The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1921-06-13
SOUTH DAKOTA
BEAUTY SPOT
GAME PARK IN HEART OF THE
BLACK HILLS.

. SOujn DdkOla ana the prlue OF the
state-if it is not already-is the
/ game park located in the heart of
+ the Black Hills. Naturally of great
beauty from its forest growth and
wonderful rock formations, its
charming trout creeks of ice-cold
! tumbling waters and grass-covered
parks as nature made them, the
/ hand of man has and is adding inn
/ measurably to the handiwork of the
Creator. Pat as the slogan, See
America first" may be, to our own
people it might well be paraphrased
/ into See South Dakota first" And
if that means anything at all, it
means the Black Hills. But to see
the Hills country without a trip
through the game park is 10 miss its
greatest attraction from scenic
point of view.
The park lies almost wholly in Gus
ter county-eXtending into Penning-
+ ton a short distance 1t is only two
+ hours drive over an almost perfect
/ road from Rapid City. or it can be
+ reached in 80 minutes from Custer
The park was set aside by the state
! as a big game refuge in 1913 and
at that time consisted of 81 400
acres Within the past two years
10000 more acres have been added
on the north and park now consists
/ of over 80, 900 acres. The original
area wa substantially fenced to re-
tain the animals in the park and 10
keep out trespassers and the entire
park will soon be fenced in the same
manner. The last additio nincluded
t Sylvan lake and the hotel property
/ and improvements, beauty spot
not only unsurpassed east of the
/ Rocky mountains but by many tour
lists said to equal any to be found in
any of the great national parks. The
! Sylvan lake tract consisted of about
800 acres and with the hotel prop
erty and improvements was purchas-
ed by the state last year at cost OF
s38,OO0. The park board put CON
tractor and crew of men at work on
the hotel after the season closed last
year and they have been busy ever
since remodeling the building and
adding many conveniences for tour
lists.
The route from Sylvan lake into
the original park has been by the
+ way of Custer, but work was started
by the highway commission last fall
constructing a new road through the
par kto the new Lodge. which road
/ when completed will be as pictures
que and grand as the cost of con-
struction will be high. The road
/ passes through the Needles" and it
was necessary to tunnel under two
/ Of the towering rocks, a piece of
/ road work we'll worth seeing. The
! highway commission has had a gang
/ of engineers and men at work all
winter and spring perfecting what is
1 called the State Forest highway that
starts at Fairburn east of the park
/ and runs through it TO Custer, and
+ the commission has got well started
+ on another road from Hermosa di-
rectly to the park. These roads are
i of the highest type of construction
and surfaced with crushed rock over
which an auto can be handled with
perfect ease at 80 miles per hour. All
bridges are made of reinforced con-
crete, arched tunnels and with Orna-
mental facings and guards. The
drive from Fairburn, 13 miles east
of the park, to the park and through
il to Custer, a distance of about 20
miles, is the prettiest drive in all
South Dakota.
In building these roads the high
way commission drew on the penf-
tentiary at Sioux Falls for about 20
TRUSTEES" the average number
through the winter past being Is.
They received 81 day, board, and
other necessary expenses and put
in full days work all winter, break
fasting before daylight out in the
frosty air as soon as it was light
enough to see and quitting only
when darkness overlook them.
One, if not the most, attractive
feature in the park will be the new
lodge when completed, which it is
thought will be about the first of
July. Work started on it early last
fall and was carried on the greater
part of the winter. While purport-
ing to be a game keepers lodge, it
was designed as a show place-and
il will be all that-and a resort for
tourists who may wish to tarry
few days amid such pretty surround
ings and with modern hotel conven-
fences. The lodge is designed after
the Swiss chalet order, is built upon
side hill among the pines and is
really beautiful A more detailed
description of it will have to await
more space than here permitted, as
will also the many other attractions
of the park, the animals, the trout
streams and the routes for tourists
to reach it and so on.