South Dakota Pictures (4 pictures)
Door Trail - Badlands National Park
Directions:
I90 to exit 131 - Rt 240, head south to the park entrance.
A couple of miles in is a large parking area on the left
side of the road (about 2 miles north of the Visitor
Center). The Door trailhead is to the left end of the
parking lot.
Vault toilet.
$15 per week per car.
Trails:
The first .25 miles is boardwalk (wheelchair accessible)
to a gap in the wall (the Door), from which is a great
view. The trail continues with short steps to the right
down from the boardwalk and then you can meander around
(packed dirt) and/or follow the 2-foot yellow verticle
pipes that marks the way - ends at a cliff.
Trail Length:
.75 miles one-way
Area:
Distinctive and colorful hills of the Badlands.
Picture
When I did the hike:
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Recommendation:
Absolutely. Fantastic views and it's fun to wander
around.
Window Trail - Badlands National Park
Directions:
I90 to exit 131 - Rt 240, head south to the park entrance.
A couple of miles in is a large parking area on the left
side of the road (about 2 miles north of the Visitor
Center). The Window trailhead is near the right end of
the parking lot.
Vault toilet.
$15 per week per car.
Trails:
It's a short walk (wheelchair accessible) at a slight
grade down to a overlook of the massive Badlands Canyon
Valley.
Trail Length:
.2 miles one-way, boardwalk
Area:
Distinctive and colorful hills of the Badlands.
Picture
When I did the hike:
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Recommendation:
Absolutely. Short, but a grand view.
Notch Trail - Badlands National Park
Directions:
I90 to exit 131 - Rt 240, head south to the park entrance.
A couple of miles in is a large parking area on the left
side of the road (about 2 miles north of the Visitor
Center). The Notch trailhead is at the right end of the
parking lot.
Vault toilet.
$15 per week per car.
Trails:
The packed dirt trail starts at the far south end of the
parking lot and soon enters a gully and winds its way
through the gully for a bit (level hiking). The trail
turns a bend and there is a wooden-rope ladder (wooden
log steps, rope on the side) heading up at a sharp angle
(and near verticle towards the top). I made it about
2/3rds of the way up before pausing, looking up, and
seeing air between the logs and the wall and my nerves
gave out and I headed back down. If you make it to the
top of the ladder, the trail continues along a ledge and
eventually reaches a saddle along the white Badlands
Wall (which you can see on the otherside from the Cliff
Notch trail) with a view to the south.
Trail Length:
.75 miles
Area:
Distinctive and colorful hills of the Badlands.
When I did the hike:
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Recommendation:
If you think you can handle the wooden ladder, it's
probably worth a hike. Else don't bother going to
the ladder (the gully isn't interesting).
Castle Trail - Badlands National Park
Directions:
I90 to exit 131 - Rt 240, head south to the park entrance.
A couple of miles in is a large parking area on the left
side of the road (about 2 miles north of the Visitor
Center). The Castle Trail starts on the other side of
the road. Or continue into the park and take a right on
the Badlands Loop Road for about 4 miles to the large
parking lot for the Fossil Exhibit Trail on the left side
of the road. The trail starts on the other side of the
road.
Vault toilet.
$15 per week per car.
Trails:
I first tried the trail from the west end (Fossil Exhibit)
and was happy with the way it started as it wandered
through a basin of the distinctive hills. From that end,
the trail starts as a small set of wooden steps down from
the road and then through the basin. The trail is not
that distinctive and you have to try to follow the metal
posts with yellow or orange blazes for which way to go.
The trail verves left (not right) and behind a hill heads
out and up into the grasslands. From there the trail is
flat and an old dirt road (and at times the grass brushes
against the trail) and is actually a bit aways from the
Badlands hills - pretty blah of a hike. I turned around
after about 30 minutes. I tried it again from the east
end the next morning and the trail soon entered the
grasslands and I only lasted a few minutes before turning
around and heading out of the park.
Trail Length:
5 miles one-way, mostly level
Area:
Grasslands next to distinctive and colorful hills of the
Badlands.
When I did the hike:
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Recommendation:
Disappointment of a trail. Except for the area near the
west end of the trail (other side of the road from the
Fossil Exhibit Trail), the trail is an overrun dirt road
in grasslands and not that close the the Badlands hills.
Cliff Notch Trail - Badlands National Park
Directions:
I90 to exit 131 - Rt 240, head south to the park entrance.
Continue into the park for about 3 miles - as the road
takes a switchback down, look for a small parking lot to
the left (about 1 mile before the Visitor Center).
No facilities.
$15 per week per car.
Trails:
It is a loop amongst and around a patch of juniper trees
with the white Badlands Wall looming to the north
(visible, but not directly above). There is some
boardwalk to the trail (mostly early on - can take a
wheelchair along that section), but it also includes a
section of wooden steps and the rest is packed dirt.
Trail Length + Elevation:
.5 mile loop, 200 feet
Area:
Juniper trees and the white Badlands Wall.
When I did the hike:
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Recommendation:
Only if you've down the other short hikes. I wasn't
impressed with the views from this trail.
Saddle Pass Trail - Badlands National Park
Directions:
I90 to exit 131 - Rt 240, head south to the park entrance.
Continue in to the park to just past the Visitor Center
and take a right on to the Badlands Loop Road. About 2
miles in is a small parking area on the right side of the
road for the Saddle Pass Trail.
No facilities.
$15 per week per car.
