Aug. 4, 2023
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I like the dramatic shadow play. When I hear the term Badlands I always think about the movie and more particularly about the theme tune
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The Dakota badlands is an interesting place - in the middle of nowhere. The badlands are hot, make no mistake. But they are teaming with wildlife. Bighorn sheep galore. But the white clay hills filled with rock - come alive at sunrise and sunset at which times one needs to drive slowly as the badlands are teaming with wildlife.
They were the making of myths of old cowboys and old bandits, e.g., Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (who came from a small neighboring town not too far West known as Sundance, WY). Staying at Wall, SD - the town made of myth - one has a difficult time separating fact from fiction. 🙀 Wall is a tourist trap town out of the 1950's tradition. The motels ring true from the 1950's. But interesting none the less and full of an unbridled beauty.
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The name Badlands makes me picture barren rocky places with little life. I have the movies to thank for that false outlook 😀 Maybe they could change the name to Not such Badlands
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That would be a less accurate description.
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Beautiful image. Well done.
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The first time we were in the Badlands was last summer on our way back. We came in from the West through farm land. When we got to the Badlands i was amazed to see all the water. There were plenty of Bison wallows around. There was a big herd of Bison in the Badlands along with Big Horn Sheep. It is hot and dry and windy during the afternoon. However there is an actual river running through. This year they had a wet spring in SD and the Badlands were green - with hill sides full of lush vegetation.
However, when I tired to envision chasing outlaws on horseback through that maze of formations while fighting off rattle snakes - it didn't paint a pretty picture. One could easily get lost and if one did, it might not be pretty. The formations are not rock, but mostly bentonite clay with embedded rock. historysouthdakota.wordpress.com/2017/02/01/bentonite-in-south-dakota/ Bentonite clay goes by the common name of "driller's mud" because of its use to seal round drilling casing. The thing about bentonite clay is when it gets wet - it is slicker than whale snot. Combine that with the fact it sticks to everything which is the reason it is used by drillers, walking on wet Bentonite is like walking on ice. The image I posted, it had rained the night before and I did a face plant getting the picture and ended up covered with white mud.
The Badlands both in SD and ND are formed by erosion (both water and wind) of the clay. Of course not trip to the Badlands would be complete without a stop at Wall Drugs. Wall Drugs is the original "tourist trap." 🤪 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Drug
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100% True, To their credit, Wall Drugs was also a source of air conditioning and ice cream for less heat tolerant (North Dakotan) traveling companions — human and canine — one afternoon when the temperature at the Badlands NP campground hit 110º (under the shade structure). I would have preferred to be out exploring the far-reaches of the park myself, but nothing was moving out there anyhow, and Wall, plus a visit to the missile silo to collect the NP passport stamp, prevented a mutiny that I wouldn’t have survived. We had a great wildlife drive at sunset — when the temp. finally dipped to a tolerable 90º. Followed by a thunderstorm that bent our tent right down into our faces.
“Local” advice — while I generally prefer taking advantage of the NP campgrounds, the nearby KOA is (or at least historically has been) comparably priced — though I’m not sure the camp hosts that greeted us didn’t add a gratuity as the cost was significantly higher than Roosevelt had been three nights prior — and provides better shelter from the wind and sun. Unless you want the authentic Badlands experience.
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True. In 2000, we loaded two horses in our trailer and took off for the summer. I had just started my consulting business and as long as I had an airport - I was fine. We drove from FL to near Moscow, ID where we house set for friends that were going off for 6 weeks to ride the Pony Express recreation endurance race. We stopped a few places along the way. When we turned West on I90 at Sioux Falls, we see a sign for Wall Drugs. Don't remember the exact wording but it was something like "Wall Drug only 290 miles!" So it is WTFO - what is a Wall Drug. There must be a sign every 20 miles or so. We pass the exit for Wall and there is a sign - "You Just Passed Wall Drug" indicating there was a second exit a mile down with parking for large vehicles. I thought what the heck - we'll stop and see. We had reservations at a local horse farm for a couple day just South of Rapids City so had time. We didn't stay long since there was no shade for the horses. But I could see how it was probably an Oasis with cold water for travelers when it first opened.
