The Badlands of South Dakota

     En route from Rapid City, South Dakota, to the Badlands, we passed by the town of Scenic, SD.

It looked to have seen better days. 

1906 Saloon

     Buffalo Gap National Grassland, operated jointly by the USDA and the US Forest Service, borders  Badlands National Park to the south. It is one of 20 national grasslands, mostly in the Great Plains, so designated beginning in 1960. 

The native grasses of the prairies were destroyed by homesteaders employing Eastern farming and grazing techniques. Soil erosion set the stage for the Dust Bowl. The government then began buying back the land to recover the prairie. 

      South of the grasslands is the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, which also encompasses the southwest portion of the Badlands. Just past the official Badlands National Park entrance at Interior, we stopped at the Visitors Center.  Above is a view from there.

As with so many of the amazing places we've been fortunate to travel to, it is hard to find words to describe the Badlands. 

The geology of the land produces the shapes and colors, and all of this is changed by light, perspective, the elements, and time.

This guy took a liking to Doug, or at least to his sleeve.

Doug at the Yellow Mounds.

We left the Badlands Loop Road and turned north, passing through the Pinnacles Entrance to the park, toward Wall...

...because, well, there's Wall Drug Store, which basically employs the town, with its many offshoots of tourist shops. What other drug store do you know that advertises its coordinates on the globe?

And there were again the giant silos in town.

Allstays, a great camping app we use, led us to dispersed, i.e., free, camping on "The Wall," a few miles south of town, a glorious spot.

While Marilyn was investigating wildflowers, a wind kicked up.

The van was rather rockin 'n' rollin' after awhile and Marilyn's eyes got bigger and bigger. Even Doug had to admit it was somewhat exciting.

Around 7 PM, we decided not to be sitting ducks in the wind, thunder, and lightning. After rejecting a possible site below the top of The Wall, we headed down the dirt road back to the main road, noting that at least one RV was also departing The Wall. After 5 miles of pavement, we turned onto Sage Creek Rim Road for 18 miles of fairly good washboard to Sage Creek Campground down in the valley. With Doug's amazing driving skills, we made it just at dusk. A passing car alerted us to look for the buffalo above, who was bedded down next to the road--wouldn't wish to hit him!

 Sage Creek is also a free campground. Buffalo (American bison) grazed nearby and are known to lumber through the campground.

And there was a prairie dog town all around to amuse us.

We departed the next day after a leisurely morning. Leaving the campground we were astounded to see the numbers of buffalo. Several bulls stood apart from their herds.

Females and young buffalo.

Two young bulls who grazed a bit and sparred a bit.

And this big guy. It is difficult to imagine that the plains were once covered with these magnificent animals.

     As for us, it was time to begin working our way south toward Boulder, Colorado.