September 4, 2019 • 30 mins
Fair warning, listeners: anytime we reminisce about Badlands National Park we tend to get super emotional. Matt first traveled to this South Dakota wonder in 2016 and the Badlands brought on a sweeping sense of awe and admiration. In this episode, we recount our trip here together to this landscape that is part Grand Canyon, part Mars.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Fair warning to our listeners, because anytime I reminisce about
bad Lands National Park, I tend to get super emotional.
That's so true. I mean it's really your happy place, yeah,
or weepy place. Really. It definitely holds a special place
in my heart. I truly love how much you love it,
and I actually love the bad Lands as well. I
mean it's definitely that special place. Yeah, yeah, it really is.
(00:23):
When I first came here in two thousand and sixteen,
it was part of this week long work trip through
western South Dakota, went to a bunch of different places,
not just bad Lands, but in general, and in general,
I was totally smitten with that state. By the way,
like blew my expectations out of the water, and I
loved every part of it. But the bad Lands in
particular were next level. I love them. Yeah, this was
(00:45):
the first one that you, um, first national park that
you went to as an adult. Yeah, that's right. As
a kid. I think I went to like Grand Canyon, Zion,
maybe Bryce maybe, Um it was part of this like
long family road trip in an RV. Fittingly enough, a
little bit of foreshadowing perhaps, But I went years and
(01:05):
years without going to any national parks or really appreciating
them at all. So when I did go to bad Lands,
I just remember this like abrupt, sweeping sense of awe
and admiration. It's a really amazing and powerful park. Yeah,
it really really is. And when we first arrived at
bad Lands back into the sixteen and when I say we,
(01:27):
I mean me and the people in this trip, we
drove into what's called the Pinnacles Overlook for sunset, and
I was instantly hooked. Everything was like absurdly picturesque. And
I wasn't just hooked on bad Lands, but I felt
hooked in national parks in general kind of right away.
And this place was basically the first domino to fall
(01:50):
that would go on to create this intense passion for
me and ultimately, in a way kind of paved the
way for Parklandia. So naturally we're excited to talk about
bad Lands National Park. Hi am Mac, and I'm brad.
This is park Landia. We packed up aloft in Chicago,
moved into an RV with our dog Finn, and now
(02:11):
we're traveling the country full time visiting America's national parks.
Thanks for listening. History. So, as with South Dakota, in general,
the bad Lands are totally unassuming and utterly mind blowing.
I just couldn't believe it. I remember when I first
(02:32):
went to South Dakota, I didn't know what work. I
thought it, we'll be kind of flat prairie, um, kind
of just midwestern, you know, like what I'm used to
seeing in like suburban world Illinois. But I honestly would
have zero idea that something like this would exist here,
and something as otherworldly as the bad Lands, because the
(02:54):
way that I described this place to people, the bad
Lands feels to me kind of like part Grand can Onion,
part Mars. Yeah, totally looks like another planet. I mean,
with all these like craggy buttes and spires and pinnacles.
The coolest thing is how they all seem to like
emerge abruptly from this grassy prairies, Like driving along in
o RV along the road and all of a sudden
(03:16):
we're surrounded by those like alien looking formations. And you
know what, These formations kind of always reminded me of.
They look like did you make these like sandy drippy
mud castles of the beach? Ever, Yes, yeah, I've done.
They kind of look like that, but like gigantic and
much more firm, So I think there's this like sense
(03:37):
of whimsy to them. They kind of look Dr Seusian too. Oh,
Dr Susie, I like how you said that. That's it's
a really fun place to describe because it's kind of
other worldly cartoon ische all at once. It's that kind
of plays geology. Yeah, I think it's fitting to talk
about the history and the geology of the bad Lands,
(03:59):
just how like a lay of the land happens with
the formations for this incredible park. Absolutely, I feel like
I could happily teach a whole semester on this park, honestly,
especially with how much I've raved about it too everyone
I come in contact with ever since. But I can
try a little down here to just an episode, and
that's going to be a struggle for me just to
contain myself, because I could just like ramble on and
(04:21):
on and on with pure enthusiasm, right, I know. And like,
especially when you go back to like the first recorded
human interactions here, they're go about back like eleven thousand
years ago. I mean that's when the Native Americans tried
to hunt here. Um century later, the like Lakota tribes
named this area Maquisico, which means land bad because of
(04:43):
how harsh the environment was. But being able to track
it back that far as right right, it's yeah, very cool.
And I mean if I was living someplace notorious for
extreme weather in barren terrain and lack of water, I'm
sure I would also give it a bad name too,
even though they're so beautiful and they're fascinating. I mean,
the bad Lands are actually made by layers of sediment
(05:04):
and clay which slowly come packed together over millions of
years right right, and through various evolving environments. The sediment
deposits took on different shapes and sizes, and like when
this part of South Dakota was the once tropical sea,
It's hard to imagine, but it's true, or another point
in in time this was a dense forest. So this
(05:25):
has been a steubtily evolving, slowly changing terrain for much
longer than we've been around exploring national hearths, that's for sure.
So there are even some of volcanic eruptions to the
west that added some ash to the mix. We have
all these varying components over time that have contributed to
what the bad Lands have become today. Yeah, I mean
it's really neat because you have those different layers of
(05:47):
sediment in the bad Lands, and they're all slightly different colors,
and they're surprisingly even, right, Yeah, they are really even illustrations,
like a giant jagged layer cake kind of or and
I get in that case, the prairie grass would be
like the frosting. I don't like metaphors that make me hungry.
It's so distract I know, I'm sorry. I have a
huge sweet too, so I inevitably compare pretty much everything
(06:10):
to various desserts, even even when it doesn't fit. And
in case you were wondering the bad Lands got so
jagged and sharp, they actually happen somewhat recently, right, And
by recently we mean five thousand years ago, when rivers
and streams flowed through from the Black Hills and began
carving these formations. The sediment that makes that the bad
(06:30):
Lands is really malleable and soft in comparison to most
other rock. So it's still changing in tape today, and
in another five hundred thousand years from now, this might
all look totally different or non existent. And I'm personally
very glad. I'm not going to live to be five
hundred thod years old because I do not want to
live at a time when the bad Lands don't exist.
(06:52):
But you'll have to stay tuned for our million season
to find out, right, Yeah, well, the Native Americans were
not the first inhabitants here either, though, Back when this
was all changing and taking shape, there were prehistoric animals
and dinosaurs like these, like little three toed horsy creature things,
and even like ancient alligators. Yeah. Why are alligators everywhere?
