Sweet Home, South Dakota!

June 25 - 30, 2020

South Dakota has been calling to us since March.  COVID-19 kept us away until now; however, it's time to get to know our new "home" state!  Badlands National Park was directly on our path to Sioux Falls, so we couldn't resist spending a few days taking in its sights.

We stayed at Badlands Interior Campground which is located 1-1/2 miles from the southeast entrance to the park.  Our first day of exploring the park happened to be on our 38th wedding anniversary, so we wanted to do something really memorable! 

Notch Trail sounded like just the adventure for us!  It is a 1.5-mile moderate to strenuous hike.  After meandering through a canyon, this trail climbs a log ladder and then follows a ledge to the "notch" for a stunning view of the White River Valley.  It was a thrilling hike!

Door Trail and Window Trail were at the same access point, so we took in those trails as well.  The day was warming up pretty well, so we called it quits by early afternoon and headed back to the campground.  

Our second day in the park found us hiking part of the Castle Trail and linking up with the Medicine Root Trail.  These trails pass along many Badlands formations as you explore the mixed grass prairie.  We saw everything from cactus to cattails!  The wildflowers were beautiful!

There were still several trails to explore, so we felt compelled to attempt a few more on our third day in the park.  Saddle Pass is a very short hike; however, it was certainly the steepest and most challenging.  Up wasn't as intimidating as down was!  Once we got up Saddle Pass, we were at the access point to the remaining section of Castle Trail that led to Fossil Exhibit Trail.  Along the way, we heard coyotes howl and saw many big horn rams.  In fact, we had to wait for a number of the rams to move along as they were blocking the trail when we were heading back!  Another really fun, but hot, day!

On our final day in the park, only Cliff Shelf Trail was left to explore.  It is a loop trail that climbs through a juniper forest perched along the Badlands Wall.  This would be a perfect place from which to watch the sunrise!  We didn't get up quite early enough; however, we did pack breakfast and managed to find a beautiful viewpoint at Panorama Point to enjoy it at.  This was the warmest day of all, so we did more viewing than we did hiking.  We enjoyed the Yellow Mounds, prairie dogs, bison, big horn ewes and their kids, and the many gorgeous views along the way!

Can you find the ewes and kids?

Yellow Mounds (Cyclone Power!)

We really enjoyed our adventures at Badlands National Park; however, it was finally time to head to Sioux Falls and establish our domicile.  While in Sioux Falls, we stayed at the KOA Journey, which was a really nice RV park.  Frankie appreciated Kamp K-9, an enclosed area which allowed her room to run and play fetch!  While in Sioux Falls, we stopped by our mail forwarding service (Your Best Address) and picked up this month's mail, got our driver licenses (we needed an appointment due to COVID-19) and waited in a long, hot line for two hours to get our vehicle plates.  We did find time to get to the falls Sioux Falls is named for.  They are located in a beautiful park that includes the ruins of a failed flour mill alongside the falls on the Big Sioux River.  South Dakota, it's great to be able to officially call you home!

Up next: Iowa!