Badlands National Park

Yesterday we drove about 5 1/2  hours to get to Badlands National Park. The drive was a beautiful journey through the prarie lands of South Dakota and constantly reminded me of the movie Dances with Wolves. Such a beautiful country the early settlers encountered!

What we found when we arrived here amazed and awed us, as we had no idea of the ruggedness and magnitude of this place. It's an other-wordy moonscape of gray rock spires and mountains created by millions of years of erosion. Words can't adequately describe it. It's like a cross between Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon. Much more like what you'd encounter in southern Utah than among the green prairies of South Dakota,

We checked into a private campground just outside the park, unhooked the Jeep and took a scenic drive through the magnificent landscape which goes on for miles. We took pictures which I'll post below in a while.

Here is a video of part of our drive.

Today we're going to Wall Drug, a famous but kitchy tourist attraction that you see billboards for hundreds of miles along the way. Then we'll continue on, arriving at the Black Hills and our main destination sights.

 Crossing the Missouri River