(07:13):
I feel like they follow us around? We saw this
giant alligator fossils that petrified forests, remember that, like the
gigantic like r vus as alligators, and then actual present
day alligators at Everglades. They're just everywhere. I mean they
were even in Chicago. I mean, like, come on, it's
crazy to imagine alligators living in this space though, much
like Chicago, but especially since it's mostly like bison and
(07:36):
prairie dogs and bighorn cheap now right, right, Fortunately, we
didn't see any living alligators here. Yeah, but another animal
that we didn't see but could have seen is the
blackfooted ferret, which was actually one such be extinct and
it is currently one of the most endangered animals in
the world. So that's an amazing little success story and
comeback story and obviously much less scary than alligators, thankfully.
(08:02):
So after Mother Nature was done sculpting this mashed piece,
the U. S. Government got wise to the fact that
this special place deserves protection. It was the first designated
as a National Monument in nineteen thirty nine, and then
it was upgraded to a National Park in nineteen seventy eight. Yep,
well deserved. It's got almost two d fifty thousand acres
(08:23):
of land, including some of the largest mixed grass prairie
remaining in America. The cool thing is at the National
Park Service actually co manages the South Unit portion of
the park with the Oglala Lakota tribe as they should.
These native peoples know these lands better than anybody. Yeah,
what I love is that, like in the midst of
all this, as farmers were marketing to South Dakota from Europe,
(08:46):
the States Department of Agriculture was publishing ads calling the
bad lands the Wonderlands. Yeah, that's definitely a fun little
spin in much less ominous name than bad lands. Of course,
especially we're trying to attract farmers to your region, although
it definitely it sounds more like a quokie board game
than an arid waste land. Yeah, Unfortunately for us and
for the visitors and lovers of National parks, homesteading in
(09:08):
the area never really took off, so because the climate
was really just too hard. Yeah, you can't, no matter
what cute name you come up for it, it's not
going to change the climate, that's for sure. But again,
that's that's great because it keeps this place preserved and pristine.
And even though it might not be a learning for farmers,
it's definitely a mecca for fans of wildlife in fossils
(09:29):
and geology like us and hiking. Oh of course, it's
like especially hiking. You were listening to the park Landed
podcast from my Heart Radio, hosted by Brad and Matt carrollac.
We'll be back with more at the Parklandia podcast from
my heart Radio Trails. Hi, I'm Matt and I'm Brad.
(09:52):
This is Parklandia and we're talking about the bad Lands.
Even this place, bad Lands doesn't have a ton of
hiking trails, and not many trails that are really long either,
so not as kind of never ending as some of
the larger, more mouth of national parks. It's just it's
mostly just these expansive, immersive overlooks and a handful of
(10:12):
intensive trails along the way, and they're all incredible and
just have the best, the best views and experiences here. Yeah.
I remember you mentioned a little bit earlier about the
Pinnacles overlook, and it's amazing because that's the first thing
you saw for sunset, and I just think it's fitting
in full circle that that was also the first place
(10:32):
that we stopped when we visit band Lands together with
their friend Kendall from Chicago. Yeah, that's right. I think
a lot of that has to do with the fact
that Pinnacles is the first overlook area you see you
when you're driving into the park from Wald Drug heading
south off I ninety. And we'll talk more about Wald
Drug later though, right, yes, we will. There's there's no
glossing over that place. That deserves its own segment, for sure.
(10:55):
So we like, we were driving r V into the
park and we pull over at Pinnacles and right a way,
it strikes you with the sprawling sea of buttes and
canyons and prairies and pinnacles. Oh my yeah. See, I
feel like for me, like I had been telling you
about this for like three years, I'm like, you have
to see it, and I didn't get it. I didn't
get it until I finally went, yeah, I know. It
(11:17):
really just like sucker punches you with these views and
takes her breath away. And I love how inviting these
overlooks are too. They're not just these simple railings and
pullovers on the side of the road. Bad Lands is
the kind of park that really invites adventure and exploration,
and these overlooks have these little kind of trails that
take you up close to the edge for more dramatic
(11:38):
angles and views. Yeah, but you gotta be careful, especially
after a recent rain when the ground is slippery. There
aren't so many railings, so it could be easy to
fall down. I mean, this is one of those like
rare parks where visitors are actually able to hike pretty
much anywhere off trail. Yeah, which is kind of bizarre
and wonderful. I guess they're really just pretty trusting that
(11:59):
people aren't just going to stumble to their death here
worst up on a rail snake right, Yeah, Yeah, we
saw plenty of rattlesnake warning science all over the place here.
That was a little unnerving. Thankfully we didn't see any
I actually walked on top of one of those narrow
beautes and sat down for a bit just to like
drink it all in. It was so amazing, but I
had to be very careful because it's a little crumbling
right right in these like narrow precipices. And I actually
(12:23):
got some really artistic photos of you too, so it
was well worth the risk. Are you hiding those for me?
I don't think you've given those. I don't think I have.
That's rude. I might say it for an Instagram post later.
Oh there we go, that makes more sense. But you know,
when we drove farther into the park to the theater
Pass Lodge and the Ben Rifle Visitor Center, I mean
we just got to see so much. That drive is
(12:45):
amazing in and of itself. Even if you're not pulling
over constantly every overlook, you're seeing so much and driving
in between all these beautes and spires and more of
these pinnacles. Absolutely love it. And so once we got
to the theater Pass Lodge, we got lunch here to
fuel up before a little bit of hiking. Just your
essentials like Indian tacos and salads with huckleberry dressing, which,
(13:07):
by the way, I could totally drink that dressing like gatorade.
It's so good. That's not gross. That's not gross at all.
I like practically licked it up off the plato is
so good. No wait a second, now for our listeners,
we need to know what an in tacos are. Let
me tell you there tacos were. I mean, tacos is
kind of a stretch. They're Indian. It's Indian fried bread
(13:28):
instead of tortillas, so basically the savory fried dough. So
it's delicious. Obviously. It almost looks like an elephant here,
if right, So very difficult to eat in a traditional
taco form. It's hard to like kind of wrap it
up in your hand, like it's mostly a knife and
fork style taco and it's layered with it varies, but
(13:49):
I think the traditional thing is like ground beef of
some sort and then like shry to lettuce, tomatoes, maybe
sour cream ta feeling like maybe some beans. Yeah, and
they're so good. And considering the Native American history here
in the presence of the Lakota tribe like Indian tacos
are prevalent and have been a staple food item for
(14:12):
for a while, and that's the case in a lot
of this part of the country, like the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana.
