Hot Springs is definitely a very small town who’s claim to fame is the natural spring that runs through the town. The water is very warm and then allow you to swim in the river (creek) where people have dammed up spots so the water is waist deep. The kids love it. The town also boast of Evans Plunge Mineral Spa where they use the spring water to fill their pools and water slide. So it is a kind of playground for kids but adults with aches also use it. It costs just like an amusement park so we passed but the parking lot is full everyday.
Saturday we took a stroll town along the river. They have a spring that puts water right out of a rock where the people are lined up getting the water in jugs.
Kidney Springs
That’s the name of it and they built a gazebo around it. The locals come and fill many jugs and use the water for everything. It comes out of the wall warm so we passed on getting any. A little further down the path is a water fall
Small but a waterfall none the less
We didn’t get any details about this but it was definitely an attraction as everyone that walked by had to touch it and get a photo, (Us too!)
After spending time checking out town we took a drive to Custer State Park which is just north of us and very close to Mt. Rushmore. I think most people just do a drive thru on their way to Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monument but this park is huge and amazing! There are four scenic drives with four different areas to camp and play. We took the wildlife drive first and saw lots of Buffalo. They like their buffalo in these parts.
There are lots of babies this time of year and they are really cute, very shy. We also saw a big herd of burros which were all over the road and people were out of their cars petting them. I was amazed at the parents letting small children walk right up to them alone. My experience is they can be mean.
Really cute and they mostly were ignoring the crowds. For some reason one of the males got upset and started snorting and as he got louder the burros started scattering. That was enough for me. I was back in the car and just waiting for someone to get hurt.
Prairie Dogs, how cute is that? They were everywhere, just hanging out above their houses and watching the cars drive by!
Custer State Park may be my most favorite place. There are so many different facets of this park. It has wildlife on Prairies, Lakes that are just beautiful. My most favorite is the Spires. Needles Highway travels right through the middle of the spires. We even took a very nice hike through them.
This one is an eye of the needle
Driving through the Spires!
Traffic Jam at the tunnel through the Spires
Motorcycles love the Needles highway; weekends are very crowded. We visited 3 times, I just love this landscape.
At the end of the Needles Highway is Sylvan Lake. What a beautiful lake with amazing vistas all around it. The water was a little cold so I didn’t really swim but I did wade.
We also have been playing a lot of tennis in the mornings before going out exploring. This is definitely a great stop on our way to Colorado.