There are many diverse attractions that make South Dakota a vacation destination. It wasn't until I started planning a stop there as part of our cross-country trip that I realized how diverse it was. Within a days drive apart, there are two National Parks. One, Badlands NP, has some of the most rugged landscapes that I have visited, while the other, Wind Caves NP, is contained below the ground. From a historic perspective, the gamut runs from granite memorials (Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse) to the rolling hills of Custer State Park (shown in this photo). This area is definitely a hidden gem that I plan to revisit soon.
When I composed the scene above, I wanted to capture the beauty of this park nestled in the Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota. It wasn't until I began editing the photo that I noticed the lone buffalo in the upper right portion of the frame. I wanted to leave him in (lone buffalo are almost always males) to give some scale to the scene.