And they're so good, I mean, all the way down
to New Mexico. Really hard to yeah, hard to avoid them,
or so hard to say no to them. They're delicious. Museum. Yeah,
the visitors center was really great too. I mean it
(14:33):
was so informative. It had this like nice museum with
tons of fossil information and insight into the animals and
the dinosaurs that once lived here. Right. They did a
really good job at that, and you got to see
how intimidating these animals were. And there was like some
surprisingly graphic displays they had in this museum showing some
(14:54):
carnivorous giant pig like animal biting some sort of herbor
herbivore that was like stuck in the it was. It
was a lot. I'm much too delicate to be seeing
such things, but I appreciate the education and now I'm like, wow,
good to know. Yeah, I know that. I always love
going in the visitor centers in the little museums they
have because you get to see all the grotesque stuff
(15:15):
you do and they don't hold back apparently, no, they
definitely don't. But um, just down the road from there,
we went on the Notch trailhead Um, another area that
you visited on your own a few years ago, right, Yeah,
I was basically retracing my exact steps and recreating that
trip with you. This is like what this is all about,
pure nostalgia. We're so sweet sentimental time in the bad Lands.
(15:36):
And but it also like I wanted to do it
because the trail is genuinely really fun too and super unique.
So it's like I would happily do that again and
again and again. And this whole area is very hands on,
an adventurous, a lot of climbing, a lot of scampering. Yeah,
I mean at first we walked to the end of
a little boardwalk to the little window trailhead. It was
really nice, short and easy. I mean literally like ten
(15:58):
steps of fellow I know, so quick. That's I can't
even believe they call it a trail. It's just like
a few steps in your car and then you're like
this they call it a window because it's like this
frame shaped um structure or not structure like this pinnacle,
this rocky pinnacle that kind of looks like part of
a window frame. Yeah, the really steep and sharp pinnacles.
I mean it's worth it. Like, don't get me wrong here,
(16:20):
but yeah, it's not a trail, not so much a job.
But it was really cool to go out to this
area and be able to climb up into the bad
lands here and get some amazing views and amazing photos.
It's just like kind of speaks to how hands on
and inviting the bad lands are and how that kind
of helps remove some of the intimidation too. If anyone's
a little I don't know, on edge or whatever, but
(16:43):
you can There was plenty of people. There was little
kids just like scurring up these rocky walls and all
over the place. Was it was great. And then we
helped ourselves. We climbed up there too, and it was
really really fun. And then for from here we continued
on to the trail, which is also pretty short and
mostly easy, aside from the fact that it was scorching
(17:06):
hot that day and blazingly sunny. Jeez. Yeah, you definitely
need like sunglasses and sun sunscreen. I mean those are essentials.
I mean, it's gets so bright here and it just
reflects off the ground almost like snow, Like it has
that snow effect where the sun is hitting you directly
and then also kind of reflecting off this light like
(17:29):
rock and it's like hitting you doubly. So you definitely
sunglasses because it's blindingly bright, and also just like all
the sunscreen like SPF fifty. Yeah right, yeah, So the
best part of the Notch Trail, or I think the
most interesting part of the Notch Trail, is this wooden
ladder that you climb up kind of halfway through. It
takes you up to the top of a bet and
(17:51):
it grazes you to that level which is gonna wind
you out to the very end of the trail. We actually, though,
decided to go around the ladder and find our own
way this time, since there was a traffic jam from
scared climbers. Yeah, there was like this little cluid coming
down and he was like crying as he took each
step down, and it was like and it took like
(18:12):
five minutes between each step. Yeah, we would have waited
there for an hour, so I'm just we all just said, okay,
let's go off trail and climb up and it was fun.
I'm actually kind of glad that happened because we got
to I love climbing make her. Yeah, that kid reminded
me of do you remember in um the first Drassic
Park movie when the little kid Timmy is like on
(18:33):
the electric fence but it's not electric cat and they're
climbing over it and then he gets like paralyzed with
fear and he's just like stuck there and then tim
jump but he refuses to. That's kind of like what
this kid was like. He was so scared. Unfortunately he
didn't get like electrocuted at any point. But yeah, it's
like a remake, you know, same idea. Yeah, so we
(18:58):
went around that and then when you're like up there
on this like upper Beaute area, you're walking out to
get to this overlook by the southern end of the park. Yeah,
the view there was like quite different. I mean a
lot of like tall green trees and then flat prairie
right because you're kind of on the edge of the
bad lands here, so instead of being surrounded by more
pinnacles and spires, you have this like panoramic view of
(19:24):
these green trees and the like mostly flat prairie, which
is so stunning and really cool to see that from
that perspective. Yeah, well, we're all like sweating way too much.
I mean, we had to hurry back to our v
to get out of the sun. It was very, very hot.
I think we stayed out there for like two minutes
and we're like, okay, turn around. Normally we try to
like stay at the end for a while and just
(19:47):
eat it, but we're just like, nope, screw it, We're
going back. Done. Seriously, no lingering food. So another important
thing to talk about with bad Lands is Wall Drug,
like mentioned earlier, another place I've visited in two thousand
and sixteen as part of that work trip and another
place that I absolutely needed to return to. Yeah, this
(20:10):
is like one of those weirdest, like funnest places I've
ever been, Like these vintage like billboards all along the
highway for miles and miles leading up to it. Yeah,
it's it's crazy, and Walt Drug really lives up to
the hype. I gotta say, it's this kitchy wonderland for sure. Yeah,
it's not really a town, mostly a large roadside attraction.
I mean, the whole street is lined up with like
(20:33):
old timey cafes, loons, shops, museums and other attractions. Yeah, totally.
This is the one place where you can drink a beer,
visited Chapel, sit on a giant jacklope, and watch an
animatronic t Rex all in the same place. So you
pretty much get the gist. I think that summarizes what
you're the type of place you're visiting here. Yeah, there's
a lot. Like I thought it was gonna be like
(20:54):
the small store that just had a lot of signs everywhere,
but it's g and there's so much story there too.
There is a lot of history. It was established in
nine as initially the super simple roadside stop outside the
bad Lands, kind of capitalizing on the park's popularity and visitorship,
and Wall Drug was advertising things like free ice, water,
(21:16):
shopping dining for visitors. Things caught on and now wal
Drug gets about one million annual visitors, which is basically
the same as bad Lands. And that makes sense because
apparently nearly everybody who visits bad Lands goes to Wall
Drug like we did. Yeah, as the name suggested, started
as a drug store owned by Ted and Dorothy, who's
dead times were tough at first, just like any business
(21:38):
getting up, but they struggled to attract customers. But they
started advertising that free water signs on the road and
it worked like magic. And I can see why. I mean,
remember when we were like hiking and it was like
hot as the sun and beating down, Like I would
happily go to a place that's advertising free ice water.
It's just genius, like they they were so smart right
(22:00):
to do a simple sign like that to draw those
and it absolutely worked. And then over the years they
added more and more roadside steins throughout the state and beyond.
