Badlands National Park & Wall Drug - Interior & Wall, South Dakota

Aug 17    

These 5:00 A.M. wakeup alarms are going to kill me. 

We drove the hour to Badlands National Park and started near the Pinnacles. We hoped to see Bighorn Sheep and maybe Mountain Goats. 

The first thing we noticed is that they have signs up warning that the Prairie Dogs have the plague. (the warning hasn’t been in any of the other parks we have visited) Actually, their fleas carry it and they could pass it on to you. Chances of a human being infected is low, but it is fatal to the Prairie Dogs. 

We saw 20 or more female Bighorn sheep, but it was from a great distance and we weren’t sure what they were until we zoomed in on the photos. 

Bighorn Sheep - Ewes

We drove Highway 240 Badlands Loop Road and stopped at all the viewpoints. My first thought was that they weren’t as colorful or pretty as the ones in North Dakota with all the sandstone layers. The ones in South Dakota do seem more “bad” (rugged) and seemed to be made of clay and the ground had a popcorn texture. There was also a lack of trees in South Dakota's Badlands.

Both are worth seeing of course, but I personally favored the ones in North Dakota. We also noticed that the people visiting paid no attention to the stay on the trails signs as they climbed all over them. 

 Rock Wren

 there were over 20 ewe Bighorns

 the Yellow Mounds viewpoint was my favorite for the colors

We took a break in the middle of the day to visit the tourist trap Wall Drug. It’s definitely worth seeing. We took a quick run through it and then grabbed lunch. Their buffalo burger and onion rings were quite good and we had one of their pecan rolls for desert. 

 Prairie Dog feeding "zoo"

 Dinosaur draws you into Wall Drug (and about a billion signs along the highway)

We then drove back to the park and we took in the Ben Reifel Visitor Center and walked a few of the hiking trails. We did a couple of short ones and one longer - Window Trail & Cliff Shelf

 made it to the end!

 Meadowlark in the parking lot of the trails

We continued on the 240 Badlands Loop. 

 this Mule Deer buck was staying cool in the shade 

 Meadowlark in the parking lot of the viewpoint

 At last, we see a Bighorn Sheep and a ram!

 several times he got up and dug at the dirt and butted it with his head before laying down 

We stopped to walk the short Fossil Exhibit Trail and then we drove back to the Pinnacles area and found the female Bighorns. They were still pretty far away, but at least this time we knew what we were looking for.

We also drove part of the Sage Creek Rim Road which is a gravel road that takes you along the north rim of the Badlands Wilderness Area. We hadn't gone far before we found 2 Bighorn bucks.

While we had hoped to see some Mountain Goats, seeing so many Bighorn Sheep was way better!

We couldn’t find any place to eat that had good reviews near the park so we went back to Wall Drug and tried different things. Good for diner food.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/kMUwvVpZMmz8JX9Q7

Tomorrow, we are headed back to Custer State Park and doing another scenic drive.