Bad Driving

Badlands, South Dakota

Driving on the Badlands National Park Loop offers plenty of upclose encounters with the unusual rock formations and the creatures that live there.(Panoramic View)

The sheer beauty and otherworldliness of the South Dakota Badlands invites exploration. Multi–colored, ragged, sandy peaks cast shadows and allow light to create different impressions during different times of the day, different weather conditions and different times of the solar and lunar cycles. Exploring just once is not enough to capture the experience.

Riding in our convertible gave us a view of the incredible vistas. In addition, the park features grassy prairies on the tops of the formations, sandy bottoms in the lower areas and a host of vegetation and rock formations in between. Antelope, bison, deer, prairie dogs, chipmunks and hawks dominate the park’s wildlife, though rumors of ferrets and mountain sheep were also afoot.

Exploring the Badlands can be done in a number of ways: driving, horseback, hiking, helicopter and off–road vehicles. The Badlands Scenic Byway Loop (highway) is a 31–mile paved road that extends from the northeastern entrance (near Cactus Flat) to the western entrance (8 miles south of Wall). It is the most popular way to see the Badlands and the most accessible.

Driving along the loop is easy along the flat tops of the rock formations. Along the loop are a number of scenic overlooks, picnic areas and trail entrances. These respites offer a variety of views along with some services, including accessible restrooms and large picnic tables. The Ample Traveler© spent four hours the first day exploring each of these overlooks. Sage Creek Rim Road is graveled and slower than the loop, but the vistas are worth the trip. Their accessibility ranged from the best thing to do being to sit in the car and look to well–crafted, wheel–chair accessible ramps leading to beautiful vistas.

The picnic tables are somewhat difficult to get to by wheelchair or scooter. Larger folk might find them a tight squeeze. The restrooms are large and easy to enter and exit. They have handrails. The toilets, however, are really outhouses. The seating is a little shaky, and some of them were set too close to the wall, making it difficult for larger people to use.

The absence of handrails and/or seats on some of the scenic overlooks made it difficult for people with stamina issues to use the ramps even when sturdy, modern, wide boardwalks were available.

Most of the formations are shades of white and gray with a bit of pink. There are places in the park however that have much more vivid colors, including yellows and greens. These colors result from the different minerals that have settled in the formations over time.

The parking lots, however, were often designed in such a way that on overlooks where negotiating the access was difficult, much could be seen from the car. The Ample Traveler© toured the loop in a convertible on a wonderfully sunny day. A higher vehicle might have given even more visibility, though having the top down certainly increased the possibilities for vistas.

The loop, however, is not the only road worth taking. Three dirt roads are also worth the trip if your vehicle can handle it. Our sporty convertible did just fine, though we are still cleaning off the dust both inside and outside the car. Conata Road (Hwy 509) is the flattest of the dirt roads. It leads to a wonderful picnic area where the chipmunks are almost tame. It is not a good idea to feed the locals; however, dropped food is usually gone before you can pick it up if a chipmunk is in attendance. We also saw some unusual birds.

Sage bushes line the road along Sage Creek Rim Road and add to the splendor.
We took two other tours on dirt roads. One loop is taking the Sage Creek Rim Road (519) from the Badlands Loop Road until you reach Sage Creek Road (502, 590). This takes you to about 2 miles south of Wall. This is the shorter of the two routes.

The grass growing along the flat tops of the formations create a perfect environment for prairie dogs, buffalo, antelops and ferrets. There were holes for as far as the eye can see.
Before running off, you will get a great view of Roberts Prairie Dog Town, a section of grassy prairie that is home to over 6,000 prairie dogs. You don’t want to wander onto the prairie because of the rattlesnakes. However, the prairie dogs are a lot of fun to watch as they pop up and down.

Bison are usually spotted along this route, though we only saw a couple on our first trip through.

By the way, The Ample Traveler©, through hard experience, learned that it is best to bring a lot of water with you on these roads. We got very thirsty, very fast in the dry dust and warm sun.

The second day we took the long route, following Sage Creek Rim Road all the way around from the Badlands Loop Road to just outside the town of Scenic (some 30 miles from Interior and the park entrance). We stopped at several scenic overlooks and at the campground. This is definitely a car tour for anyone needing assistive devices. There is no pavement anywhere. The campground did have accessible restrooms.

The reason for facing the challenge of this dirt road experience is summed up in one word: buffalo. We saw dozens of bison, including a couple up close and personal. Of course, the prairie dogs, antelope and birds were around, but the mighty buffalo made the trip worth it.

Our time in the Badlands was awe–inspiring. It is rugged terrain and as such, there are challenges, but the National Parks Service has done a great job in providing spaces for almost everyone and The Ample Traveler© appreciated their efforts. There is room for improvement, but all in all, it was wonderful time.

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