Category: columns-travel

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Another Good Day in the Badlands

By Christian Begeman

I think it is appropriate that the last column of this photographic series of South Dakota’s natural landmarks is dedicated to the unique landscapes of Badlands National Park. According to the National Park Service’s website, approximately one million visitors from all over the world visit the Badlands every year. And why not? The park consists of 244,000 acres, 64,144 of which are deemed wilderness acres. It is the largest expanse of protected prairie in the national park system. The park is home to American Bison, white tailed and mule deer, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, rattlesnakes, fox and wily coyotes. Hawks, owls and occasional eagles grace the open skies above the eroded masterpiece of land below. It is a perfect place for a camera-wielding nature lover like me.

While researching the history of the Badlands, I found an online booklet describing the history of Badlands National Monument. (It did not become a full-fledged park until 1978.) From that booklet, I read that early French-Canadian trappers called the region le mauvaises terres a traverser, which means “bad lands to travel across.” Other traders applied the term “bad lands” to this locality as well as to any section of the prairie country “where roads are difficult….” The Dakota Indians called the region Mako Sica (mako, land; sica, bad). General George A. Custer described the area as a part of hell where the fires burned out.

Despite the seemingly bad press from the history above, I’ve grown to love the area over the years. Any trip I take to the Black Hills is almost certain to include a detour through the Badlands. I’ve learned that some of the best opportunities for photography in the state are found there, particularly in the golden light of evening or early morning. An earlier column of mine was devoted to a single morning of spectacular light on the eastern borders of the park on a Thanksgiving Day morning. I’ve also had good luck seeing and photographing the park’s wildlife. One of my favorite stories of shooting wildlife is the cold February day where I ended up racing a coyote near the Bigfoot pass. The park also has bobcat residents as well as the endangered black-footed ferret. I’ve not been able to see or photograph either of these yet, but those animals are definitely on my bucket list.

My absolute favorite time to be in the park is during and after bad weather. I’ve witnessed some of the most amazing and breathtaking light when a late afternoon or evening summer storm passes through. Twice, I’ve seen the setting sun backlight the billowing clouds and change the landscape to eerie oranges and deep reds. This spring, I was able to see a massive full rainbow form at the panoramic point overview. This rainbow lit up the eastern sky after the sun had set. I’d never seen a rainbow occur so late in the day before. In late August, I happened to be in the park when a late afternoon storm struck. I witnessed the late day sun breaking through the clouds on the west side of park with dramatic rays of light. Later, the setting sun proceeded to paint the retreating remains of the summer storm with fantastic light and detail.

Later in the night I stayed out to shoot to do some stargazing. This part of South Dakota is nearly devoid of light pollution, which means seeing more stars shine in the heavens. I was not disappointed. The Milky Way shown bright against the rugged pinnacles and once again I stood in awe under South Dakota skies amidst the rugged and torn beauty of the Badlands. It was another good day in the Badlands. They almost always are.


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 featuring other unique spots in South Dakota’s landscape, visit his landmarks page.


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Grand River’s Wall

By Christian Begeman

In the southwest section of Corson County is a landmark I’d heard mentioned from to time by locals but had never seen. The landform is referred to as”the wall” and marks the steep, cliff edge of the Grand River breaks on its southern flank for a considerable distance.

A few summers ago while shooting the Isabel Centennial Wagon Train, South Dakota’s own sculpture artist, John Lopez, and I got re-acquainted. During the entertainment in the evenings, local cowboy poets and singers made regular reference to the wall. I asked John about the landform, as I knew he grew up in that area near Black Horse Butte. He told me about the long, tall line of mini-badlands along the Grand River and then graciously invited me out to get a tour. I finally took him up on that offer this summer.

It’s a wonderful place to take a camera. I grew up in a similar landscape (the Moreau River breaks to the south) so I may be a bit biased, but I believe there is a true visual poetry to West River ranchland. I’ll admit the rhyme and rhythm of the landscape can be elusive. Depending on the weather of any given year as well as a hundred other factors, it can be a challenge to find beauty. Some folks look out at the land and think it is a wasteland or akin to a desert. I respectfully disagree.