Really we we saw these signs like in Wyoming, I think,
and I saw them in North Dakota too, so they're
pretty widespread. And attention to wall drug continue to grow,
(22:22):
and the Houstads eventually added more amenities and services like
Native American goods, Cowboy Boots, coffee, full service dining, and donuts. Yeah,
they're especially known for those donuts, as they should be
there so good delicious, fresh cake style donuts. I think
my favorite is the maple frosted one. Is that because
(22:43):
I worked for Burton's Maplewood farm it Yeah, yeah, I
always seek out maple favorite things to eat because it
makes me feel supportive. A few thank you. I really
do appreciate that, you know, Um, but you're welcome enough
about maple syrup and donuts and wall drugs. Because we've
read that part of the episode where we get to
share our favorite parts about bad Lands National Park. Yes, indeed,
(23:06):
I'm sure I'm going to have an emotional time here,
but um, there's plenty to talk about a lot of
contentors with our favorite things. So, Brad, what was your
favorite part of the bad Lands. I'll tell you right
after this short break my favorite. Hi. I'm Matt and
I'm Brad. This is park Landia, and today's episode is
(23:27):
about bad Lands National Park in South Dakota. We're currently
wrapping things up sharing with each other our favorite parts
of the bad Lands, and I'm excited to tell you
my favorite part was Kendall coming along and being on
this journey with us. Was as my first time going. Um,
and that's not just because he actually drove for five
(23:50):
hours on the way back, which it was the first
five hours I've ever been in the back of a
car the RV. I mean, yeah, it's been that was
like phenomenal. So that was definitely. My favorite part was
just having Kendall along more than just driving, like having
these experiences and um, even though we were exhausted from
doing all the rodeos before that, UM, I was really
(24:12):
excited to to have Kendall along and to share this
as we traveled all together. Lovely, are you going to
ask me what my favorite part was? I was thinking
about it, What was your favorite part? I think my
favorite part is seeing sunset and sunrise at bad Lands
(24:34):
when I was here in two thousand and sixteen. It's
the most incredible place to see both of those. They
are just unbelievably beautiful, and I think probably sunrise was
my favorite. I remember waking up super early, like ridiculously early,
and it was still cold and really dark, and we
(24:54):
went out to this like just parking area. I don't
even know where we were, It was ark and then
I was very underdressed. I was wearing shorts or something,
and everybody in the group kept asking me like, are
you okay? Are you going to be all right? And
I'm like I don't know, honestly, Like I gotta get
to wall drug and get myself a sweat up. Yeah, right,
(25:15):
And we waited out there for the sun to kind
of into its way up, and as it did, it
just cast this like orange pink glow over these jagged,
craggy spires that look like some sort of sandy mud
castle at the beach. And it's the most incredible experience ever.
And then thankfully things also warmed up because I was
freezing and I got to explore and kind of wander
(25:38):
out into this like craggy terrain as sunlight draped over it.
And it really was a special experience and something that
stuck with me and probably made me fall mostly in
love with bad Lands. So that makes absolute sense that
I would love to see those views, I know. Yeah,
but I also like to sleep in so it's hard
(25:59):
to to balance that out, I guess, yeah, right, you know.
The one thing like, I don't think there's a lot
of things I would bring to bad Lands National Park.
I mean, I would just bring some water, my camera,
and you know friends. I mean, it's really as simple
as that. Bad Lands to me was just about being
(26:21):
there and experiencing it. Um, There's there's just not a
lot I would bring. I would bring definitely some serious
sunglasses or like a whole helmet or something, because the
sun is so intense there if you're especially if you're
visiting during the summer months or anytime where it's like
sunny at all. And I would also, well, touching back
(26:47):
to the sunrise thing, I would bring layers because it's
not fun to be under prepared. It's better to be
opre prepared, especially when it comes to attire. And I
felt like an idiot being out there before sunrise wearing
shorts and a T shirt. Everyone else is literally wearing coats.
So I'm like, I didn't do this right. So I
would do that. And then also I would bring an
(27:10):
appetite to go to wall drug and eat all the
doughnuts and then drink all the ice water and all
the coffee. The coffee, by the way, it's five cents.
They advertise that too. That's been a big thing. Yeah.
I'm used to spending like four dollars at Starbucks. So
when a nice deal, I don't know if it's a deal,
(27:30):
but it feels like a deal. I feel like I'm
getting a treat. No absolutely, And you know what, what,
what do you think our drain vacation would be? Like,
I'll let you start this off and we'll build onto
it my dream vacation. I think I would love to
stay at one of the places of wall Drug. They
have a couple of little inns and hotels, and it's
just so convenient and close to the park that it's
(27:51):
very easy and doable and just stay there and be
able to visit some of the saloons. I know we
didn't do that this time, but they have some saloons
there and they feel so vintage and all timing and
like kind of silly but really fun, and I think
that would be great to do, and then just do more.
I want to do, like the rest of the trails,
(28:12):
maybe some like back country stuff, because it is one
of those parks where people are invited and free rain
to like wander around as they please, kind of as
long as you're careful and smart obviously, of course, no.
I think that's a really good point too, is like
I would do hikes early in the morning or late
at night. Good idea. During the middle of the day
is a bit intense and like we wound up kind
(28:34):
of speedwalk and just get out of the heat. Um,
so it's it's good to strategize a little bit and
time it out. I would actually call this the Full
Circle Park for us. Yeah, I would say for in
a lot of ways, not only because it was like
my first one as an adult and triggered this obsession,
but also a fun thing to mention is that we
actually formally kind of announced the parkland podcast where we're
(28:55):
in the Badlands together. Yea. So not only was this
the place that inspired me to get into national parks,
but it's the park where Parklandia came to life in
a sense. Yeah, And it's just it's so beautiful, and
it was our first park that we had a friend
along on the journey to go through it. So there's
just been a lot of first here and the bad
(29:16):
Lands well, it was a short trip for us. This time,
I'm excited to go back and live out that dream
vacation of staying in the town there and enjoying the
saloons and the old timey, beautiful nature of it all.
I love it so much. I told you I would
get emotional. You've been listening to the Parklandia Podcast, a
(29:43):
show about National parks by iHeart Radio, created by Matt Carouac,
Brad Carouac, and Christopher hasiotis produced and edited by Mike Johns.
Executive produced by Christopher hasiotas special thanks to Gabrielle Collins,
Crystal Waters, and the rest of the Parklandia crew. Hey listeners,
if you're enjoying the show, leave us a review on
Apple Podcast. It helps other people like you find our show.
