Adventuring in the Dakotas
John, the dogs, and I returned from our adventure in the Dakotas on Monday. It was a whirlwind trip that spanned four states and included two national parks, national grasslands, a national forest, and a state park.
We departed Colorado on Thursday morning, drove through Wyoming, and arrived in South Dakota, where we stayed at a hotel in Rapid City that is also a convention center and has a water park. If I had known there would be waterslides, I would have packed a swimsuit! I can’t resist a good waterslide.
On Friday, we started the day with a quick pit stop at the famous Wall Drug shops, then visited Badlands National Park. The Lakota peoples originally called the region mako sica, which translates to “land bad,” because the rugged terrain, extreme temperature fluctuations, and lack of water made the area incredibly difficult to cross or live in. Dogs aren’t allowed on the hiking trails, so our visit was limited to the many overlooks along the loop road, but it was worth it to have them with us. I was surprised to see prickly pear cacti in bloom in the park – I didn’t expect to find cacti that far north.
We headed back to Rapid City for lunch in a park. Mala was happy to roll in the grass and burn off some energy after spending the morning in the car. Rapid City has a number of nice parks and is a larger, more sprawling city than I expected.
Next, we drove to North Dakota and set up camp at Buffalo Gap Campground near the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We hiked a short part of the Maah Daah Hey trail, a 144-mile trail that (unfortunately) has many ticks! After dinner at the campsite, we went to Painted Canyon for sunset. None of us got much sleep that night because John kept finding ticks crawling on him and Mala. Tessie and I were spared and didn’t have any on us.
On Saturday morning, we packed up and drove the loop through the south unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, where we watched male bison near the road and took in the beautiful scenery. While the topography was similar to that of Badlands National Park, it was greener, with more trees and prairies. It was just as spectacular as the first time I visited 26 years ago!
From there, we drove to Watford City. Along the way, there were fields of yellow flowers, which I believe are canola crops. After lunch, we drove through the park’s north unit. There was a huge herd of bison, with many females and calves. Thank goodness Roosevelt fell in love with this place in 1883 and went on to establish the US Forest Service, proclaim 18 national monuments, and protect over 230 million acres of land (including five national parks, 150 national forests, and dozens of federal reserves).
We set up camp just outside the north unit of the park at the CCC campground. After we all settled into the tent, I opened the weather app and found a tornado alert for 18 counties in North Dakota. Looking outside, we still saw patches of blue sky, so we wondered whether we would experience any of the bad weather where we were. After a bit of discussion, John found another tick on him, and that was the final straw. We broke down camp and headed to a hotel in Watford City.
Soon after settling into the hotel, we started receiving alerts on our phones about potential 80-mile-per-hour winds and severe thunderstorms. We closed the shades and were glad to be in the hotel rather than in the tent. The wind was fierce, and there was a lot of lightning and rain, but we stayed cozy and dry in our room.
After a good night’s sleep, we awoke to blue skies. Aside from some debris and downed trees in the surrounding area, you would never have guessed anything had happened the night before.
We drove all the way to Custer, South Dakota, where we stopped for lunch before heading to our cabin at Sylvan Lake in Custer State Park. As we pulled up to the cabin, we all noticed it was the exact same one we had stayed in four years earlier during Tessie’s first road trip as a Wild Western Wanderer. The girls were either just really happy to be out of the car or they recognized the cabin, because they leaped out and ran right up the steps. We went for a hike on the Sunday Gulch Trail, had dinner outside the cabin, and then watched the sunset over the lake.
In the morning, we got up early and went for a paddle. It was quiet and peaceful – even Tessie was silent as we paddled around the lake a couple of times. The first time we SUP’d on this lake with her, when she was six months old, her barking echoed off the rocks. She’s all grown up now.
We packed up the car and took one last walk by the lake before driving six hours home. We were a bit overwhelmed by the traffic once we crossed into Colorado after several days in open spaces with so few people.
We enjoyed the trip, but we’re happy to be back in Colorado. I’m grateful for these opportunities to see what a vast, beautiful, and varied country we’re so lucky to live in, and to take the dogs with us. We truly lead charmed lives.
Clockwise from top: Mala and Tessie in Badlands National Park, John and Carrie at Painted Canyon in Theodore Roosevelt National Park, the family at Sylvan Lake, the family at our cabin in Custer State Park.