When you look at ranchland going by your car window at 65-plus miles an hour, it’s hard to see the detail that contributes to its beauty. Going that fast, it is impossible to pick out the doe and her fawn in a creek bottom, or the flashing purple and yellow of wildflowers waving in the wind on the hilltops. Corson County’s wall country isn’t near any highway and unless you have a death wish, driving the narrow county roads is best done under 45 mph. I recommend doing it at about half that speed in the cool of the morning or the last light of evening. When the sun turns the prairies golden yellow and the bright ribbon of the Grand River shines against the deepening shadow of the looming wall, maybe then you can see what I mean by visual poetry.

This corner of South Dakota has a rich history to it as well. Black Horse Butte, just above the wall in one of the Grand River National Grassland allotments, was a well-known landmark along the Deadwood to Bismarck Stage Trail. The trail ran just under the butte on the west side of the wall before it crossed the Grand River going northeast.

Going back further into the depths of time, this landscape once teemed with dinosaurs — the kinds of dinosaurs that most of us grew up reading and daydreaming about. In late July, I was able to visit a dig right along one of the cliffs directly above the river. While there, a beautiful Tyrannosaurus Rex tooth was found. The excitement of the camp was palpable (and I certainly added to it). All of the bones found, including a full Triceratops skull, are cleaned up and then displayed at the Grand River Museum in Lemmon, SD.

The wall may be one of the least well-known landmarks that I’ve photographed this year, but it is also one of my favorites. It is remote and it is beautiful. In younger days I spent countless hours under the western South Dakota sky in a tractor or chasing cows to and fro. Although I didn’t know it at the time, I was falling in love with the simple beauty of it all. This kind of country is and will remain home to me.

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 featuring other unique spots in South Dakota’s landscape, visit his landmarks page.

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Annie Creek Falls

By Lee Schoenbeck

Spearfish Canyon has so many secrets hidden back in the canyon walls that you wonder if any one person knows them all. After a summer of exploring, this writer is still discovering. On the way to the Black Hills earlier this month we talked with some friends, Mike and Robin Moran of Watertown, who told us about a pretty place in the canyon called Annie Creek Falls. The next day, while having lunch at the Latchstring in the canyon, we learned that our waitress was a South Dakota native and a student at Black Hills State. The pipeline to knowledge about where to hike in the canyon flows through BHSU, so we asked her what favorite unpublished place she liked. Annie Creek Falls was the first one she named, so our next destination was set.

LEAVE YOUR AUDI AT HOME

We have an old Jeep Ranger that won’t win a beauty contest anywhere outside of the Ozarks, but it is the vehicle of choice for a trip up Annie Creek Road. The Annie Creek Road sign is the first right past Elmore as you drive north into Spearfish Canyon from Cheyenne Crossing, heading towards Savoy. The road is an old narrow gauge rail bed. As you drive up it you’ll see the remnants of old rail ties, long ago embedded in its floor. Turning around is never an option if you have a full-size vehicle, and is barely an option in a Ranger. The potholes are a definitive test for loose fillings, and there are several times you’ll plow through water holes of indeterminate depths — a free car wash of sorts.

YOU ARE THERE

When a spot appears on your right that looks like you can pull over a little, you are there. Across the road, from whence you hear the rushing water, is a trail into the brush — take it. It’s a very short hike to a landing that looks over the canyon below and the water falls to your right. But, the fun doesn’t end there — the adventure has just begun.

To get down to the falls you have three choices. First, you could jump. If you pick that option, don’t bother wasting time snapping a quick photo on the way down — a quick prayer would be more useful. Either of the other two options is marginally safer. To the left you can make short switchback-like cuts as you climb and work your way to the bottom. Be careful — it is treacherous. The left path brings you about fifty yards below the falls. The hike up the creek affords more beautiful views of the area. The option to the right is one we didn’t even see on the way down. This is the shorter and maybe safer route, but it is crawling from handhold (tree root) to handhold (rock ledge) all the way down. The right side route brings you out near the base of the falls — and is clearly the easier route for the hike back up.