(30:06):
You can keep up with us on social media. Check
out photos from our travels on Instagram at Parklandia Pod,
and join in the conversation in our Facebook group, Parklandia Rangers.
Thank you so much for listening.
Fair warning to our listeners, because anytime I reminisce about
bad Lands National Park, I tend to get super emotional.
That's so true. I mean it's really your happy place, yeah,
or weepy place. Really. It definitely holds a special place
in my heart. I truly love how much you love it,
and I actually love the bad Lands as well. I
mean it's definitely that special place. Yeah, yeah, it really is.
(00:23):
When I first came here in two thousand and sixteen,
it was part of this week long work trip through
western South Dakota, went to a bunch of different places,
not just bad Lands, but in general, and in general,
I was totally smitten with that state. By the way,
like blew my expectations out of the water, and I
loved every part of it. But the bad Lands in
particular were next level. I love them. Yeah, this was
(00:45):
the first one that you, um, first national park that
you went to as an adult. Yeah, that's right. As
a kid. I think I went to like Grand Canyon, Zion,
maybe Bryce maybe, Um it was part of this like
long family road trip in an RV. Fittingly enough, a
little bit of foreshadowing perhaps, But I went years and
(01:05):
years without going to any national parks or really appreciating
them at all. So when I did go to bad Lands,
I just remember this like abrupt, sweeping sense of awe
and admiration. It's a really amazing and powerful park. Yeah,
it really really is. And when we first arrived at
bad Lands back into the sixteen and when I say we,
(01:27):
I mean me and the people in this trip, we
drove into what's called the Pinnacles Overlook for sunset, and
I was instantly hooked. Everything was like absurdly picturesque. And
I wasn't just hooked on bad Lands, but I felt
hooked in national parks in general kind of right away.
And this place was basically the first domino to fall
(01:50):
that would go on to create this intense passion for
me and ultimately, in a way kind of paved the
way for Parklandia. So naturally we're excited to talk about
bad Lands National Park. Hi am Mac, and I'm brad.
This is park Landia. We packed up aloft in Chicago,
moved into an RV with our dog Finn, and now
(02:11):
we're traveling the country full time visiting America's national parks.
Thanks for listening. History. So, as with South Dakota, in general,
the bad Lands are totally unassuming and utterly mind blowing.
I just couldn't believe it. I remember when I first
(02:32):
went to South Dakota, I didn't know what work. I
thought it, we'll be kind of flat prairie, um, kind
of just midwestern, you know, like what I'm used to
seeing in like suburban world Illinois. But I honestly would
have zero idea that something like this would exist here,
and something as otherworldly as the bad Lands, because the
(02:54):
way that I described this place to people, the bad
Lands feels to me kind of like part Grand can Onion,
part Mars. Yeah, totally looks like another planet. I mean,
with all these like craggy buttes and spires and pinnacles.
The coolest thing is how they all seem to like
emerge abruptly from this grassy prairies, Like driving along in
o RV along the road and all of a sudden
(03:16):
we're surrounded by those like alien looking formations. And you
know what, These formations kind of always reminded me of.
They look like did you make these like sandy drippy
mud castles of the beach? Ever, Yes, yeah, I've done.
They kind of look like that, but like gigantic and
much more firm, So I think there's this like sense
(03:37):
of whimsy to them. They kind of look Dr Seusian too. Oh,
Dr Susie, I like how you said that. That's it's
a really fun place to describe because it's kind of
other worldly cartoon ische all at once. It's that kind
of plays geology. Yeah, I think it's fitting to talk
about the history and the geology of the bad Lands,
(03:59):
just how like a lay of the land happens with
the formations for this incredible park. Absolutely, I feel like
I could happily teach a whole semester on this park, honestly,
especially with how much I've raved about it too everyone
I come in contact with ever since. But I can
try a little down here to just an episode, and
that's going to be a struggle for me just to
contain myself, because I could just like ramble on and
(04:21):
on and on with pure enthusiasm, right, I know. And like,
especially when you go back to like the first recorded
human interactions here, they're go about back like eleven thousand
years ago. I mean that's when the Native Americans tried
to hunt here. Um century later, the like Lakota tribes
named this area Maquisico, which means land bad because of
(04:43):
how harsh the environment was. But being able to track
it back that far as right right, it's yeah, very cool.
And I mean if I was living someplace notorious for
extreme weather in barren terrain and lack of water, I'm
sure I would also give it a bad name too,
even though they're so beautiful and they're fascinating. I mean,
the bad Lands are actually made by layers of sediment
(05:04):
and clay which slowly come packed together over millions of
years right right, and through various evolving environments. The sediment
deposits took on different shapes and sizes, and like when
this part of South Dakota was the once tropical sea,
It's hard to imagine, but it's true, or another point
in in time this was a dense forest. So this
(05:25):
has been a steubtily evolving, slowly changing terrain for much
longer than we've been around exploring national hearths, that's for sure.
So there are even some of volcanic eruptions to the
west that added some ash to the mix. We have
all these varying components over time that have contributed to
what the bad Lands have become today. Yeah, I mean
it's really neat because you have those different layers of
(05:47):
sediment in the bad Lands, and they're all slightly different colors,
and they're surprisingly even, right, Yeah, they are really even illustrations,
like a giant jagged layer cake kind of or and
I get in that case, the prairie grass would be
like the frosting. I don't like metaphors that make me hungry.
It's so distract I know, I'm sorry. I have a
huge sweet too, so I inevitably compare pretty much everything
(06:10):
to various desserts, even even when it doesn't fit. And
in case you were wondering the bad Lands got so
jagged and sharp, they actually happen somewhat recently, right, And
by recently we mean five thousand years ago, when rivers
and streams flowed through from the Black Hills and began
carving these formations. The sediment that makes that the bad
(06:30):
Lands is really malleable and soft in comparison to most
other rock. So it's still changing in tape today, and
in another five hundred thousand years from now, this might
all look totally different or non existent. And I'm personally
very glad. I'm not going to live to be five
hundred thod years old because I do not want to
live at a time when the bad Lands don't exist.
(06:52):
But you'll have to stay tuned for our million season
to find out, right, Yeah, well, the Native Americans were
not the first inhabitants here either, though, Back when this
was all changing and taking shape, there were prehistoric animals
and dinosaurs like these, like little three toed horsy creature things,
and even like ancient alligators. Yeah. Why are alligators everywhere?
