Buffalo are Dangerous - Do Not Approach

by Jeff Deeney

That's what the signs said. But if you have 1000 buffalo blocking the
highway, you need to get thru, and they just stand there looking at you
unless you move closer, how are you supposed get by them? The only
other option would have been to turn around. After passing the first
few hundred head, I started to wish that I had.

Ever since I first visited the Black Hills of South Dakota 20 years ago,
I've wanted to ride there. For the last four years I've been taking my
kids here over the 4th of July weekend for a mini-vacation. Last year
I swore that I wasn't going to come back without a motorcycle. With
the XR650L in the van, the kids and I headed for Hot Springs, SD on a
Friday morning.

After a day in the hot springs, I prepped for a sunrise ride the next
day. I planned to be back before my teenager got out of bed. I
figured that wouldn't be too much of a challenge.

A few bites of stale donut and a couple sips of water got me out the
door just as the sun was rising at 5:15am. After a few miles of paved
highway, I took dirt roads across the eastern edge of Wind Cave National
Park. The terrain was mostly open prairie so that it was easy to see
the deer from a good distance. There were a lot of deer, and a few
antelope. I didn't want them to play with me, so I slowed things down a
couple of notches every time I came across bushes and trees where they
might be hiding.

The buffalo herds first showed up in Custer State Park. They were fun
to look at a quarter of a mile away out on the prairie. Just as I came
to highway 16, I came across a big male ambling along next to the
highway. I toyed with pulling out my camera, but I figured he'd be
gone by the time I dug it out of my pack.

After a couple of miles of highway, I turned off onto the Iron Mountain
road. This is the road leading to Mt. Rushmore. In addition to
countless 15mph switchbacks and loop-d-loops, the road has several
narrow rock tunnels that are always aligned with views of Mt. Rushmore.
I've always dreamed of riding this road. At 6am, it was bound to be
completely clear of car traffic. I hadn't counted on the 4-legged kind
of traffic.

About a mile into the Iron Mountain road I come across 20-30 buffalo in
the highway. At this point I had a guardrail to the left, and a steep
bank to the right. While watching the buffalo in front of me, I was
hoping that none of them were going to fall on me from above.

As soon as I rounded the corner I was faced with an endless sea of
buffalo. Just when I'd get thru one bunch and round the corner, there
were even more than before. Most of the herd was mothers with calves.
The big males seemed to hang off to the side. The only way to get
them to move out of the road was for me to move. If I stopped, they
stopped. Beeping the horn or revving the engine had no effect.

These animals are absolutely huge. Some of the males had to have
weighed well over a ton. The tops of their shoulders were taller than I
was. Even in my Aerostich riding suit and helmet, I felt naked among
them. The adrenaline really started flowing when one of the males made a
brief charge at me. A quick burst of throttle shot me forward enough
that he gave up the chase.

It must have taken close to a half mile before I was out of the herd.
Soon afterwards I came across a group of wild burros in the road.
Compared to the buffalo, they were positively cuddly. I could have
reached out and petted some of the younger ones as they stood calmly on
the centerline of the road as I rode by.

I stopped about a mile down the road to remove the baffle from my
exhaust. I normally don't like to ride with loud pipes, but I figured
that more noise would serve as additional warning to any wildlife.

The rest of the ride to Mt. Rushmore was uneventful. The paved 15mph
switchbacks were a lot of fun. Leaned over in second gear, I could feel
my rear knobby walking out as I rolled on the throttle. I was really
glad I had used the dremel to remove the "Not for Highway Use" from the
sidewalls. I am certain that otherwise they would have slipped madly,
tossed off huge chunks of tread, and burst into flames.

The traffic control was already in place at Mt. Rushmore when I rode by.
Soon I was started down the Needles Highway, named for the spectacular
granite formations jutting up through the pine forests. The temperature
dropped as I climbed through the highest elevations in South Dakota.

I took one of the few open 4x4 side roads up to an old gold mine for a
frappacino and power bar break. I picked up some large pieces of mica
for the kids, and discovered a natural cave disappearing into the
mountain below me.

Refreshed and caffeinated, I continued back toward Hot Springs, taking
as many unpaved roads as possible. I explored a couple of USFS side
roads, but they invariably ended in a locked gate when I reached the
edge of Custer State Park.

I got back to camp three and a half hours after I had started. Sure
enough, my daughter was still asleep. After dancing with the buffalo,
the normal tourist activities we had planned for the day were both
mundane, and welcome. To the best of my knowledge, nobody had been
trampled at the mastodon dig in at least 20,000 years, and I wasn't
likely to get gored while playing miniature golf or having lunch at
Pizza Hut.