IT’S BEAUTIFUL DOWN THERE

The path to the bottom probably deters most, and from a safety perspective, that may be a good thing. But if you are one of those hardy souls that can navigate the way down, the pretty and peaceful creek bottom at the base of Annie Creek Falls is worth the hike. This is the kind of place where people would want to take wedding photos, if they could figure out how to get all the gowns down there in their original color and condition.

ANNIE CREEK HAS MORE TO OFFER

The old trail is also the route used by 4-wheelers between Terry Peak and Cheyenne Crossing. A Minnesota group, whose leaders hailed from De Smet, stopped at the falls while we were there. After exchanging the traditional South Dakota greeting:”Where are you from?” followed by”Do you know __?” we discerned that the leader was a cousin of friends of ours from Watertown, and they knew my law school classmate from De Smet, Todd Wilkinson. In South Dakota speak, we had bonded. The 4-wheelers explained to us that there was more to see by travelling further up Annie Creek Road, so the adventure continued.

About a half mile further up the road (where road speeds are about 8 mph on a good stretch), you cross the creek. The road bed has been built up well above the creek, and presumably there’s a big culvert in the brush below, but the driver is well advised to adhere to the biblical directive of staying focused on the narrow path ahead. When you’ve crossed the creek, the”road” ends — but the adventure doesn’t. To the right is a strictly 4-wheeler route to Terry Peak. To the left there are two paths. We took the high road, which is a continuation of the narrow rail bed.

If you hike for about a mile, you’ll come to first one, then another, former railroad trestles. The trestles have been felled, probably to avoid hikers using them to cross the gullies they forded. To get to the second former trestle, you of course need to be crazy enough to hike down, through and up the first trestle gorge. This would be a good point to suggest another whole set of safety disclaimers. But if you have the endurance and lack of good judgment for the trip, it’s a pretty view and a neat crawl through the remnants of Black Hills railroad history.

There’s some”treasure” to be found on the more remote sections of the rail bed, as we learned from a family we met near the first gorge. We came up on a father, mother and son digging in the dirt along the remote rail bed — not exactly everyday behavior. It piqued our curiosity. We learned that they were using metal detectors and shovels to unearth the spikes that had been discarded when the rail lines were pulled up years before. They said that you could even find the old spikes lying on the ground sometimes along the route. My very curious wife, after navigating there and back through two gorges, couldn’t resist digging in the shallow dirt along the trail in several places looking for the hidden treasure — but alas, to no avail.


TAKEAWAYS AND TREASURES

The hidden gems to hike to in the Hills are worth the time and effort. We hope others will tell us of more of these to explore. Also, the rich railroad history of the Black Hills would be fascinating to explore, if a knowledgeable guide would surface.

Finally, the treasures of the Hills really are there for the taking. On the walk back along the old rail bed, with one of my wife’s steps on the trail came a metallic”clink” sound. There, just waiting to be picked from the ground by the adventurous, was a rail spike — a Black Hills treasure to the memory of Annie Creek.

Lee Schoenbeck grew up in Webster, practices law in Watertown, and is a freelance writer for the South Dakota Magazine website.


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Dakota’s Other Dunes

By Christian Begeman

Every year as I travel South Dakota’s roads something new surprises me. The latest example was discovering the north edge of the Nebraska Sand Hills is actually located in South Dakota. South of Martin, in Bennett County, the Sand Hills march at least seven miles across the border. When I discovered this, I looked at a topographic map and noticed the lack of roads in this region, which intrigued me. Doing more research, I stumbled across an article online that lamented the fact that hardly any photos can be found of the region in state publications or South Dakota Tourism material. Sounded like a challenge to me.

The Sand Hills eco-region is fascinating. Most of the area has never been under the farmer’s plow, mostly because no decent crops can be grown. It is just over 20,000 square miles of land that is 85% intact natural habitat. Geologists say the area used to be active sand dunes as recent as eleven hundred years ago. It is hard to imagine Sahara-like dunes in South Dakota but once you take a hike out into the hills, it is actually pretty easy to see it. The ground is soft and easy to move. The grasses and plants are not as dense as in other South Dakota grasslands, but the variety of species are surprisingly vast. It is good cattle country and many large, sprawling ranches still thrive.

