Visiting Wall Drug & Badlands National Park

October 27, 2019

We decided to check out of our house rental one day early. We had an 8 hour drive from Rapid City, South Dakota to Omaha, Nebraska and at the last minute we decided to split that up into two days. We loaded up the car and headed to Mitchell, South Dakota with a stop at Wall Drug and the Badlands along the way.

It seems like you can't visit the Badlands and not stop at Wall Drug! The signs are quite comical along the way and I knew the boys would enjoy some freshly baked treats once there. It's basically a giant shopping center all under one roof. We did walk around for a bit and then the boys settled with their father in the café and ordered freshly baked donuts and cinnamon buns while my mother in law and I walked around to do some shopping.

We headed back on our way and soon found ourselves entering the Badlands. The rock formations were pretty amazing to see.

We did go into the visitor's center and there is a mini museum set up inside that we walked through and learned about the history of the area. We also sat and watched a short video on wildlife in the Badlands before heading out on a short hike of our own.

We settled on the Door Trail but didn't end up hiking the whole thing as it was a very sunny and hot day, once again.

The Badlands appear to be made of sand but once you get up close you see that is actually a very hard rock.

Deep craggy cuts and valley's wind their way all throughout the rocks.

There are so many colors and layers and it's pretty amazing to see just how far the landscape stretches.

We piled back in the car and drove to another overlook spot before piling out of the car and walking to the end of the trail.

We were so happy to have gotten to see this natural wonder then we piled back in the car for our ride to the Holiday Inn in Mitchell where the younger two boys decided to check out the pool before we headed out for dinner.