77-Mile Loop Through the Badlands

We were up early this morning, as we were trying to fit three days of activities into two because the Badlands National Park (actually Aramark, the company that is contracted to run the campground) cancelled our reservation. So hang onto your hats, we're traveling fast today on this 77-mile loop through the Badlands. We started with a 4-mile drive to the trailhead of the Saddle Pass Trail. It's just a quarter-mile hike, so it won't take long to check this stop off our list. But we didn't remember that this trail was rated as strenuous and steep. It was tough climbing, but we soon could see the tops of the badlands formations around us. We took this picture, and if you look exactly in the center you will see something else that made this hike slower.

That tiny dot in the center of the picture above (that is very hard to see) was a bighorn sheep. Just like you probably missed it, we would have too. But a couple hikers ahead of us were taking pictures of him, and alerted us to this early morning wildlife sighting.

We continued taking pictures of the bighorn sheep . . . and pictures of Denisa taking pictures of the bighorn sheep . . .

and more pictures of the bighorn sheep when he finally stood up . . .

and more pictures of Mark scrambling up to the highest spot to take more pictures of the bighorn sheep . . .

and more pictures of the bighorn sheep bowing . . .

and more pictures of the bighorn sheep back where we started. You might notice that he is the same color as the sandstone rock formations, so these animals blend in well with their habitat. It's a rare treat to spot one, so we obviously took too many pictures of this guy.

The whole time that we were scrambling up the VERY steep Saddle Pass Trail, Denisa was worried about how she was ever going to get back down. The trail was made of tiny rolling rocks that were hard to hike up, and they provided no traction for going down safely. So she decided that she would rather get to the top of Saddle Pass, and then continue down the less-steep trail on the other side to get to the grassy prairie below. So that's exactly what she did. The only problem is that puts her on the wrong side of the hill from where the pickup is parked. Denisa is in the picture below, but she's so tiny compared to the landscape that she's hard to spot.

This time Mark zoomed in to see Denisa walking away. She will have to hike another 2.3 miles on the Castle Trail to get back to the road, but at least she won't have to go down that awful, steep Saddle Pass Trail.

On the other hand, Mark continued even higher up the Saddle Pass, until he was just a blurry red dot on the very top.

From there he could take yet another picture of the bighorn sheep from a different angle.

Then Mark slid and skidded down that steep trail to where our pickup was waiting in the parking lot below. Even sure-footed Mark had trouble getting down. He fell twice, scraped up his hand, and landed hard on his tail another time. Every time he tried to stand up, the ground would slip out from under him. Denisa obviously had no business going down this trail.

Meanwhile, back on the Castle Trail, Denisa is walking down the lonely, but flat trail. 

Mark drove the pickup to the castle parking lot, and got there about the time Denisa showed up at the castle. Check two more hikes off our list, but that was an unexpectedly long hike this morning.

At the parking lot, Denisa had to stop and enjoy the swallows that were darting in and out of the shaded information kiosk.

The parents were coming in and out of the nests, feeding the babies this morning. Then they zipped out of the opening in the mud nest to hunt more bugs.

Our next hike was a quick loop on the Fossil Exhibit Trail. A boardwalk takes visitors around a loop that includes bronzed fossil replicas of now-extinct creatures that once roamed the area.

Fossils are everywhere at Badlands National Park, and visitors are encouraged to be temporary paleontologist. If a fossil is spotted, visitors should take a picture, note the exact location, leave the fossil in its original location, and fill out a report at the fossil office at the visitor center. That's how this huge jaw bone was found that is now on display at the park.

We watched as an intern used a fine air drill to remove the dirt from a large fossilized turtle. It's a slow process, and she had only removed a square inch of dirt from the fossil in her work all day.

We continued our drive through Badlands National Park, stopping at more of the view points and snapping more pictures. As it got later, the traffic definitely got heavier. At the Pinnacle Overlook there were two big tour buses, and every parking space in the large lot was full. We had to move deeper into the landscape to get a picture without the thronging crowds in it.