Sitting on top of the vast Ogallala Aquifer, the Sand Hills boast many wetlands and small lakes throughout the rugged country. Because of this, the area has become a hugely important corridor for migrating birds. Right up against the northern edge of the Sand Hills, pretty little Lake Creek sends a healthy stream out into the picturesque valley of LaCreek National Wildlife Refuge. The US Fish and Wildlife Services maintain this important wetland area of over 5,000 acres. I spent a good amount of time traveling the refuge’s roads, hiking a few trails looking for wildlife and being surprised by brilliant wildflowers at almost every stop.

LaCreek is full of wildlife in the summer, but if birding is your thing, then the refuge is actually better visited in the spring or fall during the migratory seasons. I saw an owl, a couple eagles and a few pelicans, but these sightings are nothing compared to the numbers of birds the place hosts at migration’s high tide. Trumpeter swans are the biggest attraction — LaCreek was a key place that helped the bird’s population rebound in the United States in the early to mid-1900s. A group of cygnets (young swans) was transplanted from Montana and a new colony grew and soon thrived at LaCreek.

Although I missed the swans, I thoroughly enjoyed my two-day stay in Bennett County. The weather was hazy and humid. In the evening the setting sun resembled a molten ball of rock settling into the west. As I looked out over the wide valley and into the Sand Hills on the horizon, it struck me that this place reminded me of my visit to East Africa’s Serengeti in December 2009. I mean, there are no lions or zebras at LaCreek, but I could easily imagine a hippo or two popping out of one of the trout pools. It is funny how the mind plays tricks on you out alone under a vast South Dakota sky. Then again, there used to be real sand dunes and a desert on the southern horizon. So who am I to question South Dakota’s variety and ability to continue to surprise?

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 featuring other unique spots in South Dakota’s landscape, visit his landmarks page.


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Eleventh Hour Gulch

By Lee Schoenbeck

SLOW IS BETTER IN SPEARFISH CANYON

“Fast is better” — a TV ad humorously makes the point, and as a society, they’re preaching to the choir. We want internet and cell phone service that is instantaneous, and headache pills that make the pain end in 30 seconds, not 60. Faster sounds better. But when it comes to enjoying Mother Nature, I fall back on the old slogan”speed kills” or at least a modified”speed numbs.” There’s a place in Spearfish Canyon that proves my point.

A HIDDEN ENTRANCE TO A SPECIAL PLACE

It’s like having Bruce Wayne or Ali Baba right here in South Dakota. The Eleventh Hour Gulch has a hidden entrance that only the slow and informed will see — while thousands will drive through the Canyon without a clue to the gift they have passed by. If you can see it, you’ll see a waterfall from the highway. Not the big three — Roughlock, Bridal Veil or Little Spearfish Falls — this is the fourth, the smallest, and the hardest to see.

OPEN SESAME

You don’t have to know the Arabic version, “iftah ya simsim,” for the entrance to the Eleventh Hour Gulch to open up to you, but you do have to drive or walk slow. In Spearfish Canyon the creek is on the east side of the highway and its turbulent trek down the canyon is spell-binding, which is the secret to the Gulch’s hidden entrance. In the creek, near milepost twenty, are the Kissing Rocks, two very large rocks in the creek that are touching (“kissing” to the imaginative). Less than fifty yards to the north of the Kissing Rocks, and on the west side of the road (look away from the distracting beauty of the creek!) you will see, for a second, an opening in the foliage — and water falling. If you are driving north you need to drive slow and look backwards to see the narrow break in the shrubbery. If you are driving south, you’ve got a better shot at noticing the entrance.

Armed with directions, we still missed the entrance on our first attempt, because it doesn’t look like there could be a gulch there. We started at a spot a quarter mile down the road, hiked in a mile, and figured that the secret entrance had escaped us. The second effort was worth the time.

HIDDEN TREASURE

When you get through the roadside foliage, you’ll see a narrow space between the rock walls, and water falling over it. The trail is simple: follow the water, hike up. There are places where the gulch is so narrow that you can touch the opposite walls of the canyon at the same time.

The hike would be more difficult if the Gulch didn’t have benefactors. In at least two places, somebody has constructed wooden ladders, and laid them in between the rocks. You’ll even see washed out and destroyed old ladders, a testimony to the persistence and care of the Gulch’s fan club. The trail goes up and beyond for as far as you care to hike, but there is a point where you have obviously climbed as high as the Canyon’s 1000 foot walls.


