Adventure Ride 2018 Black Hills, Sturgis, and the Badlands

One of the first questions you get as a Harley rider is “have you been to Sturgis?”  Sturgis, SD is Mecca for Harley riders.  The annual rally attracts hundreds of thousands of riders to a town that is normally about 7,000 persons.  Even though this trip is on my BMW, and the rally is in August, I wanted to experience the amazing rides of the Black Hills.  And, I was not disappointed.

Not sure they would let a BMW in the parking lot, but business was slow this day.

Intentionally, going in July to miss the crowds, the rides were challenging, beautiful, and not crowded. I chose to camp at the city campground, in Spearfish, SD, about 15 miles from Sturgis.  Within walking distance to town, but secluded and next to a running stream, the site was perfect.

On the way to Badlands National Park, I stopped at Wall Drug.  Began in 1931, by posting signs along the road leading to the new Mt. Rushmore offering free ice water, the pharmacy today occupies an entire city block, and receives over 20,000 customers per day during the summer months.  https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2216

After visiting Badlands National Park on the way to Mt. Rushmore, I encountered the Sinclair dinosaur.  Maybe this is why it’s call the Badlands?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore

Began in 1927 and finished in 1941, this American icon has thousand of visitors daily.

The last stop on my Black Hills tour is acually in Wyoming. Devils Tower is a strange geological formation that has been revered by native Americans for centuries. Made famous more recently by Steven Spielberg in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Close_Encounters_of_the_Third_Kind, it is a little eerie.

Trying to decide where to go from here, so stay tuned......