The Badlands

“It’s just like Canyonlands, but made of dirt, not rock.”

“I’d say it’s not bad. Not bad at all.”

“It’s like one minute you’re on the prairie, the next minute you’re on the moon!”

“Ugh. Will someone carry me, please?”

These were a few quotes heard around Badlands National Park on Tuesday. (All spoken by the Ackerman clan.)  What a place! It is so diverse, with open prairies, spots of trees, and looming formations of dirt that have eroded over time to uncover fossils and layers of minerals. It’s stunning.

We entered on the East, taking a miles-long dirt road that shook Samantha and sent things flying. But it was well worth it, as we encountered bison, elk, antelope, and most delightfully hundreds of prairie dogs. One interesting thing about the Badlands is that back country hiking and camping are encouraged, so we parked at a few overlooks and did some trekking, finding animal tracks and spotting incredible formations. We slowly made our way to our campsite, which was on the eastern tip of the park, and set up just as it started raining.

The next morning was sunny with blue skies, so we ventured out to hike some more. A 1.5 mile hike was labeled “strenuous” and we found out why when we came upon a wooden ladder mid-hike. Maggie caught “congratulations” from other hikers as she swiftly navigated the ladder, and the rest of our climb lead to amazing views of the valley.

It’s safe to say the Badlands was one of our favorite parks. I also included in this post some pictures of Deadwood, the famous Western town in South Dakota, and Mount Rushmore, both of which we visited on our way to the Badlands. Deadwood was disappointingly full of bars and casinos (“true to the history” thought Matt) and Mount Rushmore was pretty cool to see, especially since it had a few wild goats hanging around.