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KPSmithSr
Florissant, Mo, USA
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DW and I are planning for next fall and are hoping to go to Mt. Rushmore, Custer, Badlands..... We would like to spend part of the time camping at Custer State Park. For those that have been there, which campground in the park would be the best for seeing Critters (big and small) in the campground. I would love to wakeup and see wildlife as I stand in the door of the 5'er. Thank you
Ken and Sue Smith
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1mtnman
Colorado
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I was at Game Lodge Campground recently and the Buffalo were walking around the visitors center and along the roads in that area.
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chili7
Colorado Springs, CO
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I second Game Lodge. We were there for a week and we thought it was the best CG in the park. You can see buffalo, elk, deer, big horn sheep and mountain goats, too, if you're lucky. Lots of trout in the pond by the entrance also. The CG itself is clean and well kept. One of the nicest state park CG we've ever stayed in.
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lbrandt
Springfield, MO
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We stayed at Game Lodge and a herd of female big horn sheep had taken up residence in the CG. We were their for a week and saw them every day, along with a small herd of deer.
Larry & Ann Brandt
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DesertHawk
Las Cruces, New Mexico
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We have always stayed closer to the village of Custer and have not had the experence of animals in the campground there. But we did have them in Theodore Roosevelt Nat’l Park South Unit. We had gotten there a little late with most of the campground full, just got into one of the last 3 spots, very small, just as you get into the campground and next to some garbage cans. But it proved a nice spot, because a small herd of Bison came through the upper campground & exited by our site. It was very neat seeing them up close. Also 3 horses came by as well.
We had stopped at the north part of Roosevelt on our way into ND as well. North Unit We had bison close to the campground there as well.
Custer State Park has campgrounds scatter all over the area, they are all very nice. We have stay several times at the Stockade Lake campgrounds North & South. These are the closest to Custer the town. The last time we were there (2008), we stayed at Bismarck Lake CG a Black Hills Nat'l Forest CG just across the road (kind of) from the Stockade North & South, just a few miles (maybe 3 or 4) from the town of Custer. We enjoyed it, very nice area, very quite, nice camp host. More like camping. The sites are more private than the Stockage South or North for that matter. But no showers or flush toilets (pit toilets were new & clean). Almost the same cost as Stockade North but less for me due to Senior Card.
Horse Thief Lake CG is also a Black Hills Nat'l Forest CG, very close to Mt Rushmore. It would be a nice one as well. My son had stayed at it before.
* This post was
edited 10/24/09 01:33pm by DesertHawk *
DesertHawk - Las Cruces, NM USA
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Horsedoc
Dixie --- N. Georgia
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Game Lodge, Grace Coolidge, Legion Lake and Blue Bell all have regular visitors of buffalo and deer. Center Lake has a population of mountain lions in the area and they are seen on the creek between Center Lake and highway 16a toward Grace Coolidge.
Over all, Gamelodge has the most buffs. More sheep around Coolidge.
All the CGs in the park have things to recommend them. You can't go wrong with any choice - except those with no electric.
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JK3045
Michigan
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We stayed at Grace Coolidge in the park...had buffalo ,goats and other animals all the time.
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Golden_HVAC
Fulltime, CA, USA
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Hi,
Taking highway 16 towards Mt. Rushmore, there are 4 tunnels, and each is pointed at the monument. Neat place to stop and take a picture.
From the parking lot, I was able to pick out the tunnels, looking to the east, because there is light shinning through them out of the mountain, and there is a row of missing trees leading from the tunnel to the Mt. Rushmore parking area.
Also when leaving Mt. Rushmore, turn to the right, and go about 1/4 mile to the tiny parking lot, where you can see the side view of Washington.
There is a small tunnel inside the monument to store supplies, and working materials.
When they built the monument, they also first built a 12:1 monument to scale. Then when they needed to know how many feet of materials had to be removed, they went to the model and measured it in inches - equals feet on the real monument.
Wild Horse is also in that area, and when going through Wyoming, there is Devil's Tower, a local landmark for the Oregon Trail, it could be seen for 40 miles, and it took 2 days to travel toward it by wagon train, and another 2 days to leave it behind. They only went about 20 - 25 miles on a good day with a horse or oxen drawn wagon during the 1850's. By 1870 they could cross the entire state in only 1 day.
Good Luck,
Fred.
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KPSmithSr
Florissant, Mo, USA
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Thanks everyone, sounds like any of the places will be great. May have to stay a bit longer and visit a bit more. Thanks again.
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Me&Margie
Stanwood, Wa.
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"there is Devil's Tower, a local landmark for the Oregon Trail,"
Are you sure?? We did the Oregon Trail a few years ago and don't recall seeing Devils Tower from any part of it. As I remember it's about 170 miles between the two. You might be thinking of Chimney Rock or Scottsbluff which are just across the border in Neb.
Irregardless, if you are a history buff this is great country to prowl around in. Not only do you have the Oregon Trail sites, but also there is the forts, Laramie & Fetterman to name a couple. We hope to go back to that area someday and spend more time snooping around.
See you on the trail....................Marv
Marv
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