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I was on my own. On the road. My schedule. I could go where I wanted when I wanted to. I was out west and I was there to explore. After taking a left at Minnesota, I eventually drove into Wall, SD to check into my room and take a deep breath. I had covered more than 2,030 miles in two-plus days. I was tired but the lure of the next adventure kept me in motion.
Perhaps it was the result of having absolutely no idea of what to expect. Or maybe it was just that this place captured my heart and mind because it is that wonderful a place. Whatever it is, or was, Badlands National Park stole my heart, and challenged my personal definition of imagination.
I had read about the Lakota name for the area, and saw signs in the park about the same. Here I share a brief excerpt from the NPS Website about the name “Badlands” and a little bit of history.
The name Badlands National Park poses an interesting question: why would you try to entice people to visit a park by calling it bad? In truth, the name is an homage to people that lived in the Badlands before it was a national park. For hundreds of years, the Lakota people have called this area mako sica, which literally translates to “bad lands.” When early French fur trappers passed through this area, they called the area les mauvaises terres a traveser (‘bad lands to travel across’). Since the French trappers spent time with the Lakota, it is likely that the French name is derived directly from the Lakota one. But why? What made this area deserve a “bad” name?
The Badlands presents many challenges to easy travel. When it rains in the Badlands, the wet clay becomes slick and sticky, making it very difficult to cross. The jagged canyons and buttes that cover the landscape also make it hard to navigate. The winters are cold and windy, the summers are hot and dry, and the few water sources that exist are normally muddy and unsafe to drink. These factors make the land difficult to survive in, and evidence of early human activity in the Badlands points to seasonal hunting rather than permanent habitation.
One final fun fact about the name of Badlands National Park: In 1922, when Badlands was first proposed as a national park, the suggested name was Wonderland National Park!
Upon entering the park I came around the bend to this scene. I had been in the park for about 40 seconds. I couldn’t believe it! It was the start of a wonderful visit to the Badlands. © 1inawesomewonder 2022.
On my very first drive into the park, I began to see the lay of the land. I felt what turned out to be the beginnings of my constant amazement of the terrain and the fact that anything wild actually lives in this area. I am not kidding. As I passed through the park entrance, I could see prairie dogs to my right and bison to my left. I didn’t take pictures then, as I was so excited to see the park and what lay ahead. There were only a few other people entering the park at the time, so I had time and space to stop and take pictures but I couldn’t wait to get inside the park. I entered through the gate feeling giddy with wonderment.
Honestly, it would be hard for me to rank any other park visit or adventure on my entire trip ahead of the two days (almost) that I spent exploring Badlands National Park. More to come on those types of things later. For now, click on the pictures. Zoom in. Look around. They are surpassed by being there in person, but these give you some idea of why I was consistently blown away by the sights and the enormity of this place.
Miles away from Wall, SD I stopped at a rest stop on the highway and took this picture. I had no idea what was in store for me. © 1inawesomewonder 2022.
As I approached the Badlands entrance coming down from Wall, SD, this is what I saw. © 1inawesomewonder 2022.
I climbed a butte inside the park and took this picture on my first night in South Dakota. I took way too many pictures of Badlands National Park (if there’s such a thing as ‘too many’). I was mesmerized by the beauty of God’s creation and the pressures applied to the land by weather. © 1inawesomewonder 2022.
I stepped to the edge and I looked out and I looked down. I think I could stare at this scene for hours and still miss half of what was visible to me. © 1inawesomewonder 2022.
I am pretty certain that this is the ‘bighorn flagger’ from my first entrance into the park. Just chilling on a lofty ridge that would be more than difficult to reach on foot for a human. © 1inawesomewonder 2022.
Look at this! The sun was setting. The shadows grew long and new colors emerged. Only dreams and imagination ran longer than the shadows. It’s hard for my eastern eyes to take full visual account of all I can see. This glance captures miles of land while displaying centuries worth of weather effect. Just a little section in a big park. A big park in a very large state (16th largest in US). A very large state in an unimaginably large western United States. © 1inawesomewonder 2022.
If I could draw, I think I would want to draw something like this. Then I would have to ‘discover’ additional colors in pencils to depict this accurately. Colors of course that have existed since creation. © 1inawesomewonder 2022.
Hey everyone the sun is going down! Hurry up and get to where you can take a picture and say you were there! The sun illuminates the rising dust from the roadway as folks hurry to the overlook for sunset. © 1inawesomewonder 2022.
Pinnacles Overlook. Many folks say this is the place to see a great sunset in Badlands NP. So there I found myself. A lot of other people were there too, but it wasn’t crowded. It was more like an outdoor concert with plenty of room to roam and all of us milling about waiting on the headliner. © 1inawesomewonder 2022.
Later in the evening while everyone was looking toward the west for the sunset, I took a peak behind me. I just barely caught this bighorn sheep on camera as it disappeared into the endless ravines of the Badlands. © 1inawesomewonder 2022.
I could have stood in this spot and watch this scene for hours and hours. The seconds pass and the light changes making the exact same landscape look brand new over and over again. I had climbed a small butte (maybe 60 feet high but very steep) and took this picture above the small crowd starting to gather for the sunset. © 1inawesomewonder 2022.
This was the view from that small butte looking in the other direction, more north and east. Here in NH, the land rises up to box us in, or for us to climb and see the great distances. At Badlands National Park, the land has dropped away, hiding many glorious views in shadows while still being able to see horizons that are miles and miles away. I want to explore Badlands again. What a place! © 1inawesomewonder 2022.
At this place, I talked to people from New Mexico, Utah, Minnesota, Virginia, North Carolina, New Jersey, and a nice woman from Philadelphia. They were there to take pictures and see for themselves. Some were there on a trip like mine, to see the Parks. Some were headed to rodeos, or weddings, or even to find a place to live out west. Really though, we were all there on a Thursday evening to watch the sun set. Right place at the right time. © 1inawesomewonder 2022.
I have a hard time ranking beauty and that is probably as it should be. Beauty comes in many forms, shades, and scenes. I am so very blessed to see as much beauty as I do. Then again, God uses an entire skyline, or the fullness of the western horizon to share with us one of the beautiful things that are all around us. © 1inawesomewonder 2022.
The serenity found in nature calls me often. If only I could break away from the societal grasps more often to ponder in places like this. Another word for serenity is ‘untroubled’, and that’s what it felt like standing here as most of the crowds had moved on. I stayed for the encore, which was silence in the afterglow. Dust rose from the dirt road as the throngs of ‘selfie-ests’ moved on to the next stop on their agenda. Looking in the opposite direction, I was the only one around to see a bighorn sheep silently saunter over peaks and crags. I smiled, taking it all in. © 1inawesomewonder 2022.
West 2022 Stories