(07:13):
I feel like they follow us around? We saw this
giant alligator fossils that petrified forests, remember that, like the
gigantic like r vus as alligators, and then actual present
day alligators at Everglades. They're just everywhere. I mean they
were even in Chicago. I mean, like, come on, it's
crazy to imagine alligators living in this space though, much
like Chicago, but especially since it's mostly like bison and
(07:36):
prairie dogs and bighorn cheap now right, right, Fortunately, we
didn't see any living alligators here. Yeah, but another animal
that we didn't see but could have seen is the
blackfooted ferret, which was actually one such be extinct and
it is currently one of the most endangered animals in
the world. So that's an amazing little success story and
comeback story and obviously much less scary than alligators, thankfully.
(08:02):
So after Mother Nature was done sculpting this mashed piece,
the U. S. Government got wise to the fact that
this special place deserves protection. It was the first designated
as a National Monument in nineteen thirty nine, and then
it was upgraded to a National Park in nineteen seventy eight. Yep,
well deserved. It's got almost two d fifty thousand acres
(08:23):
of land, including some of the largest mixed grass prairie
remaining in America. The cool thing is at the National
Park Service actually co manages the South Unit portion of
the park with the Oglala Lakota tribe as they should.
These native peoples know these lands better than anybody. Yeah,
what I love is that, like in the midst of
all this, as farmers were marketing to South Dakota from Europe,
(08:46):
the States Department of Agriculture was publishing ads calling the
bad lands the Wonderlands. Yeah, that's definitely a fun little
spin in much less ominous name than bad lands. Of course,
especially we're trying to attract farmers to your region, although
it definitely it sounds more like a quokie board game
than an arid waste land. Yeah, Unfortunately for us and
for the visitors and lovers of National parks, homesteading in
(09:08):
the area never really took off, so because the climate
was really just too hard. Yeah, you can't, no matter
what cute name you come up for it, it's not
going to change the climate, that's for sure. But again,
that's that's great because it keeps this place preserved and pristine.
And even though it might not be a learning for farmers,
it's definitely a mecca for fans of wildlife in fossils
(09:29):
and geology like us and hiking. Oh of course, it's
like especially hiking. You were listening to the park Landed
podcast from my Heart Radio, hosted by Brad and Matt carrollac.
We'll be back with more at the Parklandia podcast from
my heart Radio Trails. Hi, I'm Matt and I'm Brad.
(09:52):
This is Parklandia and we're talking about the bad Lands.
Even this place, bad Lands doesn't have a ton of
hiking trails, and not many trails that are really long either,
so not as kind of never ending as some of
the larger, more mouth of national parks. It's just it's
mostly just these expansive, immersive overlooks and a handful of
(10:12):
intensive trails along the way, and they're all incredible and
just have the best, the best views and experiences here. Yeah.
I remember you mentioned a little bit earlier about the
Pinnacles overlook, and it's amazing because that's the first thing
you saw for sunset, and I just think it's fitting
in full circle that that was also the first place
(10:32):
that we stopped when we visit band Lands together with
their friend Kendall from Chicago. Yeah, that's right. I think
a lot of that has to do with the fact
that Pinnacles is the first overlook area you see you
when you're driving into the park from Wald Drug heading
south off I ninety. And we'll talk more about Wald
Drug later though, right, yes, we will. There's there's no
glossing over that place. That deserves its own segment, for sure.
(10:55):
So we like, we were driving r V into the
park and we pull over at Pinnacles and right a way,
it strikes you with the sprawling sea of buttes and
canyons and prairies and pinnacles. Oh my yeah. See, I
feel like for me, like I had been telling you
about this for like three years, I'm like, you have
to see it, and I didn't get it. I didn't
get it until I finally went, yeah, I know. It
(11:17):
really just like sucker punches you with these views and
takes her breath away. And I love how inviting these
overlooks are too. They're not just these simple railings and
pullovers on the side of the road. Bad Lands is
the kind of park that really invites adventure and exploration,
and these overlooks have these little kind of trails that
take you up close to the edge for more dramatic
(11:38):
angles and views. Yeah, but you gotta be careful, especially
after a recent rain when the ground is slippery. There
aren't so many railings, so it could be easy to
fall down. I mean, this is one of those like
rare parks where visitors are actually able to hike pretty
much anywhere off trail. Yeah, which is kind of bizarre
and wonderful. I guess they're really just pretty trusting that
(11:59):
people aren't just going to stumble to their death here
worst up on a rail snake right, Yeah, Yeah, we
saw plenty of rattlesnake warning science all over the place here.
That was a little unnerving. Thankfully we didn't see any
I actually walked on top of one of those narrow
beautes and sat down for a bit just to like
drink it all in. It was so amazing, but I
had to be very careful because it's a little crumbling
right right in these like narrow precipices. And I actually
(12:23):
got some really artistic photos of you too, so it
was well worth the risk. Are you hiding those for me?
I don't think you've given those. I don't think I have.
That's rude. I might say it for an Instagram post later.
Oh there we go, that makes more sense. But you know,
when we drove farther into the park to the theater
Pass Lodge and the Ben Rifle Visitor Center, I mean
we just got to see so much. That drive is
(12:45):
amazing in and of itself. Even if you're not pulling
over constantly every overlook, you're seeing so much and driving
in between all these beautes and spires and more of
these pinnacles. Absolutely love it. And so once we got
to the theater Pass Lodge, we got lunch here to
fuel up before a little bit of hiking. Just your
essentials like Indian tacos and salads with huckleberry dressing, which,
(13:07):
by the way, I could totally drink that dressing like gatorade.
It's so good. That's not gross. That's not gross at all.
I like practically licked it up off the plato is
so good. No wait a second, now for our listeners,
we need to know what an in tacos are. Let
me tell you there tacos were. I mean, tacos is
kind of a stretch. They're Indian. It's Indian fried bread
(13:28):
instead of tortillas, so basically the savory fried dough. So
it's delicious. Obviously. It almost looks like an elephant here,
if right, So very difficult to eat in a traditional
taco form. It's hard to like kind of wrap it
up in your hand, like it's mostly a knife and
fork style taco and it's layered with it varies, but
(13:49):
I think the traditional thing is like ground beef of
some sort and then like shry to lettuce, tomatoes, maybe
sour cream ta feeling like maybe some beans. Yeah, and
they're so good. And considering the Native American history here
in the presence of the Lakota tribe like Indian tacos
are prevalent and have been a staple food item for
(14:12):
for a while, and that's the case in a lot
of this part of the country, like the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana.
