Best Badlands Boondocking and Spearfish.

 

Morning light at our boondocking spot.

Tuesday, 6/4, was a travel day to Nomad View, a boondocking site located in Buffalo Gap National Grasslands. We were parked just outside the Pinnacles entrance to Badlands National Park. This is easily one of my very favorite camping spots. When we stayed here in 2016 there were only a handful of rigs. But the word is out, this time there were probably at least 50-60 rigs lined up along the 3-mile rim road. It’s no longer the place to go for solitude, but we got lucky and scored a great site with beautiful badlands views that was just big enough for our two rigs. We were across from a HUGE grassy area where the dogs had a fantastic time running zoomies. Speaking of grass, this was an excellent time to visit the badlands, we were amazed at how much green there was! 

We were also visited every morning and most evenings by the resident herd of range cows. Did you know calves get the zoomies too? It’s been so much fun watching them play just off our patio.  We time our forays into the grassy field with the pups, so that we don’t disturb the cattle. I don’t think momma cow would be in favor of Raney running zoomies with her baby.   

We're there in the center.

     

We enjoyed the daily visits from our range neighbors.

Raney was very interested in making new friends. Lol. 

Riley enjoying the wide open spaces. (Love this pic of him!)

The grasslands were perfect for daily puppy play sessions.

The badlands at dusk.
Love this view from our patio. 

Campfire time.

We drove into town to visit Wall Drug, a well-known roadside attraction, Tuesday afternoon. I do believe the building takes up a whole block. It’s definitely worth one visit, and some of the décor and historical items on display are very interesting, but it is totally a tourist trap. Sometimes you just have to embrace the kitsch. Lol. It wasn’t always such a popular stop though. Ted and Dorothy Hustead purchased the small drug store in Wall, SD in 1931. The town was small and very poor. They struggled to make ends meet for nearly five years until they hit on the idea of offering free ice water to travelers. They posted signs along the highway – Burma Shave style – and turned free ice water into a multimillion-dollar idea. Oh, and they still offer free ice water (ok, tepid tap water – but it’s free!).

Wall Drug. Touristy kitsch at its best. Lol.

Free ice water started it all. Lol. 

Badlands National Park covers 244,000 acres and is comprised of three park units. North Unit, where we visited, is the most popular and easily accessible. The Stronghold and Palmer Creek units are located within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. On Wednesday, 6/5, we drove the scenic road from the Pinnacles entrance through Badlands National Park to the Ben Reifel Visitor Center. We stopped along the way at several named overlooks with striking views of the desolate landscape. We spotted Big Horn sheep in the distance, high up in the badland formations.

These bison were just inside the park boundry.
We got to watch one of big guys take a dust bath.

The intricate and elaborate formations are endlessly intriguing.

The view from the very short Window Trail.

These swallows made good use of the picnic cover at the trailhead.
The "angry bird" look just cracked me up. Lol. 

At the aptly named Yellow Mounds overlook.

Toadstool Rock.

The Bighorn verion of "Where's Waldo"?
Can you find these two in the first picture?

Our boondocking spot was perfectly positioned to capture some amazing sunrises. Friday morning I got up early and not only had an amazing sunrise, but got to watch a lightning storm in the distance and then turned around from the sunrise to see a rainbow! It was well worth setting an alarm to see mother nature pull out all the pretty paints. 😊  The night before, we had gone back to the Pinnacles Overlook in the park for the sunset.  We didn’t get as much in the way of color, but one of the visitors was playing an Alpenhorn. You don’t see that every day!

Badlands sunrise pano.

Bob and Carole were also out early for the sunrise.

Talk about some technicolor clouds!

Sunrise and a rainbow too!

Sunset from Pinnacles Overlook.

Fewer clouds, so not quite the dramatic show we got at sunrise.

But we did have an Alpenhorn and...

...more Bighorn sheep!

Friday, 6/7, we sadly left our lovely boondocking spot and headed to the Spearfish City Park Campground.  Spearfish, SD is a fun town with some excellent shops to peruse, breweries to sample, and scenic areas to explore. The city closes a portion of main street every Friday evening for live music, food trucks, and family entertainment. On Saturday we walked into town for the farmer’s market and scored some locally raised meat, baked goods and sundries. Then Carole and I spent the afternoon checking out the thrift and antique shops. Late Sunday evening we made a foray back to Spearfish Brewery after Carole called to confirm that they’d tapped a keg of the Cherry Pie, a fruited sour beer. We came, we tried, we liked, and we took some home too. 😊

Spearfish City Campground.

Guess who was a fan of Spearfish Creek that runs through the campground.

Lots going on in Spearfish!

On Sunday, we drove through Spearfish Canyon, stopping at Bridal Veil Falls and then hiking 1.5 miles (in the rain! Lol.) to Spearfish Falls.  We stopped in Deadwood for lunch and to check out the town. It’s well-known for its gambling and bars. “Wild Bill” Hickok, was shot and killed in 1876 while gambling at the Saloon #10 in Deadwood. Gambling was made illegal shortly after South Dakota became a state, but in 1989 the state voted to legalize gambling in Deadwood to diversify the town’s economy. Carole tried her luck at the slot machines, sadly the era of the one-armed bandits is over. Now you just swipe your credit card and push a button. Where’s the fun in that?

Bridal Veil Falls.

Spearfish Creek.

Spearfish Falls.

Deadwood's known for it's casinos and bars.

Carole set a $10 limit.
Her luck (and money) ran out quickly. Lol. 

We also drove through Sturgis, famous for its motorcycle rally. There wasn’t much going on since the big biker gathering isn’t until August. But we can check that one off the list. Lol.

Not much going on when we visited Sturgis.

Back in Spearfish, I walked across the street from our campground to the D.C. Booth Historic National Fish Hatchery. Established in 1896, it is one of the oldest operating hatcheries in the country. They have several ponds and interesting exhibits. You can tour the 1905 home of the first superintendent, DeWitt Clinton Booth, which is furnished with period antiques, and walk through a restored railroad fish car, specially made by the Bureau of Fisheries to transport fish to stock waterways across the country.

D.C. Booth fish hatchery. 

Rainbow, Brown, and Cutthroat trout are raised in the ponds.

I love the viewing windows.
(Although they could have used a good cleaning.)

The Booth House was full of period antiques and worth a visit.

The Hatchery grounds were lovely,
I especially liked this sculpture.

I'd never seen anything like the Hatchery's railroad car. 

Our next destination is in Wyoming and has been on my bucket list for years. Can you guess where we’re going? (Hint: Think Close Encounters of the Third Kind.) 😏