The Adventures of Chuck and Cole” is the headline I use for Facebook posts about hiking, camping, biking and exploring with my grandson, Cole Stilwell.

Cole writes an outdoors column for the Chronicle.

This time it will apply to our Great Western States adventure along with my wife, Lana, aka Cole’s Mimi.

Lana and I were planning a vacation trip along the Gulf Coast from Panama City FL to Gulfport, MS, but watching the news one evening, we saw Gov. Christie Noem of South Dakota talking about no fireworks at Mt. Rushmore this year.

We looked at each other and simultaneously said, “Lets go to SD instead.”

We planned the route and decided to take Cole with us as his Gray Collegiate high school graduation gift.

At 5:41 am Thursday, July 1, we left Lexington with the goal of being in Ft. Collins, CO, July 4, then on to Wyoming, South Dakota and then home.

After some discussion, we chose to reverse the route and go to Mt. Rushmore 1st for the 4th. It was a good decision. Follow along as I share some sights along our 4,700-mile journey.

The first was the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Even though there were no tickets available to go up to the top, it was a great experience walking around the grounds.

Next stop was Sioux Falls, the largest city in South Dakota. The falls that give the city its name were not what I expected, but worth the visit. On the way to Pierre, SD we saw Pipestone National Monument in MN and the Corn Palace in Mitchell SD. But South Dakota has so much to see and do.

The Badlands were spectacular. My reaction on seeing them was the same as I had at the Grand Canyon.

“Wow, look what God did,” I thought.

The starkness of the land is itself is awe inspiring.

Mile after mile of emptiness on what had once been a flat grassy plain.

Millions of years ago eruptions from west coast volcanos covered the region with hundreds of feet of volcanic ash creating a huge plateau.

Wind and water erosion over millions more years created this highly dramatic landscape.

Mt. Rushmore met and exceeded my expectations.

I had no idea how many different viewpoints existed around the mountain. The monument is in the Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota and are magnificent too. But hills are a misnomer. They are forest covered mountains. And the winding roads have numerous tunnels carved out of solid rock which give dramatic views of Rushmore in the distance.

Imagine driving a winding mountain road, going through a tunnel and seeing the iconic monument.

The next highlight of the trip was The Devils Tower in northeast Wyoming. You may remember it from the 1977 movie “Close Encounters of The Third Kind.”

The native Americans who lived there had many names for the 1,000 foot tall igneous rock formation.

President Theodore Roosevelt named it the 1st national monument in 1906.

Our last major stop on the trip was Rocky Mountains National Park in Colorado where some peaks are over 12,000 feet above sea level.

As we drove up the western side, the terrain was mainly gigantic rock walls.

Farther up near the tree line are dozens of scenic overlooks with views of large meadows, lakes, streams and clusters of beautiful aspen trees.

Standing on the Great Continental Divide was a treat for us because we had stood on top of the Eastern Continental Divide in West Virginia 2 years ago.

We found out from a park ranger that snow melt at the top of the mountains is the main source of water for the Colorado River. Countless streams run down the mountains on the eastern slopes to form the headwaters for the Colorado River.

Space prevents me from sharing other beautiful and awesome places we saw.

I hope this story will inspire our readers to plan a similar adventure.

Next: More Great Western States Adventures.