This week’s post is inspired by a recent photo that appeared in the Star Tribune. It was of well-known artist David Adickes putting the finishing touches on the Barack Obama sculpture that is to be installed in South Dakota’s President’s Park.
Based on what South Dakota offers visitors to see, one would think that “Dakota” means “place with large sculptures stuck in the middle of nowhere.” The state features Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial (which really is very cool) and President’s Park.
The latter features 20-foot-tall busts of all 43 U.S. presidents, set along meandering, wooded trails in the Black Hills. The setting is beautiful, and the people running the place have done a nice job of teaching us something about our history in an easy-to-digest way. (Note: You will feel like you’re being watched.)
A nice way to extend your visit is to buy a Park and Peddle Pass, which gives you access to President’s Park, as well as the George S. Mickelson Trail, which takes you from Lead or Deadwood straight into the park. Whether you rent a bike, or hike, the pass includes a return trip from either of those towns.
Lead (pronounced “leed”), South Dakota, is a good base for visiting the various local attractions. It’s not quite as overrun as Deadwood, yet it still has that Wild West feel to it. Places to stay are a bit rough-and-tumble, but the Spearfish Canyon Lodge stands above the rest, especially for a fly fisherman like me.
Founded in 1876 by the Homestake Mining Company after the discovery of nearby gold, Lead led a raucous existence for many years. You can learn more by visiting the Black Hills Mining Museum, where you also can pan for gold (proprietors guarantee you’ll go home with gold).
In a classic “lemonade from lemons” story, when the Homestake Mine—the deepest gold mine in the Western Hemisphere—closed in 2002, the locals were desperate to find a replacement tenant. They pursued the National Science Foundation, which selected the Homestake Mine for its Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory. No work has begun, as the mine is flooded; but if built, the lab will allow experts to study exotic things like neutrinos and dark matter. Go figure.
Speaking of the bizarro . . . For a distraction from learning about our presidential past and weird particles, visit the nearby Roo Ranch, which is home year-round to six different species of kangaroo, wallaroo and wallaby. Get your picture taken with a ’roo or joey, and maybe you can fool your friends into thinking that your trip to the Black Hills got scuttled and you ended up in Alice Springs. It’s not clear to me why the owners started Roo Ranch, other than they visited Australia and thought the animals were strange and interesting and would make a good attraction.
So, if you’re planning a road trip to the 69th Annual Sturgis Rally this summer, take a short side trip to visit President’s Park. You’ll be a little creeped out, but better informed about our history.
(By the way, I hope in my lifetime that we can make the headline for this week’s post obsolete—i.e. I hope we can eliminate the assumption that the president must be a man!)
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