South Dakota: Badlands National Park

Our original plan was to stop by Badlands National Park on our way to Minneapolis. But as we were planning out our final day in Custer, we realized that we'd probably have time to head out to Badlands in addition to our other stops. And, man, I'm so glad we didn't try to squeeze Badlands into one very long travel day. It was fascinating and I'm glad we got to enjoy it properly, even if we may have melted in the process.

Before we got to Badlands, our first stop was the Crazy Horse Memorial. It's been under construction for decades and will take decades to finish, but it was interesting to visit the site and learn about the history and plans. The tribal members who are leading this project have also established a university for tribal members and this location is part of the university system. When they finish the memorial it will be stunning and such a pointed response to Rushmore. My only disappointment is I forgot to take pics while we were there.

Our next stop was a dog-friendly dinosaur museum/mini golf course outside of Rapid City. A few of the exhibits we're interesting, but the whole place felt like it may fall down sometime soon. Definitely past it's hayday, but the mini golf made it a worthwhile stop. And the boys loved the very random mirror maze.

After that stop, we grabbed lunch and started the 60-min drive to Badlands NP. I thought Badlands would be interesting, but it didn't have particularly high hopes for it. Needless to say I was blown away. Part of that may have been the way we entered the park. Coming in from the west, we saw a few formations in the distance, but for the most part it was like any drive through the high plains. Full of grasses and a few hills here and there and that continued as we formally entered the park at the Pinnacles Overlook entrance. We were amused by the prairie dog colonies and continued along until, much like at Canyonlands, the bottom just dropped out and the Badlands appeared.

All the pictures I'd seen of it before made it look completely unhabitable, which it generally is, but in the valleys and waterways, I was blown away to see so much vegetation and green prairie lands and even flowers here and there.

Nate and I ate up the geological history of the area and on one of the stops he casually mentioned he had considered switching majors in college to study geology instead of comp sci. I didn't expect this trip to a national park to learn something new about my husband, so double bonus.

The other thing that must be noted about this visit is that it was BRUTALLY hot. At many stops Holden happily declined getting out of the car because of the heat, so we kept the AC on for him and the dog. We didn't even bother letting Coltrane out because I figured the heat off the asphalt might injure his feet.

What an adventure and unexpected time we had at Badlands. So glad we were able to make the stop.Read more