GREAT VIEW

It’s a short hike over to the rim of the Canyon. This walk shouldn’t be taken by those with vertigo or any kind of fear of heights. This is Mother Nature at her finest — no handrails or guardrails. You are looking 1,000 feet down at roaring Spearfish Creek, as it tumbles through and past the Kissing Rocks. Spearfish Canyon abounds with breathtaking views. Roughlock Falls and the 76 Trail would make most lists, but the view from top of Eleventh Hour Gulch is on that same list, for those who slow down and take the time to find it.


ALI BABA’S GOLDEN MOMENTS

Gold and things precious come in many forms, and their value is largely defined by the seeker. Ali Baba’s gold couldn’t be any brighter or more inspiring than the treasure hidden behind the foliage in Spearfish Canyon. at the entrance to the Eleventh Hour Gulch.


Lee Schoenbeck grew up in Webster, practices law in Watertown, and is a freelance writer for the South Dakota Magazine website.

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Harding County Treasures

By Christian Begeman

Western South Dakota is known for its wide open spaces and rugged landscapes. This is particularly true in one of the least populated counties located in the farthest northwest reaches of the state. Harding County’s population was under 1,300 folks as of the 2010 census. With an area around 2,700 square miles, the population density is roughly one person for every three square miles. So unless you stop in the county seat of Buffalo (population 330), you are probably going to see the greatest concentration of human beings only when driving through the county on the CanAm Highway (US route 85). But don’t let the small population fool you; the area is rich in beauty and scenery. Places like the Cave Hills, Slim Buttes and the Jumpoff are fairly easy to get to and can take your breath away if you take the time to explore them.

My first experience seeing the Slim Buttes was from a school bus window as my high school basketball team traveled to our farthest opponent in the Little Moreau Conference, the Harding County Ranchers. I had heard stories and legends of”wild west” battles and hidden loot still buried in the buttes. It wasn’t until recently that I took the time to explore the area and learn a bit about the history. There was indeed a battle that took place in the Slim Buttes a few months after the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana. A Lakota village was destroyed and a counterattack by the legendary Crazy Horse was fended off. It turned out to be the beginning of the end of what was called the Great Sioux War of 1876.

White-sided buttes now peacefully rise from the prairie, with only cattle, horses and wild bands of pronghorn to disturb the grasses at their base. Ponderosa pine graces the top of the buttes and make up part of Custer National Forest. The name”slim” comes from the landform itself. The high points of the butte tops are never more than a few miles wide as they tower 300 to 400 feet above the prairie. This ridge is roughly 30 miles in length and makes a natural”L” shape. There are only three passes through the buttes. Two of these passes are paved. Highway 79 crosses the buttes to the south and Highway 20 to the west of Reva, SD. At the Reva Gap, there is a campground and hiking area with a majestic view of the”castles” area of the buttes.

A little further north and west are the Cave Hills. This formation seems more like high mesas than hills to me. The top layers of rock on the hills are pockmarked and full of many small cave-like entrances, the most well-known being Ludlow Cave. I did not make it to Ludlow Cave this time around, which is a shame as there are ancient petroglyphs to be found as well as markings from soldiers of Custer’s 7th Cavalry. I imagine that the legends of robber’s loot hidden in Harding County probably have something to do with the caves of the Cave Hills. Even though I didn’t get to explore these caves, I did spend a good amount of time in the camping area of Picnic Springs in the north section of the hills. Wildflowers were everywhere. I spotted deer in the box canyons and watched mountain bluebirds, goldfinch and various swallows dart among the rock formations. The roads into and through the Cave Hills are rugged but well worth the time to explore.

When I was looking a detailed map of the region, I noticed an area labeled as”the Jumpoff” that was directly west of the Slim Buttes and little north of the Short Pine Hills. I discovered it was a rugged mini-badlands area of hills, ridges, valleys and cut banks that separate the headwaters of the Grand River to the east from the valley of the Little Missouri River to the west. I was there at dawn and saw the sun rise over the Slim Buttes on the horizon.

