Dusty Jeans & Genes - Part 23 - Badlands National Park

Sunday, 6 May 2018

We spent a day in the South Dakota Badlands on our return. The Badlands are better appreciated coming from the east. They are the first mountainous terrain between the Appalachians and the Rockies. Coming from the west, they are something of an anticlimax after the Rockies and the Utah canyonlands.

Spring is a great time to come here. Temperatures were moderate, as opposed to the summer, when they can easily exceed 100°F (38°C). We were able to take several short hikes and see some interesting wildlife.

The classic Badlands butte. The Badlands are really more of a single-sided east-west running canyon. To the north and south it's relatively flat, with an eroded "wall" in between.

We started with three short trails, each less than a mile roundtrip. The photo above shows the canyon complex at the end of the Door Trail boardwalk. The trail continues through this landscape for another half mile or so, and is marked only by numbered poles. It was an easy, but interesting hike.

The boardwalk is at the base of the peaks at the upper left. Lon is standing near the end of the marked trail.

We'd driven by the Badlands a couple of times before on cross-country trips. I had remembered them as having more color. As we got into the western part of the park, the red bands of rock I had remembered were there.

At Yellow Mounds Overlook, vivid yellows and pinks are seen in the buttes.

We drove to the prairie dog town on the dirt road in the western part of the park.

Burrowing owls hang out with the prairie dogs, using prairie dog burrows for nesting. Black-footed ferrets also use the prairie dog tunnels, but they are strictly nocturnal and seldom seen.

Burrowing owl.

The park also has a small herd of big horn sheep. This female is proudly displaying her tracking collar.

For our final hike in the park, we hiked the Notch Trail, which ends in the notch visible in the upper center above. The trail starts with a relatively level walk through the canyon bottom.

About half-way to the notch, the trail (and you!) climbs up about 80 feet (24 m) on a wooden ladder to a narrow ledge.

I made it! I counted about 55 rungs on the ladder, and some were spaced at least 2 feet apart. A challenge for short people!

After walking along the psychologically-challenging narrow ledge, the trail emerges into the upper canyon, which again is an easy walk.

The view of the White River valley from the notch.

A view of the ladder from the upper end of the ledge. Going down (as expected) was more challenging than going up.

A view of the lower canyon from the same spot. You can just barely make out a portion of the ladder at center left.