September 13, 2023
Badlands National Park
The last time we were in South Dakota the wind literally stopped us from moving forward or we would have seen what we got to see today.
Badlands National Park is something you need to experience to fully appreciate it. You don’t really get it by driving a car but by being in the wind and on the road. Despite the 15-20 mph crosswinds, today’s ride was spectacular. The images don’t quite do it justice but hopefully you can get a sense of what we saw.
We started our ride from the western entrance and rode along the rim before dipping down and back up and riding the rim some more. We also took a small diversion towards a south entrance until we encountered gravel roads before continuing on.
We also got to ride by a few bison who were oblivious to the wind but were quite content to relax in the 85 degree temperatures.
The roads were also not flat unless you stayed on the top rim. We encountered inclines from 8-12% which are just about at the limit of what we what to climb anymore. But we got a few cheerleaders at the top of each one giving us the “well done” cheers. With only a few exceptions the drivers were courteous giving us plenty of room despite the road having no real shoulders.
I believe the only recommendation I would give if I were do this this ride again would be to start at the east entrance as you get to ride at the base of the rock formations before climbing up to the rim.
Today's ride: 22 miles (35 km)
Total: 448 miles (721 km)
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