Girls Weekend, South Dakota, Monday, October 7

Monday, October 7, 2019

Kathi and I at Pinnacles Overlook in Badlands National Park

Today we have dedicated to visiting the Badlands.  I have to say that one really nice thing about staying in Rapid City is that it is pretty centrally located in regards to all the BIG attractions in South Dakota.  Spearfish, Mt Rushmore, Needles Highway, Custer State Park and Badlands National Park are all within a one hour radius of Rapid City, so it is a good place to call home base on a South Dakota trip.

We got out of the door around noon after having a lazy morning at the house.  The Badlands are an hour east of Rapid City and almost immediately upon getting on the interstate we started seeing signs for Wall Drug.  We had talked about Wall Drug when discussing where all we wanted to go while here and we were both ambivalent about going there, but once we hit the road and started seeing signs about every 1/4 mile we decided we might as well go and see what all the fuss is about!  It is basically just a gigantic tourist trap that seems to carry a little bit of everything. What made Wall Drug so famous was the fact that they offered free ice water to folks traveling to the Badlands.  That is what drew people in and they continue to offer free ice water today.  Kathi decided she had to have some so that is what she has in her hand in the photo below.  I have ice cream! Kathi also was really wanting to get some Sudafed and she was able to purchase some here because there actually is still a real pharmacy on the property. We also got some ice cream then got back into the car to begin our adventure in the Badlands.

          

              

Oh my, what a beautiful place!  It is nearly indescribable.  All the rock formations with striations of the different kinds of rocks forming canyons.  It is truly an amazing place and I would say is, hands down, my favorite place in South Dakota.  We did discover, however, the the Badlands Loop Road is NOT a loop at all.  It just take one from one end of the park to another.  It is a beautiful drive, but absolutely NOT a loop!

We not only saw beautiful scenery here, we also saw prairie dogs and big-horned sheep.  Prairie dogs are just cute and fun to watch, while the male big-horned sheep we saw are just splendidly magnificent animals.   I love that you can see these animals in the wild here.  It is so different seeing them in their natural habitat roaming free rather than a zoo.

After completing the loop road that was not a loop road that was not a loop at all we did find a way to circle back to the Pinnacles overlook where we had originally entered the park so that we could watch the sunset.  While it was not a spectacular as I was hoping for, it was still quietly beautiful and a joy to watch. I know this includes a lot of photos, but it is just to hard to describe with words.  I have to say that Badlands National Park is my favorite place of all that we visited while in South Dakota and I think that Kathi agrees. I'm just going to leave this right here.