Badlands National Park (Summer Vacation Leg 2)
Badlands National Park
This post covers our second leg of our #ptparadsummer2019 adventure (catch up on Leg 1 here). We spent a few days in and around Badlands National Park.
Day 3 – 30 June 2019 – Badlands National Park
It rained all night. This will become a theme for a few days unfortunately. The sky was overcast but the temperature was quite comfortable. After some quick breakfast, we got in the truck and drove to the parking lot for the Door, Window, and Notch Trailheads.
Door Trail
The Door Trail is .75 mile out and back over some fairly rough washes, but it’s an easy hike. The views are pretty good minus how busy the trail was when we hiked it. The hike took about 30 minutes between us stopping for pictures, exploring around the trail (the park specifically states you don’t need to stay on the trail…go explore!), and enjoying the morning.
Notch Trail
The kids started to wake up and we decided to tackle the Notch Trail next. The Notch Trail is 1.2 miles out and back and comes with a very stern warning from the National Park Service. There is a ladder made from cables and logs on the trail. The ladder takes some coordination. The warning was much more intimidating than the trail actually turned out to be and so glad I talked the family into pushing past the scary words. This trail may be my favorite one we hiked the entire trip.
The trail begins following along a wash. As we continued to walk, we could see further up the trail where the ladder would take us. The kids submitted some whimpering and “I don’t want to go up there,” statements to the court records, but with some encouragement, we pressed on.
The kids still weren’t sure when we arrived at the ladder. A kid their age ascended the ladder and he helped them gain confidence. The ladder starts at a relatively low angle and transitions to about 70 degrees for the last 20 or so feet.
At the top, the kids were excited. They gained confidence and started to have some real fun. The trail continued along the hill. There are some steep edges and a few tricky spots. A hiking pole or a partner’s hand made these portions easier.
Our climbing efforts rewarded us with an amazing view at the Notch. We could see all of the Cedar Pass area, including the campground. Which made for a fun game trying to get the kids to find Patty who was a speck in the distance.
The hike back was just as fun. The kids had more confidence and enjoyed themselves. Going down the ladder was a bit tricky, but we all made it. After getting down the ladder, we found the truck and headed towards Ben Reifel Visitor Center to get their Junior Ranger badges. After, we went back to the campground and had a lazy afternoon dodging rain.
Day 4 – 01 July 2019 – Wall, South Dakota and more of Badlands National Park
Another night of storms down. We got moving and made the short drive to Wall, South Dakota. The Badlands park pamphlet mentioned the USDA Forest Service’s National Grassland Visitor Center, so we decided to check that out first.
National Grassland Visitor Center
The National Grassland Visitor Center in Wall, South Dakota is the sole visitor center for the 20 National Grasslands across the U.S. They also have a Junior Ranger program, so the kids were on board! The visitor center isn’t large, but the exhibits are quality and tell the story of all of the grasslands well. Their short video also painted a great picture to understand how the lands have changed through the years and what the Forest Service is actively doing to preserve these special places. It is certainly worth a stop and you can do it all in 30 minutes.
Wall Drug
Just down the street from the National Grassland Visitor center is the grand daddy tourist detour, Wall Drug. Everyone has to go at least once in their life, right? We ate lunch, wondered around the store some, and grabbed ice cream. We had our fill pretty quick and loaded up to head back into Badlands National Park.
Sage Creek Basin, Badlands National Park
We drove through the park gate south of Wall. As we approached the gate, a herd of bison caused a traffic jam. They were running all over, fighting, and hanging out close to the road. The kids got a real kick out of it. After finally getting through the gate, we turned west along the rim road to explore. We stopped at Robert’s Prairie Dog town and continued exploring all the way out to the Sage Creek campground. We saw all sorts of wildlife and interesting landscape.
We had a good time this day. The kids were pooped, but still had energy to play the rest of the afternoon and night in the campground. Everyone got in bed early for a travel day and a few stops in the Black Hills.
-See you out there,
Part-Time Paradise