And they're so good, I mean, all the way down
to New Mexico. Really hard to yeah, hard to avoid them,
or so hard to say no to them. They're delicious. Museum. Yeah,
the visitors center was really great too. I mean it
(14:33):
was so informative. It had this like nice museum with
tons of fossil information and insight into the animals and
the dinosaurs that once lived here. Right. They did a
really good job at that, and you got to see
how intimidating these animals were. And there was like some
surprisingly graphic displays they had in this museum showing some
(14:54):
carnivorous giant pig like animal biting some sort of herbor
herbivore that was like stuck in the it was. It
was a lot. I'm much too delicate to be seeing
such things, but I appreciate the education and now I'm like, wow,
good to know. Yeah, I know that. I always love
going in the visitor centers in the little museums they
have because you get to see all the grotesque stuff
(15:15):
you do and they don't hold back apparently, no, they
definitely don't. But um, just down the road from there,
we went on the Notch trailhead Um, another area that
you visited on your own a few years ago, right, Yeah,
I was basically retracing my exact steps and recreating that
trip with you. This is like what this is all about,
pure nostalgia. We're so sweet sentimental time in the bad Lands.
(15:36):
And but it also like I wanted to do it
because the trail is genuinely really fun too and super unique.
So it's like I would happily do that again and
again and again. And this whole area is very hands on,
an adventurous, a lot of climbing, a lot of scampering. Yeah,
I mean at first we walked to the end of
a little boardwalk to the little window trailhead. It was
really nice, short and easy. I mean literally like ten
(15:58):
steps of fellow I know, so quick. That's I can't
even believe they call it a trail. It's just like
a few steps in your car and then you're like
this they call it a window because it's like this
frame shaped um structure or not structure like this pinnacle,
this rocky pinnacle that kind of looks like part of
a window frame. Yeah, the really steep and sharp pinnacles.
I mean it's worth it. Like, don't get me wrong here,
(16:20):
but yeah, it's not a trail, not so much a job.
But it was really cool to go out to this
area and be able to climb up into the bad
lands here and get some amazing views and amazing photos.
It's just like kind of speaks to how hands on
and inviting the bad lands are and how that kind
of helps remove some of the intimidation too. If anyone's
a little I don't know, on edge or whatever, but
(16:43):
you can There was plenty of people. There was little
kids just like scurring up these rocky walls and all
over the place. Was it was great. And then we
helped ourselves. We climbed up there too, and it was
really really fun. And then for from here we continued
on to the trail, which is also pretty short and
mostly easy, aside from the fact that it was scorching
(17:06):
hot that day and blazingly sunny. Jeez. Yeah, you definitely
need like sunglasses and sun sunscreen. I mean those are essentials.
I mean, it's gets so bright here and it just
reflects off the ground almost like snow, Like it has
that snow effect where the sun is hitting you directly
and then also kind of reflecting off this light like
(17:29):
rock and it's like hitting you doubly. So you definitely
sunglasses because it's blindingly bright, and also just like all
the sunscreen like SPF fifty. Yeah right, yeah, So the
best part of the Notch Trail, or I think the
most interesting part of the Notch Trail, is this wooden
ladder that you climb up kind of halfway through. It
takes you up to the top of a bet and
(17:51):
it grazes you to that level which is gonna wind
you out to the very end of the trail. We actually, though,
decided to go around the ladder and find our own
way this time, since there was a traffic jam from
scared climbers. Yeah, there was like this little cluid coming
down and he was like crying as he took each
step down, and it was like and it took like
(18:12):
five minutes between each step. Yeah, we would have waited
there for an hour, so I'm just we all just said, okay,
let's go off trail and climb up and it was fun.
I'm actually kind of glad that happened because we got
to I love climbing make her. Yeah, that kid reminded
me of do you remember in um the first Drassic
Park movie when the little kid Timmy is like on
(18:33):
the electric fence but it's not electric cat and they're
climbing over it and then he gets like paralyzed with
fear and he's just like stuck there and then tim
jump but he refuses to. That's kind of like what
this kid was like. He was so scared. Unfortunately he
didn't get like electrocuted at any point. But yeah, it's
like a remake, you know, same idea. Yeah, so we
(18:58):
went around that and then when you're like up there
on this like upper Beaute area, you're walking out to
get to this overlook by the southern end of the park. Yeah,
the view there was like quite different. I mean a
lot of like tall green trees and then flat prairie
right because you're kind of on the edge of the
bad lands here, so instead of being surrounded by more
pinnacles and spires, you have this like panoramic view of
(19:24):
these green trees and the like mostly flat prairie, which
is so stunning and really cool to see that from
that perspective. Yeah, well, we're all like sweating way too much.
I mean, we had to hurry back to our v
to get out of the sun. It was very, very hot.
I think we stayed out there for like two minutes
and we're like, okay, turn around. Normally we try to
like stay at the end for a while and just
(19:47):
eat it, but we're just like, nope, screw it, We're
going back. Done. Seriously, no lingering food. So another important
thing to talk about with bad Lands is Wall Drug,
like mentioned earlier, another place I've visited in two thousand
and sixteen as part of that work trip and another
place that I absolutely needed to return to. Yeah, this
(20:10):
is like one of those weirdest, like funnest places I've
ever been, Like these vintage like billboards all along the
highway for miles and miles leading up to it. Yeah,
it's it's crazy, and Walt Drug really lives up to
the hype. I gotta say, it's this kitchy wonderland for sure. Yeah,
it's not really a town, mostly a large roadside attraction.
I mean, the whole street is lined up with like
(20:33):
old timey cafes, loons, shops, museums and other attractions. Yeah, totally.
This is the one place where you can drink a beer,
visited Chapel, sit on a giant jacklope, and watch an
animatronic t Rex all in the same place. So you
pretty much get the gist. I think that summarizes what
you're the type of place you're visiting here. Yeah, there's
a lot. Like I thought it was gonna be like
(20:54):
the small store that just had a lot of signs everywhere,
but it's g and there's so much story there too.
There is a lot of history. It was established in
nine as initially the super simple roadside stop outside the
bad Lands, kind of capitalizing on the park's popularity and visitorship,
and Wall Drug was advertising things like free ice, water,
(21:16):
shopping dining for visitors. Things caught on and now wal
Drug gets about one million annual visitors, which is basically
the same as bad Lands. And that makes sense because
apparently nearly everybody who visits bad Lands goes to Wall
Drug like we did. Yeah, as the name suggested, started
as a drug store owned by Ted and Dorothy, who's
dead times were tough at first, just like any business
(21:38):
getting up, but they struggled to attract customers. But they
started advertising that free water signs on the road and
it worked like magic. And I can see why. I mean,
remember when we were like hiking and it was like
hot as the sun and beating down, Like I would
happily go to a place that's advertising free ice water.
It's just genius, like they they were so smart right
(22:00):
to do a simple sign like that to draw those
and it absolutely worked. And then over the years they
added more and more roadside steins throughout the state and beyond.
