How Can Something So Bad Be So Good?
Written: Dec 05 '04
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Pros: Amazing scenery; can go for one hour or days.
Cons: The heat; I was not impressed with some trails.
The Bottom Line: Badlands was great. I am glad we went. The scenery is amazing and varied.
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| jo.com's Full Review: Badlands National Park |
Sunday, July 31, 2004 we went to Badlands National Park.
General Information:
Badlands is located in southwestern South Dakota and can be reached at 605-433-5361. It is an hour east of Rapid City on I-90 exits 110 or 131.
You will find 244,000 acres of buttes, pinnacles, spires, and the larges protected mixed grass prairie in the United States. Badlands National Park contains the world's richest fossil beds, dating 23 to 35 million years old. Scientists can study the evolution of mammal species such as the horse, sheep, rhinoceros and pig in the Badlands formations. This was truly an amazing adventure and our first visit to Badlands National Park.
It will cost you $10.00 for a 7 day pass to the park and $20.00 if you want one for a year. If you hike or bike in it will cost you $5.00 for the week. Do not forget the National Park Pass for $50.00. It is a great deal.
Some areas of the Park are handicapped accessible. You can get a complete list at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center but this one as well as the White River Visitor Center (There are two visitor centers in the park.) as well as The Fossil Exhibit Trail and the Door Trail are both accessible to wheelchairs. There is camping in Badlands and you can find some sites that are handicapped accessible. In addition the dining room at The Cedar Pass Lodge and gift shop as well as some cabins are accessible.
What we did, what to expect:
Like many of our summer journeys I had no idea what to expect at Badlands. We started at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center which is open 8:00am to 5:00pm May to September and 9:00am to 4:00pm the other months. The White River Visitor Center which we never got to is much smaller and is open 10:00am to 4:00pm. Ben Reifel sells books, videos and postcards and is open year round. There is a park orientation movie which we started with. It is shown in an open area with a roof so Hanna (our dog) could come without being snuck in. It was an 18 minute video and worthwhile. The video is open captioned. You will find restrooms, water, and a public telephone here. There is a Touch Room where exhibits that can be handled. Rangers are available to answer questions
There are picnic tables here as well as at a couple of the overlook areas. They are all covered to shade the scorching hot sun from you but expect it to be in the 90s if you are there in the summertime.
Summer camping fees are $10 a person and first come, first served. They are primitive sites.
An unusual find that we did not take advantage of is the open backcountry policy. This is enticing but when something is called a Badland it is so for a reason so be aware. Bring one gallon of water a day per person and watch for prickly pear cactus. Wear sunscreen, a hat and sunglasses. I was glad I had on long pants since we did explore in spite of the heat and prickly areas. There is mention in the literature of the weather. It says that it is unpredictable. Heavy rain, hail, extremely high winds and lightening strikes are common. I make mention of this not only to warn you but to tell you briefly that the day had been very nice if you do not mind scorching heat. As we were close to calling it a day (from my notes) one second there was no wind. It was hot and sunny. The next second it was cloudy and so windy that my cap flew off, sage brush was flying everywhere, and our trailer tire cover blew off. As we left we pulled over because the bikes and trailer were blowing so much.
I had no idea what to expect but it was what I call gorgeous. Every turn on the road we took looked different. There are 18 overlooks some of which have longer walks or boardwalks. Walking on the rocks is tempting and very easy in many places. In fact in some areas there are no trails and since hiking is permissible everywhere it seems that walking on the rocks is alright. Of course it is not. I did find the contradiction strange at first. I now understand that they do not want people off the trails in high usage areas which make sense.
