Caching in South Dakota - July 8, 2005 Part I

My mom is one of the best caching partners ever! On a trip home from Oregon, she wanted to come back with me. We enjoyed caching and touring the country. This entry details our visit to South Dakota.

Our first stop upon crossing into South Dakota was a natural one
Fifty States Rest by MND Scouters (GCFF2D)

Our primary caching destination for the morning was Spearfish in western South Dakota. While in Spearfish, we tackled a series of 5 caches highlighting various parks. All of these caches were on the west side of the town.

Salem Cache by MND Scouters (GCJHW5)
The cache here was located somewhere on a bridge crossing a small creek. We found it pretty quickly but it was well-hidden from sight.

The Grotto Cache by MND Scouters (GCJHWF)
This cache is located in Ida Henton Park on the Black Hills State University campus. We were lucky to be there at a time where there were few muggles.


Jorgensen Cache by MND Scouters (GCJHWB)
The cache container was hanging open, which made it easy to find. We walked from here to the Evans Cache.

Evans Cache by MND Scouters (GCJHW8)
The park where this cache was located was dedicated to Robert and Rebecca Evans for their major contributions in founding Spearfish and its educational and religious institutions. Rebecca Evans was the first school teacher in Spearfish. Robert Evans settled the first homestead in Spearfish Valley in 1876 at this location.

Brady Cache by MND Scouters (GCJHW3)
The cache at this park was tucked away out of sight near a small creek. The park was the last of the five we visited.

We capped off our visit to Spearfish by visiting The D. C. Booth Historic Fish Hatchery


Hatchery Reservoir by MND Scouters (GCFFE8)
The D. C. Booth Historic Fish Hatchery, established in 1896, is one of the West’s oldest fish hatcheries. Its history includes the introduction of trout into the Black Hills and the first fish management in Yellowstone Park. This is a very busy place with lots of interesting sights to see. One of my favorites was the underground fish observation room. The fish were huge and it was fun to see the ducks diving straight down among them. The cache was a tricky hunt on an old railroad car. We found out later that the tour guide knew about the cache and had been watching us.


Because of poor planning on my part, I had no more cache information for South Dakota on this trip. But, since we were going to pass through Rapid City on our way east, I thought about a couple more places we could visit...