The Badlands, South Dakota

     
(Location P) We've been once before when AJ was just three months old.  Our memories were so fond of our adventure through the wilderness of Badlands National Park that we were excited to do it again.  We stayed at a campground just a mile south of the National Park, and it met our very low expectations just fine.  The town of Interior, SD doesn't offer a whole lot, and it may be the only town we've stayed at to this point with a population of less than 100 people.  Though the landscape is beautiful, I fully understand why there aren't more people living in the area.  Badlands is essentially a stopover for most people anyhow, able to see the essence of the park in just a few hours.  But to really enjoy the beauty and uniqueness of this park, it really deserves more time.  Which is why we were so happy to have stayed so close to the park, even if only for two nights.

     To really see the Badlands, you have to realize several things.  First, this is the only National Park in the country that is entirely open to hiking (so we were told).  There are essentially no "off limits" areas, to include the pinnacles and rocky peaks throughout the park.  That makes for some pretty great hiking adventures, as seen in some of our photos.  We retraced our hike from 5 years prior, though not quite as far this time.  AJ and I even encountered a lone bison hiding behind a dune, just as we did 5 years before.  And we were somewhat nervous stumbling upon such a massive creature in the wild, just like before.  

     Second, the Badlands is one of the most fossil rich areas in the world.  New fossils are found regularly by visitors to the park, making it pretty exciting for the boys knowing there is a chance they too could find a "Big Pig" or some other animal's ancient fossilized remnants.  The boys may have found a small fossilized jawbone on our final hike, but our novice eyes quickly lost track of it among the rubble.  


The "Big Pig" fascinates AJ.  At nearly 7 ft long and with a jaw able to crush a small child, this Archaeotherium is quite the beast.

     Finally, with absolutely nothing around, the night sky in the Badlands compares with remote Nevada and Utah stargazing.  We rode our bicycles the mile into the park after dark to enjoy what may be the country's best Ranger Talk, due mostly to the fantastic ranger, whose name eludes me.  We had marshmallows and campfire songs, all without the campfire.  The talk concluded with telescopic viewing of a pair of twin stars (blue and white) and Saturn.  Finally we began an extremely dark bike ride home, with our bikes lit up with every type of flashlight and strobe.  We biked through groups of bats enjoying the night bugs, came face to face with a hungry group of mule deer, and avoided disaster with a striped skunk stumbling along the roadside.  

     We may find ourselves back at the Badlands again one day.  We enjoy seeing the prairie dogs, bison and bighorn sheep.  The landscape is absolutely spectacular, and the adventure of fossil hunting is enough to keep us busy for days.  Hopefully we'll choose  to make any future trip in cooler weather.  

Baby A rocking it on the rocks.  She slept in my arms for the hike back to the car.

AJ on the move

Abandoned bird nests made of mud

The arch in the rocks towards the top center of the above photo is easily large enough to walk through, giving you a sense of how vast the area is, even within these canyon hikes.  Rugged terrain, but very unique hiking for us compared to the usual forests.