Day 2 of Autumn 2023 Trip to Mountain States, Badlands National Park

by admin

The second day of my autumn 2023 trip to the mountain states, I toured Badlands National Park, one that featured a unique landscape of extensive eroded buttes and pinnacles.

Badlands

After spending the previous night at the town of Kadoka, I left the hotel at 8:30am and made the short drive to the eastern entrance of Badlands National Park.

View from Scenic Overlook off I90

Along I90, there was a “Scenic Overlook” which I decided to check out. While it provided views of extensive prairie, it’s not really an exciting view as such prairie landscape was ubiquitous elsewhere in South Dakota. The “Scenic Overlook” was more popular with truckers taking rests though.

Minuteman Missile National Historic Site Visitor Center

Before I entered Badlands National Park, I checked out the nearby historic site for minuteman missiles. At the height of the cold war, many ICBM carrying nuclear warheads were stationed in the prairie nearby. Since the missile silos were targets for enemy strikes, their locations were chosen away from dense population centers. The launch facilities of a few silos were open for tours during certain times of the week (I couldn’t find availabilities on the date of my visit). It’s interesting that despite the missiles being named after the revolutionary war “minuteman”, the exhibits indicated the entire launch sequence was certainly longer than a minute.

After the detour to minuteman missile sites, I entered Badlands National Park at 9:30am.
Badlands National Park was known for its “Badlands Formation”, layered rocks formed by deposition and erosion. The different rock layers were deposited at different geological times, that appeared in different colors. Erosion selectively revealed the rock layers, resulting in the badlands that were visible today.

Logistically, the (developed part of the) park was perfectly sized for a day trip (from Rapid City), which consisted of many roadside overlooks and a few short hikes. For roadtrippers on I-90, it could be done in shorter times if rushed.

Big Badlands Overlook

The first overlook after entering the park (from the east) was “Big Badlands Overlook”. This was like a great preview of the park. While I had seen similar landscapes during my 2020 trip to Utah, the buttes here had much higher drainage density, featuring dense interfluves and gullies.
On a different note, before my visit, I was under the impression that the sediments that made up Badlands’ landscape were gray and monochromatic, just like the color of mud, hence they were associated with the name “bad”. That didn’t turn out to be the case. From “Big Badlands Overlook”, it’s obvious that the landscape was interleaved with layers of pink, an enchanting finishing touch to an otherwise dull scene. It’s like the difference between cocktail and water, and I liked the variety offered by the former.

Badlands
Badlands
Badlands
Distant Ridge
Around Door/Window/Notch region.
Badlands
Road into Badlands National Park

Badlands from Big Badlands Overlook

The Door / Window Trail

After a short ride, I was at the parking area for Door/Window/Notch. These were three of the most popular trails in the park.

I checked out The Door trail first (since it’s the first one along the route). The trail was made of a short boardwalk through an opening of a rock wall (p1 below), after that through the badlands to an overlook. The entire trail was under 1 mile roundtrip with minimal elevation change.
Compared to other trails in the park, this one (especially the overlook at its end) had the feeling that one was in badlands (instead of overlooking them).

The Door
A V-shaped opening through a wall, leading to more badlands landscape.
Looking Back at The Door
Landscape
The terrain here was more rugged and less pointed compared with the rest of the park.
Badlands
Behind this ridge/wall was the parking lot. The trail passed through it at “The Door”.
Badlands
Badlands
Badlands

Badlands from The End of Door Trail

After that, it’s “The Window”, which was a wider opening in the same ridge/wall than The Door. “The Window” was only a 100m boardwalk from the parking lot. At its end, it offered views of layered badlands geology in different stages of erosion.
As a side note, at first I didn’t find the boardwalk, and located another opening in the same ridge/wall about 100m to the north, which offered similar (if not better) views. As a result, I decided to name it “The Mini Window”.

View from The Mini Window
View from The Window
Badlands from The Window
Distant Badlands
Clay Mount
Of pretty uniform shape.

View from The Window

The Notch Trail

A very visitor-friendly feature of Badlands National Park was that, its best trails were all very short. At 2km roundtrip, The Notch was one of the longer popular trails. There was a short steep section, but with ladders installed, it shouldn’t post any technical challenges.
The Notch shared the same trailhead as The Window (350m south of The Door’s trailhead). Some vegetation lined the trail in the beginning part.

Notch Trail
Badlands
Notch Trail
Notch Trail

500m later, the trail ascended through a steep slope up a valley. A ladder was set up here to aid the hikers (and hence NPS rated this trail as strenuous). It’s no big deal for me though.

