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Black Hills tourism picks up after a flat '06
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FarkRAPID CITY - Loretta Spotts and her husband, Dan, were part of a three-couple caravan returning to Colorado Springs from the 2007 National Veterans Wheelchair Games in Milwaukee, where Dan competed.
Their extended motor home trip took them through Missouri, Oklahoma and other states. They planned to see Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse.
Kerry and Jackie Fritz, and Ray and Fran Wiland from Harford County, Md., were traveling cross-country on motorcycles. They planned to spend a few nights in the area. They made a point of hitting the Black Hills when the Sturgis motorcycle rally was not going on. "Too crowded," Kerry Fritz said.
Ann and Manuel Valez, from Tacoma, Wash., were on a car trip that took them to North Carolina, South Carolina and Alabama - where they attended their grandson's graduation. They were taking their time getting back home.
Asked why they didn't travel by airplane, Manuel said, "I like to be able to stop and see things."
All were among the visitors who stopped at the Black Hills Visitor Information Center on Monday afternoon. They picked up maps, talked to the staff and took refuge from Monday's 93-degree heat.
Despite gas prices well above $3 per gallon in many parts of the country, Americans have apparently not lost their love of the open road.
And for the Black Hills tourism industry, that's good news. Officials say 2006 was a flat year, and many in the business expected more of the same this year.
But June has so far been a good month for Black Hills tourism.
Since June 15, visitor numbers at Reptile Gardens have been running 8 to 10 percent over the same period last year, according to Tom Lang, general manager.
"We like the trend and we hope it continues," Lang said.
A lot of attractions, especially federally run venues, don't report visitor numbers until the end of the month.
However, Judy Olson, chief of interpretation at Mount Rushmore National Memorial, believes crowds there have been sizeable in recent weeks.
"We have been really, really busy in June. We've had good crowds and I've noticed a lot of activity in the Hills," she said.
Officially, Mount Rushmore hosted 195,419 visitors in May, which was down 6 percent from May 2006, Olson said. In the first five months of the year, 387,246 tourists visited, down about 5.7 percent.
She attributed the down numbers in May and the up numbers in June to the weather. May was rainy, and June has been nice. "When it's cold and windy and rainy, our numbers are always down," she said.
Olson expects a big turnout for Mount Rushmore's July 3 Independence Day celebration and fireworks display.
The National Park Service has been getting calls from throughout the United States from people seeking information about the event.
"We are having a barn-burner of a mid-June," said Bill Honerkamp of the Black Hills, Badlands & Lakes Association. "The first seven days (of the month) were very good. ... We've been up to our ears in tourists."
In May, the BHB&L reported:
-- Badlands National Park, up 9 percent
-- Minuteman Missile Site, up 24 percent.
-- Wind Cave National Park, up 2 percent.
-- Jewel Cave National Monument, down 16 percent.
-- Devils Tower, down 12 percent.
-- Custer State Park traffic, up 7 percent.
-- Custer State Park camping, up 4 percent.
-- The Mammoth Site at Hot Springs, up 5 percent.
In addition, the South Dakota Tourism Office's interstate visitor centers all saw more tourists in May - ranging from 2.8 percent at Tilford to 8.5 percent at Chamberlain.
Lang said June got off to a slow start at Reptile Gardens, but traffic picked up in the middle of the month.
Tourists are coming mainly from Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, Illinois, Colorado and Wyoming.
And Canadians are apparently making their way to Reptile Gardens as well, he said. "The exchange rate is as low as I've ever seen, and this is my 32nd season," Lang said.
Pauline Casey, whose family operates Bear Country USA near Rockerville, said visitation seems to be up as of early June. But she's cautious in her optimism. She has seen seasons get off to a roaring start, and then drop off later in the year.
"I think maybe a lot of us in tourism think we're home free, but then it dies," she said. "All we can do is just try to treat everybody as nicely as we can."
Contact Dan Daly at 394-8421 or at dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com
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