Category: columns-outdoors

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The Hidden Beauty of Lake Hiddenwood

By Christian Begeman

The first time I experienced Lake Hiddenwood State Park I was a mere 16-year-old volunteering as a camp counselor. This park was only an hour and a half drive from my home and I had never heard of it. I was told the place was full of trees, hiking trails and a small lake. As we drove east of Mobridge and then north of Selby through the wide open, rolling fields and pastures, it didn’t seem possible that there could be a forested state park anywhere in the area. We then crested a hill and eased into Hiddenwood Creek Valley and there it was, a little gem of a lake sparkling in the sun and surrounded by thick stands of trees. We had a lot of fun with the campers that afternoon and I was thoroughly impressed with the place.

Some 20-plus years later I find myself walking the”Hidden Beauty” trail before dawn with camera in hand. The trees are thick and the undergrowth is green with life along the trail. I hear turkey, nearly step on a fawn quietly sleeping on a hillside of grass (which nearly gave me a heart attack) and photograph a rosebush unfurling its pink flowers. I swear I must have groomed the trail of at least a dozen cobwebs with my big head. Again, I find it hard to believe that such a place exists in the middle of the high plains of north central South Dakota.

According to South Dakota’s Game, Fish and Parks website, melting glaciers carved the valley. In 1927, the department used a new technique called an earthen dam to create Lake Hiddenwood. It is one of the first artificial lakes in South Dakota. The lake is not deep, but it does contain a variety of fish species including perch, bass and bullhead. The place is also a haven for birds and wildlife. From hawk to deer and turtles to amphibians, you’ll find them all at Hiddenwood.

The first sunlight of the day lights up Lake Hiddenwood State Park.


My older brother and his family live near Selby so I invited them to join me at the park to go canoeing. I thought it would be a fun thing to photograph and since he owns the canoe, it was pretty essential they agreed to go. You couldn’t have asked for a better evening on the calm waters of the lake as the sun was glowing yellow through the trees. Hiddenwood Creek’s channel is deep enough to canoe quite a way upstream. If you prefer more open waters, you can turn your boat to the west where the water widens until reaching the small spillway on the northwest part of the dam. I’m not sure what it is, but there is something peaceful as well as memorable being out on the water of Hiddenwood. It might be that the water is so calm even on windy days because of the trees and hills acting as windbreak. Whatever it is, the lake is a special place, especially when spending time on it with family.

The fishing is also entertaining. My nephew and a couple of his friends spent a good hour catching and releasing fish after fish from the boat dock as the last light of the day dimmed. They were quite intrigued to be able to see the schooling perch swim in lazy circles and even see the small little shadows of fish hit their spinner lures just a foot or so under the water. I can see why this place is popular with the local Boy Scout chapter. I’m coming up on 40 years on this earth and I’m not ashamed to say that spending time playing at Lake Hiddenwood made me feel like that wide-eyed kid again. I know I’m not 16 any more but places like Hiddenwood can take you back there even if it’s just for an evening. Thanks to my brother, his wife, and my nephews for making the weekend another special one at Lake Hiddenwood State Park.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing our prettiest spots around the state. Follow Begeman on his blog. To view Christian’s columns on other South Dakota state parks and recreation areas, visit his state parks page.

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Friendship Tower

By Rebecca Johnson

When my husband and I visited Mount Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood last summer, we climbed the steep path to Seth Bullock’s plot facing Mount Roosevelt. I found the story of his grave intriguing. Bullock met Theodore Roosevelt during Roosevelt’s years on a North Dakota ranch. The two remained friends during his presidency and Roosevelt appointed Bullock U.S. Marshall. Shortly after Roosevelt’s death in 1919, Bullock and the Society of the Black Hills Pioneers built Friendship Tower on the mount as a memorial to his friend. Bullock died a few months after the tower dedication and, at his request, was buried 750 feet above the main portion of the cemetery with a view of Mount Roosevelt across the gulch.

Jeremy and I were in Deadwood again a few weeks ago and looking for an easy hike when we remembered Mount Roosevelt. There aren’t a lot of signs promoting its trail, but it is easy to find. You head north a little ways out of Deadwood on Highway 85, take a left on Mount Roosevelt Road and follow it for about 2 Ω miles until you reach the trailhead/parking lot. Josh from howtoenjoytheblackhills.com has even posted a video showing the route.

A well-maintained picnic area marks the trailhead to the castle-like tower. We hiked the half-mile path through oak and pine, skirting scree slopes and boulders. Raspberries even ripen along the trail in season. The trail and 31-foot tower atop the 5,690-foot summit are maintained by the Black Hills National Forest. New stone steps on the outside of the tower and a steep spiral staircase on the inside were added to allow an expansive view. There is also a little viewing deck just northwest of the tower for those who don’t want to scale the stairs.

