Visiting Sica Hollow
A great place to go hiking in north eastern South Dakota is Sica Hallows state park. The park’s name Sica, and it actually means evil in the language of the native Americans that lived in the area. The name comes from some of the red tinted water found in the local streams. Some of the swamps also have natural gas that seeps out of the ground. Both of these natural phenomenons led Native America’s to believe that these lands were haunted by evil spirits, and were known as Sica Hallows.
I wasn’t really thinking about evil spirts much while I was hiking in Sica Hallows, but I suppose some of the local scenery could look a bit eerie or creepy. Above is part of the trail that went down some wooden steps into a thick part of the forest.
I did do some hiking up north, and came across some wildlife that I didn’t capture with my camera. These animals above were scene as I was passing by and were staying in ponds and farms close to the highway. On the left is a large swan, on the right a family of wild turkeys.
During my hikes I came across plenty of wildlife that I didn’t capture with my camera. These animals above and below were photos I took while I was in the area of Sica Hallows. Several ponds I passed had large birds and waterfowl, and I even saw a family of wild turkeys photographed below!
I didn’t find the natural gas leaks or find the bloody creeks, but I was impressed by the parks natural beauty. While in South Dakota I was used to the surrounding area being nothing but plains and farmland. Being back in a dense forest was a nice change of scenery. Most of these woods looked similar to what I grew up with back in Virginia. This opening in the trees above is actually from a large creek, but the plants have grown tall enough to block it from view. In the shot below is some fungus growing on a log that I had to step over. I had almost assumed that were no deciduous trees in South Dakota!
The plant above is called a bull thistle. It’s an attractive flower in my eyes, but to farmers its nothing but an annoying weed. The flower below looked very similar to a bull thistle, but I believe it’s a different plant altogether. I didn’t have the large bulb under the flower and the leaves looked different as well.
Lastly here are two basic wildlife shots I got while hiking. The rabbit above and the plains leopard frog below. Probably nothing you haven’t seen before, but next time I plan to visit the badlands which is home to lots of large game animals like wild bison, coyotes and the most endangered mammal in America; the black footed ferret.
