Who knew that a place called badlands could be this gorgeous!?!
Erosion can do some amazing things. A ridge of badlands crosses central South Dakota. This ridge is slowly being melted away by water and wind erosion, leaving a cliff and really cool effects with the rocks. The prairie continues south of the badlands like nothing happened at all.
Badlands National Park protects a large amount of South Dakota’s badlands. Badlands may not be good for farming, but they are great for hiking and blissfully viewing.
I explored only the North Unit of the park. The North Unit has two scenic roads, one paved, one dirt. They both have formal overlooks and other non-named overlooks. I loved all the places to pull over for pictures. Pictures of random overlooks will be dispersed among the ones from trails I hiked.
Jana Irving Gorgeous badlands in the far eastern side of the park.
Jana Irving Erosion has some super cool effects.
Jana Irving A higher view along the scenic drive.
Jana Irving Curving though the formations.
Jana Irving View from the boardwalked Fossil Exhibit Trail.
Jana Irving Across the road from the Fossil Exhibit Trail is the western trailhead of the Castle Trail.
Jana Irving Very badlandy.
Jana Irving This was a neat area.
Jana Irving Badlands are awesome.
Jana Irving There isn’t any shade on any of these trails.
Jana Irving Erosion at its finest.
Jana Irving Prairie gives way to badlands. I turned around soon after taking this picture.
Jana Irving Looks like a step pyramid.
Jana Irving Views from the White River Overlook.
Jana Irving It’s very badlandy here.
Jana Irving Now for the Panorama Point Overlook. Fitting name.
Jana Irving The Prairie Wind Overlook. Also, a fitting name.
Jana Irving The Burns Basin Overlook.
Jana Irving The Homestead Overlook. Someone actually tried to homestead down there. It didn’t work out very well for them.
Jana Irving The Badlands continue for on a while.
Jana Irving The Yellow Mounds Overlook. Another fitting name.
Jana Irving Gorgeous landscape.
Jana Irving More sherbert colored hills.
Jana Irving Cool little winding ravine.
Jana Irving The scenic drive winds through the badlands in this section.
Jana Irving The scenic drive continues down the ridge.
Jana Irving Prairie dogs!
Jana Irving A little less badlandy here.
Jana Irving So cute.
Jana Irving Heading back to the paved section of the scenic drive.
And that was all for my first day at Badlands National Park. Here enjoy a couple of pictures from the tourist trap known as Wall Drug, in nearby Wall, South Dakota.
Jana Irving It takes up an entire block, an entire block of kitsch.
Jana Irving So much kitsch.
Jana Irving Somehow there is still an active pharmacy in this place.
Jana Irving The famous jackalope. There are a ton of jackalope themed items in the stores.
Badlands National Park is amazing. It’s actually a great place to visit if you can’t hike. You can see most of the park from the scenic drive, which makes it super convenient. I did go on a couple of more hikes, but I’m saving those for part two.
Check out my next update where I explore more of the gorgeous Badlands National Park.
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Start at the beginning of this northwest Midwest road trip!
