Family Nature Summits: Black Hills Summit: Full Schedule

Sign-ups will officially open on June 28th at 9 PDT/ 11 CDT/ 12 EDT. Activities without signup limits are available now. Need help? The Summit Handbook and our pick a hike guide are helpful resources! Email [email protected] with additional questions or message us in Sched!

Session availability is subject to change due to weather, availability, and interest. Classes with fewer than 5 participants are subject to cancellation.

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8:00am MDT

Photography - Red Valley Backroads: Camera Eyes on NPS #5 & 6 Roads

Limited spots

Tuesday August 4, 2026 8:00am - 12:00pm MDT

Limited Capacity seats available

The land in Wind Cave National Park is sacred land to the Cheyenne and Lakota. There is a story of how the Lakota emerged from the spirit world through a passageway called MAKA ONIYE, or “breathing earth”. This was Wind Cave. People were to wait in this spirit world until Earth was ready for them to be born.

As I scouted the land above the cave, I used my “camera eyes”, perpetually scouring the landscape for great photo opportunities. As I peered across the spacious, rolling hills, I began to view the top layer of the prairie as skin. When the skin is peeled back, what’s below emerges. This field trip has us traversing two above-ground backroads of Wind Cave National Park. The entry road into the southern boundary of the Park is aptly called Red Valley Road, and red it is!! As we progress along these roads, we are quite probably traversing above some remarkable land features that are hidden to us by the prairie skin. In a few places, the skin has been peeled back by the great powers of the Earth – water, wind, and fire, and we become privy to the beauty underneath the prairie skin.

The treasures that await us are deep red winding gullies, solitary sentinel trees, yucca, mullein, bison, prairie dogs, fantastic rock formations, and curious donkeys. You’ll develop your “camera eyes” and with plenty of help available from your (mostly) fearless leader, you can maximize gorgeous compositions to bring home.

I will be bringing my cell phone, of course, but also my DSLR and one zoom lens that will accommodate my personal aesthetic. I found the brightness of this environment to be challenging, due to my cell phone’s screen being quite hidden by the glare of the sun. Cell phones will still gather amazing images, but help yourself out by bringing a wide-brimmed hat. (If you don’t own one, before the Summit is the time to shop for one!) It will shade the brightness sufficiently to help you see the screen and take your compositions more seriously. A DSLR will be the key to slowing down and really painting your compositions on your image sensor. With today’s image stabilization built in to most DSLR bodies and lenses, you will be able to make camera settings that allow you to leave the tripod at home or in your cabin. Your (mostly) fearless leader will assist you in knowing those camera settings.

This is a road trip, not a hike, and will be offered twice. We’ll stop and shoot at places where my “camera eyes” detected great opportunities for images that define the land that hides Wind Cave under the prairie skin. I aim for you to develop your own interpretation of this remarkable landscape, and maybe you’ll adopt my sense that the prairie has many treasures hidden below its skin.

Comfort Notes:
1) There are no bathrooms, but halfway through the trip, I’ve identified a pretty good spot in some trees to pee discreetly. Bring a bit of tissue and a plastic sandwich bag to collect your tissue. I’ll have a larger plastic bag to contain your used supplies and we’ll toss everything when we get to a waste bin back in civilization.)

I strongly frown on sandals or open-toed shoes for this trip. Closed shoes help protect from ticks. I wear leg gaiters permeated with permethrin. From the van to where you’ll stand for best compositions, you need to walk “over there” (i.e., not far) through short prairie grass. Bring closed shoes, some kind of tick protection, and leave the sandals in your room.

Faculty

Annie Tiberio

Photography Leader, Faculty

In 1979, Annie began a decades-long journey teaching photography through many institutions. She’s been teaching at Summits since 1987 and, although she has lost count, the 2026 Black Hills Summit is somewhere around her 40th (Perhaps you recall that there used to be four Summits... Read More →

Tuesday August 4, 2026 8:00am - 12:00pm MDT

Photography, Difficulty- Easy

8:00am MDT

Photography - Whistles & Faces

Limited spots

Tuesday August 4, 2026 8:00am - 12:00pm MDT

Limited Capacity seats available

Explore iconic sites of the Black Hills. From the historic 1880s train to the evolving image of Crazy Horse, this trip provides opportunities to see some of the famous sites of the area, guided by a photographer to make sure that you will get the perfect images to make your friends and family jealous. Maybe no other sound brings such visions of freedom or loneliness as does the sound of a train whistle. The sight of a steam-driven train chugging across the prairie and through the forest represents timeless history. We will travel to just east of Hill City to photograph an
authentic 1880 steam engine train as it climbs the 6% grade up Tin Mill Hill. The climb for the train should provide an ample amount of steam and smoke emitted from the train to make for some wonderful photographs, and the sound of the steam whistle as the train crosses a road will make for outstanding video if you choose to shoot that medium.

After our train photos, we will make our way to the Crazy Horse Memorial to photograph an amazing work in progress. This privately funded memorial began construction in 1948. Currently, the 87.5-foot face has been completed, and in 2023, the 263-foot-long left hand and arm were finalized, leaving only detail work for this section. We will shoot photos from the viewing deck, looking for morning light that will provide soft, directional lighting to enhance the features of the face. A telephoto shot will be required, so be prepared to use all the “reach” that your lens or phone camera can muster. If you have a tripod, bring it. To isolate the carved face, we will shoot f8 to f11, or if you are using a phone camera, you can isolate the face in post-production. Your guide will help you do this. A bonus photo will be a shot of a 1:25 scale white granite model of the completed sculpture, lined up with the current carving on the mountain, capturing both for comparison. Finally, we will drive to Mount Coolidge Lookout and Fire Tower at an elevation of 6,023 feet. This stone tower was built by the CCC in the 1930’s and 40’s. From this vantage point, you will be able to see Crazy Horse Memorial in the distance as well as the face of George Washington on Mount Rushmore in the far distance. If you have binoculars, bring them. Your guide will have a 60x spotting scope with an attachment for phones that will allow you to gather a photo of both Crazy Horse and Washington through the scope, weather permitting. This will be a fabulous morning of trains and faces, providing you with memories to last a lifetime. Let’s go have fun.

Faculty

Matt Hays

Hiking & Photography, Faculty

Matt Hays is an avid hiker, backpacker, rock-climber, skier, and mountaineer. He has climbed all fifty-four fourteeners in Colorado numerous times, many in the winter. He has also climbed Mt. Whitney, CA and the Grand Teton in Wyoming via the Exum Ridge. He summited Mt. Rainier in... Read More →

Tuesday August 4, 2026 8:00am - 12:00pm MDT

Photography, Difficulty- Easy

Family Nature Summits: Black Hills Summit

8:00am MDT

Annie Tiberio

8:00am MDT

Matt Hays

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