There are two primary routes to the Badlands National Park east of Rapid City off of I90E. But first, we shopped downtown at Prairie Edge. We finally found a moose t-shirt for Mary's daughter, Katie Bonczkowski! Mary purchased a hand drum and a beater for herself. She purchased a beaded medicine bag for me. Prairie Edge houses also a bead museum on the second floor. There is also the most complete collection of Native American out-of-print books and an even larger collection of Native American literature than the one at Crow Agency, MT. Purchases made, we returned to the Travelodge to get ready to travel the rest of the day.
The 240 loop off I90E can be accessed at two exits; one close to Rapid at Wall, SD, and one furthest away at Exit 131. We drove to the furthest exit 131 and then south toward the Badlands National Park Visitor Center. Everyone has heard of "the Badlands" in movies and westerns. But to actually be inside this vast ecosystem is pretty amazing.
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| the road into Badlands NP |
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| desert grassland |
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| not much green |
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| rock formations |
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| layers of rock |
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| each layer has a different color |
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| where there is water, there is aspen |
As you drive through this alien landscape, you wonder how anyone or anything survived here. But then you get to the visitor center, and you can see the aspen growing, and you know that there are pockets of water hidden and nourishing life.
Interestingly, along the border of the Badlands National Park there is the Buffalo Gap National Grassland. The Badlands visitor center also highlights the grassland ecosystem adjacent.
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| Forest Service FS-1152 April 2020 https://www.fs.fed.us/grasslands/ |
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| Mary waiting for the movie to start |
Since we drove east on I90E to Exit 131, and then looped through the Badlands NP, we turned north toward Wall, SD and the road got twisty-turny again. Mary and I switched drivers when the speed limit hit 15mph on the switchbacks. When we reached Wall, SD, our first stop was the Forest Service National Grasslands visitor center. No pictures from that stop, but it was definitely worth stopping there to see all of the National Grasslands pictured on the wall of the center. We met one of the Rangers, Linda, who looks to be close to our age. And, sure enough, this gig is her third or fourth career. She explained about the national grasslands and how much she loves working for the Forest Service in her older age.
We parked in downtown Wall and went first into Wall Drug.
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| Mary asking for directions! |
Wall Drug is a maze of shops and people frantic to get somewhere. Quickly, we realized that we wanted to get out of there as soon as possible! Fortunately, we looked across the street, and sure enough, there was a sit-down restaurant. Our waitress, Iryna, is a refugee from Ukraine. We had great service and excellent conversation before finishing our dinner.
We drove west on I90 into the sunset and a rainy evening, and we were full of images of badlands and grasslands, comparing and contrasting the two within the landscape of South Dakota.
What was meaningful about this day? The pictures we took just do not do justice to the colors of the rock layers. You have to see it to believe it.
What did I learn this day? First of all, I didn't know that the Forest Service maintains the national grasslands. That was new information. Secondly, I would have never imagined the Badlands were so beautiful, even though I was drawn to see them well before we left Kansas on our trip.
What would I do differently if Mary and I travel together in the future? We would always return to Rapid City and South Dakota but we need to find different lodging. The Black Hills area is such a tourist attraction, that lodging anywhere is more expensive than some other stops we made.
