Motorcycles fill the streets at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is a wild and crazy event.
Motorcycle riding is extremely popular throughout the Black Hills, and the first Friday in August each year marks the beginning of the famous annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally that brings together 500,000 or more motorcycle enthusiasts. (This year's edition of the rally will be August 7-16, 2020). A virtual party on wheels, the entire town of Sturgis is transformed into a sea of sparkling chrome, loud engines, black leather vests, and colorful bandanas, all rounded out with plentiful whiskey, beer, and raucous good times. My husband, Mark, got sidetracked by the Bikini Bike Wash while I gaped in wonder at the endless flow of motorcycles filling all the streets. Locals rent out space on their lawns for visitors to tent camp for the week, and the parade of bikes goes up and down the town's streets from dawn until way past dusk each day. Every day of the rally groups of bikes spend a few hours riding the beautiful country roads that wander through the Black Hills. One of the most popular routes goes through Spearfish Canyon south of the town of Spearfish. We drove this road in our truck—surrounded by motorcycles, of course—and enjoyed a brief break at Spearfish Falls where we stopped for a picnic lunch and a stroll on the hiking trail down to the waterfall. A tall cascade of water poured over the side of a cliff and
spread out into a dozen rivulets at its base. Beautiful! Another great drive in the area passes the famous presidential sculptures of Mount Rushmore. Although we didn't go into the park to see them up close, we enjoyed the changing perspective on these famous heads as we drove past. Most images of these fantastic sculptures of presidents Washington, Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Lincoln view their faces from the front, but we got a kick out of seeing these massive stone carvings from distant side views as well. Nearby, work on the gargantuan full-body sculpture of the Lakota Indian Crazy Horse is ongoing and has been for decades. Only the head has been completed so far, but a smaller template of the planned finished product reveals that it will one day be an absolutely magnificent sculpture of Crazy Horse astride his galloping horse pointing at the Black Hills. There is much more to see in the Black Hills, so we saved some gems for our next visit, and there are even more treasures nearby. Jewel Cave National Monument and Wind Cave National Park lie just to the west and southeast of Custer respectively. The town of Wall (home to famous Wall Drug) is a hundred miles to the east and is a natural stop to make on the way to colorful Badlands National Park. Even though Wall Drug is a classic tourist
SOUTH DAKOTA'S BLACK HILLS
COAST TO COAST SUMMER MAGAZINE 2020
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