After driving an hour on a dusty back Souh Dakota road an eerie solitude met us at the Badlands National Park. On the north of the park were miles of prairie with a heard of 800 bison roaming free. On the south we’re shallow, grey, canyons and plateaus (kind of like a smaller, colorless, Bryce Canyon). We initially liked our primitive campsite- unfortunately, a pretty intense rain and lightening storm moved in around two a.m. So between the cayote howls before drifting off to sleep and waking up to a lightning filled sky mid night we know why they call it the Badlands. We left on a good note this morning by driving right through the center of the Buffalo, watching the prairie dogs pop up all over the place, and taking a few short hikes. Our 15th and final national park didn’t dissapoint.
