Imagine: you're driving through nothing but flat corn fields, which gives way to even more flat prairies. Grasslands continue for miles and miles. It shocks you when you start seeing a few jagged buttes and peaks jutting out of the the grass, but then suddenly and without warning, your entire surrounding is nothing but these horizontally striped peaks and canyons reaching as far as the eye can see. It's hard to describe the beauty of the Badlands. It's even harder to imagine trying to find your way through before modern roads and cars with air conditioning. Sitting here writing this, I'm at a loss for words to describe what photographs can not do justice. My best advice: get Badlands National Park on your bucket list and make it happen. You won't be disappointed. We arrived Sunday, August 14 at Badlands Interior Campground just outside of the park boundary in the evening, got dinner, and rushed to the Visitor's Center to find that they had already closed. (We've found "summer hours" are over come mid-August in South Dakota.) There were, however, park ranger talks happening at 8:30 (All About Badland Snakes) and 9:00 p.m. (Astronomy). Yes, please! We drove around for a while, admiring the strange landscape, listening to the kids yell, "AWESOME! Can we climb those!?" Much to their excitement, the rangers told them YES they can in fact climb anywhere they wanted to in the Badlands. The only rules are: 1. Don't climb into any place you can't get yourself out or down from. 2. Don't pet rattlesnakes. 3. Mom and Dad are allowed to veto any place you think you might want to climb. (Thank you, rangers!) Monday morning we awoke early to attend the geology ranger talk at 8:30. We learned that the Badlands was a shallow sea 67-75 million years ago. By 34-37 MYA, tectonic shifts around the Black Hills had forced the water out, leaving a hot humid forest, similar to southern Florida today. Water from rivers and streams carried sediments from the Black Hills. The thick red bands were formed 30-34 MYA in dry, cool forests. By 28-30 MYA, the area had turned to dry shrubland, more similar to the environment of today's prairie. As the plates shifted over these millions of years, cracks formed in the rocks, then became filled by much more dense volcanic ash carried from the Hills by streams. These clastic dikes, as they are called, create a lattice work of grayish-white lines running diagonally through the striped sediment. Over time, the Badlands have formed by erosion, losing an average of 3/4" every year. The area is a hot bed for fossils, as demonstrated at the paleontology lab at the Ben Reifel Visitors Center. We spent the day driving the Badlands Loop and the gravel Sage Creek Rim Road, followed by Rt. 44 through the Buffalo Gap Grasslands. I mention this because we thought we were doing the Badlands Loop Road this whole way. Turns out the Loop road takes you back to 90. I'm not sure we can say that we recommend the 24 mile Sage Creek Rim Road. It was a bit long and quite bumpy, but we made the best of admiring the formations, seeing wild bison for the first time, and watching the deer, prong horned antelope, and prairie dogs do what they do best. The kids took advantage of the "climb whatever you want" rule, leaving us constantly on lookout for areas where we needed to lay down the law. Luckily these kids are amazing climbers and, as usual, they surprised me (and other tourists) by what they could safely do. At night we attended another park ranger session on prairie dogs, then attended the astronomy talk on a much clearer night. We could clearly see the Milky Way and they had several telescopes out, so we got to see the rings of Saturn clearly for the first time. I could keep going on about the beauty and wonder of the Badlands, but instead I'll leave you with some photos. We really just spent one FULL day exploring (and slept two nights) here. There were new sights to see around every corner and the many ranger talks offered daily really gave visitors an opportunity to get to know the park.
5 Comments
8/18/2022 01:31:12 pm
Looks too strenuous for me.Enjoy while you are young.
Reply
Joni Ramsey
8/19/2022 12:03:31 am
The good news is, there are a few places with wheelchair ramps where you can get breathtaking vistas without the walk, and there is a loop you can drive around that takes about an hour that is absolutely gorgeous! They've really tried to make it so everyone can enjoy.
Reply
Anne
8/18/2022 01:59:22 pm
Breathtakingly beautiful! Thanks for posting. Looks as though y'all are having a fantastic time.
Reply
Joni Ramsey
8/19/2022 12:04:43 am
We are having a blast. So thankful for the opportunity!
Reply
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
October 2022
Categories |