Ladder

To help hikers get on top of the valley. The bottom part of the ladder was not steep at all. The top part was getting steep, but more crucially it’s lacking footholds and handholds, and the sediment rocks were slippery, hence the ladder was installed.

Overlooking Trail before Ladder
Overlooking Trail before Ladder
Trail
Following the contour of the valley, along some steep cliffs.
Overlooking Trail before Ladder

Once on top of the ladder, the trail continued through a valley, where vegetation was sparse since the landscape wasn’t as good at holding water. As the trail went on, the valley got narrower, and the buttes felt closer.

Trail towards The Notch
Trail towards The Notch
Badlands
Trail towards The Notch
Trail towards The Notch
Trail towards The Notch
Trail towards The Notch

Opening in Rock Formations

Along the trail to The Notch. I felt this fitted the name “The Door” better as it’s the proper width of a door. Only that it didn’t lead to a wide-open field.

Not long after that, I reached The Notch, which was a giant opening in the same ridge/wall as before. A befitting name would probably be “giant door” or “city gate”. But since these names weren’t succinct enough, the place was named “The Notch”. It came with views of fields to the south that were dotted with badlands, and distant White River Valley.

View from The Notch

Badlands
Badlands
Fields from The Notch Overlook

Backtracking 50m from “The Notch”, I found another branch of the trail that headed southeast. Continuing in that direction for about 150m, I reached another location that resembled “The Notch”, with similar views of fields to the south. However, I liked this spot better since it’s closer to some badland walls to the southeast.

Badlands
Badlands
Badlands
Rock Formations
Overlooking Cliff Shelf Area

Cliff Shelf Nature Area

After that, my next stop for the day was Cliff Shelf Nature Area, with a 900m loop trail that’s half on boardwalk. This area was directly to the south of “The Notch”, with views of cliffs nearby. The nearby landscape channeled water to the area, allowing abundant plants to grow here.

Rock Cliff
In the center of this photo is “The Notch”, where I was previously.
Badlands
Badlands
Badlands
Badlands

After that, I checked out the park’s Ben Reifel Visitor Center (or mainly the picnic grounds around it). While enjoying the snacks, I noticed the buttes and pinnacles near the visitor center were some of the most attractive/scenic/iconic in the park, so I grabbed the following photos.

Badlands
Badlands
Badlands
Badlands
Badlands
Rock Formations

I found the rock formations in the center of this photo interesting. Maybe as erosion went on, they would develop into something like “three gossip” of Arches National Park.
Pyramid-Shaped Rock
I liked its pointy top.
Badlands

Badlands from Ben Riefel Visitor Center

Saddle Pass Trail

After leaving the visitor center, I decided to check out Saddle Pass Trail, the only trail that I hiked today that’s not in the Door/Window/Notch section.
In the park, the only long trail that’s also popular was Castle Trail, connecting Door/Window/Notch in the east and Fossil Exhibit area in the west. If Castle Trail was a highway, Saddle Pass Trail was then its only exit in the middle. The trail was only 1km out-and-back, but it ascended the Badland Wall in the process so it was steep at places. Even worse, most of the trail was made of fine sediment gravel that didn’t provide as good traction compared to other trail surfaces. I didn’t bring trekking poles for this trip and as a result, really struggled for traction at two spots (p3-4 below).

Badlands
Badlands
Trail
The most slippery sections.
Trail
The most slippery sections.
Trail
Badlands
An interestingly shaped narrow rock column along the ridge.

On top of Saddle Pass it’s a typical prairie scene to the north (p3 below), that was dotted with badland buttes. To the south, there were towering views of badlands in the foreground along the park road, and extensive fields in the background. To spice things up, I identified a path up a small overlook (p1) which was more prominent. Despite the looks from the photo, it was actually a lot easier and safer than Saddle Pass Trail.

Saddle Pass

In the foreground, the level field of Saddle Pass. In the background, I found a path on top of an overlook (indicated by the red arrow) with towering views of the extensive fields and badlands to the south.
Badlands
Fields to the North
Now it’s a typical prairie. As erosion went on the badlands will shift north.
Badlands
Badlands
Badlands
Badlands
Badlands
Badlands

Overlooking Fields from Saddle Pass

Other Overlooks in the Park

All in all, I spent about 50 minutes at Saddle Pass. After leaving, I spent the remainder of the day checking out various roadside overlooks in the park.

In my opinion, if one was interested in the buttes and pinnacles, then the most exciting views were either around Ben Reifel Visitor Center, or around Fossil Exhibit Trail. The following photos were from roadside turnouts just before Fossil Exhibit Trail, a feast of pinnacles for the eye.