A more thorough look:
We stopped as I said at every single overlook. I had to take a picture of the name of the overlook and what I saw. For example I have a picture that says Conata Basin Overlook and a picture of it or Homestead Overlook and a picture of it. I was very caught up in this unusual National Park. At some of the overlooks my husband did not even get out of the car. Many looked the same but to me they were just a bit different. I found each angle different or perhaps one had a boardwalk that took me farther into the prairie or one that had a wayside exhibit that I wanted to read. Actually all the overlooks had explanations. I found it fascinating to read and imagine what it was like so long ago crossing these badlands. Not only is there difficult terrain which goes on forever but when the terrain is not difficult one would encounter a wall of stone that had to be gone around since you cannot ride a horse over these huge structures, walk over them or drive a wagon!
At 5:30 when we were thinking about going on another hike it was 104 degrees so we decided against it and the heat kept my husband in the car for some of the time. There are ranger talks. One we heard was about fossils. This lasted about 15 minutes. We then walked this short one quarter mile Exhibit Trail. I was not that impressed with the talk or this walk. The talk was great for kids as was the walk but the fossils were not real. They were imitations. If you are not with kids I would skip this trail.
There are also talks about the geology on a 1 hour walk with a ranger, a junior Ranger program, a prairie walk that is an easy half mile and an evening program with a ranger showing a 40 minute slide presentation of varying topics.
Castle trail is the longest trail in the park at 10 miles round trip. We did not do this hike nor could we have in the heat. If it is not hot it sounds wonderful. There are few people on this hike and a chance at viewing wildlife.
In general the park was not crowded. There were a few overlooks were there were a couple of families or a couple here and there. No where were there crowds.
Cliff Shelf Nature Trail is a half mile loop which we walked. It winds through trees and prairie. There are boardwalks on which to walk and a flight of stairs. I remember it well particularly for one reason. The area is marked by numbers and there was supposed to be a trail guide at the trailhead. There were not any. Had we known we would have bought one at the Visitor Center. This is an easy walk but it does climb about 200 feet in elevation. The views are amazing!
The Door Trail was the one trail where we found markers for a trail and a sign saying to go no further. It is felt that if you go into the formations beyond the yellow markers you can lose your bearing and get lost. This is a three quarter mile round trip that I was not all that impressed with. There is a boardwalk at first, and then you will come to rough ground. I did not mind the rough ground. I just was not that impressed with the scenery compared to what I had seen elsewhere. The reason for this is really that the area is that of eroded badlands. The Door Trail allows you to go into the badlands through a break in a wall. It is interesting but I could have done without this one.
The Notch Trail was great and I would really recommend it. It is 1 and one half miles round trip and we are told that it is not recommended for those with a fear of heights but I think they are overstating this. You will climb a steep ladder after going through a canyon then travel along a ledge to the Notch above the Cliff Shelf area. There is a fabulous view of the White River Valley and Pine Ridge Reservation. Obviously if you are going to any National Park and are mobile you will be wearing hiking boots so I hope I do not have to remind you. In case I do you have been reminded.
Window trail was a bit disappointing but the views in front of the trail are amazing so go there if only to see the sites around you. The round trip is just one quarter of a mile and you will see an eroded canyon when you finish the short trail leading to what is suppose to seem like a window in the Badlands Wall. It did not really seem like a window but there was an unusual view down of the canyon.
My Final Thoughts:
Badlands is a definite must see. You can spend as little or as much time there as you want. Look at 2 overlooks and walk one trail or just drive through. The scenery is exceptional and I am truly glad we went even though the wind got a bit scary.
May and October are the coolest months in which to go to Badlands but May has a lot of rain. I would go back even in the heat however.
Digging and/or moving fossils or artifacts from their locations in the ground is prohibited by Federal law. The matter is taken very seriously in our Park. Offenders are prosecuted. Fines range from $50.00 to $250,000 and in severe cases offenders have been jailed.
Please take only pictures and leave only footprints.
Please feel free to ask me a question or leave a comment.
I am keeping track of the reviews I am writing chronicling our 3-month cross country trip:
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Recommended:
Yes
Best time to go: September-November
Recommended for: Anybody
Review Topic: Overview
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