Palisades State Park South Dakota
Palisades State Park South Dakota is located on Split Rock Creek. In the 1870s Split Rock Creek was harnessed to power a large flour and feed mill, and a town called Palisades formed around it. I didn’t see any of the remains of the mill building in the area. Was told there is a small foundation left somewhere from it.
The daily park pass admission is extremely reasonable at $6.00 for a day pass or $21.00 a night for camping.
1908 Palisades Bridge
Garretson, SD became a railroad junction after the mill was built. A steel truss bridge was built over Split Rock Creek in 1908. In 1908 the Western Bridge and Construction Company of Omaha, Nebraska built this Pratt Through Truss Bridge.
Workers fastened beams together with diagonal bracing to create a strong, rigid framework. Each beam of the truss bridge shares a portion of the weight of the bridge to help displace the weight of traffic. The steel bridge rests on natural abutments of Sioux quartzite.
The bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places. The bridge is a wonderful piece of history. As of 2016 you can drive across it.
In the video below I walk you across it. I had my camera attached at my waist. For future video – I will avoid it. Women’s hips sway …geesh!
The view of the river from on the bridge:
Along the creek people were swimming, fishing and enjoying picnics. We traversed the rocks and explored along the banks. My daughter and I loved to see all the tiny growths of cacti between the rocks and wildflowers growing everywhere.
I sat in the meadow area for a bit. Listening and locating the bird species and critters.
This ground squirrel was fun to watch as it frocked between the grass and wildflower field.
We had a short and sweet stop over at Palisades State Park – Garretson South Dakota. Only spending about three hours here.
We covered a good deal of ground in our short visit to Palisades State Park – Garretson South Dakota.
On the road again! Taking in anything we can see from the drive to Austin, Minnesota. Which is basically farm fields and general farm animals, like cattle and horses.
Setting ourselves up to spend the night near Austin, Minnesota. Why Austin? Someone has their eye on touring the SPAM Museum. That is our next stop.
Palisades State Park South Dakota was our last stop in South Dakota before crossing over into Minnesota.
