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Hi all, am planning a trip to Western South Dakota from the UK.
After being a fan of the film "Dances With Wolves" i have always wanted to visit the prairies that the film was filmed on.
Although i have looked into the locations where the movie was filmed i cant find a pin point location so if anyone could help me on that as well i would be very grateful.
Also could some explain to me what the difference is between the wilderness area and the national parks or forests?
A lot of scenes where filmed on private property northwest of Fort Pierre. There were a few scenes near Interior. The winter camp was filmed in spearfish canyon.
National Parks are administered by the Dept of the Interior. They are to be preserved as is, to the extent possible, for future generations. National forests are administered by the Dept of Agriculture and can be developed. Most development is logging, mining, or resorts. Both can have wilderness areas.
Here are two youtube vids from a filmmaker who takes movies, finds a film's locations and shoots present day. He has two for Dances with Wolves which you might find interesting (I did).
On a side note, when my parents and I moved to the Black Hills in 1995, every weekend we would go out exploring the local area. We headed west on Sheridan Road to go towards Hill City from Rapid. It must have been a few miles east of Hwy 385 when we came upon a hairpin turn and there was a lone horse standing next to a sign...I believe the sign said, 'Cisco(or Chico?), the only horse NOT in 'Dances with Wolves', or something to that effect. lol
I visited the area a while back. My favorite spot was Badlands National Park. Landscape like nothing I had ever seen! I was a little disappointed not to see much about Wounded Knee anywhere though. Important historical spot. The Black Hills are pretty too. An isolated mountain range with lots of pine trees in the middle of endless flat barren prairie. Rapid City is the only large town in the area, so if you need to buy something other than gas station stuff, it's the spot. You'll probably fly into their airport. It's small and easy, which is a nice change from the hassle of a big city airport. Deadwood is a neat little old Wild West town. I'm not into motorcycles, but Sturgis is nearby too if you are. Mt Rushmore didn't do much for me. It's impressive that they were able to carve faces into a mountain, but I guess it didn't really wow me like some other places in the area. It's a far drive, but I did Yellowstone in the same trip and I didn't regret the extra distance one bit. The National Parks are the best thing to see in the US. Europe has the beautiful old cities and cathedrals. We have the natural wonders. Happy travels!
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