Although I may not have left Harding County with any long-forgotten buried loot, I did experience one of the treasures our great state has to offer: the promise of a new day breaking over the wide, windswept high plains. Thankfully this is the kind of treasure anyone can share in.

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 featuring other unique spots in South Dakota’s landscape, visit his landmarks page.

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Sioux Quartzite’s Ancient Beauty

By Christian Begeman

Last December I turned 40. I guess I’m supposed to be”old” now (at least to anyone under 40, that is). Other than some achy knees and various aches and pains I don’t feel old — especially now that I’ve done a little research on the landmark that helped shape Sioux Falls and the surrounding area. Sioux quartzite, the hard stone that the Big Sioux tumbles over at Falls Park in Sioux Falls, is ancient. I mean really, really ancient. Those that study rocks say it was formed around 1.5 billion years ago. That is older than old — I mean it is really hard to fathom. The last dinosaurs are supposed to have been around 60 million years ago. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to our Sioux quartzite. This rock formation has been fairly stable and in existence for roughly a quarter of the time Earth has been a planet.

I first visited the falls of the Big Sioux when I was a young teenager. For a West River kid, it was like a whole new world. Back then, the park hadn’t been cleaned up nor was there much for walkways, but nonetheless, I still remember being surprised that such a thing existed in South Dakota. I later learned that Sioux Falls is not the only place to see outcroppings of Sioux quartzite. Palisades State Park just south of Garretson may be small in terms of size, but it packs a large punch in terms of unique and stunning scenery. There, Split Rock Creek cuts through a section of Sioux quartzite, leaving dramatic cliffs and standing stones seemingly in the middle of rolling farm hills.

Just upstream, on the other side of Garretson, is Split Rock Park and Devil’s Gulch. Legend holds that this is where outlaw Jesse James escaped a posse of armed men after fleeing from a botched robbery attempt in Minnesota in 1876. James and his horse supposedly leaped the narrow gorge leaving his pursuers behind. A small walking bridge marks the spot today. Whether the legend is true or not, the area is a great place to hike and see the quartzite formations.

Another place that shows off the beauty of the quartzite is just south of Dell Rapids. Here the Big Sioux divides into two streams with the smaller channel cutting straight through cliffs of Sioux quartzite called the Dells of the Big Sioux. There is a small park and overlook to check out, or if you have a more adventurous spirit, there is a sort of natural staircase to the north of the picnic area to climb down into the gorge. In visiting the area earlier this spring, I also found it to be a great place to bird watch. Insect catchers swoop through the canyon picking off their prey and the cliffs allow for nests for all sorts of swallows as well. The abundance of trees provide nesting and resting areas for many species too.

This summer I was introduced to a couple of Sioux quartzite areas that were brand new to me and very worth visiting. Arrowhead Park on the east side of Sioux Falls is a great place to take a short hike with family members in around some quarry pools. The waterfowl are used to people and many folks like to take some bread along to feed them on the edges of the pools. Along the South Dakota-Iowa border is another pool in the Gitchie Manitou preserve that is a little more off the beaten track but well worth the visit as well. I went there on a hot July afternoon and basically had the place to myself. My task was to take a portrait or two of ancient beauty over a billion years in the making. Makes me feel young and spry just telling you about it.

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 featuring other unique spots in South Dakota’s landscape, visit his landmarks page.


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Burgers, Bells, Blooms and Brews

By Laura Andrews

Brookings was recently named one of America’s ten best small towns by livability.com. My husband, Mike, and I visited South Dakota’s fourth largest community a few weeks ago. It didn’t take long to see why Brookings was given high marks.

Our first stop was Nick’s Hamburger Shop, a Brookings institution since 1929. The friendly waitress slipped us each a tank-fried Nickburger on a square of waxed paper. As we munched, we watched locals leave with sacks full of the meaty sandwiches.”This is lunch and dinner,” said one.

Sated for the moment, we walked up and down Brookings’ charming main street, admiring the shops along the way. A friendly postman directed us to the local library a few blocks away, near the Children’s Museum of South Dakota.