Trails:
The trail heads steeply up (it's a huff-and-puffer) to a
saddle between two hills. It's surprisingly flat once
you reach the top - no drop to the otherside as the
otherside is flat grasslands (where you can connect to
the Castle Trail). You can also wander around some of
the hills around the saddle. Great views. Going down is
no easier than going up - I actually duck-walked through
a section that was too steep (with some loose dirt on the
trail) for my comfort. It took me 20 minutes to reach
the saddle and 20 minutes to get back down. The trail is
marked with metal posts with yellow blazes.
Trail Length:
.25 miles, steep up
Area:
Distinctive and colorful hills of the Badlands.
Picture
When I did the hike:
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Recommendation:
Though a hard up and down, the only trail in the park
that goes to the top of a hill. My favorite in the
park.
Fossil Exhibit Trail - Badlands National Park
Directions:
I90 to exit 131 - Rt 240, head south to the park entrance.
Continue in to the park to just past the Visitor Center
and take a right on to the Badlands Loop Road for about 4
miles to the large parking lot for the Fossil Exhibit
Trail on the left side of the road.
Vault toilet.
$15 per week per car.
Trails:
This short boardwalk loop is wheelchair accessible. The
trail loops along the floor of a small valley between
several Badlands hills. There are a few small fossil
exhibits (reproductions, I believe, nothing really
interesting) along the trail. The views are pretty.
Trail Length:
.25 mile boardwalk loop, level
Area:
Distinctive and colorful hills of the Badlands. Some
fossil exhibits.
When I did the hike:
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Recommendation:
Worth a short stop along the Balands Loop Road drive.
Wandering around on the other side of the road is also
a neat area.
Harney Peak - Custer State Park
Directions:
Hwy 385 (however you want to get to that road) to Rt
87. Take the long windy drive the the hills (slow
going - there is a tunnel near the end) for 6 miles
to the Sylvan Lake entrance of Custer State Park
(just past the Rt 89 junction). Can also take Rt 87
from the east (2 tunnels) for 14 miles or Rt 89 from
the south (no tunnels) for 6 miles. Head to the day
use area and take the loop around the parking area
past the top of the loop as the trail starts at the
northwest section of the parking area (starts
between two "No Parking" signs, then take a right a
short ways into the trail for trail #9).
Flush toilets at lake day use area.
$5 per week per car.
Trails:
It was one of those "what else can go wrong" hikes.
After waiting over an hour in the cool morning with
hopes that it would warm up and the fog would lift
(neither happened), I started on the wrong trail
(was going to do the easier there-and-back on trail
#9). I headed west on the trail that starts just
after the first parkings spots, next to a small
building. After about a mile of hiking through the
trees on the fairly mild trail, I reached another
parking lot (small one) - this when I found out I
was on the wrong trail. But the trail I was on
(trail #4) does eventually hook up with trail #9,
about a mile before Harney Peak. Past the parking
lot, the trail was mild for a bit and then came a
long, hard up. Then back down. Then shorter ups
and downs - someone coming the other direction told
me I was doing the loop the hard way. Of course, it
drizzled on me a couple of times and I didn't have
many views in the gaps of the trees due to the still
heavy cloud cover. I passed a massive rock mound
and the trail became a blonde gravel (is dirt the
rest of the way) for a bit and was mild through that
section. I passed another rock mound and the state
park boundary was just ahead - there is a
registration post for the area outside the park, so
fill out a form for your group; it is free. After a
junction with a horse trail, the trail heads a mild
up. After a steeper up (and a "stay on trail"
sign), the #4 trail finally reached the junction
with the #9 trail. The #9 trail is a wider trail
and heads a harder up from the junction. After a
bit (not as far as it looks like on the map) is the
branch trail on the left for Harney Peak. This
trail continues up for a short bit and then,
surprisingly, is mild until the horse tie-up spot.
Then there are stone and metal steps to the top.
At the peak is a historic stone watchtower that is
intersting to explore. Go through the building to
the other side and there is an open area where you
can rest and enjoy the views. Unfortunately, I
didn't have too many views as there was still a
cloud cover (though it wasn't as heavy as it was
earlier). And there were lots of people, including
a very noisy group. And I found out that my water
container was leaking (still had plenty of water,
though). It took me 2 hours to reach the peak. At
7,242 feet, Harney Peak is the tallest in South
Dakota. For the way back, I took trail #9 (they
way most people would come). Past the trail #4
junction, the #9 trail continues heading at a
harder down for a good ways. Eventually, the down
becomes not as steep. As views of Little Devils
Tower appear, the trail is milder. Take a left at
the horse trail junction and the wider trail then
actually heads a mild up for a good ways. At the
large rocks, the trail levels for a short bit and
then is a small up around a bend and then the trail
finally starts heading back down (at a mild grade).
From there it is down almost the rest of the way
back to the lake. To complete my hike, it started
drizzling with about 45 minutes left in my hike and
continue to rain the rest of the way.
In Custer State Park, the trails are marked with
blue blazes (the last mile to the peak is outside
the park).
Note: the way the park trail map looks does not
accurately represent the way the trail actually
is - a number of junctions are shorter or longer
distances from each other than it looks like on
the map and the park boundary is not shortly
before the trail junction.
Trail Length + Elevation:
4 miles, 1600 feet one-way
Area:
Woods and mountains of the Black Hills of South
Dakota.
Picture
When I did the hike:
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Recommendation:
Pretty and has the distinction of being the tallest
peak in South Dakota. Lots of people, though.