The Badlands are in South Dakoda and consist of vast prairie lands and unusual rock formations carved by millions of years of erosion. The park is large – about the same size as Rocky Mountain National Park, but only a fraction of it is accessible. It was home to the Sioux Indians for hundreds of years before being for forced out and replaced by Homesteaders. Most of the Homesteaders left due to draught, living conditions, and inability to make a living off the land. The US Government then turned the area into a National Monument in the early 20th century.
Like many western parks we’ve been to, it has a stark and breathtaking beauty to it. There are seemingly endless prairie lands that butt up to rocky areas that look like the Moon or Mordor. One of the bigger surprises was the amount of wildlife. Despite the lack of water, there are bison, deer, antelopes, birds, and tons of prairie dogs. The summer climate is quite hot and dry. We were there just before Labor Day and the thermometer hit 100° degrees two of the days.
In the course of driving the “Big Loop” we stopped in Wall, home of the semi-famous Wall Drug Store. There was a nearly endless stream of Wall Drug billboards on I-90 as we traveled to the Badlands. The “Drug store” was built by assimilation of many buildings over the years resulting in a multi-block complex. It offers a huge variety of art, souvenirs, clothing, jewelry, gifts, and food. Much of it is made in the surrounding areas. It was definitely worth the stop. Wall has a population of just over 900 and is largest town within 50 miles or so.
Our final stop was the Minute Man Missile National Historic Site. It’s a museum at one of the dismantled Missile Launch Control Facilities just outside the Badlands. It presented the history and workings of the intercontinental nuclear missile sites over the cold war period. They also addressed the impact on the locals who grew up with the silos in their “backyard”. It was surprisingly interesting, but also sobering given there are still 400 silos active in the northern Midwest.
