South Dakota's Custer State Park Bison Roundup and The Needles Highway

Yes, I know I have said this before, Custer State Park is amazing.  The park allows its visitors to get close to nature at its best.  The wildlife is abundant and the scenery outstanding.  This park is in the beautiful Black Hills of western South Dakota.  It is the home to one of the world's largest publicly-owned bison herds. The pronghorn antelope, deer, turkey, bighorn sheep, elk, and mountain goats are seen in the park. 

The Needles Highway is a beautiful 14 mile drive through pine and Spruce  forests, meadows surrounded by Aspen and Birch and rugged granite mountains. We drove this road with its beautiful granite formations leading us to the Needles Eye.  This opening was created by wind, rain, freezing and thawing. I must say that we loved and enjoyed every moment spent here.

Each fall cowboys and cowgirls and park crew saddle up to bring in the Bison herd.  The roundup is held the last Friday in September and is open to the public.  The roundup is part of Custer State Park's management plan.  The park usually sorts and sells about 200 bison.  Some will be sold at auction in November.  While the bison are in corrals park staff will vaccinate the new members of the herd, brand the new calves and check the cows for pregnancy. It will usually take about four days to work the entire herd.  You will see in my photos that we were blessed to be in the park on a September day when the bison were being herded .  This was unexpected for us and of course we were thrilled.  I enjoy sharing the excitement with you!  Blessings!