Badlands, South Dakota

We picked the WRONG day to take a bike ride to the Bandlands. It was the hottest day that we’ve had, 103. IT WAS HOT! Needless to say, we only did half of the loop.

A we drove through the Bandlands, we could not believe that people actually live there. The homes were few and far between, but they were there….. People tried to homestead the Badlands back in the early 1900s, but they turned out to be “Starvation Claims” and were abandoned or sold. Today the ranches of this valley are measured in thousands of acres and heavy equipment does most of the work that was once done by calloused hands. But it is still difficult for the ranchers today to succeed.

The Badlands National Park covers 244,000 acres. The exposed colored layers mark fossil soils and contain evidence of life here between 37 and 23 million years ago.

We ended at Walls Drug and now I know why they offer free ice water. By the time you get there, YOU NEED IT!