A wet Mount Rushmore
We hit I-90 in Rapid City and headed east. Our first stop was at Wall Drug in the town of Wall, SD, a popular travel stop for many years for vacationing families. It's more of a small tourist village than the name implies. There are many gift shops, t-shirts shops, restaurants, cafes, a post office and, of course, a Harley-Davidson dealer. We walked through the area and grabbed some milkshakes on the way out. They also make their own donuts there.
The rain continued to fall, although a bit more steady than earlier in the day. We went south to Badlands National Park. Immediately upon entering the park we saw bighorn sheep roaming the grasslands. We came into the park through the western Pinnacles Entrance, which is across grassy plains. Then suddenly you reach the eroded badlands, where the ground just seems to fall away from you.
Sheep roaming near the Pinnacles Entrance to Badlands National Park.
Looking off the rim of the prairie into the badlands.
The road stays up on the rim of the grassy plains, often hugging the edge of massive bluffs of dirt. The rain obscured our long-distance view in places, but you didn't need to see very far to appreciate the massive features of the badlands. I felt like a tiny ant standing on the edge of an eroded drainage ditch. The landscape is filled with massive trenches and ditches, cutting across the land in every direction. There are many colors within the dirt and rock, giving it a layering effect. Patches of grass dot the features, their bright green color standing out among the bland dirt. Some of the valley floor was very green and appeared manicured, giving it the look of a golf course. We saw bison in the valleys below, and also in the prairie behind us as we stood on the edge. We also saw more sheep and prairie dogs along the numerous overlook pullouts. Small sunflowers dotted the edge of the bluff.
Sunflowers on the rim in the rain.
More sheep
Two bison in the distance in this valley.
More of a green view here with sunflowers filling the Sage Creek Basin.
We took Rim Rd west until the pavement ended. We didn't dare try any gravel today with the weather conditions. We then backtracked to the main road of Hwy 240 and followed it east through the main section of the park. This park is huge, with a big southern sector that is a little more difficult to get to. With our limited time and the crappy weather, we did not get a chance to see any of that part of the park.
The rain stopped as we reached Hwy 240. A large group of sheep were gathered near the edge of the bluff at the Pinnacles Overlook. We got plenty of pictures and got to watch the sheep play for several minutes. There were many small kids within the group. As we moved further east, the clouds began to thin and then suddenly we had a little sunshine!
Pinnacles Overlook
Hwy 240
Over every rise and around every corner, the landscape changed. The hills were different, the layers more defined and the colors changed. One section was almost white, while another had a layer of golden-yellow soil. The next hill over was filled with gray dirt with very defined red stripes running horizontally through it.
Dark clouds in the distance, but the rain stopped.
Red stripes
Hwy 240 crossing this valley
The clouds completely left us as we neared the Ben Reifel Visitor Center. It was like a totally different day! The ground dried quickly and we were able to do a few short hikes. First up was the Fossil Exhibit Trail, a super short loop on a boardwalk through some of the features where fossils have been previously found. It was a good leg stretcher before we hit the visitor's center.
Fossil Exhibit Trail
An interesting rock formation, close to being a hoodoo.
Next up was the Cliff Shelf Nature Trail. Again, it was short at only 0.5 miles, but this one was on dirt and climbed a steep hill for a nice view of the valley to the south and southeast.
Cliff Shelf Nature Trail
Just a few miles of driving later and we were on foot again for more trail time in what was now absolutely beautiful weather. There were three trails to choose from at one trailhead. We could do the longer Notch Trail to a tall, skinny ridge. Or we could do both shorter Window and Door Trails. Shannon was a bit nervous about the ridge on Notch, so we chose to go for two trails instead of one. Window was short and led to a nice overlook with a rock formation below that had a hole in it. Door was slightly longer and crossed more rocky terrain. No trail could be carved into the land so yellow poles guided you to a great overlook that was a "doorway" to the badlands. It has more effect if you come in the Northeastern Entrance and see this first, rather than catch it at the end like we did. Combined, the two trails were only 1.6 miles in length.
The "window" at the end of the Window Trail.
Following yellow poles along the Door Trail.
View from the Door Trail
One more awesome overlook awaited before we left the park. The Big Badlands Overlook is definitely big and bad. The view is huge and the features are nothing short of amazing. Like Bryce Canyon National Park, the geometric qualities of the ridges can mess with your eyes. It almost looks fake at some angles. The view and geometric effect changes with each step as you walk along the rim. It was a great finish to our day in the Badlands.
Big Badlands Overlook
It was back to I-90 after leaving Badlands, heading east the rest of the afternoon and through the night. We crossed South Dakota, catching up with another storm on I-29 as we moved south through Sioux City into Iowa. We crossed Iowa in the night, making it to Missouri by daylight. We took one stop on the way home, in St. Louis at the LDS temple there. We had been by it many times, but never stopped. As with all temples, the grounds were amazing. It was a great resting point before knocking out the last five hours home. What a trip!
Beautiful landscaping on the temple grounds
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