South Dakota’s Bear Country U.S.A.

How many times have you had a bear cross in front of your car? Sure, it happens in the wild from time to time as backwoods explorers drive through the mountains or other isolated regions. Even during our Alaska cruise last year there were some accounts of people in our group seeing wild bears during their excursions and we certainly saw bears along the shoreline from our cruise ship – of course my experiences were nothing like SoCalGal’s brown bear sightings.

If that video leaves you wanting more and Alaska isn’t on your itinerary, but the Black Hills of South Dakota are you can have a little bear time of your own.

This past summer my family made our way through South Dakota for the first time to see Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial. The landscape was scenic and the list of attractions in the region was plentiful, but there was one location that especially caught our attention: Bear Country USA  which is located just eight miles south of Rapid City.

After seeing the signs we thought we’d stop by for some information before checking into our hotel. As my husband gathered the details from the gate attendant the kids and I looked on the other side of the entrance gate and saw a massive elk. The kids’s eyes lit up and we knew we had to return.

The idea behind Bear Country is to allow visitors to have an up close look at animals in their natural setting which is spread across 250 acres. Nearly all of the wildlife are born at Bear Country and are hand-raised by the park staff. Bear Country also boasts being home of the largest collection of privately owned black bears in the world. Despite the name, my family discovered there is much more than bears.

The winding road – be sure to drive very slowly – crosses through seven sections which are home to Elk, Reindeer, Arctic Wolf,  Bighorn Sheep, Dall Sheep, Rocky Mountain Goat and North American Black Bear.

What my family loved most was that there’s no glass or bars to peer through and some animals are literally feet away from the car. Surprisingly, we didn’t even need our camera’s zoom lens. We sat in the bear section for quite a while. There were dozens of active bears. A few were walking around our car. The kids giggled in delight!

Adorable doesn’t even begin to describe the cute and cuddly section of Babyland. After the car tour and fabulous animal sightings the road leads to the main facility which has a snack bar, restrooms, a massive gift shop and Babyland which consists of a short walking loop. It’s here the newest additions are raised until they’re ready to join the adult members of the families. The highlight was no doubt watching the cubs rumble and tumble with each other and use their siblings as chew toys.

The Bear Country USA entry free was $55 for the car (otherwise $16 for adults and $10 for children age 5-12). We thought the price to was a little steep at first, but afterwards we decided the experience was worth it.