Or, I was calm, until a large snake in the tough grass beside the narrow trail reared up and shook its rattle at me angrily. Signs at trail heads in the Badlands National Park warn of snakes in the grass. But somehow the remoteness and tranquility are calming. Hot as hell, dry as a bone and full of rattlesnakes. Hiking into the heart of the outcrop is just freaky. The 1992 movie Thunderheart, with Val Kilmer and Graham Greene, is set in the Badlands, are both good for scenery and insight.Īs a visitor to the Badlands now, there’s a bleak allure to the topography, especially when sunrise and sunset bring out the orange and red layers of the rocky pinnacles and bighorn sheep are silhouetted on the tops of little buttes. This was also where the Lakota tried to escape from the advancing US army in 1890 but were pursued south to a barren place where their last hope of resisting the white man died in the massacre at Wounded Knee, where hundreds of Lakota men, women and children were shot in cold blood. In the past, it was a dreaded obstacle for wagon trains. The area’s a national park now and it makes for a weird hiking experience. Out of level terrain, a 50-mile wall of jagged rock suddenly rears up, dividing the prairie with a wide, high rocky barrier, where it’s searing hot all summer and devoid of water and shade (hence the name). Preserved pioneer family’s homestead dwelling between the Badlands and Rapid City. To the east of Rapid City, the flat landscape that leads to the Badlands is dotted with old homesteads and ghost towns amid modern farms and ranches. It seems unexpected to find them in woodland, but it’s a miracle they are here at all. Their aroma pungent and with dust falling from their thick coats, they tramped right by the car towards the setting sun, huffing and snorting as they went. A mile or two along the track, I pulled over and saw dozens of buffalo lumbered over the brow of a tree-lined hill. And on the aptly named Wildlife Loop road I saw my first buffalo of the trip, staring at me placidly from the edge of the woods.Įager to see more, I ventured on a whim up a random dirt side road, not far from Wind Cave national park, and hit the bison jackpot. The buffalo, also known as bison, were almost extinct by 1900 but just about hung on, and can now be seen wandering in certain parts of South Dakota – if you know where to look.ĭriving south from Mount Rushmore is already a lovely experience of meandering country roads, meadows, forests and craggy hills with fantastic overlooks. Crazy Horse was one of the great Lakota Native American leaders who, along with the Nakota and the Dakota, comprise the First Nation the US came to call the Sioux.įrom the mountains, head for buffalo country.īuffalo wandering across the landscape in South Dakota. Check off Mount Rushmore and the nearby Crazy Horse Memorial of a figure on horseback being slowly carved into another mountain. Start in Rapid City, which is small and does not move rapidly, but where some good food and the performing and fine arts can be found. For reasons to be examined later, you can ignore The Revenant, despite Leonardo DiCaprio’s Oscar-winning turn as a mountain man mauled by a bear in South Dakota, whose tale of human survival became a legend. They make an excellent, if eccentric, unofficial travel guide. Think of Dances With Wolves, Little Big Man, How the West Was Won, Calamity Jane, Hidalgo, Badlands, Thunderheart – all the anti-westerns, crime thrillers and murder mysteries. Pick from decades of movies set in South Dakota and you’ll find legendary towns, incredible wildlife and tumultuous history, all within easy driving range. But that’s where Hitchcock and Hollywood come in handy. On first thought, South Dakota might appear too big and too obscure a state for a week’s vacation. But the views from the approach roads and public paths are great nonetheless, and it’s an obvious place to start a visit to South Dakota.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |