Our first real stop on our first RV road trip was in the Badlands, South Dakota. When we first starting planning our trip we wondered if we should skip the Badlands and head straight to the Black Hills/Mt. Rushmore area to avoid making another one-night stop on our three-night trek north. However, after revisiting websites describing the area, we changed our minds, and are very glad we did.
What We Did
We arrived early afternoon to the campground and “set up camp”. One of these days we’ll detail that process if there is interest but it’s not as simple as hauling a few suitcases into a condo. This process right now takes us about 30-45 minutes. We look forward to the day when it is faster.
When we finished with set up we promptly hopped back into the truck and drove 5 minutes to the Wall Drug area of Wall, SD. We knew very little about Wall Drug beforehand except what we learned from signs on the way and an internet search.
Apparently the Wall Drug Store became a stopping place for travelers heading to Mt. Rushmore by offering free ice water. It is in the middle of nowhere, as they freely admit, but a little town built up around it. It’s on a quaint street with an eclectic feel where you could easily spend a day exploring the stores, eating at the diner, and completing some of the activities like mining for gold. However, because of COVID the activities were not operating, and again because of COVID, we did not spend any time in stores. We simply walked through the main street, masks on, to take in the vibe, and walked through one main indoor/outdoor hallway to see the dinosaur display they had.
We spent around 45 minutes in the historic Wall Drug area this time before heading back to the RV to make sandwiches and pack a small cooler for a visit to the Badlands.
At this point a storm sprung up and we debated about whether or not to try to make it to the park ahead of the storm, or if we should wait out the storm in the RV. We are glad we chose to wait it out in the RV. There were high winds that caused the RV to rock a bit and the rain was very hard. Had we been on the road instead we would have worried about what was happening to the RV and perhaps even turned back to check on it and our dog. This was our first “storm” experience in the RV, and we didn’t know what to expect. Luckily we didn’t have any rugs or camp chairs out for the one-day stay so it was fairly simple for us to prepare in the few minutes we had before the torrential downpour and high winds began.
The storm lasted a little over an hour. As soon as it blew through we headed out right after to enjoy a couple sunset hours in the Badlands on the Scenic Loop.
The Badlands Loop Scenic Byway is a 39-mile loop through the heart of the Badlands. You can take in the rugged rock terrain via car. There are several designated scenic overlook areas where you can pull over and take photos from a more stationary position. We also found that because the national site is so large, there was plenty of space to spread out. The winds were still whipping when we were there so we exercised caution in approaching cliffsides, even those with some railings, but that didn’t prevent us from enjoying the scenery or capturing some great photos.
We highly recommend at least a couple hours’ stop in the Badlands when in the area. It was beautiful, wild, and unexpected.
What We Missed
On the way to the Badlands, we missed a stop at the Dignity Statue and scenic overlook as well as the Corn Palace (yes, Corn Palace). We debated stopping but since we were hauling our RV we didn’t know if they had parking for our size. Missing these did cause us to discuss conducting more research about attractions along the route in the future.
We also missed a visit to the Minuteman Historic Missile Site. With another few hours we would have been able to visit, and found we regretted not being able to make this stop.
Where We Stayed
We stayed at Sleepy Hollow Campground and RV Park. The positives: Our site was level, with “decent” space between it and the sites next to it. It was a quieter park in a good location for what we were there to see. The constructive: It was very simple. I wouldn’t want to spend more than a day or two in this location as I didn’t get the feeling I was able to relax there. Many people seemed to be using it for a quick stop in the area. Also, the campground had advertised full hook-ups and cable. We discovered upon arrival and set up that we didn’t have a cable box anywhere. Since we had gone several days without television at this point and were road weary, we had been looking forward to watching a couple of shows at night. When inquiring about this we were told that very few sites actually had both. It would have been nice for the advertisement to have been clearer and/or for the person taking our reservation to ask if we were looking for any particular amenities. Finally, the WIFI was weak and cellular service was spotty. At one point a trip was made “into town” to get better connection for work. The campsite WIFI had outdated security settings so my husband’s work computer blocked him from connecting to it. Keep in mind – even if you call and ask about the availability of wifi, it is not a guarantee it will work as expected. Phone service was fine otherwise.
Trip Summary
Final verdict? Visit the Badlands! It was incredible terrain with amazing, expansive views. The wildlife was also amazing to see. We saw bighorn sheep, bison, and a fox while we were there. The day after leaving the Badlands I saw a news article that a team had just uncovered a triceratops in the Badlands. Pretty cool.
Happy traveling.
Not Tomorrow 