South Dakota's Badlands National Park

After spending a couple of days up in North Dakota Badlands of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, it was interesting to be able to compare and contrast the experiences.  Unlike TRNP, here in South Dakota's Badlands, there is no visible source or water so the prairie is more open and dry, particularly if there are strong warm breezes and little rain.  Memorial Day would bring a little of everything in terms of  weather.

I was up and out early, around 5:30am.  During my initial drive through the park, I was fortunate to see a lot of deer and several antelope.  Later in the morning, the big horn sheep were up and around as well.  I was surprised to see a big tom turkey and his lady partner and about seven or eight decent sized youngsters out in the flats near the Pinnacles Lookout where the big horns hang out.  My initial time in the park today was intended to see what wildlife I might see at dawn and it was a nice drive through.

Check out all of these big horn sheep seen on the Pinnacles shortly after sunrise.  There were at least four ewes and eight or ten lambs seen high atop the rocks and down beneath in the valley.

I went back through towards the campground and exited the park at the Interior, SD entrance from I90.  As you go in that direction, there are a couple of interesting tourist spot call Prairie Homestead.  It is a nice depiction of what life was like in the Badlands for settlers at the turn of the 20th century.   The central attraction is the original sod home built by Mr. & Mrs. Ed Brown in 1909.  There are also several other buildings on the grounds that feature a blend of antiques and touristy type gift shop items.  Not really wanting to take the time (or spend the money) I stopped to snap a photo or two from beyond the rail fence, and kept moving on.

For folks planning a visit to this area, it is well worth the time to stop at the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site at the far eastern end of the Badlands (I90 exit 131).

The new visitor center opened about two years ago, and is a vast improvement to the old "shack" that was in the parking lot of the gas station on the other side of the highway.  Visitors can learn as much from their time spent here, without having to get the limited tickets necessary to go down inside the launch facility of Delta-01 or venturing further west on I90 to see the actual missile silo at Delta-09.  Because I had done the full tour including the launch facility back in 2012, I only spent around 30 minutes touring the visitor center and viewing the educational videos they have running on continuous loop.

I wasn't going to do it, but I did make my way "to town" . . . Wall, SD home of the world famous "Wall Drug Store" which is really an overrated and high priced tourist trap.  I wasn't going to do it, but in the absence of a Walgreen's within 50 miles, I had little choice when I need to buy some nail care products and body lotion.  I mean seriously, they advertise their great donuts but who in their right mind believes a plain cake donut is worth $1.65?  I'm so glad I'm counting calories and avoiding wasteful spending of my precious allotment of 1,500 per day.

In fact, once in town, I thought a good hamburger would taste pretty darn good but I didn't want to eat at the Wall Drug Cafe.  Instead, I opted for the Cactus Cafe not really knowing what they might have for lunch.  I was very happy with the price and quality of the burger I had.

I made my way back into the park, and found a nice picnic area to park to take care of my badly damaged nails.  Who would think that camping would be so hard on your hands and fingernails?  I did a self-manicure while enjoying a lovely view.  It was very windy which made the air feel cooler than the 88F on my thermometer.

One of the worst times to plan to do photography at Badlands National Park is between the hours of about 10am and 4pm.  As the sun is higher in the sky, it really washes out the beautiful colors of the landscape, rocks and flowers.  Additionally, the animals avoid the high sun, so typically you won't see much in the way of wildlife.  When I made my way back to camp around 3pm, I was surprised to see that every tent in the campground except for one, had been blown down or collapsed in the high winds.

I spent some time at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center and in camp, until the sun got lower in the sky.  When I went back out, there were storms brewing in the distance making for beautiful contrasts.  After the thunderstorms passed through, a beautiful rainbow was seen to the east but unfortunately, there was no convenient pullout or parking area to take photos.  So for me, it was more of a spectator type of afternoon and early evening.

Adjacent to the visitor center is the Cedar Pass Lodge where they have a decent restaurant and gift shop.  This is the same place where you take care of your camping reservations/fees and can buy ice for your cooler.  Both the lodge and visitor center have free WiFi so I was able to connect with home and check work email.  I had also decided earlier in the day that if I could get a campsite at Yellowstone National Park, I would extend my trip and plan to be home by Sunday.

I'll close this blog entry with several of the landscape photos that I took throughout this day.  Sometimes the most interesting thing to photograph is the sky!  (P.S.  Today's mileage was 165.)