Custer State Park’s visitor center open for season

By Journal staff | Saturday, April 14, 2007

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CUSTER STATE PARK — Park officials opened the Peter Norbeck Visitor Center for the season on Friday.

This historic center witnesses around 70,000 guests each summer. Many of the park visitors are stopping for programs and family-related activities, says Bradley Block, chief of interpretation at the Norbeck Center.

The facility, along U.S. Highway 16A near the State Game Lodge and Grace Coolidge General Store, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has a history dating back to the mid-1930s.

Members of the Civilian Conservation Corps constructed the building using native materials, such as logs and stones. Art students from around the country provided the early displays, and the facility was opened officially as the Park Museum in 1935.

The displays have since changed to include interactive exhibits and several unique wildlife dioramas. The visitor center is home to a mounted bison bull in a prairie setting. Guests can also view an elk, bighorn sheep, mountain lion, mountain goat, prairie dogs, and a host of other smaller wildlife species.

Also on display is a figure of a gold panner trying his luck in a Black Hills creek, and a dorm room from the days of the Civilian Conservation Corps. And finally, a large ponderosa pine tree ring dating back more than 300 years is on hand for viewing.

“The facility is perhaps one of the best interpretive centers in the Midwest,” said Block. “Not only is the architecture amazing, there are over 30 different displays providing educational insight into the park’s natural and cultural resources.”

The nonprofit Black Hills Parks and Forests Association manages a bookstore outlet within the visitor center. There are several identification guides on hand, musical CDs and tapes, and other items for sale to complement the visitor experience to the park, Block said.

New titles are being added to the selection in the book store each year, and visitors are encouraged to visit the bookstore during their time in the facility.

Since the bookstore was enlarged during the remodeling several years ago, park officials say that book sales have nearly doubled.

The temporary off-season fees (7-day passes) are $2.50 per person or $6 for the vehicle. The off-season fees are in effect through April 30. For more information about Custer State Park, call the visitor center at 255-4464 or go to www.sdgfp.info/Parks/ Regions/Custer/index.htm.