An exotic aroma lured us up to the library’s second floor, where Mango Tree Coffee was serving Thai vegetable soup. I opted for a rose lassi, a sweet and floral Indian yogurt drink. The Mango Tree is a calm and cozy spot, perfect for library patrons and the local knitters and crocheters who meet there for Brookings Fiber Guild gatherings. My knitting group in Yankton would be jealous if they knew how good Brookings crafters have it!

Our next stop was an odd choice for a couple of acrophobes — the Coughlin Campanile, South Dakota State University’s belltower. After ducking into the Alumni Center for the key, we climbed 185 steps to the viewing area at the top, stopping frequently to admire Brookings from above. There was even more to admire at the nearby South Dakota Art Museum galleries, where works by Harvey Dunn and Oscar Howe and other artists were on display. It was a real thrill to see The Prairie Is My Garden in real life, and marvel at the way Dunn combined blobs and swirls of pigment to create his iconic scene of early Dakota life. Of course, no visit to SDSU is complete without a trip to their Dairy Bar for a dish of butter brickle and a grasshopper fudge cone.

Mike is an avid gardener, so I had to take him to McCrory Gardens, where we were surprised how much difference a hundred-plus miles makes. The peonies and irises that had already finished blooming in our yard in Yankton were just starting to blossom up north in Brookings. There’s over 25 acres of formal gardens at McCrory plus 45 acres devoted to studying trees and bushes. That’s a lot of plants — all beautifully arranged and tended.

All that walking and fresh air helped us work up a thirst, which we quenched at Wooden Legs Brewing Company. The bevy of beverage options was dazzling (117 bottled beers and 21 on tap), but sadly, only one of the pub’s homebrews was available. Though we were there a few days before Wooden Legs’ grand opening, the Split Rock Creek Pale Ale, K¸hl Blonde Ale, Farmhouse Ale and It’s What We Got IPA were already sold out.”People in this town like to drink,” explained our friendly bartender. We can’t blame them. My pint of Wooden Legs’ Three5Three, a milk stout inspired by Irish brews, was deliciously dark. I would’ve loved another, but we needed to stop by George’s Pizza for gyros and calzones before heading homeward, tired but happy after a busy day of sampling a few of the great things Brookings has to offer.

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Coteau Rodeo

By Christian Begeman

In northeast South Dakota there is a great flatiron-shaped plateau of land that the early French trappers and explorers named the”Coteau des Prairies.” This is roughly translated as prairie hills or prairie slopes. The Coteau Hills, as they are more commonly called nowadays, are approximately 200 miles in length and 100 miles in width and start in North Dakota and end in Minnesota. The Big Sioux River provides drainage for the plateau, sort of. These hills are made up of ancient glacier rubble and rock so there are many prairie potholes as well as large glacial lakes on the topside.

The places where the slopes meet the flat prairie below provide wooded valleys of exquisite beauty as well as great vistas for the eyes. A couple of my favorite areas include driving Highway 20 through the Crandall-Crocker Hills on the west side. This is the route my family would take to see relatives living in southwestern Minnesota when I was a kid. My other favorite place is the Sica Hollow area on the east side of the plateau. Here the change in elevation between landforms seems to be the most abrupt and also the most beautiful. I’ve found pasque flowers in abundance in the early spring among the rocky hilltops in Grant County and have also seen wonderfully colored cottonwood creek bottoms during autumn from the streams running down the plateau into the prairie below.

Such a large landmark is tough to fit into just one column, so I decided to try a little something different this time around. A couple years ago, a friend and co-worker of mine from Clear Lake finally talked me into attending his beloved Crystal Springs Rodeo. I’m glad he did. This event is a pilgrimage every summer for him and his family and now I understand why.

Crystal Springs Rodeo bills itself as being the only rodeo to take place in a natural rodeo bowl. It is located right in the middle of the Coteau Hills of Deuel County as well. Basically an old prairie pothole duck pond has been transformed into a rodeo arena and has since become one of the most unique rodeo experiences you will find in the state. What better place than here to get a photographic taste of the Coteau Hills?

