I went to South Dakota in 2019 for a tour of the Black Hills, and I HAD NO IDEA that Badlands National Park was right there until Nene clued me in after I got back. Since then it’s been on my bucket list.
My hotel was on the other side of the park, so I got to drive through a few times going between the hotel and the freeway.
The Badlands Wall is a cliff that separates the upper prairie (the level we’re standing on) from the lower prairie (the level in the valley).
Standing in the lower prairie. There’s a boardwalk that takes visitors from the prairie side to the desert side.
The desert side! The signs tell you to watch out for rattlesnakes, and then they just let you walk/climb anywhere. It is awesome, it sort of feels like being in a cathedral.
If you want, you can hike into the desert. There’s yellow posts to mark the path through ancient fossil beds.
One last shot of the prairie.
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