Jewel
Cave National Monument
This
will
become our "bad weather" day visit if necessary, as most exhibits are
underground.
-
OBJECTIVES
GEOLOGY:
Note the influence of different rock materials and
configurations on the caves' development. There are excellent
exhibits about the reconstruction of the cave's
history.
HYDROLOGY:
You should see plenty of descriptive placards
explaining processes of alternating periods of chemical
deposition and solution erosion.
BIOLOGY:
Note the vegetation and any wildlife, including
any underground at this site.
CULTURAL:
Take notes of exhibits pertaining to human use of
this feature, and of recreational impacts.
-
Special Recommendation: STAY ON THE TRAILS, AND
REMAIN WITH THE GROUP!
This feature is fragile and therefore respect and courtesy are
essential. Most aboveground areas are not open to the
public. Refreshments are available at the visitor
center.
-
See
also the Jewel
Cave
web
site.
-
Jewel
Cave map
-
32.2N/104.4W
elev. = 1336 m
[BACK]
Mount
Rushmore National Monument
The
obligatory stop, at an icon of South Dakota.
-
OBJECTIVES
GEOLOGY:
Note the influence of different rock materials and
configurations on the sculptures' development.
CULTURAL:
Take notes of exhibits pertaining to human use of
this feature, and of recreational impacts. There are excellent
exhibits about the construction
history.
-
Special Recommendation: STAY ON THE TRAILS! Refreshments are available at the visitor
center.
-
See
also the Mount
Rushmore
web
site.
-
Mount
Rushmore
map
-
32.2N/104.4W
elev. = 1336 m
Custer
State Park
This
is our overnight stop.
Wind
Cave National Park
The
cave will
become our "bad weather" day visit if necessary. Other important exhibits are
aboveground. We will be here for two full days.
-
OBJECTIVES
GEOLOGY:
Just like back at Jewel Cave; note the influence of different rock materials and
configurations on the caves' development. There are excellent
exhibits about the reconstruction of the cave's
history.
HYDROLOGY:
You should see plenty of descriptive placards
explaining processes of alternating periods of chemical
deposition and solution erosion.
BIOLOGY:
Note the vegetation and any wildlife, including
any underground at this site.
Aboveground, observe the variety of both grassland and mountain forest
creatures.
CULTURAL:
Take notes of exhibits pertaining to human use and
history of
this Park, and observe the impacts of recreation.
-
Special Recommendation: Showers and refreshments are available at the
campground. Please do not lure or antagonize the wildlife; the
critters get a little too intimate in tents at 3 AM!
-
See
also the Wind
Cave National Park,
the
cave
tours,
and the surface
habitat web
sites.
-
Legion
Lake CG map
-
32.2N/104.4W
elev. = 1336 m
Hot
Springs; The Mammoth Museum
The
Mammoth Museum hosts an annual international conference of Pleistocene
experts. What prompted this locale was the discovery of Ice Age
fossil beds near the springs; apparently creatures back then appreciated
their hot water, too.
BIOLOGY:
Observe the grassland and mountain forest creatures
of the past.
CULTURAL:
Take notes of exhibits pertaining to human
exploitation and
history of
this resource, and the impacts of collecting.
Fossil
Cycads; The National Park That Isn't [Anymore]
Throughout
this trip I will act like a nagging parent; "Don't disturb or remove anything".
This stop should reinforce for you my reasons why.
In
1922 President Warren Harding declared this 320 acre site a national
monument because of its outstanding tree fern fossils. Even before
formal approval, the collectors had removed ALL of its namesake fossils. YOU
get to see nothing; thank your ancestors; I want you to experience that
vacancy. Expectations of further exposure revealing more fossils failed to materialize, and in 1957 (at National Park Service request) this
site came off the Parks list. It remains under state
jurisdiction. Perhaps if erosion proceeds at current pace, there
might be some visible cycad fossils--in several hundred (or
thousand) years.
Meanwhile, this remains a monument to desecration and greed. I want
this "park" in your face before
you collect.
CULTURAL:
Take notes of the landscape and the human
exploitation and
history of
this resource, and the impacts of collecting.
N
C Heywood
[email] maintains this page, last updated 16MAR08. We
monitor our cell phone from 6 to 8 PM CDT each day when in
range.
That number is (715) 459-8181. | 
