South Dakota, did you take a wrong turn? Are you lost? While, South Dakota doesn’t jump to the top of many people’s vacation lists, it should! The state has much to offer and no shortage of things to do. We definitely made the most of it!
We packed up and left Wisconsin on a Friday night after work. The drive is about eight hours to my husbands camper in Gretna, Nebraska. While usually I am a trooper on long drives, being newly pregnant my body was not happy! Thankfully, by the time I drove back I had come up with several “road trip while pregnant hacks”, the most important being continuous snacks!
After rolling into the campground late that night, my mini and I zonked right out. The next day we transferred everything we needed for South Dakota into my husbands truck and hit the road again, headed for Wall, South Dakota. The drive was lacking scenery as we drove through mostly flatlands and headed west on I90.
Finally we rolled into “town”. Wall, South Dakota is a small town, despite boasting the famous Wall Drug Store, but it has all the amenities a person needs. We did a “Covid touch-less” check in at our cabin. We were staying at Frontier Cabin Motel about six miles from the badlands entrance and a half mile from town. The cabins were cute and had all the essentials. I highly recommend the “meadow view” cabins since they give you a great view of the prairie sunset. My only complaint about the cabin is that it had some slimy worm like creatures that would come out from under the toilet… I tried to convince myself if I can pee in the woods I can handle a tiny worm. That mindset only helped for a minute or two. One additional thing to note is cooking, if you want to prepare your own meals they have grills by the cabins but beware of the wind! My French toast breakfast melted part of my jet boil…..
While staying in Wall, we explored the Badlands National Park. The park was officially established in 1978 but was treasured by many long before that. Native Americans thrived in the area and enjoyed the lucrative hunting grounds. However, by the end of the 19th century homesteaders were starting to the frequent the area. The environment was not very conducive to farming and the dust bowel sealed the deal causing many settlers to permanently abandon the area.
Another cool aspect of the badlands that is missing from many other parks is the fossils! There has been thousands of fossils discovered in the area including fossils of land animals, sea animals, and plants. There is a nice trail in the park called the Fossil Exhibit Trail. It has a great boardwalk for strollers and handicapped people. One thing to be cognizant of is the rattlesnakes. They do reside in the park and the area this trail is in is a prime location, so stay on the trail or know what they look like.
The park has some amazing wildlife to view as well. The kids had a great time watching for some of the parks prime wildlife like big horn sheep, prairie dogs, and bison.
Another thing to note about the park is the weather. The weather seems to swing very rapidly and it was in the 90s when we visited in September! Dress in layers you can easily shed and wear sunscreen! Do not forget to carry water at all times. The environment is almost desert like and dehydration creeps up easily on the unprepared.
Hiking in the park is quite popular with the notch trail being on the top of that list. I did not spend much time “hiking” while there since it was so hot and the kids were not happy in the heat. There is a lot of information on hiking on the badlands website, including lengths and difficulty levels on the trails. If you are not into hiking, this park has great roads for just driving around and viewing the scenes and wildlife.
After exploring the park, we headed into Wall to check out the famous Wall Drug. The eccentric collection of stores contained within this mall like structure has a bit of everything for everyone. You cans buy tourist treats, books, clothing, and much more. This place was very crowded, attracting two million visitors a year!
After two days of exploring Wall and the Badlands National Park, we made the quick drive over to Custer State Park for the remainder of our trip. Stay tuned to hear more about the park where the buffalo roam!
Wandering Momma 