The Badlands: More South Dakota

Picture taken from one of the many viewpoints

Me at Burns Basin Overlook in Badlands National Park

A few crazy prairie dogs in one of the many
fields in Badlands National Park

Jeff and I in front of the main visitor center

We just had to see the what all the hype was about:
Wall Drug - Biggest tourist drug store in South Dakota

These are just some of the many billboards I saw
on the way to the town of Wall for Wall Drug

We traveled about 370 miles today across the great state of South Dakota, dropping by Badlands National Park and the city of Wall along the way. We lost another hour as we entered U.S. Central Time in the middle of South Dakota. The drive itself wasn’t too bad since the speed limits were high and the land was relatively flat (most of the hills were fairly gradual through most of I-90). Thank goodness for loud music and caffeine.

Badlands National Park was one of the most scenic places I have ever been too. The views were very grandiose. The sheer size of the valleys and rock formations is very hard to describe. The pictures above speak for themselves (well, I don’t think they can do the real thing justice). It was fun to see the fossil center as well when we were in the park. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to get a hike in, but we were able to drive through much of the park. We also had the chance to view some wildlife including entire areas of prairie dogs.

Along the way to Badlands National Park, we noticed at least 50 billboards along the way advertising a particular drug store called Wall Drug. This is probably the most interesting marketing strategy I have seen. The billboards started at least 25 miles out from the town of Wall (where the store is located) and they were spaced about every ½ mile apart. By the time we reached the town of Wall, we just had to see this drug store. When we got to Wall Drug, we found out that it was actually more of a mall than a drug store, but it still had a lot of neat things inside, including many historical items and images of South Dakota. It was definitely a tourist place and we got sucked in by their advertising powerhouse billboards… It was a fun start for the day before we headed off to the Badlands.

Jeff and I are currently in Sioux Falls, SD, preparing for tomorrow’s jump across multiple states (South Dakota to Minnesota to Iowa to Illinois). We are hoping to be around the Chicago area by tomorrow evening. It will definitely be a long drive tomorrow…