There is a chain of spectacularly beautiful grasslands hovering around where Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota kiss. In North Dakota you'll find the remarkable and gigantic Little Missouri, of which I have more to say about elsewhere. Dropping southwest takes you to the tiny Cedar River National Grassland, which I haven't visited yet. Continuing on into South Dakota you'll find the Grand River National Grassland which spills over into the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Here are the old grounds of the great leader Sitting Bull, and it's hard not to be transported back 150 years while absorbing the panorama.

An End of Summer Getaway

I made a solo journey to Grand River National Grassland in August of 2001. My companion was unable to get away that week, due to evaporated vacation days, but I was determined to have a last fling before the new school year began. I packed the minivan to the hilt and set out.

My route first took me due west from Minnesota, to that wonderful spot on the Missouri River: Chamberlain. This really is an extremely attractive town on the rolling banks of what is perhaps my favorite waterway in America. As usual, I stopped to enjoy the sights from the Lewis & Clark Information Center high up on the ridge overlooking the valley. The heat was really starting to rise now, so I spent the night at a neat motel in Chamberlain, the Bel Aire. This is a perfect name for a motel in the Great Plains, for in fact "good air" is what one craves most in August.

Next morning I pressed on westward. Not only was the heat beginning to ascend again, but now brittle noise crackled everywhere and pummeled the ear mercilessly. Unknowingly, I had set out a couple days before the Sturgis motorcycle rally was to begin. If I didn't know it then, I sure knew it now. The decibel level on I-90 was astronomical as a nonstop barrage of muffler-less bikes zoomed by me. All I've got to say is, I hope these enthusiasts appreciate what an alert and observant driver I am. It seemed like I was constantly having to cut extra slack for the bikers as knots of them twined unthinkingly inside and out of traffic.

Afternoon found me crossing the Buffalo Gap National Grassland, winding up in Badlands National Park. By this time, the temperature had shot to 104 degrees, but not to worry — I had reservations for two nights at those wonderful little air conditioned cabins of the Cedar Pass Lodge smack-dab in the middle of the Badlands.

A Room With a View

The cabins in Badlands National Park are concessionaire run by the Oglala Sioux, and are one of the best bargains in the West. They are beautifully decorated and well maintained, and the hosts are extremely nice. Each is air conditioned, a necessity out this-away, and sports a shower. Best of all, a sitting deck with chairs aims directly at some of the most beautiful badlands you'll ever see. I spent many, many hours staring at the bluffs, sipping a cocktail and listening to the crazy chatter of the Western kingbirds.

After a couple days here, I turned northward and headed to my destination, Grand River National Grassland. As I mentioned previously, this is only several miles from the North Dakota border, so it was a fair haul. But the time zipped by, because the scenery along the way is pure prairie, one of the few calming things in our day and age. You drive for many, many miles without ever seeing another car on the road, a house along the way or filling stations (so plan well ahead!). But in a way, you do have lots of other company; the hawks were in continual surveillance mode, especially near the Cheyenne River valley.

Cool, Cool Air

Because of the wild heat, a tent would be out of the question — camping is never any fun in the summer. But again, a bit of planning had solved this problem for I had reservations at a cute little air-conditioned cabin here. You see, embedded in the middle of the Grand River National Grassland is Shadehill Recreation Area, part of the South Dakota State Park system. A pair of beautifully laid out cabins overlook the reservoir and round out the campground. As I've mentioned before, South Dakota really knows how to put on a show and their State Park system is the best in the nation I think. By the way, I was easily able to make my reservation online and print out a confirmation before ever leaving home.

After a rustic supper prepared on the charcoal grill and a good night's sleep, I was all set for some exploration. My first stop was the District Ranger's Station in Lemmon. I picked up a few free brochures and had a really nice chat with the interim Superintendent there. I was curious what a typical day for him would be like, and he filled me in on some of his duties and responsibilities. I wasn't surprised to learn that "meetings" formed a large part of his gig (and guessed they were far from the most pleasurable part). Tell me about it — I've been in academia for most of my life...

