Our next stop after our "Wall Drug" adventure in the town of Wall, was Badlands National Park.
Badlands encompasses 244,000 acres and protects the largest expanse of prairie in the National Park System. The Oglala Lakota called these lands mako sica, meaning "land bad". The French trappers and traders followed suit by calling this place Les Mauvaises terres a traverser, meaning "bad lands to cross".
When planning our road trip I chose to include Badlands because of the location, and because they have a lodge on park property. And when I read bison call this place home, I was hooked. My number one goal was to see bison, and I was not disappointed! To see the bison on the expansive prairie lands was for me an amazing experience .
We arrived at the park mid-day and spent the afternoon exploring the easy hiking paths just past the Northeast Entrance. There were several easy trails and overlooks on our way to the visitor's center. It was sunny and beautiful, but also very cold and windy.
The Door and Window trail areas mark the divide between the upper prairie area and the lower prairie area. You can see the backbone of the Badlands here, a thick ridge over 100 miles long called "The Wall" and where the little town of Wall got it's name.
The Window Trail below was only marked by yellow poles. I guess they wanted to stop you from climbing into the canyon looking for more yellow poles! It was freezing cold, yes that is me, and I had 3 or 4 layers of clothing on trying to keep warm!
From a viewpoint near the parking area:
We saw a bighorn sheep on the Notch Trail. However, we didn't complete the trail due to a high ladder that we decided we best not attempt. We noticed the collar around the neck of the bighorn. At one of our stops at the visitor's center I asked about this. It is a sad story, but shows how the park is working to protect the sheep. The bighorn sheep caught disease from some farmed sheep and about 200 of the bighorn sheep died. There are about 50 remaining sheep and the park has put collars on them so they can track them. If they see them wander away from the park, they will go and bring them back. Hopefully they will be able to protect and grow the number of park sheep. She assured me they get used to the collars and are not bothered (too much) by them. Such a sweet fellow!
When we arrived at the cabins and store to check in, we learned that they had just opened up park lodging the day before. I did not realize that when I reserved the room. Although there were some supplies still missing from the store, our cabin was quite lovely. Much nicer than I had anticipated. It got down into the 20's overnight and our cabin kept us warm and comfortable.
The bathrooms were beautiful. My kind of rustic cabin!
The next day we took the Badlands Loop Road in search of Bison. It was slightly warmer out, sunny and beautiful!
I guess I didn't need to ask how to find the bison, they found us! The first one we saw was grazing along the roadway!
Bison are commonly called buffalo. In fact, that is what I had been calling them. However, bison is their true name. The name buffalo is an Anglicized version of the French word for "beef". I think bison is a much more dignified name. ❤️
We saw prairie dog towns in several locations. We could hear their calls to one another and see them scamper around their tunneled burrows. After watching a national park documentary about Badlands National Park we learned how the prairie dogs and the way the dig and move the dirt help the grasses that feed the bison. The bison and the prairie dog activities help the grassy ecosystems provide for the prairie inhabitants!
Bison in the distance. However, we saw others along the roadway as we continued our drive.
Although Bison are native to the area, bison were gone from this landscape by the 1880s. In 1963 they were reintroduced into the Sage Creek basin. Expansion efforts have grown their roaming. Badlands Bison are not a free-ranging herd. They are contained within 64,000 acres to keep them from mingling with surrounding cattle herds. This is to protect them from the disease brucellosis which causes abortions in cows. Note: no Badlands bison have ever tested positive for brucellosis.
Clouds covered the sunset (behind me) but the canyon was quite beautiful as the darkness settled. Birds and coyotes song their songs in the distance.
The next morning the mountains across from the cabins and store were beautiful in the early sun:
As we headed out of the park, we went up an incline that provided a beautiful view of the lodging area and visitor's center.
A closer photo below shows the cabin area, visitor's center and store. Just beyond the cabins is the camping area. And bit beyond that, down the road to the right (and outside of park limits) you see the tiny town of Interior.
Information obtained from "Badlands National Park A Personal Road Guide Keepsake" purchased from the visitor's center.
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