Talk Morgan Forums Thread Like Summary - South Dakota and Wyoming

I just returned from a week in South Dakota (Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Deadwood,the Needle-more about this) and Wyoming (Johnson County where the infamous Range Wars occurred). The roads there are amazing. In the Dakotas, rock outcroppings and channels dynamited to make passage, including a drive called the Needle (photo below) with extremely narrow passages through the twists in the Black Hills.Canyon carving in the extreme. Wyoming is more wide open, high speed big sweepers and larger scale mountain winders.
Threading the Needle: WhatsApp Image 2025-08-16 at 17.05.13 by William Hart, on Flickr

There were rentals of bikes (Sturgis- Harley heavy metal had just finished when we arrived, but an American hot road show and auction in Deadwood was picking up as we left a week later) and Polaris 3 wheelers (but automatic and loud). . If you were a fan of the TV series Deadwood, prepare to be disappointed by the actuality: what saved Deadwood was casino gambling, which also made it a horrible, tacky experience- every place had a casino filled with electronic slot machines (you don't even have to pull a one armed bandit- you push a button, it's like an advanced pinball machine meets gambling- I find that scene depressing, though I did go to the Salon Prive in Monaco years ago, and felt like I was on the set of a James Bond movie).

Great roads, and highly recommended for Americans and visitors to this country-- interestingly , met a number of French in Buffalo, where we stayed at the historic Occidental Hotel. The town was the epicenter of the Johnson County Range Wars, is the County seat, and is a waypoint for the scenic route to Yellowstone (which we did not visit). Food and lodging- varied considerably but worthwhile overall. I'm always glad to come home, but it was a memorable trip of Americana, as well as a motorsports haven.
En Route, you can see: IMG_0978 by William Hart, on Flickr

And when we checked in to the Occidental in Wyoming, there was a bluegrass jam going on in the lobby:
IMG_0981 by William Hart, on Flickr

Have road-tripped in the States since the '70s but the last 20 or so years mostly in the SW (CA, AZ, UT, NM with the odd trip over the border) .... my cousin lived in Palm Springs and a month on the road down there in November really shortened the Scottish Winters! 🙂.

Have a bit of a thing for Total-Eclipses, having viewed a few ......so flew to Denver in 2017 then up through Colorado to Wyoming to wild camp out in the Gros Ventre Wilderness for an uncrowded and unlit view (was outstanding, perfect weather, quite a long totality and the backdrop of the Grand Tetons) ... loved it ... then a month of wandering around the byways .... easy-going people, interesting small towns and great roads (sadly, in a rental jeep rather than the Morgan) ... would recommend it to anyone!

My take on the US ... ignore the politics, avoid cities like the plague, hire a jeep and wander the back-roads and small towns ... don't bother to book, just wing it and grab a motel by phone in whatever small town is next up the road when you fancy a stop ... they all have a motel and diner (or two) .. just get out and do it and don't be precious about it 🙂

K

Glad you had a great time, have driven those routes in the +8 a few times a wonderful experience in the May/June and Sept/Oct time frame not too hot and not too cold. Never had a problem no matter what the politics are at the time, I believe people bring their issues with them and always look for them because they want them to be true as opposed to the issues actually being present.