Badlands
Valley
Valley
Badlands
Badlands
Road through Badlands National Park
Badlands
Fields

The day started out cloudy but the sun came out later in the day. As a result, most of the photos west of Fossil Exhibit were taken against the light, which wasn’t ideal.

Badlands
From Fossil Exhibit Trail.
Rock Formation
Like a gear lever.
Badlands
Castle Trail, leading to Window/Notch/Door area through prairie.
Badlands
From Panorama Point. With rocky hills near Fossil Exhibit Trail in the background.
Badlands
From Panorama Point, looking southeast towards the rocky hills near Fossil Exhibit Trail.
Distant Badlands Beyond Prairie
From Burns Basin Overlook.
Badlands
From White River Valley Overlook.
Badlands
From White River Valley Overlook.
Badlands
From Bigfoot Pass Overlook.
Badlands
From Panorama Point, looking back towards Big Foot Pass.
Badlands
From Burns Basin Overlook.
Badlands
From Burns Basin Overlook.
Badlands
From Burns Basin Overlook.

Badlands
From Bigfoot Pass (top) and Panorama Point (bottom)

Badlands
From Homestead Overlook.
Badlands
From Homestead Overlook.
Badlands
From Homestead Overlook.
Badlands in Vivid Colors
Near Yellow Mound Overlook.
Yellow Mound Overlook
Badlands
From Yellow Mound Overlook.
Badlands
From an unnamed turnout along the road.
Badlands
From an unnamed turnout along the road.
Road through Badlands National Park
From an unnamed turnout along the road.
Badlands
From Pinnacles Overlook.
Badlands
From Pinnacles Overlook.
Badlands
From Pinnacles Overlook.
Fields to the North
From a small hill north of Pinnacles Overlook.
Badlands
From a small hill north of Pinnacles Overlook.

Bison in Field

This lone one was spotted near to Yellow Mound Overlook. Many at the overlook were excited. Despite it’s relatively far in the field, it was my first bison sighting for this trip so I quickly switched on my telephoto lens and grabbed a few photos.

Then a quick discussion about animals in the park. During my visit, it seemed that they were more active in the western part of the park. The most common sightings were prairie dogs, but I was into something more impressive like bisons. My wishes were fulfilled just before I exited the park, as a group of bisons were resting in the field not far from the road.

Bison
Prairie Dog
Bison
Bison Crossing Road
Bisons Next to Road

Bison

This was probably the most exciting shot of the day. I was driving out of the park’s gates when this bison decided to cross the road, right in front of my car. For a brief moment, we were staring into each other, like a toreador facing his game (only that I wasn’t). This photo was taken at a mere 150mm (cropped to 188mm for display here). Eventually, this bison lost interest in me my car and moved on.

While Badlands National Park offered more to explore in its western and southern part, I preferred paved roads so I left the park from Pinnacles entrance. Not long after that, I was at the town of Wall.

Wall Drug Store

For a town with a population of 700, Wall Drug Store was certainly an outstanding presence. Started out as a small pharmacy in the 1930s, through relentless advertising and popularity of the nearby Badlands National Park, now it’s a proper mall and department store (that focused on souvenirs). Their advertisement was so aggressive that it’s impossible to miss their billboard signs driving along I90 in South Dakota.
While I wasn’t too much into their souvenir shops, I was getting hungry and they had a cafeteria. To make things better, while waiting for my order, the cafeteria was also a western art gallery, perfect for me that was into everything oil on canvas. (Unfortunately no photos were allowed for the arts.)

Wall Drug Store Exterior
The parking spaces were decorated with horse hitching posts.
Dinner
I got to the cafeteria just before its closing time.
Passage to Backyard of Wall Drug Store

For the first time in many years I saw some restrooms were described as “deluxe”. So despite I just used the restrooms in the main building, I still decided to check them out. In the end, apart from being more spacious, I couldn’t tell anything “deluxe” about them.
Historic Photos Display
In the not-so-visited backyard part.
T-Rex Statue

Outside Japan I found few instances of giant movable statues, but this was certainly one. Despite the warning that “T-Rex eats every 12 minutes”, it stayed behind the wall, while the “eat” part was only swinging its open mouth around in suspense music.
Dinosaur Statue
An advertisement piece for Wall Drug Store.
Distant Clouds in Vivid Colors
Some beautiful clouds towards the direction of Badlands National Park.

After dinner, I checked out the rest of the Wall Drug Store, together with their giant dinosaur statue near the town’s interstate exit.
After that, I drove towards my overnight lodge in Rapid City where I would spend the next few days exploring Black Hills.
END

Day 2 of Autumn 2023 Trip to Mountain States, Badlands National Park by Huang's Site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Category: Autumn 2023, Mountain States, Travel Tags: Badlands National Park

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