PART ONE

Our trip to the Black Hills in South Dakota was definitely a spontaneous one as we were supposed to be on a family trip to South Carolina that unfortunately got canceled. We picked the Black Hills because I’ve been trying to be better about finding beauty and traveling to places that are closer to home, instead of traveling so far across the country. I had heard that the Black Hills is beautiful and have seen some areas that I knew I wanted to visit, but seeing it in person it was so much more beautiful than I expected.

We stayed in Custer, South Dakota and hiked and explored around Custer State Park. We would’ve loved to camp in the state park, but since the trip was so short notice and it being memorial day weekend all the campgrounds were full. We did some awesome hikes around Custer State Park, my favorites being Cathedral Spires and Little Devils Tower. I thought Little Devils Tower had the most amazing view of the hikes we did, because the trail brings you to an elevated vantage point with a great bird’s eye view. The trail requires a little bit of climbing! Needles Highway, which is a road through the park is also a must! We also spent some time around Sylvan Lake which is absolutely gorgeous and did a hike by the lake called Sunday Gulch. Sunday Gulch was unique because you descend down into a gulch and there’s railings along the hike to hold onto as you cross rocks and water.

When we weren’t hiking, we spent our time roaming around the towns of Custer and Hill City. These towns have so much charm and cool little shops to explore. Rock shops are very popular to the area and a must see! Hill City has a bunch of breweries and wineries and they are set up together in sets, so there’s a brewery and winery together at each one. I would love to someday come back to this area to go four wheeling as that’s a huge attraction to the area and the trails looked so beautiful and fun.

 

PART TWO

I visited the Black Hills for the first time last year and loved it so much that I knew immediately I would be back again. While I was there with my husband Brady last May, I saw lots of people camping with their dogs and vowed to make that happen as soon as possible. Almost exactly one year later, my dog Nika and I made it back there!

Since our last trip was last minute, we were unable to stay at any campground in the state park. I knew this time around I for sure wanted to camp in the state park, and chose Blue Bell Campground because of its privacy and beauty. The campground is surrounded by ponderosa pines and is deep in the park away from main attractions. Nika and I camped there for two nights and did the same activities as last year including Cathedral Spires, Little Devil’s Tower, and Sylvan Lake hikes. 

We visited Lake Pactola one day and although we were suppose to stay at Bluebell Campground a third night,  I spontaneously decided that we should camp at the lake for our last night. The lake was absolutely gorgeous to say the least, so much so that it swayed me to spend the night there. Between hikes, campfires, hammock lounging, and reading in our rooftop tent, this trip was everything that I hoped for! 

PART THREE

It’s no joke we are huge fans of the Black Hills! We recently had our beautiful daughter Henley, and we decided to bring her on her first hiking trip at six months old. It was actually Brady‘s idea to do a summer trip with her and I couldn’t be more excited he suggested it! 

We decided not to camp because we didn’t know how that would go with a brand new baby, so we rented a tiny cabin instead, and it was absolutely adorable and perfect for the three of us 🙂

We went into the park with Henley and did a few short hikes, one around Sylvan Lake, and the other to Cathedral Spires. We kept her in the stroller around Sylvan Lake, but for the Cathedral Spires trail I got to wear her in a baby wrap which has been a dream of mine since she was born. She absolutely loved the hike and was smiles the whole way in! 

We did have to time things around her nap schedule, but overall things went great. When Henley would sleep, mom and dad got to enjoy some wine on the deck! Our good friends Katy and Cory live in the area and came to visit with their kids and we were able to have a fire together and roast some marshmallows. 

The trip was an absolute joy bringing Henley to see one of our favorite areas and although she may not remember it, we most certainly will, and we will show her pictures someday!

PART FOUR

It’s no secret that we love the Black Hills and with our friends having recently moved there, we find ourselves visiting often. We booked a tiny A-frame cabin in Custer right next to the cabin we had stayed at this summer with Henley when she was six months old. It was wild being in the exact same area now that she’s one and reflecting on how last time she wasn’t even crawling and this time she’s almost walking! 

I wanted to visit the Custer and Spearfish area in the winter time to experience a the landscape covered in snow, but as luck would have it, this is one of the years where the Dakotas have received very little snow. To my surprise and excitement, we woke up with a fresh blanket of snow!! We brought Henley to Sylvan Lake and she fell asleep in the car on the way there, so Brady graciously let me run around the snow covered lake exploring while she napped in the car. When she woke up, we popped outside to take a few photos of her in the snow in her adorable snowsuit. 

Next, Katy and I headed to the Spearfish Canyon to do a few hikes while the boys watched the kids! We hiked to some caves covered in icicles using our ice cleats to get up the hill. We also stopped at a canyon covered in a wall of ice and people were ice climbing the frozen waterfall. After hiking, we headed to Sawyer brewing in Spearfish to meet the boys and grab Henley and headed back to the cabin for a night in drinking beer and catching up. 

These trips mean so much to me, and even though Henley might not remember them, I most certainly will and I can’t wait to show her all the memories we created with her when she was just a baby! 🙂