Really we we saw these signs like in Wyoming, I think,
and I saw them in North Dakota too, so they're
pretty widespread. And attention to wall drug continue to grow,
(22:22):
and the Houstads eventually added more amenities and services like
Native American goods, Cowboy Boots, coffee, full service dining, and donuts. Yeah,
they're especially known for those donuts, as they should be
there so good delicious, fresh cake style donuts. I think
my favorite is the maple frosted one. Is that because
(22:43):
I worked for Burton's Maplewood farm it Yeah, yeah, I
always seek out maple favorite things to eat because it
makes me feel supportive. A few thank you. I really
do appreciate that, you know, Um, but you're welcome enough
about maple syrup and donuts and wall drugs. Because we've
read that part of the episode where we get to
share our favorite parts about bad Lands National Park. Yes, indeed,
(23:06):
I'm sure I'm going to have an emotional time here,
but um, there's plenty to talk about a lot of
contentors with our favorite things. So, Brad, what was your
favorite part of the bad Lands. I'll tell you right
after this short break my favorite. Hi. I'm Matt and
I'm Brad. This is park Landia, and today's episode is
(23:27):
about bad Lands National Park in South Dakota. We're currently
wrapping things up sharing with each other our favorite parts
of the bad Lands, and I'm excited to tell you
my favorite part was Kendall coming along and being on
this journey with us. Was as my first time going. Um,
and that's not just because he actually drove for five
(23:50):
hours on the way back, which it was the first
five hours I've ever been in the back of a
car the RV. I mean, yeah, it's been that was
like phenomenal. So that was definitely. My favorite part was
just having Kendall along more than just driving, like having
these experiences and um, even though we were exhausted from
doing all the rodeos before that, UM, I was really
(24:12):
excited to to have Kendall along and to share this
as we traveled all together. Lovely, are you going to
ask me what my favorite part was? I was thinking
about it, What was your favorite part? I think my
favorite part is seeing sunset and sunrise at bad Lands
(24:34):
when I was here in two thousand and sixteen. It's
the most incredible place to see both of those. They
are just unbelievably beautiful, and I think probably sunrise was
my favorite. I remember waking up super early, like ridiculously early,
and it was still cold and really dark, and we
(24:54):
went out to this like just parking area. I don't
even know where we were, It was ark and then
I was very underdressed. I was wearing shorts or something,
and everybody in the group kept asking me like, are
you okay? Are you going to be all right? And
I'm like I don't know, honestly, Like I gotta get
to wall drug and get myself a sweat up. Yeah, right,
(25:15):
And we waited out there for the sun to kind
of into its way up, and as it did, it
just cast this like orange pink glow over these jagged,
craggy spires that look like some sort of sandy mud
castle at the beach. And it's the most incredible experience ever.
And then thankfully things also warmed up because I was
freezing and I got to explore and kind of wander
(25:38):
out into this like craggy terrain as sunlight draped over it.
And it really was a special experience and something that
stuck with me and probably made me fall mostly in
love with bad Lands. So that makes absolute sense that
I would love to see those views, I know. Yeah,
but I also like to sleep in so it's hard
(25:59):
to to balance that out, I guess, yeah, right, you know.
The one thing like, I don't think there's a lot
of things I would bring to bad Lands National Park.
I mean, I would just bring some water, my camera,
and you know friends. I mean, it's really as simple
as that. Bad Lands to me was just about being
(26:21):
there and experiencing it. Um, There's there's just not a
lot I would bring. I would bring definitely some serious
sunglasses or like a whole helmet or something, because the
sun is so intense there if you're especially if you're
visiting during the summer months or anytime where it's like
sunny at all. And I would also, well, touching back
(26:47):
to the sunrise thing, I would bring layers because it's
not fun to be under prepared. It's better to be
opre prepared, especially when it comes to attire. And I
felt like an idiot being out there before sunrise wearing
shorts and a T shirt. Everyone else is literally wearing coats.
So I'm like, I didn't do this right. So I
would do that. And then also I would bring an
(27:10):
appetite to go to wall drug and eat all the
doughnuts and then drink all the ice water and all
the coffee. The coffee, by the way, it's five cents.
They advertise that too. That's been a big thing. Yeah.
I'm used to spending like four dollars at Starbucks. So
when a nice deal, I don't know if it's a deal,
(27:30):
but it feels like a deal. I feel like I'm
getting a treat. No absolutely, And you know what, what,
what do you think our drain vacation would be? Like,
I'll let you start this off and we'll build onto
it my dream vacation. I think I would love to
stay at one of the places of wall Drug. They
have a couple of little inns and hotels, and it's
just so convenient and close to the park that it's
(27:51):
very easy and doable and just stay there and be
able to visit some of the saloons. I know we
didn't do that this time, but they have some saloons
there and they feel so vintage and all timing and
like kind of silly but really fun, and I think
that would be great to do, and then just do more.
I want to do, like the rest of the trails,
(28:12):
maybe some like back country stuff, because it is one
of those parks where people are invited and free rain
to like wander around as they please, kind of as
long as you're careful and smart obviously, of course, no.
I think that's a really good point too, is like
I would do hikes early in the morning or late
at night. Good idea. During the middle of the day
is a bit intense and like we wound up kind
(28:34):
of speedwalk and just get out of the heat. Um,
so it's it's good to strategize a little bit and
time it out. I would actually call this the Full
Circle Park for us. Yeah, I would say for in
a lot of ways, not only because it was like
my first one as an adult and triggered this obsession,
but also a fun thing to mention is that we
actually formally kind of announced the parkland podcast where we're
(28:55):
in the Badlands together. Yea. So not only was this
the place that inspired me to get into national parks,
but it's the park where Parklandia came to life in
a sense. Yeah, And it's just it's so beautiful, and
it was our first park that we had a friend
along on the journey to go through it. So there's
just been a lot of first here and the bad
(29:16):
Lands well, it was a short trip for us. This time,
I'm excited to go back and live out that dream
vacation of staying in the town there and enjoying the
saloons and the old timey, beautiful nature of it all.
I love it so much. I told you I would
get emotional. You've been listening to the Parklandia Podcast, a
(29:43):
show about National parks by iHeart Radio, created by Matt Carouac,
Brad Carouac, and Christopher hasiotis produced and edited by Mike Johns.
Executive produced by Christopher hasiotas special thanks to Gabrielle Collins,
Crystal Waters, and the rest of the Parklandia crew. Hey listeners,
if you're enjoying the show, leave us a review on
Apple Podcast. It helps other people like you find our show.
(30:06):
You can keep up with us on social media. Check
out photos from our travels on Instagram at Parklandia Pod,
and join in the conversation in our Facebook group, Parklandia Rangers.
Thank you so much for listening.
Parklandia News
Hosts And Creators
Brad Kirouac
Matt Kirouac
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