September 20, 2007 – More Badlands and Sightseeing

This morning we made our way from the campground to the north end of the park and made a few stops at the overlooks and did a short nature hike.

Here is a picture of the campground from one of the overlooks:
From there we went to the missile silo – 16 miles away. One of the things that I did not know was that these silos were not top secret. This one is about ½ mile from I-90 in the middle of a ranch. Here is a picture:

A closer picture:

The missile you see standing is a sensor and the glass is for observation only – it would have been covered by a thick block.

Here is the silo with the missile (unarmed):

It was an incredible tour. Next time we are here we will definitely make advanced reservations for the control facility. (The silo is 11 miles away from the control area.)

From there, we stopped at Wall Drug for lunch. Here is my hero (I just loved her boots and cigar):

And Andy’s new friend:

Then we did the loop road in the Badlands. The Badlands separates the upper from the lower prairie and is 60 miles long. It is known as the Badlands Wall (and that is how the town of Wall got its name). The Wall is constantly retreating as it erodes to the valley below. And in some of the stops we made, we could see where they have moved the overlooks due to the erosion.

A picture of the upper prairie:

This is where the upper prairie meets the wall:

The lower prairie:

And more incredible scenery along the way:

It was so amazing to see all of this. We were here 10 years ago and this place still fascinates us!

Right by the park is a historic landmark – Prairie Homestead. This is an original home of people who homesteaded these 160 acres in 1909.

Here is a picture of the house:

And inside:

There was a lot of information there and in the Badlands loop on the homesteaders. What a hearty group of people!

And the current owners of this homestead have the only white prairie dog town in the world:


Aren’t they cute!!!

And another incredible sunset and moonrise tonight!

We had a very hot day today – 95 degrees. But at least the nights get cool!!