The Prairie Triplets: The Great Buffalo Round Up

When we started planning our trip to South Dakota we decided that we would take a little more time and try to catch a few more sights. We decided we would spend one night in Jackson, WY and the next night in the beautiful Black Hills area. The Black Hills is one of my favorite areas of the country and I couldn’t wait to get back there again.

One of my favorite places to stay is the Sylvan Lake Lodge. The Lodge was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and the entire area is truly amazing. When I tried to make a reservation I found that the lodge was sold out. I thought this was a little odd since I was trying to make a reservation for a Sunday night in the off-season. So I tried to make a reservation at ANY of the Lodges within the Custer State Park area. They were all sold out too! So I called one of the lodges and discovered that the weekend we would be traveling through was the same weekend as the Custer State Park Buffalo Round Up.

Being a native South Dakotan I had of course heard about the Round Up but I didn’t exactly know too much about it. After a little researching I quickly decided this annual event in it’s 43rd year was something that we should NOT miss. With a little patience I was able to finally reserve a cabin at the State Game Lodge. The kiddos loved our cute little cabin and the little mountain stream running nearby.

The actual Round Up was on Monday Morning. We were up bright and early since the roads within the park would be closed. We waited with about 10,000 other people for a couple of hours before the buffalo arrived. Fortunately there were pancakes and sausage available. It was a little difficult for the kids to wait but they did really well. They had fun entertaining themselves with a fun game of “Which hand is the Money in”. Trying to relieve their boredom I had given a quarter to Leona (then of course the boys wanted one). Pretty soon they were busy playing with each other and asking, “which hand is the money in?” Poor Sis gets too impatient and excited and immediately tells you which hand it is though!

There were two viewing areas with people on two hills. The Buffalo were herded by cowboys on horses and park staff in vehicles in the valley between the two hills. They brought almost 1400 Buffalo down into the valley. It was an amazing sight to see! The cowboys, the dust, the thundering wild herd. It was really spectacular. Some of the Buffalo had lost their baby calves so they would be frantically trying to run in the opposite direction once they were corralled in their pens. Some very fast moving cowboys and trucks would try to stop them.

We would have had the opportunity to watch the park staff work the buffalo in their corrals in the afternoon. Here they will get shots, brands and have some tests. They will also sort out some of the buffalo and sell them off to people who are building their own buffalo herds. The sale proceeds help with park operations which last year brought in over $240,000! But we didn’t stay to watch any of this. By then the kids were pretty much over their love of all things buffalo. Which was fine because we had one more stop before we drove the rest of the way to Sioux Falls.

Some additional fun Buffalo facts:

*They are the Largest Land mammals in North America often standing 6 feet at their shoulders and weighing over 2000 pounds!
*They have been clocked at speeds of over 50 MPH!
*They face straight into a storm compared with domestic livestock which face away
*A Bull Calf is worth over $600 and a 2 yr old bull is worth over $2000!
*Buffalo are dangerous and unpredictable. They should NOT be approached.
*They have free range in Custer State Park and can often catch you off guard. Especially their rear-ends, when it is dark, on curvy roads. Trust me. Inches away is NOT the best way to view buffalo! But sharp piercing screeching is the best way to wake up sleeping children and alert your husband to your close proximity of these beautiful wild creatures.

Our pretty stream outside the cabin.