There weren’t many trees in the landscapes of my youth. Looking out our living room window, a thin line of cottonwoods and other smaller trees lined the banks of a western arm of Corn Crick. After our family purchased a wood stove when I was quite young, chopping wood became one of those hard, but mostly enjoyable chores. The hard part was stacking wood and not annoying my older brothers while doing so. The fun part was exploring the creek and being under the branches and leaves as opposed to out in the open prairie breeze.
As a youngster, I was fascinated by nature programs and stories of forests and jungles. Being in a place dominated by trees was not normal. Not being able to see a mile away was a bit disconcerting, but also a cause for curiosity and wonder. I remember some of my first trips to see relatives in Sturgis and being in awe of the Black Hills forests. It felt different, it smelled different. It just was different. But in a good way.
As I grew older, I started paying more attention to local geography. The draws of the Moreau River just south of our farm offered a variety of small, wooded coulees and canyons. Some of these our family named, like”Cedar Canyon” where we would hunt for Christmas trees in early December. Sometimes these draws would turn into (relatively) heavily wooded valleys, like the one that you can see from the hilltops of the Little Moreau River State Recreation Area. Church picnics including softball games and hikes through the trees to one of the three dams are all memories of that park.
It wasn’t until a few years ago that I started looking at the wooded areas of the Northern Plains with different intent. Photography has a way of doing that. Newton Hills State Park has an early blooming wildflower called snow trillium that blooms at roughly the same time as our beloved prairie pasqueflower. It is one of only two places I’ve seen them in our state. They are the farthest west population of this otherwise fairly common eastern woodland wildflower. On the other side of the state, places like Botany Canyon and Englewood Springs Botanical Area in the northern Black Hills showcase wild orchids and alpine wildflowers that are rare in South Dakota.
This spring and late summer, I took two trips to Sica Hollow near Sisseton to find other interesting wildflowers along the heavily wooded Trail of the Spirits. I was not disappointed. From unique wild ginger blooms to pale orange jewelweed being visited by migrating hummingbirds, the woodland gems on display were a joy to discover and photograph, especially for a plainsman like me. I now very much look forward to getting lost in the woods.
Christian Begeman grew up in Isabel and now lives in Sioux Falls. When he’s not working at Midco he is often on the road photographing South Dakota’s prettiest spots. Follow Begeman on his blog.