It’s not strenuous, but I highly recommend this hike if you want to stretch your legs during a day in Deadwood. Bullock chose the location for its overlook of the plains beyond Belle Fourche and on into North Dakota where Roosevelt had his ranch. We could also just make out Bear Butte and Harney Peak. It’s cheap entertainment for your visit to the gambling town!

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Return of the Peregrines

By Laura Johnson

Birdwatching is easy when you’ve got a webcam. Technology brings us access to a rare sight this summer — fourteen young peregrine falcons are nesting atop the corporate offices of Black Hills Power in Rapid City. It’s part of an three-year program by Janie Fink and Birds of Prey Northwest to reintroduce the birds to the Black Hills and get the falcons off South Dakota’s endangered species list. Follow the young predators’ progress on the webcam below, at the Rapid City Falcons blog or on Facebook.



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Lyme Disease Awareness

By Rebecca Johnson

May is Lyme disease awareness month. Most of us know the common way of contracting the bacterial infection — through a deer tick bite. My husband and I had a close encounter with a tick a couple of weeks ago while hunting morel mushrooms. We knew enough about Lyme disease to get worried, but it turns out contraction in South Dakota is very rare.

The deer tick (Ixodes scapularis) has been detected occasionally in far-eastern South Dakota. But in the 2011 survey conducted by South Dakota State University and funded by the Department of Health no deer ticks were found.”My interpretation is that we probably have low levels of Ixodes ticks in isolated areas of eastern South Dakota,” says Lon Kightlinger, State Epidemiologist.”Our main Lyme disease risk is for South Dakota residents who travel to Lyme-endemic states, like Minnesota where over 1,000 human cases are reported annually.” Last year there were four human Lyme disease cases reported and all were with out-of-state tick exposure.”The deer tick habitat is dense forest area, not prairie,” says Kightlinger.”Our environment is protective.”

Though contraction in South Dakota is very rare, I felt better familiarizing myself with the symptoms. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), early indicators may seem flu-like, including fever, headache, muscle aches, and swollen lymph nodes. A very obvious symptom that occurs in about 70-80% of infected cases is erythema migrans or a”bulls-eye” rash at the site of the tick bite. The circular rash gradually expands and can grow as large as 12 inches in diameter. Parts of the rash may fade as it grows, creating its bulls-eye appearance. Later symptoms include loss of muscle tone in the face, severe headaches and neck stiffness due to inflammation of the spinal cord, pain and swelling in large joints, heart palpitations and dizziness. Most cases can be treated successfully with a few weeks of antibiotics. Left untreated, Lyme disease may cause severe arthritis and chronic neurological problems.

And in case you were wondering, wood ticks and dogs tick do not carry Lyme disease.”You can only get Lyme disease from the Ixodes deer ticks,” says Kightlinger. “Dog ticks, however, may transmit tularemia or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.” Visit the CDC web site for information on preventing tick bites and tick removal.

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Enticing the Oriole

By Rebecca Johnson

Now is a great time for birding in South Dakota — it’s the peak of spring migration. Baltimore orioles are a favorite for backyard birders in Yankton. I know many people who put out jelly to attract them. The couple we bought our house from had great luck simply spooning the grape variety onto small plates in the yard.

Ruth Steil, administrative assistant at the magazine, says orioles started coming to her yard just last week. She and her husband, Mark, keep a large stash of jelly just for the birds.”One time our kids came home to visit and found all the jars,” says Ruth.”They wondered what in the world we were doing with all that jelly.”

Ruth and Mark have a special feeder with two nails to hold orange wedges and two small cups for the birds’ favorite treat. And don’t think you can skimp on quality.”A friend of mine bought a whole bunch of grape jelly at the dollar store and they wouldn’t touch it,” Steil says.”I think it’s because it didn’t have as much real fruit juice.” Ruth recommends Welch’s.

If you’re wondering what other birds you might attract to your yard, South Dakota Game, Fish, & Parks department has a free booklet. Backyard Birds of South Dakota has color photos and descriptions of nearly 80 species you may find. You can contact SDGF&P to request a copy.

Terry Sohl’s web site, sdakotabirds.com, also has a great checklist showing what seasons birds can be expected and how common they are. You can also check out Terry’s table showing favorite foods of common birds.

I plan to put out some jelly tonight to see what I can attract. Hopefully I’m not too late. What are your tricks for attracting birds?

