Badlands, and wind cave S. Dakota that bad?

Lived in Rapid City for 4 yrs many years ago thanks to the USAF and did go to Wind Cave once and the Badlands many times. Have been back to the area quite a few times and never bothered with Wind Cave (too many more impressive caves around, but go back to the Badlands almost every time. If you like to hike there's some trails that take you where most people don't go. At least a drive through is required. Stop at Wall there's a decent campground easy to use within walking distance of the whole town. All tourist trap stuff but a little different than most and wortha Day. Can also do the Bravo Missile site tour if you're interested. So a day in the Bablands/Wall would be my recommendation, and pass on Wind Cave unless you really like caves. Deadwood is another place we don't go to anymore, was a nice little tourist town now a Casino place too many other worthwhile things to see in the area unless you like gambling.

danpreszler wrote:
They are both unique and well worth a trip. We've been there many times!

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And be sure to make South Dakota's Custer State Park, which is located between the two, but closer to Wind Cave, a destination stop while in the area. We meet join friends there every year for a two week stay.

Disagree. Completely. Yahoo will also list their "easiest" dog breeds (of which they have NO knowledge or experience) and foods that they try to convince you not to eat because you will surely die if you do. 'nuff said.

Here's a thought on Wind Cave NP:
We've not been into the actual cave, but there are a couple of gravel roads/two track roads that lead from Custer State Park into Wind Cave National Park. These are roads that stem off of the Wildlife Loop in Custer SP. We have a Dodge 2500 pickup, so we aren't afraid to go down some primitive roads when exploring. We thoroughly enjoyed venturing into Wind Cave NP and saw some very neat herds of buffalo. The great thing was that we weren't in a traffic jam on a paved road along with 25 other vehicles. It was just us driving through a couple of herds with no one around. Kind of reminded me of the movies where you see a vast herd running along the hills with no signs of modern living.

I guess my comment is that any National Park is what you make of it. Take some time to explore. I had a friend that worked for the NPS at Everglades and he often said that 95% of visitors would be happy if they just chained an alligator outside the visitor center. Then people could come, see the gator (which was all they were interested in) and then go on their way to Disneyworld. The National Parks are great places if you just take the time to really see them.

They are both good. I seen that article,but didn't even read it because of how they rate things, and what you post shows I was right.

Definitely do them!

Badlands were not named "The Badlands" by some enterprising settlers who hoped to keep their Shangri-La secret. I can see the point of the rankings if you were to separate out the fact it is a good diversion while traveling across South Dakota on your way to somewhere else. I doubt anyone but maybe some serious survivalists would enjoy spending their vacation time and budget at Badlands National Park. It just wouldn't cut it as a stand alone trip. Great side-trip for a couple of hours? Absolutely. One of the best National Parks in the country? Not hardly.

Wow! Lots of great responses already. Thank you. I do enjoy photography, and had planned to explore badlands NP in the evening/sunset, and from your responses we will definitely do that. I love the variety of our great country, and enjoy seeing and appreciating as much of it as we can. Retirement is 6 years away, which will give us more time for traveling! Deserts kind of fascinate me. Probably because I grew up camping in forests. It's funny how some will see very little as they speed through. Spend a day, and night, and hike around a little and it's a wonder. Anyway, it's our first trip to SD, and we're excited. Like I said, we're staying 5 nights, 6 days at Custer SP as a home base from which to explore. We plan on having our 33 year wedding anniversary dinner at one of the restaurants there ( either Game Lodge, or Sylvan Lake). On the way home we're staying 2 days in Cody Wy to see the Buffalo Bill Heritage center, Old Trail Town etc. We've been to Yellowstone/Grand Teton/Jackson twice, but never seen Cody.

If you enjoy photography and have a 4X4, go out of the north unit on Route 44 (Buffalo National Grasslands), take a left at the (almost) abandoned town of Scenic (some good photography here), and go down to Sheep Mountain Table road on the right. This is part of the Stronghold Unit, which virtually no one visits.

Taking the road will take you into badlands and then up on the mesa. The views go on for miles and there is no one else there. You can run and play both below and above and there is no one there to photobomb you...

Bob & Ann wrote:
Because of where we live every trip out west brings us by the Badlands. We like it enough that we cannot just pass it by. We have visited it two times in the past three years. This year we will be there for several days in June with our Grandson. There is a lot of natural beauty there. We see a lot of cars drive through as fast as they can just to check it off their list. Like anything else you have to slow down and enjoy the natural beauty. It is very unusual and is another example of how beautiful America is.

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Give it a little time, you won't be disappointed. It's unique and beautiful. Be sure to check out the Ben Riefel Visitor's Center, excellent displays. The colors are even more beautiful early and late in the day.

As for Wind Cave NP, I wonder if the author even visited the cave. From topside it doesn't seem like much. Although they do have resident elk, prairie dogs, and other wildlife such as turkeys and birds of prey. There is also a fire tower that gives excellent views. But, most of the action is underground, and it's very interesting. Jewel Cave National Monument is just west of Custer and is also very interesting to tour.

There is a theory that Jewel and Wind Caves might actually be connected and be one cave system, and if so it would be the largest cave in the world by far.

We did both last year in mid May. Badlands was very enjoyable as we had a nice day. Wound up spending more than 1/2 day doing the 35 mile scenic drive, stopping at many of the pull outs. Camped in a private CG near the end with great views of the cliffs/mountains. Had no plans to stop at Wind cave but pulled in for lunch and took a tour. Not as spectacular as others but worth a visit. Don't miss Custer we did all the drives over two days. Either have a toad or rent a car as roads can be narrow and Needles Hwy has very tiny tunnels.