The Grand River Scenic Route

Among the brochures I picked up there was a guide to the Grand River Scenic Route. As you may have noticed from my journal entries elsewhere, a number of the National Grasslands have created auto tours into their outback. I'm really glad they do this, for two main reasons. First, a driving tour helps a newcomer get a feel for the area, and puts a number of aspects into geographical perspective. And then, it is always the case that each grassland has many interesting features that would literally be hidden to the casual eye, things like prairie dog towns in the middle of nowhere, or the ruins of almost forgotten homesteaders' cabins or a refreshing spring vital to travellers on a stage coach run.

After leaving Lemmon, I embarked on the Scenic Route, and spent most of the day exploring. A few places were inaccessible, due to a rather surprising two-inch rainfall a couple days before; the roads vanished in a quagmire, and ruts showed the difficulties even 4-wheel drive vehicles had encountered. I really wanted to see the Hugh Glass memorial, but the greasy roads leading to it made this impossible for an overloaded minivan like mine. Glass was an explorer from the 1820's who was savagely mauled by a grizzly bear here, and yet was able to drag himself nearly 200 miles to Chamberlain for help. It's astounding to think how tough these fur trappers were, and even more astounding to recall just how different animal populations and distributions were back then. A number of creatures we commonly think of as mountain critters in fact were very much at home in the grasslands this far east.

One spot I really enjoyed was Merriman Grove. This is a picnic area down in a low area, and near water, so it really does support an attractive grove of trees. Remote and out of view of any roads, I felt very secluded here. The only other person I saw was a hip-wading fisherman way off in the distance. And it's funny the little things you remember about a trip. In this case, I recall nipping into the kybo only to find the air in it completely packed with mosquitoes. I mean, I'm from Minnesota and am used to the buzzing hell of Lake Itasca bogs, but that's nothing compared to what this privy contained! Every cubic inch of atmosphere was dense with hundreds of the stinging insects; I conducted my business with alacrity. Afterwards, like Hugh Glass, I almost felt I would need to drag myself to Chamberlain.

I headed back to higher ground and continued along the Scenic Drive. This took me to a beautiful vista in what appeared to be prime ranching land although I never saw any cattle. When I stepped out of the car to reconnoiter, the fragrance of sage nearly knocked me over; of all the grasslands I've been to, this is the only one where the sense of smell came into play so heavily.

The snapshot above may give you a feel for the visual beauty of the mixed grass prairie here, but until the Internet figures out a way to transmit scents, you're only getting a fraction of the story.

Mapping out an Expedition

As usual, you're going to need a decent set of maps to get around out here. The DeLorme South Dakota Atlas and Gazetteer is a good start.

But really, you simply have to have the more detailed official Grassland map from the U.S. Forest Service. (See the picture to the right). I like to plan ahead, and so picked up my copy well in advance from the National Grasslands Visitor Center in Wall, South Dakota. But it's also available by mail; there's a link to a federal map ordering service below.

This is one of the most gigantic maps in my collection, at almost a yard long on each side. The map proper is drawn in the usual mile-square arrangement and in the usual clean, Forest Service style. On the other side, however, is a fantastic collage of photographs and descriptions of the historic and natural wonders to be found in the Grand River National Grassland — all of this, mounted against a beautiful backdrop of Indian geometric designs. Our federal government falls short of what we expect of it from time to time, but here is one area in which it really excels. The maps and other publications from the U.S. Forest Service (which oversees the National Grasslands) are truly works of art and represent taxpayer dollars well spent, in my opinion.

And so my little expedition to the Grand River National Grassland came to an end, and it was time to head back home to yet another school year. But a return trip is in the offing, for I never did find the hillside sign formed of rocks, left by Custer's men as they marched onward to the Black Hills. This was the notorious, lucre driven mission to discover more about the yellow rocks recently discovered in the Hills...

• Federal
  • Forest Service Map Orders
  
  
• State
  • Shadehill Recreation Area
  • South Dakota State Parks Homepage
  
  
• Municipal
  • City of Chamberlain
  • Town of Lemmon
  
  
• Other Interesting Sites
  • Bel Air Motel
  • Prairie Odyssey of Hugh Glass
  • The Standing Rock Sioux Nation