Even though I haven't spent all that much time in the Fort Pierre National Grassland in central South Dakota, this is one of my favorites. Part of the reason may be that it will always represent the "great escape" to me. Back when I was teaching at a college notorious for its brutal course loads, I was able to get away for a week during Christmas break with my partner. We headed west (naturally) to recharge our batteries, with a destination of the Sage Creek Wilderness in mind, but took a detour through the Fort Pierre National Grassland.

Am I ever glad we did; it was gorgeous in winter! Even though this grassland is the second most easterly in the country, it nonetheless manages to put on a pretty good shortgrass show. (Sheyenne National Grassland, is the farthest east and hence a tallgrass prairie). As I've mentioned elsewhere in these pages, there is nothing more beautiful to my mind than a huge vista of stunted grasses, unbroken by the trappings of the modern world. The browns, tans and golds extended for miles, interrupted only by the cobalt sky, for snow hadn't arrived yet. In fact, it was amazingly warm for a week concluding December.

Roads and Maps

By the way, some of the roads here are county maintained, and hence are graveled making them easy to negotiate, even with a minivan like mine. But most are so-called "forest roads," being little more than dirt paths not to be trusted in any sort of inclement weather. So you'll know what to expect, you really should get either the DeLorme South Dakota Atlas and Gazetteer or, even better, the official Fort Pierre National Grassland map from the USDA Forest Service. The latter is especially useful, since it differentiates between public and private territories. (Most of the National Grasslands are made up of federal land interspersed with state, private or Indian reservation land — get a map so you don't trespass inadvertently).

This 116,000 acre grassland begins several miles north of Vivian, South Dakota, just off of I-90. State Road 83 runs directly through it to the capital of Pierre (pronounced "Peer", in case you don't know), but obviously you should leave the highway to truly appreciate the prairie. We took Stony Butte Road out of Vivian, spotting a private buffalo herd along the way. Several miles later, we passed the Butte itself (the road has to make a kink around the promontory, providing a spectacular view).

A Bazillion Buteos

The number of large hawks hunting and soaring that day was staggering, more than I've seen in any other grassland. I'm no expert on this family, but am guessing most were either the Rough-Legged or Ferruginous species. Later in the day, when leaving, we saw one quite close up, keeping sentry on a pole near the almost non-existent town of Vivian.

All in all, this was an excellent expedition, and the scenery made a welcome change from lazy and whining students. When I enter a grassland, any grassland, the tensions and stresses of the workaday world just seem to let go and evaporate.

The Dances with Wolves Connection

While reviewing my notes and checking a few things on the Web in advance of writing this, I came across something I wish I had seen before. As I've mentioned elsewhere, Dances With Wolves is my favorite movie of all time. I vaguely remember hearing that portions of it had been filmed near the Fort Pierre National Grassland. As it turns out, a number of the key scenes (Fort Sedgewick and the buffalo hunt, most notably) were in fact filmed very near here at the Triple U Ranch. I should have guessed; the view around Stony Butte is very reminiscent of the backdrop in the film. Anyway, I just found out that the Triple U Ranch (which maintains one of the largest buffalo herds in the country) has rustic camping and hiking available. Time to pack the tent!

Finally, be sure to see the excellent write-up on the Fort Pierre National Grassland in The Sierra Club's Web page. (Check out the links below). This beautiful spread not only discusses the flora and fauna of the area, but also mentions its relevance to Lewis & Clark. Don't miss Sergeant Gass' comment about "...a view as far as the eye can reach..."

• Federal
  • Forest Service Map Orders
  
  
• Municipal
  • City of Pierre
  • Town of Vivian
  
  
• Other Interesting Sites
  • Sierra Club's write-up on Fort Pierre N.G.
  • Backpacker.com: Sage Creek Wilderness
  • Triple U Ranch