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Planting Seeds in Parkston

By Laura Johnson

Students from Parkston Elementary School are conducting a giant gardening experiment this spring and summer. Inspired by Kevin Marsh’s giant pumpkin-growing tips in our March/April 2012 issue, Parkston Principal Rob Monson requested 300 giant pumpkin seeds from Great South Dakota Pumpkin Weigh-Off organizer Cassandra Swanson of Canton. Monson and Parkston student council members recently started the seeds, placing them in dirt-filled plastic cups. As the seeds sprout, they are sent home with students eager to try their hands at giant pumpkin growing.

Parkston’s planting committee must be a green-thumbed bunch.”We planted the seeds last Wednesday. They started popping up last weekend already! I would guess at this point I have sent home about half of the plants,” Monson said. Any fledgling gardeners who are successful can bring their big pumpkins back to school next fall for the Parkston Elementary Pumpkin Weigh-In.

The school also has a garden plot. Each grade picks a vegetable to grow. School gets out on May 11 in Parkston, so the kids don’t get to spend much time in the garden, but as Monson says, they at least get a chance to”get their hands dirty and know that vegetables don’t just come out of a can.”

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Buzz Off

By Rebecca Johnson

I’m hoping to get something planted in my garden this weekend. I love working in the dirt and getting things started. I’m a fairly new gardener. My husband and I have rented a plot in Yankton’s community garden for the last few years and I was surprised to find that I love weeding. It’s great to get away from the TV and computer, sit on the ground and pull the weeds. It’s sort of a meditative experience for me, but nothing ruins it more than the mosquitoes.

I’m not a big fan of most store bought bug repellents. I despise the smell and sticky, greasy feel. I also have a hard time with the chemicals involved because of my allergies so I decided to look for a natural mosquito repellent recipe to use this summer. I found this one on the Internet. It’s very simple and smells lovely if you enjoy the smell of lemons.

Just mix about 15 drops of lemon eucalyptus oil with every two tablespoons of vegetable oil and dab a little on your skin. You have to reapply more often than chemical repellents because the scent wears off eventually, but its pleasant smell is safe for most people with sensitive skin and allergies. You can find the essential oil at most health food stores. I found mine in the health food section of our grocery store and it was just a little over $5 a bottle. I’m storing the concoction in a spice jar I found there as well, for just 99 cents.

What do you like to use for insect repellent? Any good natural remedies to share?

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Can Fishermen Be Trusted?

By Bernie Hunhoff

I stopped at Gramp’s, a favorite hangout for hunters and fishermen in Yankton. It’s a convenience store with homemade soup, real black coffee, sinful cookies and Dimock cheese.

I was on a second cup of coffee when Larry, the proprietor’s husband, came by to ask about some new law or rule from Game, Fish and Parks that says he can no longer net minnows for bait in the Missouri River.

GF&P is notoriously powerful in South Dakota, but any new rules must be approved by the legislature’s Rules Committee so I contacted two buddies on the committee. Yes, they said, there is such a rule. Nobody opposed its adoption so it sailed through.

Soon after my inquiry, some of the top brass at GF&P emailed me to explain the department’s position. News travels quickly in South Dakota. Naturally, it has to do with the spread of Asian Carp. Gavins Point Dam in Yankton is the last defense against this dreaded species’ emergence into the Upper Missouri. The carp are a big menace to boaters and anglers downriver, and GF&P will go to any lengths to keep them out of Lewis and Clark Lake and the other lakes to the north.

The worry is that fishermen will seine minnows in the Missouri, the Big Sioux or the James and then use the same minnow bucket as they travel northward up the Missouri. They might eventually dump the minnows in a reservoir and, voila, the Asian Carp will have arrived.

Thus the new rule. But of course the new rule, to be effective, will require education. Families have been netting minnows for bait in this Dakota Country long before GF&P existed. It is a tradition, a time-honored practice that seemed ecologically friendly for generations.

To stop people from doing so will take time. Wouldn’t it be just as easy to demand that anyone who nets minnows must release those minnows the same day in the same spot?

Nobody is on the side of the Asian Carp, but rules have to be realistic and sensible. Let’s have a discussion — is there a better way for GF&P to proceed?

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The Booming Grounds

By Christian Begeman

I never liked chickens all that much. Live chickens, that is. I’ll happily dine at KFC when the mood takes me, and what would breakfast be without eggs scrambled or over easy? What I mean is that the chicken coop doesn’t bring up very good memories for me. First of all, I was deathly scared of one of the meanest creatures on earth: the cackling hen sitting atop her clutch of eggs. I seem to remember beaks like curved scimitars awaiting my outstretched hands as I reached for those eggs. Of course, a seven-year-old’s imagination tends to greatly exaggerate reality as I can’t ever remember getting pecked. As I grew older, the dreaded chore of cleaning the coop was added to my resume. There are not a lot things that smell worse than a ripe chicken coop on a hot summer’s day. I’ll kindly spare you the details.

