Badlands National Park, South Dakota

It was quite a trek to get to our next adventure spot so another half way stop off was needed.  We chose a KOA just off the highway at Rochester - in Minnesota not Kent!  And after a long full day of driving it was a welcome spot, easy to find and reasonable facilities.

Next day was another full day of driving but we made it to Badlands National Park, South Dakota early evening - just in time to drive the main loop (knocking on 40c - thank goodness for AC!) and see the sunset. Stunning!!

Tubbs had read about ‘boondocking’ which is wild camping to you and me, and there are various spots around the country you can use.  We found one here just outside the park on the edge of a cliff face overlooking the park, and what an amazing peaceful spot it was.  We had literally just set up camp and I was about to cook dinner when a mountain goat decided to have a feast only a few feet away from the open van door.  Luckily the pups had not clocked him yet so I quickly grabbed them and kept them out of view so as not to spook this beautiful creature or disturb his supper!

The geologic deposits are nothing short of stunning and contain one of the world’s richest fossil beds - ancient horses and rhinos once roamed here according to the website!  The park is huge at 244,000 acres and is the home of numerous bison, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs and black-footed ferrets.

A pretty cool place to explore with tons of trails and lookouts - pretty Bad-ass!!  Plus you know it’s not your average park when a bison strolls over - not to mention the ‘beware of rattlesnakes’ signs everywhere 🐍😱. However you are a little restricted because it’s so damn hot in the day.  Middle of August … el scorchio!!  Best time is sunrise or sunset at this time of year.

So on our last morning we decided to experience the sunrise. It was 50/50 as to whether the sky would be clear enough but the alarm was set for 5am and to be honest we didn’t care if it wasn’t spectacular as just being up at that time of day with literally nobody around just us two and the dogs was so peaceful - and cool in temperature, a soothing 15c (later in the day we were peaking at 40c!!)  We stopped at an area called Pinnacles Overlook which was a great spot to watch the sun come up.  I’m pleased to say we were not disappointed 🌄

So what to do with the rest of the day?? … I know lets pop to Mount Rushmore …

Tubbs & TA❤️