Badlands Loop, Badlands National Park

After dinner at the Golden Corral we got back in the car and took a left out of the lot at the Foothills Inn. This took us up a little rise and there were the entrance ramps to RT 90. We hopped on 90 east which like RT 90 in Massachusetts is a major Highway. Wide and well paved the speed limit in most sections was 70 mph. Traffic was light and I set the cruise control and settled in. Both Sandy and I were watching the scenery, Sandy more than me because I was driving but I confess, I was sneaking peaks whenever possible.
As we came up on a gulley or ravine on the right we saw animals running up the side. It took a minute to identify them. Not deer, not cows, not sheep…pronghorns! AT 70 mph there wasn’t much chance to pull over for a picture but what a start to vacation! We were barely out of the city limits and seeing wildlife.

A little farther along we saw a billboard advertising Wall Drugs. In fact humorous billboards every mile or so said things like :“Wall Drug, 10 miles” or “Wall Drug, Free ice water” and so on. I wish I had pictures of at least some of the signs because they gave us quite a chuckle. Good advertising that’s for sure.

When we had checked in one of the things we asked about was Wall Drug and the clerk said it was the souvenir capital of the area. Sandy was starting to agree with me about adding a stop at Wall Drug to our list.

Somewhere between 50 and 60 miles from Rapid City we saw a sign for the Badlands. RT 240. I had my National Park Pass so there was no charge to enter the park. The drive on the loop road is said to take 60 minutes and maybe that’s true if you just drive it, but we made numerous stops so it took us much longer.
The change from the fairly even , rolling plains that we had just been driving through to the rugged “ Badlands” was dramatic. We made our first stop at a well maintained lookout. If we were tired from the trip, we got our second wind as we gazed out over the amazing landscape. I told Sandy that it reminded me of the area around the Grand Canyon, maybe not as massive or deep but just as breath-taking.



View from the car park




First look at the Badlands

 We spent quite a bit of time walking the paths of this first lookout and just drinking in the vistas. But if we were going to complete the loop in daylight, we finally had to move on.



Sandy on one of the paths




Badlands




Long way back to the car

 The Badlands Loop Road (240) is a State Scenic Byway traveling through the heart of the park. The first ¾ of the loop are well maintained and there are plenty of places to pull off the road and enjoy the scenery. The last ¼ of the loop is under construction. That was fun since we were in a rental car and it was starting to get dark but we made it.



Badland Peaks

 We spotted a family of rabbits at one stop and a desert flower at another.

At one spot a short walk up some rocks opened onto a view of the road winding through the multi colored strata. One of my favorite pictures shows an RV on the road so you can get some idea of the scale of the area.

At just about dark we rounded a corner to see a lot of cars on the side of the road. Looking around we spotted 3 deer enjoying an early evening snack. They we a bit far way but I did manage to get one or two pictures. Both White Tail and Mule Deer are indigenous to the area and look very similar. Most often you hear that Mule Deer have bigger ears but you don’t usually have a mule deer and a white tail side by side to compare ear size. I showed the pictures to some of the local folks and the deer were identified as Mule Deer. That would be my first sighting of a Mule deer in the wild.



Mule deer..Big ears




3 mule deer feeding at dusk




Black tipped tail confirms this is a mule deer

 As we finished the drive and headed beck to RT 90 we were treated to a spectacular display of reds and golds as the sun finally set behind the rugged skyline of the black hills.

Tired but exhilarated too, we began the hour drive back to Rapid City. We were both glad we didn’t miss this!

　
More on the Badlands National Park tomorrow.