Searching for the bad in Badlands, but found only beauty
Written: Sep 26 '09 (Updated Sep 26 '09)
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Pros: absolutely gorgeous, as long as it doesn't rain!
Cons: can be muddy mess when it rains, it was very windy!
The Bottom Line: An absolutely gorgeous park with spectacular scenery. It can be muddy during the rainy season, but still worth a visit.
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| pilarzmom's Full Review: Badlands National Park |
Back when I was a small child my family made a long road trip through Wyoming and South Dakota. Sadly, I remembered very little of it, except for our brief stay at the Badlands. You see, on that trip the Badlands really lived up to its name, as torrential rains turned the park into a muddy mess. Despite this lingering memory, I decided to include a stop there on our road trip this past summer which retraced the route from my childhood trip. This time, however, the Badlands proved to absolutely beautiful!
Park Highlights
The Badlands encompass 244,000 acres in southwestern South Dakota. It is easy to see why the native Lakota, along with early French trappers, referred to this rugged landscape as the "bad lands." The rocky spires and deep canyons are so vastly different than the rest of the Dakota plains landscapes. Wind, rain, and treacherous winters have sculpted the sedimentary rock, resulting in the colorful layered appearance of the geologic formations throughout the park. These rocks are also home to many early mammalian and marine life fossils, although fossil hunting is not permitted.
While Badlands National Park can be easily explored in one day, I'd highly recommend staying overnight, either in the park itself, or in the nearby towns of Wall or Interior. The vivid colors of the rock formations are best seen either at dusk or early in the morning. Many visitors will only spend a few hours here, driving the main scenic drive, and continuing on. But I'm glad we didn't rush our visit. There are several good hiking trails that are fairly easy and worth exploring.
Location
The closest major city to Badlands National Park is Rapid City, South Dakota. It is just a little over an hour west of the main park entrance. If you are planning a visit to the area, you'll be happy to know that there are several attractions in the area to keep you busy for a couple of days if you so desire. Of course, there's Mount Rushmore National Monument as well as the nearby Crazy Horse Memorial. Many visitors also like to spend a few days in Custer State Park. It's right next to Wind Cave National Park. And you like to gamble your money away, you'll be happy to know that there's a popular casino town, Deadwood, in the heart of the Black Hills.
To get to the park from Rapid City, just drive east on 1-90 and exit at the town of Wall (featuring the famous Wall Drug Store and the state's best donuts), go south on 240 to the Pinnacle Entrance. After passing through the entrance, you can either take the Sage Creek Rim Road (a gravel road) or the Badlands Loop Road. Most visitors will take the Loop Road as it passes more of the scenic overlooks in the northern part of the park and ends up at the visitor's center, as well as the campground and the park's only lodging, Cedar Pass Lodge.
Sightseeing in the park
We decided to take the Loop Road as well. From the map it appeared to be the most logical route for us, as we planned to spend the night at Cedar Pass Lodge. It's 22 miles from the main entrance to the visitor's center, but with at least five stops at scenic vistas, including a lunch stop, as well spending two hour hiking, it actually took us close to 5 hours to cover this short distance.
I was so happy we lucked out on the weather. We heard it had rained some the day before and indeed I did see some evidence of it, as I saw a few muddy spots that reminded me of my childhood visit. But with the exception of a few wispy clouds, the skies stayed clear for us. The only negative were the strong gusty winds that I guessed were close to 30 mph at times. It made for an interesting picnic lunch at Bigfoot Pass Overlook. Although the picnic tables there do have rudimentary wind breaks, they didn't really help that much and we had to hold on tight to everything least it blow away.
The views were absolutely spectacular and rivaled those of parks in Arizona and Utah, with shades of red, orange and brown mixed throughout the layers of sedimentary rock. As we were there in June after a rainy spring, the grasslands within the park were a vibrant green and yellow, thanks to the non-native European Sweet Clover that has taken over the plains in this part of South Dakota. The geologic formations varied in size and shape, ranging from a lot of sharp spires and deep gullies, to flatter buttes and peaks. In several spots alongside the road there were smaller formations that kids and adults alike were climbing on. I was a little bit surprised to see no signs prohibiting this, but since the rock here is constantly eroding and changing, I guess the park rangers don't have an issue with it. Nonetheless, someone managed to fall and hurt themselves, as later in the afternoon we saw an ambulance come in from the town of Interior on an emergency call.
