Badlands

For the 4th of July, we thought nothing could be more patriotic than going to Mount Rushmore! We took a long weekend roadtrip to South Dakota to see all the sights of the Black Hills, Rapid City, and National Parks in the vicinity.

On the first day in SD, we drove from Rapid City through the tiny towns dotting the Dakota prairie, making a quick stop in Wall to go to Wall Drug, as no roadtrip is complete without at least a few stops at kitschy roadside attractions.

Badlands National Park is nestled almost unseen in the South Dakota prairie; we kept wondering if we were there when we finally entered the park and slowly the prairie gave way to gaping gorges with these kinds of views:

Winding roads took us through the park to the visitors center, then on to hikes. I was delighted to learn that we could approach, even climb on and in the formations in the park. The rangers recommended some of their favorite spots and we followed a boardwalk path to an area we could go out and explore.

I expected chalky, crumbling rocks, but the rocks were not either of these things upon closer examination. The terrain resembles my imagined mental picture of the surface of the moon and the Badlands indeed felt eerie and unpopulated and extended for miles.

We stopped at one of the first overlooks on the main road going through the park. Looking out over the edge was the view pictured above, and if you turned 180 degrees, the photo below was the view facing the other way. Unbelievable, right? I can much more easily see how settlers passing through the prairie would have easily missed these incredible formations; from afar they are not visible and it is only once you are practically upon them that this part of the landscape can be seen.

No hikers were hurt in the faking of this photo ;)

Prior to going, I had heard lackluster things about the Badlands, but the general consensus of our group was that they weren't bad at all.

P.S. The bulk of our hours in the car were long stretches through Wyoming en route and returning. The skies of Wyoming did not disappoint, and the sunset on the drive there turned the full moon hot pink! We tried to capture it in photos but there was no way.