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| This is the first glimpse of this incredible area.....we have just driven through Buffalo Gap National Grassland which was very pretty ...rolling hills and farms/ranches...masses of.Sweet Yellow Clover blooming across the hills and valleys and then the contrast of the beginning of the rock formations of The Badlands, very similar to The Painted Desert in New Mexico.... |
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| From the Ben Reifel Visitors Centre it is a 22 mile scenic drive through the park to the Pinnacles entrance/exit....a feature of The Badlands and in fact in South and North Dakota is the beautiful vision of the Sweet Yellow Clover swaying in the wind.... |
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| As usual there are numerous pull-outs and scenic viewpoints along the way with information boards explaining the landscape and vegetation..... |
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| I have tried to capture the essence of the park in the following photos but not sure I did it complete justice... |
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| The formations are layers of sand, silt and clay cemented together to form sedimentary rock, wind and rain then erode the rock to create the shapes....it is actually quite crumbly ..... |
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| Fascinating contrast between the rock formations on one side of the road and the grasslands on the other... |
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| A happy little chap.... |
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| This was our lunch time sandwich spot which also had an information board about The Wounded Knee Massacre... When I joined the library service many years ago one of the books that caught my attention was Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee by Dee Brown......I never imagined that one day I would be standing in the area that the massacre took place.... We have had a fabulous day out, albeit a long one and a long drive (mostly quiet straight roads) 230 mile round trip but so very worth it..... Our next itinerary stop is Medora, North Dakota to visit The Theodore Roosevelt National Park.... More soon from The Happy Campers..... |
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