Why this reminiscing about chickens? Well, I did something early in April that I have never done before and it involved chickens in the wild. Greater Prairie Chickens to be exact. The good folks that manage Fort Pierre National Grasslands set up three blinds during April and May to view the”booming grounds” or”leks” that the prairie chickens use to dance and woo their wily hens. Sharp-tailed grouse also use the high flat areas in the grasslands to display and attract mates. I recently got a new telephoto lens and thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try it out. I wasn’t disappointed.

As the sun came up, the sounds of the roosters scuffling, dancing and”booming” filled the air already accented by the happy song of the meadowlark. It truly is one of nature’s wonders that everyone in the state should experience in real life. Don’t believe me? The dance of the prairie chicken has inspired the”chicken dance” in Native American culture. The dance also has some really interesting stories associated with it. In one of the stories attributed to a Crow legend, Old Man Coyote created the prairie chicken to show the rest of the animals how to dance. A Blackfoot legend tells of a hungry hunter who kills and eats some prairie chickens only to have the birds’ spirit return to him in a dream to tell him he must learn the chicken dance or he would be killed by the angry spirits of the chickens he murdered. The story I like the best is how a warrior was out hunting on a foggy morning and climbed to the top of a hill to wait until the fog lifted. He soon fell asleep. When he woke up he was surrounded by dancing prairie chickens. He watched and learned the dance and taught it to his tribe.

Our family friend and photographer, Stu Surma, who now resides in Java, SD told me of his experience shooting photos of the sharp-tail dancers on a lek near Isabel when a coyote jumped the party looking for breakfast. Stu told me that he was quite annoyed with the coyote and wished he had a rifle handy. The closest thing I saw to that kind of drama was a large hawk flying low over the lek on the second morning I was in the blind. All the grouse and half the prairie chickens scattered. Within the next 10 minutes all were back and dancing again. Not to say there isn’t drama to the dance. The males carve out their little areas and when they aren’t dancing, they are squabbling over the borders with their neighbors. What was really interesting was that the grouse and chickens who share the same leks fight like this as well. I witnessed a grouse defend his ground all morning against prairie chickens larger than him. I nicknamed him Little Jerry from one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes and found myself cheering him on silently. When Little Jerry and the rest of the crew flew off at about 9 a.m., the show was over. But what a show it was. Was it wrong that I enjoyed fried chicken for dinner later that day?

If you are interested in reserving one of the blinds, you can call the Fort Pierre National Grassland Office at 605-224-5517 to set up your reservation and receive information regarding grouse blinds and maps showing the location of your reserved blind.

If you can’t make it to the National Grassland in person, have a look at Christian’s video of the prairie chickens in action.

Prairie Dancers from Christian Begeman on Vimeo.

Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midcontinent Communications he is often on the road photographing our prettiest spots around the state. Follow Begeman on his blog.

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Chicken Dance

By Rebecca Johnson

Spring has sprung and love is in the air. Well, it’s hormones really and now’s a great time to see the mating dance of the prairie chicken. I asked outdoor photographer Les Voorhis and he said the best place to view them is Fort Pierre National Grasslands.”They have blinds you can reserve on prairie chicken leks and [Fort Pierre National Grasslands has] one of the highest population densities in the state,” Voorhis says.

What is a lek, you say? Oh, it’s just the name for an assembly area where animals carry on their courtship behavior. The area looks no different than the rest of the prairie until the birds get together and start strutting around. Lek can also be used to describe the group of animals courting. During courtship, the males inflate air sacs on the sides of their necks. They also emit a very distinct call that you can hear in this video.

Three blinds are available to use at no charge on the Grasslands’ leks. You can make reservations for viewing times in April and May. The 8-foot long, plywood structures hold up to four adults and have small square windows for viewing and photographing. Blinds aren’t insulated, so dress accordingly for crisp morning air. You’ll want to get to your viewing spot a half hour before sunrise. If you arrive late, the birds will see you, flush, and may not return that day.

Call the Fort Pierre National Grasslands at 605-224-5517 to secure your spot. They’ll send a map so you know where you’re going. Ruben Mares, Wildlife Biologist with the Fort Pierre National Grasslands, recommends finding the blind the day before your viewing time. It can be hard to locate before the sun comes up. Mares says if all three blinds are full there are still several places people can view the birds from a distance. Just call the Grasslands office and they will recommend locations.