Black Hills of South Dakata 2017

Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a massive sculpture carved into Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. Completed in 1941 under the direction of Gutzon Borglum and his son Lincoln, the sculpture's roughly 60-ft.-high granite faces depict U.S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. The site also features a museum with interactive exhibits.

Wildlife Loop Road travels through 18 miles of open grasslands and pine-speckled hills that much of the park’s wildlife calls home. Depending on the day, you might see bison, pronghorn, whitetail and mule deer, elk, coyotes, burros, prairie dogs, eagles, hawks, and a variety of other birds. A medley of colorful wildflowers and prairie grasses surround the road, making for a picturesque drive. https://custerresorts.com/activities/scenic-drives/wildlife-loop/

The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing into the distance.
The monument is being carved out of Thunderhead Mountain, on land considered sacred by some Oglala Lakota, between Custer and Hill City, roughly 17 miles (27 km) from Mount Rushmore. The sculpture's final dimensions are planned to be 641 feet (195 m) wide and 563 feet (172 m) high. The head of Crazy Horse will be 87 feet (27 m) high; by comparison, the heads of the four U.S. Presidents at Mount Rushmore are each 60 feet (18 m) high. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CrazyHorseMemorial

Badlands National Park is in South Dakota. Its dramatic landscapes span layered rock formations, steep canyons and towering spires. These striking geologic deposits contain one of the world’s richest fossil beds. Ancient mammals such as the rhino, horse, and saber-toothed cat once roamed here. The park’s 244,000 acres protect an expanse of mixed-grass prairie where bison, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, and black-footed ferrets live today.
https://www.nps.gov/badl/index.htm

Jewel Cave National Monument contains Jewel Cave, currently the third longest cave in the world, with 181.89 miles of mapped passageways. It is located approximately 13 mi west of the town of Custer in South Dakota's Black Hills. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JewelCave_NationalMonument

An astounding geologic feature that protrudes out of the rolling prairie surrounding the Black Hills, this site is considered sacred to the Northern Plains Indians and other tribes. Hundreds of parallel cracks make it one of the finest traditional crack climbing areas in North America. Devils Tower entices us to explore and define our place in the natural and cultural world. https://www.nps.gov/deto/index.htm

Hotel located just outside Keystone South Dakota

The Mammoth Site is a museum and paleontological site near Hot Springs, South Dakota. It contains the remains of fauna and flora preserved by entrapment in a karst sinkhole during the Pleistocene era. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth_Site,HotSprings

The Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, Inc. (BHI) is a private corporation specializing in the excavation and preparation of fossils, as well as the sale of both original fossil material and museum-quality replicas. Founded in 1974 and based in Hill City, South Dakota, the company is most famous for excavating and selling replicas of some of the most complete specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex, including "Sue" and "Stan."[1] In 1992, the remains of "Sue" were seized from the BHI by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and were auctioned off five years later to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois for US$7.6 million — the highest price ever paid for a fossil. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackHills_Institute_of_GeologicalResearch