My youngest son and I spent a couple of days in the Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Here’s an account, and if you want to call it a guide, sure. Some of the photos, I’ve put on other posts, some are new.
How long?
Up to you! I think it would be very doable to just do a drive through of the park, get out for some short hikes and overviews, and call it a day. The Badlands Loop Road goes through the northern section of the park, and gives you ample opportunities for viewing fantastic formations. You could take 2-3 hours and have a very decent experience.
(That said – we went in late August, on weekdays. There were not a lot of people there. I don’t know if it gets busier during the height of the summer. I don’t have a sense that it does – there are, for example, no expressed concerns about traffic, or shuttles available, as there are at parks such as Zion or Bryce Canyon.)
We did two days, and I’m glad we did. I wanted to spend at least one night in the park to experience the night sky. We could have probably made do with one night, but I’m glad we stayed for two.
Where to stay?
Wall, South Dakota is about 20 miles away from the entrance we used (there’s another, closer). There are cheap hotels there and it’s an easy, straight shot drive to the park. I’m sure it would be fine! But I wanted to stay in the park, and, even as late as I started looking into it (about a month before), I lucked out, and as it happened there were two nights available for one of the cabins at the Cedar Pass Lodge – the only available vacancies, and they were just what we needed. Yes, more expensive than staying in Wall, but it’s the only property in the park, so what do you expect?
The cabin was fairly newly constructed, and was lovely. A single large room with one king bed and one queen, a fridge, microwave and front porch with rockers. I will say that the internet was not great. My philosophy is that places like this should get rid of their big flat-screen televisions and invest in internet boosters. It’s all well and good to say “get
away from it all” but you know what? Today, most of us (unfortunately) live our lives online – that is to say, we do all of our bill-paying and other life transactions online, and in an area in which there was no cel service (for me, anyway), it’s more than a slight inconvenience to not be able to easily access things like your bank account and home security.
There’s a cafe and shop connected to the Lodge, and the items in both were very fairly priced – often in places like this, with a captive audience, you feel ripped off by the costs of food and other necessities, but not here.
I’ll just say – if the Badlands interests you and you can swing it, staying at Cedar Pass – either in a cabin, or camping/RVing if that’s your thing – is a great idea. You’re in the park, you’re right next to the Visitor’s Center and the amphitheater where they do night presentations – really great. The servers in the restaurant were super-friendly and while the food was very average, it wasn’t overpriced, at least.
What to do?
Walk. And walk and walk!
Badlands is unique because it’s an “open hike” environment. That is – there are trails, but you are welcome to go off them and walk where ever. There aren’t any dire warnings about Evil Human Impact because, as I mentioned before, the landscape is basically piles of dried mud (to use a technical term) and is eroding at a very rapid rate anyway. Nothing anyone can do about it, so go ahead and walk where you want.
But
Because those structures are dried, crumbling mud, they can be treacherous. I would never, ever walk on any of it after a rain. Going up can be challenging, and coming down on a path of slippery pebbles and dirt can be dangerous.
And yeah, leave the flip-flops in the car and wear, you know – shoes.
Here are some of the areas in which we walked (list of trails):
Saddle Pass Trail: First hike, before we checked into the room. It goes up at a good clip about 1/8 mile, but since it’s straight up, it’s not super easy, and coming down is *fun* in spots. It joins to two other trails. We didn’t go on any of those at that time, but just explored around a bit.
This was at the top of the Saddle Pass trail – M is out there somewhere.
Door and Notch Trails: This was Tuesday’s major activity. We attended the Geology Talk at the Door Trail in the morning, then headed over to the Fossil Trail for their talk. After a break to go to the Minuteman site off park, we came back in the afternoon and spent several hours exploring the Door and Notch trails, which are near each other – trailheads from the same parking lot.
The Door Trail is partly boardwalk, but then that opens up (hence the name, I assume) to an otherworldly landscape of mesas and valleys. Again – all open for exploring – go down into a crevice, walk around for a while, then good luck finding a way back up!
The Notch Trail features a ladder – it wasn’t nearly as daunting as the ladder at Bandelier National Monument, but it might not be for everyone. After the ladder, you wander around, first on a cliff edge, and then into a more open space, which takes you to a …notch in the rocks, giving you a view of the terrain below.
Monday early evening, after we checked into the cabin, we drove the Badlands Loop Road all the way out to the Prairie Dog town. Now, prairie dogs are not something you have to make much effort to see in this part of the world, of course – they’re everywhere. But this is a spot with a path that takes you out among them – standing at their burrows and chirping madly, warning each other of approaching monsters.
And then…yes.
Did you hear that? How could you not?
(Of course I hadn’t)
Son stoops down and peers into an overgrown den, points – SO EXCITED –
Look – it’s a rattlesnake!
Oh. Yay. Maybe it’s time to go back?
Snake in the grass.
Those were the trails we tackled, but even then, the term “trail” only barely applies. There are markers (poles), but the landscape is such that it’s all just dirt and rocks and you just…wander.
Programs:
As you’d expected from the National Park Service, every single person working – either paid or as a volunteer – is engaging and helpful. We went to three programs: The Geology Walk was the least informative. As the ranger told us, the normal Ranger/Geologist who would lead this walk was gone for the season, and although she was well-intentioned, she had no more to tell us than any of the signage. Well, it got us up early, so I’ll say that.
The Fossil Talk, led by a volunteer, was great. He had his samples and casts, knew what he was talking about, and had years of experience in the park – and in other interesting places around the world. A wonderful model of a well-lived life – an old guy who spends half of his year traveling the world, half volunteering at this park and still speaks of his “dear 97-year old mum.”
The Night Ranger talk in the amphitheater touches on varied topics. This night was on the Bighorn Sheep, which was well-done and interesting. It was followed up by sky viewing – really good, since, of course, the night sky was gorgeous and, despite some clouds, very visible, and the ranger had a cool laser pointer that seemed to reach right up to the stars.
Wildlife:
Rabbits, Bighorn Sheep, Antelope of some sort, least chipmunk, prairie dogs, bats (those at the hotel, not in the zoo!), birds, most notably magpies – very long tails, aggressive. Toads. Didn’t see “wild” bison, but saw livestock bison in a herd, ears tagged.
Wrap-Up
I love national and state parks and historic sites. I’m not outdoorsy, but I so appreciate the work in making this beauty accessible, even to people like me – maybe especially for people like me. I’m fascinated by the history of these places – I’m just as interested in how parks become parks as I am in the natural history – probably more.
Walking into the busy Badlands Visitor’s Center, being surrounded by people from all walks of life and from all over the world, hearing the voices of super-helpful NPS employees and volunteers, I honestly get a little bit, stupidly, verklempt. It really represents the best of us, of who we are and I’m so proud of it all. Of course, our parks are under pressure from us humans – high season at parks like Zion, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and the Smokies are crazy and perhaps not sustainable. But I think most reasonable people are willing to sacrifice some access in order to preserve what’s there.
Yes, I’m a fan of the NPS (and state parks and historic sites!) – in my view, the NPS and Social Security are two government entities that Get It Right, most of the time. (I say Social Security, not because I don’t think it’s a program that doesn’t need reform and isn’t prone to exploitation, but because my dealings with Social Security over the past ten years have been impressive – prompt responses to issues, knowledgeable and professional employees.
Anyway.
Badlands? A good visit. M wants to return, but then he says that about most places we go to. Me – eh. I enjoyed it and really was amazed by the formations and intrigued by the natural history, but I’d rather spend time in more varied landscapes with, you know, trees and such. And water. Water’s good.
