After over 500 miles of numbing flatness on Interstate 90, we finally turned on Highway 240 to enter Badlands.
The changes in elevation were greatly welcome. Instead of the $15 park entry fee, we decided to opt for the $80 pass that would allow us access to all national parks. A great deal!
Badlands National Park consists of 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires blended with the largest protected mixed grass prairie in the United States. It is the site of the reintroduction of the black-footed ferret, the most endangered land mammal in North America.
The area was designated a national park on November 10, 1978.
For 11,000 years, Native Americans–the Lakota, paleo-Indians, and the Arikara–used this area for their hunting grounds. Their descendants live today in North Dakota as a part of the Three Affiliated Tribes. Eroding out of the stream banks today are the rocks and charcoal of their campfires, as well as the arrowheads and tools they used to butcher bison, rabbits, and other game. From the top of the Badlands Wall, they could scan the area for enemies and wandering herds. If hunting was good, they might hang on into winter, before retracing their way to their villages along the Missouri River. By one hundred and fifty years ago, the Great Sioux Nation consisting of seven bands including the Oglala Lakota, had displaced the other tribes from the northern prairie. (Wikipedia)
We simply stood in awe at the geographical magic in front of us, humbled by its history and natural beauty.
By the time we finished driving through the park, the sun had already set. We could see a spectacular lightning show on the southwestern sky. As we re-joined I-90 to head to Rapid City, heavy rain fell, and lightning and thunders bombarded our small car. After less than two hours, Rapid City appeared through the blurry windshield. We crashed at an Econo Lodge for the night. Tomorrow would be Mount Rushmore and then a mad dash to Yellowstone National Park.
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