Badlands National Park

We arrived in Badlands at the perfect time of evening to see lots of wildlife. We were dissapointed by the first campground in the park (basically an RV lot) so we headed for the more remote Sage Creek Campground.

Unfortunately, we found the road to the campground was closed for some reason, so we had to take along route around the park to get to it. 

As a finally set up camp a large moon was rising over the bison wandering through the campground!

The next morning, Ryan Ruby and I hiked the hill behind our campsite. 

Then we all hiked around Sage Creek until a large rattle snake scared the bejeezus out of us! 

Prairie dogs are so dang cute. We all love watching them run around, especially the babies. 

We are getting good at spotting wildlife among the amazing views! 

The unpaved roads are especially beautiful and fun to drive. 

The kids worked on their Junior Ranger Packets and we hiked the door trail. 

Since we had to beg the ranger to give the kids their badges right at closing they helped her fold the flag. 

We couldn't resist stopping at Wall Drug on our way to The Black Hills. The kids have been collecting medallions during our trip, and they used gift cards from Grandpa to buy walking sticks to put them on. I bought some ceramic peacock coasters that have nothing to do with our trip, but I loved them!