[Badlands National Park, Jun 19, 2025]
Well, it wasn’t a bad day per se, but it was definitely my least favorite of the trip. There is a reason why the Lakota called this land maco sica – literally, bad land!
The proper way to do Badlands National Park would have been to stay in nearby Wall, SD. It’s only 30 minutes away and it would have allowed us to pop into the park early in the morning, before the heat set in. The morning light would have also been much better for photos and for seeing all the colors of the rocks and buttes. But when I planned this trip, I prioritized the convenience of staying put in Custer for 4 nights and day-tripping here. That meant a 2-hour drive into the park, which we did not start until just shy of 8 a.m.
Alas, the thermometer was pushing 80F before 9 am! The drive was rather boring, through flat farmland on a state road. But then we started seeing the South Dakota Badlands. Intense rainfall and wind erodes the soft sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils into the rugged, steep and often colorful gullies, ravines, buttes and hoodoos the park preserves. Although we saw badlands in North Dakota as well, these were much more pronounced and devoid of vegetation.
After a brief stop by the visitor center, we headed for the park’s most popular hike – the Notch trail.
The highlights of this 1.2-mile adventure into the badlands are the ladder and the view at the end. The ladder was much easier than online reviews and the park rangers had led me to believe. It took all of 2 minutes to ascend and it wasn’t that steep, even at the end. The bigger problem is congestion, which we encountered a little bit of on the way back. Luckily, we had managed to beat most of the crowds. As we were leaving around 11:15 am, it seemed to get much busier.
This little trail still made us overheat! We ducked back into the visitor center to replenish our water bottles and to have a snack in the air-conditioning. There are many picnic tables across the park, and we saw many of them occupied. I couldn’t handle sitting in the heat like that, even in the shade.
We headed out of the park heading North on the scenic drive. We enjoyed the dramatic scenes around us and the various types of of formations the erosion had created. But I felt this was mostly a drive-through park. Even if I had come at sunrise, I think I still would have rated this park lower than some of the usual parks people hate on, like Indiana Dunes.
We stopped for a sign photo at the entrance. We were pretty happy to leave the heat behind and head to Wall, SD.
Wall’s claim to fame, the world’s biggest drugstore, was also a bit of disappointment. It was huge and divided into sections, which were not clearly marked not were there signs or a map anywhere. If you need food close to the park, it would make do though.
The thermometer was now pushing 98F. Ugh. We were happy to be back in Custer, where it was in the low 90s but at least it was green. We stopped for a late lunch at one of the many lakeside lodges dotting Custer State Park. I downed a beer while we watched kayakers and SUPpers on Legion Lake. It made me regret not leaving time for a water activity while here.
It was just as long of a day as yesterday’s, with much less to show for it. But at least I am now 52 parks in!