Coming from Hot Springs, we decided to enter the Badlands National Park via the southeast entrance, seeing hints and badland teasers as we approached. Nothing could have prepared us for the view as we crested the hill and dropped into the area known as Cedar Pass. And, we were staying at the Cedar Pass Campground. Cue the squeals!
As usual, I squealed and Doug didn’t, but I think he came close. The SD Badlands are vastly (pun intended) different from those in ND. In ND, the Bandlands include features that are shaped like domes, cones, and buttes that appear in a wide variety of colors including browns, greys, yellows and black with just a splash of red spread out across the green prairie. About three times larger in square miles, the SD Badlands are in your face. You are always surrounded by steep pinnacles and spires that are pink and red with a few hints of yellows spread across large swaths of green grass above and yellow prairie below.
With apologies to the Native Americans who found the makosiko too crappy to farm, we’re honored to have visited the SD Badlands and awed by their striking beauty. And all of the beauty that this country holds. No further words are needed…
More Badlands National Park photos…