One week after leaving Chicagoland, we made it to our first national park of the year: Badlands National Park in Interior, South Dakota. Upon entering, we purchased our first National Parks Annual Pass, and we couldn’t be more excited! The annual pass costs $80 per vehicle and gets you unlimited visits to most National Parks. This little card meant a lot to us.
So why go to a park that has “bad” in its title? It actually isn’t bad after all. In fact, it is beautiful! The Badlands got its name to pay homage to the people who lived there before it became a national park. Travelers had deemed the land “bad” to travel across due to the many challenges it posed, and the land was considered difficult to survive in. Hence the name “Badlands.”
After entering the park, we couldn’t help but stop at the first overlook to take it all in. This was just the beginning!
The Badlands Loop Road is one of two main roads that go directly through the park. It’s about 38 miles to drive straight through, but there are also many overlooks, pull-offs, and hiking trails along the way. Like in most national parks, dogs are only permitted in certain areas, so since we have Harvey with us, we didn’t go on any of the trail hikes and instead stuck to the scenic drive.
At this point the sun was beginning to set, so instead of stopping at multiple overlooks, we did a park-preview and drove straight through to get to our campsite for the night. Even just by driving straight through, we encountered wildlife on and around the road, and got to witness the sun setting across from the beautiful variety of rock formations (sandstones, siltstones, mudstones, claystones, limestones, volcanic ash, and shale). We love rocks!
Our campsite for the night was a famous boondocking area featured in the movie Nomadland. It’s not an official campground, so people refer to it as different things (Nomad View, Wall Dispersed Camping Area, the Cliff, the Wall, etc). It’s a free camping area where you park along the edge of a cliff overlooking the Badlands. The drive up to the cliff was a narrow and bumpy dirt road, and since it was our first time driving our RWD van off the paved roads uphill to meet the edge of a cliff, we found it to be a little bit stressful!
Once we made it up the hill, it was a challenge to find a spot to park. As it was the end of Labor Day weekend, the wall was pretty packed with RVs, trailers, vans, buses, trucks, cars, and tents. Lots of the spots along the wall are slanted upwards towards the cliffs, so vehicles with levelers could park along them with no problems. Since we don’t have levelers though (maybe it’s time for us to get levelers), we are limited to parking in mostly flat areas. The sun was going down and we felt like we were running out of time.
After driving along what felt like an endless slanted and bumpy road (very near a cliff, remember), we finally came upon a fairly flat spot across the road from the cliff that was unoccupied.
::BIG SIGH:: We parked and turned off the ignition. We could finally relax.
With some hefty glasses of wine, we set up our chairs along the edge of the cliff, sat back, and took some deep breaths of dry air while we enjoyed the amazing view.
One of the famous perks of staying along the wall is that if you wake up early enough, you will witness the sun rising over the Badlands. We had already been waking up pretty early each day, but we weren’t about to miss this. The alarm was set, and the sunrise was so worth it.
Later in the morning, we went on a long walk along the entire length of the campsite cliff area. It ended up being about a 4 mile walk. We saw a variety in the types of vehicles staying there, the terrain along the wall, and the quality of the road (realizing we had driven in the most intense parts on our way up to our spot).
Many people waved to one another as vehicles passed by. We made small talk with some (mostly those who commented on Harvey’s ears- always a conversation starter!). We were all from different places, but while at this site, we were all neighbors. After this walk, we felt so much more comfortable in our surroundings. We even considered moving the van to a new spot with a different view further along the wall (if the spot was still empty by the time we got there).
Anyone who has driven out West has probably seen signs for Wall Drug. With all the buildup, we decided to go see what this place was all about. And with all due respect to Wall Drug, it basically seemed like a tourist trap that is advertised for miles and miles and miles (and miles). The town of Wall did however happen to be a nice place to fill up on gas and buy groceries.
We confidently drove back up to the cliff, this time using the north entrance instead of the south entrance (a little bit of a longer drive but also smoother). The spot we had scouted earlier in the morning was still open! After some careful maneuvering, our van was safely parked on a picturesque spot with another amazing view. It was like our very own tiny strip of land.
So happy to find this new spot, we set up our rug and chairs, only to find that the wind was so gusty that our things had no chance of staying put on their own. Luckily in our van we had some dumbbells with adjustable weights. What a great multipurpose van hack!
We slept through the night’s gusty winds and woke up to the next morning’s sunrise alarm. For breakfast, we made waffles in our tiny Dash waffle maker. Perfect for van life, however it only makes one waffle at a time (patience is key), but again, worth it.
We ended up staying along the wall for three nights. Each day, we took long walks along the cliff, and would sometimes see some bighorn sheep hanging out down below. We exchanged many waves and smiles with our travel neighbors, and talked with a few people who were on their own long-distance traveling journeys.
The unique land lended itself to some great photography scenes. While watching the sunrise one morning, a couple and their dog were taking a walk along the edge of the cliff out in the distance. Their silhouettes in front of the colorful and hazy sunrise was a perfect shot! As they walked past our van, Mo stopped to share the photo with them.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time staying in the Badlands. People were very respectful of the sounds and solitude that the cliffs provided. It was so quiet and peaceful. This is a place that we would love to camp at again someday. (Maybe next time with some new hefty tires.)
On our final day in the Badlands, we drove through the park once again, this time taking our sweet time and enjoying many of the breathtaking overlooks. We look forward to using our Annual Pass again over the next year to explore more of the amazing National Parks.
ErMo Productions 
Such amazing photos!!
By the time you make your way back to Ohio, our driveway will feel like a breeze!
Yes, for sure!!