2023-04-18 17:14:59
A sign next to the old cash register reads “Never trust a skinny cook”. On the plates are waffles, pancakes, eggs and fried bacon – a breakfast as American as the six US flags that wave in the wind in front of the restaurant.
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Chef Kevin Clyde smiles widely. Wife Beth sits two tables away and looks over the lenses of her glasses. “When you get home, it’s best not to tell anyone regarding this place,” says the restaurant manager, almost sounding a bit conspiratorial. “We are the best kept secret in the world.”
The best kept secret in the world
It’s not so much regarding the restaurant for her. In Medora, a small village in North Dakota, she has been running the Cowboy Café with her husband Kevin since 1981 – right next to Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Only regarding 100 people live in the village, but it gets crowded in the tourist season. 2021, says Beth Clyde, was her best year. Not despite Corona, but because of it.
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Kevin and Beth Clyde are proud of their Cowboy Café in Medora and the beauty of the small North Dakota township’s surrounding area.
© Quelle: Jonas Szemkus
Because just as many Germans discovered places like Saxon Switzerland or the Bavarian Alps for themselves during the pandemic, Americans also began to take a renewed interest in the former Wild West. The Great American West, which includes the five states of North and South Dakota, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, is not the first choice for many traveling to the United States. You can really experience it here – the real America. Best on a road trip.
Rapid City to Mount Rushmore
We begin our journey in Rapid City, South Dakota. Mount Rushmore is a half-hour drive from here. The memorial with the four presidential heads carved in stone (Lincoln, Roosevelt, Washington, Jefferson) was completed in the Black Hills in the early 1940s and has been one of the most visited tourist attractions in the USA ever since. But Germans? They rarely get lost here, assures the gatekeeper at the parking lot.
The four heads of former US Presidents George Washington (from left), Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln are carved in stone on Mount Rushmore.
© Quelle: SD Department of Tourism
And by the way, we notice for the first time what people here call “Dakota Nice”: The niceness and openness of the locals, who like to chat with visitors, runs through the entire trip. The pride in their homeland is genuine. But if you take a look behind patriotism, you will – as so often – also find something questionable. For the Lakota Indians, for example, the mountain is considered sacred and the monument to the white people is a shame.
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Crazy Horse becomes a monument of superlatives
Another huge memorial a few miles away can definitely be seen as an alternative. When Crazy Horse, a famous Native American warrior, and his horse are eventually carved into the rock, their monument will be ten times the height of the heads on Mount Rushmore and many times wider. After 80 years of construction so far, only the face of the Lakota leader can be seen (assumed construction time until completion: another 100 years), but that alone takes your breath away.
Region offers many different things
The contrast of the giant monuments is characteristic of the region, which also has so many different things to offer. The Black Hills mountain range, the Badlands with their distinctive, craggy canyons, narrow roads through tunnels carved in rock and dense pine forests, for example. The Needles Highway takes us along picturesque landscapes to the gates of Custer State National Park.
The Needles Highway leads through particularly picturesque landscapes.
© Quelle: SD Department of Tourism
It’s not quite as well known as Yellowstone (in Wyoming and Montana) and Glacier (in Montana), but it’s more of an insider tip. Bison roam the open grasslands in large herds. Prairie dogs live here, as do antelope, deer and coyotes. And if you don’t want to, you don’t even have to get out of the car and still see everything – for example on the 30-kilometer Wildlife Loop.
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Our road trip continues to Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. This is a real ride, even with a motor – several hundred kilometers of route, there are hardly any junctions, only long streets, tiny villages and the occasional gas station somewhere along the way.
Wild horses graze in Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
© Quelle: Jonas Szemkus
The real west begins at Painted Cnyon
The landscapes seem endless at the same time, but then usually change very suddenly. Also just before Medora, when grasslands become badlands once more. Here the canyons no longer shimmer grey-brown, but in bright colors. At Painted Canyon, restaurant owner Beth Clyde proudly says, “that’s where the real West begins.” Once upon a time, only cowboys on horseback might get here.
The entrance to the southern part of Roosevelt Park is only 250 meters away from the Cowboy Café. Unlike Custer Park in the neighboring state, there is more mountainous terrain. Therefore, with luck, visitors can see wild horses in front of the canyon panorama. Here, too, there are herds of bison and coyotes, as well as moose and almost 200 species of birds. You can also meet them on the many hiking trails. However, if you want to explore nature, you should always check the internet beforehand to ensure that all roads are intact and all vantage points are accessible.
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Hike through the badlands in Makoshika State Park
Our search for the most beautiful landscape leads us on once more, this time to a park in Montana. Makoshika State Park is much smaller, but worth a stop, especially for hikers. There are fewer large wild animals here, but visitors hike in the middle of the seemingly inhospitable badlands instead of on classic hiking trails.
In the middle of the badlands: In Makoshika State Park in Montana, visitors can get particularly close to the impressive rock formations.
© Quelle: Jonas Szemkus
“That’s something special,” emphasizes park manager Riley Bell, “our guests often say: It feels unique.” 150,000 visitors came in 2021 – a record. “We’re a nice stop on the way from Teddy Roosevelt National Park to Yellowstone or Glacier,” says Bell. Above all, if you want to visit the Glacier National Park with the glaciers that give it its name, you should plan well in advance: Access is drastically limited.
Devils Tower is popular with rock climbers
Before heading back to South Dakota, we have a stop in Wyoming: at the famous Devils Tower. The Teufelsturm, made of lava rock, juts out of the earth like a foreign body in the middle of green fields – and was therefore the backdrop for Steven Spielberg’s alien film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. Experienced climbers can climb the Devils Tower. Otherwise, two hours are enough for a stop – but travelers should definitely plan for that.
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Experienced climbers can climb the Devils Tower in Wyoming – for everyone else there are two circular routes around it.
© What: Jason Lindsey
On the further way to South Dakota it goes following the park into the forested areas of the Black Hills. Those who like to throw a few bucks at slot machines should plan a stop in the touristy western town of Deadwood, known as “Little Las Vegas”.
Best views at Spearfish Canyon
Those who value scenic beauty more, drive to the nearby Spearfish Canyon with its waterfalls and quite challenging hiking trails. The 76 trail, for example, is quite a steep climb through the forest. As a reward, you can let your gaze wander into the distance and have the best views from here – of the real West, which is no longer quite so wild.
Tips for your trip to America
Getting there: Direct flights to Great American West doesn’t exist – but via gateway airports like Denver there are many uncomplicated ways to get to your destination quickly.
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Entry: Germans must apply online for an Esta entry permit at least 72 hours before departure. Cost: $21.
Best travel time: A road trip through the Great American West states is worthwhile from April to October, but not everything is open outside of the classic tourist season. It begins on Memorial Day (last Monday in May) and lasts through Labor Day (first Monday in September).
Organizer: Various operators offer road trips in the region. Belongs to the specialists Argus travel from Bovenden, who also puts together individual routes.
The trip was supported by The Great American West. The editors alone decide on the selection and orientation of the content.
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