However, if rock scrambling isn't your thing, there are some great hiking trails here, ranging from some shorter hikes to as long as an 8 mile hike. Backcountry backpacking and hiking is also permitted. We opted for a few shorter hikes in the Cedar Pass Area. These trails include the Door, Window, and Notch trails, all about a mile long. The trailheads share a common parking lot, so we just started with the Door trail on the north end. This trail starts off as a marked trail but then turns into a cross country type excursion, with markers, that took us to the edge of a cliff with a spectacular view. Although we didn't have to scramble over any large rocks, it was a bit like walking across a moon landscape. Pretty cool! But with the strong wind, we didn't get too close to the edge. We then took the Notch trail, which was also short, but a bit challenging in places including climbing up a wooden ladder on a steep cliff (not too hard on the way up, but a little bit tricky on the return. Of course, my husband thought it was fun to snap a picture of me from below).
We ended our afternoon by spending about an hour in the Visitor's Center. I think my kids spent most of their time in the adjacent gift shop. But my husband and I actually found this to be an excellent visitor's center, with an abundance of interesting information on the geology of the Badlands, as well as the cultural history.
Sunset and sunrise at the Badlands
After checking into Cedar Pass Lodge and having dinner, we decided to go for a drive to catch the beautiful twilight colors of the Park and the sunset. We drove Hwy. 44 west through Buffalo Gap National Grassland, which basically cuts the park into 2 different sections, and proceeded east again on Sage Creek Road. In retrospect, we wished we had done it a bit differently. It took us over an hour to complete this loop and we missed some of the best twilight shots of the park. The scenery wasn't as spectacular as we had hoped for. Instead, we would suggest shortening the loop and taking 509 (Conata Road), basically cutting the trip by half the time, and probably getting some better views in the process. Oh well! We did get to see a beautiful sunset. The next morning I got up at the crack of dawn and did get to see a beautiful sunrise from Cedar Pass Lodge, with no one around, save for a deer wandering the grounds near our cabin.
Wildlife at the park
Many visitors hope to see buffalo when visiting the park. A herd of about 450 roams the grassland in the Sage Creek drainage area around Conata Road. We did see one or two also wandering by themselves near Sage Creek Road. We were able to see the herd with our binoculars, but on the day we visited, they were not close to the road, as were the buffalo we saw in Yellowstone.
Pronghorn Antelope, Mule Deer, and Big Horn Sheep also call the park home. We did see some antelope and deer, but only one solitary juvenile Big Horn Sheep. They're famous for their big curly horns, but this guy only had little nubs.
Accommodations
We stayed at Cedar Pass Lodge, a small little rustic resort with cabins, and the only one within the park. There are some accommodations in Interior as well in Wall. Other people just chose to make it a one-day day trip and stay in Rapid City or in the Black Hills.
There's also a small 96-site campground in the Cedar Pass area.
Entrance Fees
As of 2009:
Cars - $15
Motorcycles - $10
America the Beautiful Annual Pass - $80 good for one year
Overall rating
Badlands National Park is just gorgeous! While it is vast, it's easy to explore in one day. But perhaps even more appealing is that it's not overrun with tourists as are some parks, such as Yellowstone and Grand Canyon. The only thing that may make your visit a little less enjoyable would be rain, which can turn the place into a muddy mess. We visited in June, when the grasslands were still very green and pretty. It's also the rainiest month of the year. A park ranger told us that these grasslands turn brown in the later summer months. But in these months the rains aren't typically as bad (save for an occasional violent thunderstorm or two). When I visited as a child we came in June and also camped in the campground, so that's perhaps why we had the bad luck that we did. Nonetheless, our visit this time was very memorable and we'd definitely give this park a five star rating.
My South Dakota travel shots can be seen here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23485844@N05/sets/72157620928722236/
Recommended:
Yes
Best time to go: June-August
Recommended for: Anybody
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