I had always wanted to go to The Badlands but never imagined myself prioritizing a trip there. Even once I knew I’d be going through South Dakota, for some reason it didn’t cross my mind. I’ve been trying to just plan one day at a time, so when waking up in Mitchell, South Dakota and planning my day, I was stoked to see The Badlands were (was?) only a short detour!
This ended up being another synchronistic reminder that prioritizing spontaneity beats any plan I can come up with. After meeting the cutest cats at the gas station, I pull up to the park around 2 pm underneath a picture perfect sunny blue sky (first sunny day in quite a while). A slight dusting of snow once again set the scene. I was the only one there it seemed like, which I took full advantage of — frequently stopping the middle of the road to ogle at the rocks.
The Badlands National Park has a main road cutting through the middle, which conveniently takes you through all the different areas. It’s about an hour drive from start to finish, if you were to make no stops.
There were deer everywhere which I was thrilled by. They were all rocking their winter coats, looking extra fuzzy. Some just straight chillin in the sun, chewing grass, doing their thing — I wanted to just stay there and hang out with them.
I noticed the sun starting to sink a bit and realized sunset here was about to be a treat. Looking at the map, the highest overlook was at the end of the road, 45 minutes away. If I kept my stops to a minimum then I could make it there right for sunset. Leaving the deer to do their thing, I continued on.
P U R E
E L A T I O N
Is how I felt driving around, I was absolutely thrilled haha
It was so beautiful, the lighting was incredible and the music was hitting perfectly. The fact that this was timed so well with the sunset and I didn’t have to go out of my way at all — unbelievable. Even ignoring the cosmic giggle I found myself in the midst of, I think The Badlands takes the crown for my favorite National Park.
Getting to Pinnacle Overlook, the grand finale approached. Dedicating 30, 40 minutes to soaking it in, I sat on the ground near the rim and reflected on the past 3 weeks that lead me here. The wind softly blowing from time to time, it was otherwise completely silent.
Ass and hands freezing, but heart thoroughly warmed, I headed back to the car. Where was I even going? Oh yeah, Wall, South Dakota. Well, time to find somewhere to stay!
Check out the time lapse of the sunset I got. I also took a ton of pictures and videos like normal. Some of the videos I was cracking myself up filming, roughly coordinating with the music. It’s really funny to me watching deers peacefully eat, with obnoxious dubstep playing in the background. Maybe you’ll get a kick out of it too 😆
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