Hello from Germany,
my wife and I want to close the gap (see my avatar) and plan on riding from Chicago to the Black Hills in September.
We have seen a lot of your beautiful country, but I`m still missing the "true prairie".
So, here`s my question: Where are the best places to spot these endless grasslands waving in the wind, just as in Dances with Wolves?
You locals surely know the scenic roads through your home country.
Thank you
Ernest

 

There are some grasslands along highway 20 in northern Nebraska. Most land used for farming or cattle. Careful ,not a lot of gas stations. Also Ogalla grasslands north of Crawford NE, on hwy 71.This leads right into Black Hills.

 

From Chicago there is a few different routes you could take....
#1 take Interstate 80 west through Iowa and turn north on I35 to Albert Lea Minnesota then head west again on I90 which will take you all the way into the black hills.

#2 Take I90 west all the way from Chicago to the Black hills.

Either way once you enter South Dakota its grass land from Sioux Falls to Rapid City...about 5 hours

I prefer route number one...less traffic. Hope that helps...I live in Rapid City and travel through Chicago at least once a year...

 

WrenchinRider, BigRed11,
thank you for your recommendations - will consider them, when planning our exact route.
Ernest

 

As I recall, most of Dances with Wolves was filmed in South Dakota near Pierre and Rapid City. You might want to take a little detour off of I-90 on Highway 240 and run through the Sage Creek Wilderness Area (some of the movie was filmed here). A more scenic route than I-90 would be to take Highway 20 through Nebraska, up to Valentine. Then, go north on Highway 27 out of Gordon, NE and see Wounded Knee - which, contrary to recent news reports, is the site of the largest shooting massacre in the history of the U.S. From Wounded Knee, you can take back roads north up to Sage Creek.

Edit: Once you pass O'Neill, NE, keep an eye on your fuel tank and fill up pretty much every chance you get.

 

Or follow the same starting path as Mud suggested but instead of turning north at Gordon is go all the way to Chadron NE then turn north on Hgwy 385 and head to Hot springs through the black hills forest and into deadwood. great ride lots of great scenery. so it would be like 90 W out of Chicago and follow Hgwy 20 the rest of way to Chadron NE, 385 to deadwood then 14 back to sturgis. Again once hit middle NE and Southern South Dakota Watch the fuel gauges its lonely land out in some of those areas.

On way home i would go to 90 East to Wall SD then make sure to take the State 240 loop through the Badlands and see more area where Wolves was filmed also Starship Troopers was filmed in the same area.