At the Yellow Mounds Overlook we saw the most unusually colored sandstone formations in the entire park.

So of course we had to hike to them and see them up close. You might notice that Mark hikes on them . .  .

while Denisa is happy to hike beside them. She has learned her lesson today about hiking up on these slippery rocks.

It's a 22-mile drive through Badlands National Park, and we went all the way to the north entrance. Standing in the pasture right outside of the park, were several bison welcoming visitors to the Badlands.

Our reason to take this exit was to check out a possible RV camping spot, since we need to find a place for tomorrow night. Mark had read about an open field where RVs are allowed to park for free just outside the national park. We saw around thirty RVs parked along this ridge and scattered in the pasture. But the half-mile dirt road was really bumpy in our four-wheel-drive pickup. We weren't interested in taking our motor home through that, even though some people obviously did. With rain in the forecast, that road and the pasture would get even worse.

We returned back to Badlands National Park, to drive the most westerly seven miles of gravel road that few people see. We were enjoying wandering through more of God's wonders here in Badlands National Park. No tour buses on this tip of the park, and we were told that the bison and other wild animals were more often seen in this less-traveled stretch of road.

We did see the bison herd, but the pictures were blurry because they were so far away.

Another ten-mile drive brought us to the town of Wall, South Dakota. Situated on I-90, this little store calls itself the Gateway to the Badlands. While it started as a drug store, it has grown into an indoor mall of stores that covers an entire city block.

In 1936, the store was struggling to make a profit, even though thousands of potential customers drove right outside their front door every day. But those cars on the interstate never stopped. So the owners of the drug store started placing signs along the highway, offering free ice water to travelers. Ever since, tourists have been stopping here, and the drug store has turned into a major roadside attraction. Of course, we had to get our (very small) free glass of ice water.

But we also had to get a picture on the jackalope in the backyard playground.

The whole place is filled with photo opportunities and souvenirs that tempt the ice-water-guzzling tourists. Their signs along the highway made us hungry for a piece of homemade pie with homemade ice cream. But when we found that one piece was over $10, we opted for the ice water instead.

Seven miles southeast of the town of Wall on I-90, we exited to see the Delta 09 Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. From 1963 to 1991, this was the home of an armed 1.2-megaton nuclear missile aimed at Russia. (That's 66 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan at the end of World War II.) The cement lid was replaced with a glass top so visitors could look down and see the now un-armed missile.

Looking down the glass-topped tube, this is what we could see.

While this site doesn't have a visitor center, visitors can dial a phone number to listen to a ten-part audio description of what they are seeing. There was also an information board that described the accuracy of these missiles This missile could leave this hole in the ground in South Dakota and hit a target in Russia within thirty minutes after the president pushed the magic button.

A drawing diagrammed more of the underground missile launch tube. At one time there were 1,000 of these minuteman missiles spaced over the plains of the Midwest. We drove 15 miles further down I-90 to visit the Minuteman Missile National Historic Visitor Center to learn even more about the program. There are actually three different historical missile locations along Interstate 90: the Minuteman 09 that we just visited, the Visitor center 15 miles away, and the Minuteman Launch Control Facility that is in between. Tours are available to visit the launch facility, but we found that we should have made a reservation for that about 90 days in advance. Instead, we spent a couple hours at the visitor center, watching the film and going to a virtual tour program. We had very interesting history lessons today!

It was another eleven-mile drive off the interstate to return to Badlands National Park and our final hike. When we visited the ranger station yesterday, we got a "Hiking in the Park" brochure with eight different hikes highlighted. 

We just had to stop today to do our eighth and last hike--the Cliff Shelf. This loop trail climbs stairs and takes visitors right under "the notch," which was the first trail we took the day before.

We were glad to look up to see a couple hikers peeking through the notch high above us. It feels like this 77-mile loop through the Badlands has come full circle!

We stopped in at the visitor center to return the complaint form that we were asked to complete about the campground fiasco. It's been a fast trip through the Badlands, but we made good use of our two days.