As for Ghost towns, I have not seen any in SD. It does not mean there aren't any though! There is the area along I-90 that has the film set from Dances with Wolves in it. Old and weathered buildings etc, that could be made interesting. I've never stopped there, but have pased it many times and it did not seem busy. also check out this site:- http://www.ghosttowns.com/ and then enter in South Dakota. A ton of locations come up!

[Jeff Bannow]

Hey Andy,

Good to meet you too. We had so much fun and already miss being up in the woods with new friends and lots of mosquitos.

Thanks for the link - I will have to check that out. I figure, with all the gold prospecting that used to happen in that area, there has to be some old buildings worth shooting.

[Donald Miller]

Anybody know of any "real" ghost towns in that area? You know, like the Bodie of South Dakota? :)

- Jeff

http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/sd/sd.html