There are no bleachers at this rodeo. Locals and folks from Minnesota, North Dakota and beyond bring tarps, blankets and an occasional lawn chair and sit on the hillsides that surround the rodeo bowl. There isn’t a bad seat to be had. Every year I go, I am amazed at the amount of people gathered. All this provides quite a fun time for a guy with a camera. Capturing a little bit of Americana South Dakota style is both fun and challenging at the same time. If you’ve ever tried shooting bucking broncs and the cowboys that ride them then you know what I mean. That said, rodeos are more than just bull riding and calf roping. I found that it is a great opportunity to take candid shots of friends and family as well as the kiddos.

Willie Nelson sang about not letting your babies grow up to be cowboys, but if you really want to take that advice, I’d not take those babies to this rodeo. It’s pretty hard to watch those tough cowpokes and not start humming another old Willie song that goes something like,”My heroes have always been cowboys, and they still are, it seems.”

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 featuring other unique spots in South Dakota’s landscape, visit his landmarks page.


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Splashing in the Devil’s Bathtub

By Lee Schoenbeck

Located between Savoy and Spearfish in the scenic byway of Spearfish Canyon is an unmarked, semi-secret place to enjoy a hike and a refreshing dip in a mountain stream. Ever since climbing behind the falls at Roughlock became verboten, the Devil’s Bathtub has been the best playground in Spearfish Canyon.

WHERE DOES THE DEVIL BATHE?

There are no signs disclosing the secret location of the Devil’s Bathtub. Most people that know about it found out from a local. My law school roommate, a Black Hills State grad, told me about it. I quizzed people on the trail this past week, and all were locals, or were told by locals. It’s kind of supposed to be a secret — at least before the Internet, Google and YouTube. Now, it’s a traffic jam to fun.

To get there, pull off the Spearfish Canyon highway at Cleopatra Place. There isn’t a parking lot, but these days there are a lot of cars along the narrow lane — park there. Hike across the bridge over Spearfish Creek and follow the trail to your right. The tributary to hike comes into Spearfish Creek at that point — DO NOT cross it and follow Spearfish Creek. Assuming you don’t make that mistake, you can’t miss the Bathtub. You definitely can’t miss the fun. The”trail” has a range of options — my crew prefers jumping on rocks and traversing fallen logs, but there is always the option of just walking on the dirt path adjoining the creek.

FALSE FINISH

After about thirty minutes of playing and hiking along the creek you’ll come to an area where the creek has cut a smooth swirl in to the rock. It looks like Mother Nature’s water slide. It’s a fun spot to stop and play on the rocks and in the creek. For the first three or four years, we took our family and friends. With me acting like some kind of an informed Sacagawea, this was where the hike ended. We all had fun sliding on the rocks and enjoying our lunches. One year, to our surprise, hikers came down upon us from farther up the canyon! They informed us that, while the spot we had hiked to was indeed fun, it was about 10 minutes short of the actual bathtub! At that point old”Sacagawea” felt a little stupid, but it did mean we now had new places to explore.

THE REAL BATHTUB

A little further up the canyon along the creek, the real Devil’s Bathtub is swirled out of the rock formations, and it definitely entertains. You can swim in the pool, slide down the chutes, or just lower your bottom into the coldest refreshing, rushing water you can imagine. The walls of the canyon at that point are steep — I mean mountain goat-quality steep — and tree covered. The setting is beautiful.

There are little brown trout in the stream and it’s entertaining to watch them jumping the rocks up the stream, like a fish ladder, until they reached a point just too steep to”climb.”

THE CROWD

When we pulled up, the parking area was filled. When we left, a van driver had his wife get out and navigate a squeeze play into Cleopatra. I quizzed people while we hiked, because we probably saw at least fifty people along the trail and at the bathtub. Almost everybody had a local connection — they knew somebody that knew the secret. A nephew and his wife met up with us there — both Mines grads who had heard of, but not seen, the Devil’s Bathtub. Having them and their sons with us meant the secret was passed on to another generation.

KEEPING SECRETS

Former Governor Bill Janklow used to say”a secret is something that you promise to only tell one person at a time.” So if you’re reading this, you need to promise to keep the secret. But if you know of any other secret or unmarked hiking trails in the Hills, fee free to email me the location. Other than to a few close friends of the outdoors, I’ll keep the secret.


Lee Schoenbeck grew up in Webster, practices law in Watertown, and is a freelance writer for the South Dakota Magazine website.