South Dakota has stolen my heart. Our first stop after Minneapolis was Palisades State Park, what a surprisingly beautiful location to spend a few nights. While traveling to this little known destination we passed the biggest silos I have ever seen along with what I affectionately termed as “Farm Islands” (homesteads with trees completely surrounded by miles of flat fields). This park was located off the beaten path and is truly a hidden gem. You do not need to explore far before seeing unique Sioux quartzite formations along Split Rock Creek. We took a nearby side trip (without the Scamp!) to Sioux Falls for a day, visiting the Great Plains Zoo and an Irish Pub of course, “Slainte!”
Palisades State Park, SD
Apparently it is impossible to drive though South Dakota without stopping to see the Corn Palace in Mitchell. I was not initially interested in detouring to visit this iconic destination but extremely happy that we did! Reading the history surrounding the Corn Palace was fascinating along with photos displaying past performers and events held every year. The auditorium was currently set up for Mitchell’s High School graduation!
Corn Palace, Mitchell, SD - Every year, since the creation of the Corn Palace in 1892, a different theme is created. This photo displays the theme from 1965, the year of our birth! See the weblink below for more information!
Continuing along the unexpected extremely windy southern portion of SD we arrived at Wall. I was disappointed since the high winds prevented us from camping up on “the wall” which overlooked the Badlands, a place I was looking forward to camping at since the beginning plans of discovering SD. Instead we had our first parking lot overnight stay in the town of Wall and ventured into Wall Drug, a well known tourist destination for anyone traveling through South Dakota - just follow the signs! We ended up in conversation with one of the Wall Drug merchants advising us to camp for free at Sage Creek Campground within Badlands National Park. This sidestep ended up being the best decision so far - the camping was magical and an experience we will never forget..
Wall, SD - Thankfully Wall Drug allowed overnight camping in their parking lot! I was delighted with the town’s fascination with Jackalopes, LOL
Off to Badlands National Park and what has now become my favorite (and COLDEST - in the 30’s at night) camping stop so far on our adventure! This national park is beyond amazing and brought tears to my eyes witnessing the wonderment of the Badlands. I wish my photos could give the depth perspective of the landscape which continues on for miles. We camped two amazing nights at the Sage Creek Campground as recommended. The washboard roads traveled to reach this remote area gave the Scamp a workout and jiggled our brains. This was a small campground, no water or electric, however it did have the best pit toilets we have encountered so far! Since the campground is located within the national park Bison are free to roam and boy did they, right into the campsite! We also happily watched Prairie Dogs play and were visited by a lone coyote.
Badlands National Park
Badlands National Park
Bison at our campground, closer pictures below! They seemed to be all male Bison and enjoyed scratching themselves using the campground posts, lol! This was truly a magical experience, living with the Bison and Prairie Dogs.
South Dakota has been full of surprises and spectacular visual gifts. It is difficult to choose from the hundreds of photos Steve and I have captured so far. We have left the fascinating and heart fulfilling memories of America’s Badlands National Park and are now heading to the Black Hills of South Dakota. “Bison in my backyard” will be hard to beat, but we are up for the challenge!
Badlands National Park
Coddiwompling “To Travel in a Purposeful Manner Towards a Vague Destination”
“I believe the world is incomprehensibly beautiful - an endless prospect of magic and wonder.” - Ansel Adams
https://gfp.sd.gov/parks/detail/palisades-state-park/
https://www.nps.gov/badl/index.htm
https://www.campendium.com/sage-creek-campground-badlands-np