Day 29 (continued): Custer State Park (Eric)

Day 29 (continued): We arrived in Custer State Park with the intention of doing the Wildlife Loop Road to get to our cabin at Blue Bell Lodge located on the southwest side of the park. 

We were hoping to see some animals on the way, and we weren’t disappointed. As soon as we neared the loop, we spotted a mountain bluebird. The picture won’t do this particular bird justice, but it will at least give an idea of what he looks like. 

On the loop itself, we had two interesting experiences. The first was running into a herd of at least a hundred buffalo. There are approximately 1,500 total buffalo in the park. It was quite the sight as it was the largest herd we had seen so far. It was a mix of cows and calves, and a few bulls. The bulls only join the herds during mating season. While the herd was at a good distance, it was a cool sight to see as we had just arrived in the park. 

The second encounter involved another of the park’s inhabitants, a herd of burros. These guys were originally brought to the park by some enterprising businessman over a century ago with the intent of using them as pack animals to get to some of the more remote parts of the park. Unfortunately, the business failed, and the burros were released into the wild. The herd now wanders the park and begs for food from passing tourists. It was a fun experience to be among the herd including a few babies as they were a little bit pushy when it came to trying to get food from visitors. We happened to have carrots in our cooler, and one in particular (the brown one in the first picture) kept nudging me and other burros to try to keep the food all to himself. 

The babies didn’t want anything to do with carrots as they were still feeding on mother’s milk…








This little guy was adorable…

After leaving the burros, we completed the loop and made it to Blue Bell Lodge and checked into our charming, little cabin in the woods, our home for the next four nights. Jenny does an awesome job of finding cool places to stay, and this cabin was no exception. The lodge also has a restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The breakfast was awesome, but the lunch and dinner food was only okay, so we ventured out to other places for some meals. 

Cute bunny outside our cabin…

Cute Bitey inside our cabin…

Overall, our stay in Custer State Park was a remarkable experience, so I will be blogging about each day separately. This is another place where we wished we had spent more time. 

And last but definitely not least, June 27th marks 16 years of adventures with my best friend and traveling companion, Jenny, whom I love with all my heart. While this trip has been lengthy and stressful at times, there’s no one else that I would rather share these experiences with. 

Many more adventures to come…