Blogs from Badlands National Park, South Dakota, United States, North America - page 2

Geo: 43.715, -102.571It was like déjà vu all over again. 45 years ago, my family did an amazing trip across country from Maryland to Wyoming. On the way, we stopped in South Dakota at Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore, and the Badlands National Park. Sheila and I hit those places again today.We saw bison and antelope at Custer State Park; George, Thomas, Teddy and Abe at Mount Rushmore; and some crazy moonscapes at the Badlands. We also went by the Crazy Horse Mountain where the Native Americans are competing with Mt. Rushmore with a mountain sculpture of Crazy Horse. Apparently they have been working on it for about 30 years and all they have is the face.....step it up.Heading east, we went to the Badlands National Park. I remembered the Badlands so vividly from 45 years ... read more

Today was our first really long drive day - clocking in at about 9 hours. We kicked off the day with a yummy hotel breakfast - and once Jon had mastered the awkward bathroom taps - we were ready to roll. That is for a sum total of 5 minutes through town when we hit the railroad tracks and freight train rush hour. We sat at that crossing for over 30 minutes as we watched 3 freight trains go past. One of those trains had at least 110 cars! A little bit of wikipedia in the car and we think that one of those empty cars weighs about 230,000 pounds. Jon was “astounded” which was pretty cute. Once on the road again, it didn’t take long before we were on the long straight highway heading through ... read more

Up not too early and back to the mall to pick up some souvenirs since the stores were closed last night. Ate at Crackerbarrel, but they were out of the oatmeal that Mike was so looking forward to! Bummer! So, late start for the drive to SD to the Badlands. Luckily, the change in time zones seems to be saving us. It was 100-deg as we passed into SD (although with the prairie winds it definitely wasn’t too bad) and we are just in awe of the landscape – just vast prairies. You can see forever! And then we see the Badlands in the distance – Awesome! You wonder what the pioneers though as they road endlessly across the prairies and then suddenly you see these unbelievable formations! We arrived at the visitor’s center just before ... read more

We woke up to a downpour which made packing and loading up a bit interesting, before we headed to 2 places we skipped the day before to reach Deadwood. First up was Crazy Horse Memorial. A mountain monument started in the '40s and still being made with no Government funding - just the interested public's donations and vistor fees. Only the face has been completed, but only as recent as 1998, and it stands proudly overlooking the Black Hills of South Dakota. Mount Rushmore itself can fit in Crazy Horse's head alone! There is a viewpoint in and outside of the visitor centre, with a small replica statue standing there to give everyone an idea of what the final outcome will look like, but it is unknown when that will ... read more

After some much needed R&R in Minnesota, we were ready for some camping in the Badlands. Not long after we took the exit for the park....BAM....it was in your face. The landscape left me speechless!!! It looked like a mini Grand Canyon that i'd seen on post cards. It took us two hours to go five miles into the park because every time we rounded a corner we saw another spectacular view. We checked in at the visitor center, got some maps, and inquired about back-country camping. Back-country camping is allowed but we were warned about the wildlife and the lack of water. Eventually we decided to make camp at a free site on the south end of the park. Sage creek campground was a little 15 site camp tucked in a small valley with ... read more