On our way through to the Black Hills, we stopped in at Badlands National Park. We planned on camping at a free BLM (Bureau of Land Management) location, but due to rain and storms we decided to play it safe and grabbed a couple nights at Badlands Interior Campground just outside the park. The location was fantastic!
Badlands National Park has a bit of a soft spot in my heart – when I was in college I went with a few friends on a roadtrip to Yellowstone. Along the way, we stopped here. After driving all night in the old, dodgy Ford Windstar van we borrowed (transmission would drop to neutral when trying to downshift up grade, and at one point it was about 3 qts low on oil…) we made it to a campground inside the park sometime in the late morning. We passed out for a bit and woke up surrounded by bison! It was a real experience. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any bison on this trip into the park, but we did have a bit more time to explore this time around.
The first day we took a drive around the park and spent a while trying to soak up the information at the visitor’s center. There isn’t a lot to say, just lots of pictures of this beautiful park to follow.
The next day we went for a hike on the Window Trail, as well as the Notch Trail. Both had great views!
Next up, we have the Black Hills!
-Kyle