Badlands, South Dakota

As we were leaving Craig’s house in Omaha he offered up some tips on camping in South Dakota. He told us to find the Sage Creek campgrounds and watch out for free roaming bison. He also mentioned the Black Hills were a cool area to crash for the night instead of a tourist trap next to Mt. Rushmore. He handed over our Omaha beef and we were on our way.

The drive from Omaha to the Badlands provided extra entertainment from the multiple tourist attractions we encountered. Our first stop was the Porter Sculpture Park in Montrose and was the most bizarre. The sculptor, Wayne Porter, drives 2 hours everyday to hang out in his park we found in a field next to the highway. We opted out of the golf cart ride and strolled through the park viewing the largest bull sculpture in America and several other of his interesting yet odd creations. He’s currently working on the largest horse sculpture as well, keep an eye out!

Next up was the Corn Palace, marked on our Warby Parker road trip map. We would like to challenge the word palace and replace it with gymnasium. The Corn Gymnasium’s exterior is decorated with several different kinds of corn by the local artist every year and while impressive to create art out of corn, we are still unsure of the point. The gym inside will filled with tacky corn products and hot dogs for $1. We grabbed a bag of caramel corn and hit the road. Sorry corn palace, we dethrone you.

Our final attraction was Wall Drug. Now, Wall Drug had been advertised all the way from Sioux Falls to the Badlands, a meer 500 miles, so we felt obligated to stop. The signs promised all sorts of things from a life size t-rex to a cowboy gear and homemade fudge. What we found was a drug store on crack. Yes, it did have all of these items and so much more. We took in the mechanical t-rex feeding, the XXL gift shop and decided it was time for seclusion.

We took Craig’s suggestion and found the dirt road leading to the Sage Creek Campground. The moment we hit the road, our faces lit up. Silence, fields for days and amazing views, our true outdoor adventures were about to begin. We drove the windy road as the was sun setting, directly through a bison herd and onto Sage Creek. We set up camp, cooked our Omaha filets complete with peppers, salad in a bag (excellent suggestion Kyle McCarthy) and a bottle of red wine. Now this is hipster camping!

We woke up early to breakdown our campsite and set off on our drive through the Badlands. Because we were staying in the back country, we had the extra delight of driving the deserted Sage Rim Road at the start of the Badlands which provided the sheer seclusion, crazy paths for epic photos and the most stunning views of the incredible landscape possible. We continued through the park on the paved scenic byway, popped out for a hike, stopped for more photos, but mostly we were scoffing at the tourists who had no idea what they were missing just a dirt road away. So bad, it's beautiful, these lands are a must see!

Best Views: Sage Rim Road
Free Camping: Sage Creek Campground

As you can see, we had a hard time editing down our favorite photos, so screw it, view them all!