TRNP - South Unit

Painted Canyon had been our first stop of the day. After admiring the views, we continued 6 miles West through the Badlands, then exited in Medora. Downtown, a statue is among the many attractions in honor of Theodore Roosevelt, but our main itinerary was to see the South Unit of the National Park bearing his name.

Many say this is the park to see wildlife in their natual habitat, and while we saw some, there was much less than we expected. While we had no discouraging words and the skies were initially clear, the buffalo (bison) were not roaming, and no deer or antelope were playing. Of those, we actually only saw one bison and none of the others. The critters we did see were very much satisfying.

After the entrance gate, the first two miles are a steady climb through vast but hilly prairie, then something I hadn’t experienced before: Interstate-94 goes right through this National Park, evident from the overlook at Skyline Vista. Fortunately the highway sits lower, keeping noises to a minimum elsewhere in the park.

Prairie dogs are my favorite part of the prairie (while wildflowers with their respective bees and butterflies are a close second). There are HUGE prairie dog towns, one they aptly call a Metropolis. We thoroughly enjoyed spending time watching them interact. They would screech and chatter, hoot & holler, fling dirt from their holes, and stand on their hind legs to pose for pictures. With several towns in the park, they seem to steal the show, for which we couldn’t get enough. Sadly, we did not see Bighorn Sheep or Pronghorns (Antelope) but spotting a young foal amongst a herd of feral horses made up for it. There was only a moment where the horses were visible through the rolling hills, gathered on the edge of a ravine. We were fortunate enough to spot them, pull over and observe, leaving them undisturbed.

As with most, if not all, National Parks, dogs are not permitted on the majority of trails. I stayed back with the dogs while Al hiked the Boicourt and Coal Vein trails, also climbed up to the Buck Hill Overlook. I don’t mind at all and don’t consider it missing out. My hiking days are limited and if I can experience the hikes he does through his words and pictures. While it may not be exactly like I was there, it’s a close second. As it may show in his writings, I am working at bettering his description ability.

While Al hiked the spine of the Boicourt Overlook, I let the dogs out to do their business and noticed some interesting caterpillars feasting on a plant. There, Al witnessed the only bison we saw in the whole park. While he hiked the Coal Vein trail, the girls and I got caught up in a few dust clouds from vehicles coming and going. That trail shows the scars of an in-ground fire that burned from 1951-1977, large areas that have sunk from the void and clinker formations that became reddish and hardened from the excessive heat. Apparently people would come roast marshmallows over the heat rising through the earthen cracks back in the day. There exists another coal fire elsewhere in the park. We saw the posted signs but neither smelled nor saw the smoke from it. As the day progressed and winds increased, we did experience the haze and smell of smoke due to the extensive Canadian wildfires creeping in. It lingered the following two days before suddenly reverting back to heavenly blue skies again. The trail up Buck Hill was short but steep and I would have felt it the next day had I climbed, but Al said it was seriously windy and the 360° views would have been much better if it weren’t for the increasingly smoky haze.

A section of Scenic Loop is closed for repairs, which means Scoria Point and Badlands Overlook cannot be reached. With that, we turned around and returned back through the park the same way, checking out the old Peaceful Valley Ranch and pausing to watch the entertaining prairie dogs some more! We didn’t pack a lunch, and our bellies were demanding more than the granola bars in the console could provide. Medora has sit-down restaurants but none that accomodate dogs, so we headed to Dickinson for fast food gorging, then cruised the Enchanted Highway and headed back for another sunset at the campsite.

Most know that my vehicles are usually well detailed, washed and waxed all too often. Since hitting the road, we clean the windshields after travel days, and maybe wipe the dust off the dashboard once in a while, but with so many gravel and dirt roads, I’ve grown to accept that a grimy, dusty, dirty truck is the new normal. As we have a tonneau cover, I do wish there was a way to keep the dust from obliterating the inside of the bed, and swear I’m hauling more dust back there than in the clouds created as we drive. Also, the front of the motorhome looks like we’ve taken on a new profession of slaughtering grasshoppers. It’s quite gruesome. I could consider their splattered carcasses my trophy rather than an embarrassment, however I wouldn’t complain if a good rain magically washed them all away.

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