I camped in the same place for the first time. I liked that spot—in a little grove of trees, just off the highway. But off I went, down US-85, toward Theodore Roosevelt’s southern unit. My first stop was the park’s side entrance, where I planned to hike to a petrified forest before the Dakota sun came out in full force. Alas! The road to the trailhead became deeply rutted, beyond what my Corolla could handle. Dejected, I turned back into town.
Medora is a small town trying very mightily to be quaint. Faux-Frontier storefronts line downtown; with the badlands in the background, it’s a cool effect. But that effect is only an affect (see what I did there?). Instead of meeting rugged ranchers at the café, I was served by awkward, pale young men like myself.
To the park! The southern unit is right off the highway. This, and its proximity to Medora, make it much more popular than the northern unit. It’s much more open, with more prairie and fewer badlands. This means the views aren’t as stunning, but the wildlife are more visible, and this part of the park featured multiple prairie dog towns. I would pay a lot of money to put up a development for these guys next to my house. They’re hilarious in their squawking, posing, and scrambling.
It was too hot to hike in the afternoon, and it looks like that’ll hold true for the next week or more in the plains. So I got some driving in, heading south on the Enchanted Highway, a quirky route filled with locally-made, seventy-foot-tall iron sculptures.
Northwest South Dakota is the emptiest place I’ve been so far: so. much. space. I went a solid three minutes with no buildings, cars, or trees in view. I finally made it to the edge of the Black Hills, where the temperature cools by almost ten degrees. I had a solid burger and a good conversation about town scuttlebutt at the local bar. Not a bad way to cap off two weeks on the road.
Wouldn’t want to have the fish at Fisherman’s Dream…
The Enchanted Highway: This is an interesting route, one that I never heard of. So I went to Wickipedia to check it out. Looks like fun. There is even an Enchanted Castle motel. And a gift shop, of course. I don’t know as I would go out of my way to see it, but if I am ever in the general area for something else, I might. Sounds like the weather is getting hot out there. No wonder it’s so sparsely populated. Glad you found lots of prairie dogs to enjoy. I think the only time I really got a good look at them was in a zoo. But you had time to just watch them in action. And that’s the kind of thing that your travels are all about. Very interesting reading, and more great pictures! Love, Grandma