Badlands

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed driving through South Dakota. The flat lands of the Midwest slowly started to disappear as we passed sparsely populated grassy plains. Once we reached the southern half of South Dakota, a dry and rocky landscape emerged. Growing up in Illinois I’m used to cornfields and watching out for wild deer. The rocky plains with bison, antelope and long horned sheep made me feel like I was on a safari. We stopped at Badlands National Park to enjoy the beauty of rocky stalagmites and canyons showcasing layers of erosion.

One could easily drive through Badlands National Park and experience the glory of the landscape. However, I’d recommend the Notch trail if you want to see a high density of interesting rock formations during a relatively easy hike. We also hiked the Medicine Root trail which had rock structures spread out across 4 miles as we hiked through fields full of wild flowers.

My favorite part of the day was when we made the 45 minute drive from the Ben Reifel Visitor Center to the Sage Creek Campground. It was the golden hour which is when the animals are most active. We had to stop our car as a herd of Bison decided to cross the street. We saw prairie dogs peeking their heads from holes in the ground and I felt like I was watching a David Attenborough documentary. Sage Creek campground made for an ideal camp spot. It was free camping, with enough campers to feel safety in numbers but not too many to feel like a Coronavirus ticking time bomb.

The next morning we packed our camp and drove for one hour before reaching Mount Rushmore. I’d never had dreams of visiting this national monument but when in South Dakota you might as well. The town outside of the monument looked cute, quaint, old fashioned and touristy. We avoided all contact with this town though as we tried to stay Coronavirus-free. My initial thought on Mount Rushmore is that it is much smaller than I expected. Clearly most pictures of it utilized the zoom function. After an underwhelming look at dead presidents immortalized in stone we headed into Wyoming.