Window Trail
The bluffs, spires, and gorges of the Badlands National Park are thanks to delicate rock which is easily eroded by wind and rain. One of the locations that these dramatic formations are best experienced is along the Window Trail.
Category Road Tripping
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Notch Trail
Notch Trail is not for those afraid of heights. It doesn't help that the rope ladder to the butte shelf is easier to climb up than down. But for those with the constitution to scramble the 1.5 mile loop along a butte outcropping, there are magnificent and exclusive vistas to be experienced
Cliff Shelf Nature Trail
The Badlands National Park has a wealth of short hikes for visitors to enjoy. The Cliff Shelf Nature Trail is only a half mile boardwalk loop trails through a small juniper forest and sporting views of eroded sandstone buttes.
Fossil Exhibit Trail
Badlands National Park can get remarkably hot in the summer. Granted, it's no Death Valley, but the idea of an extended hike in the midday heat is unwelcome. So, the quarter mile loop of the Fossil Exhibit Trail is an opportunity to get out and stretch ones legs without working up a sweat.
Sage Creek Campground
Buffalo may wander through Sage Creek Campground. Tent campers are warned that buffalo may try to scratch themselves against the tends. It's all fun and games, though, until the buffalo roles.
Bear Country USA
No, we cannot get enough of bears. Sure, we saw a couple back in Glacier, but when we were driving through the Black Hills of South Dakota and saw a sign for Bear Country USA, there was little question what we were doing next.
Sunset Over the Prairie
Sunset over the open prairie.
Wall Drug
Wall Drug is the consummate tourist trap. If you have come within 100 miles of this massive commercial compound, you have likely seen one of their signature signs advertising their homemade pie, dinosaurs, coffee, donuts, buffet, and the general need to stop in Wall, South Dakota.
Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center
When most mines are shut down, they are sealed up and abandoned. When the second largest gold mine in the world shuts down, it is converted into a cutting edge research facility for studying dark matter.
Red Beds Trail
The 2.8 mile dirt around Devils Tower National Monument trail has moderate dips and rises and wanders outside of tree cover, making it a more difficult hike than Tower Trail but only an moderate overall challenge.