Ep. 43: Badlands | RV travel South Dakota camping

[@royaleevangeline2038]

I’ve been to many national parks across the country, and Badlands is definitely one of my favorite parks. In my opinion, Badlands is everything a national park should be. Badlands NP is beautiful, unique, and evokes a powerful sense of wonder and awe. Badlands NP is not very commercialized like some of the gateway towns are at other national parks, which I thinks detracts from some of the parks. The Badlands is a surreal and beautiful landscape. In the Badlands you truly feel like you’re walking on a different planet. Moreover, if you visit Badlands NP, then make sure you see a sunrise or sunset, as well as the night sky. The sunrise and sunset brings out the beautiful colors of the landscape. Being in a rural part of the country, the night sky in Badlands NP is absolutely stunning. Finally, Badlands NP is a region where the Western US begins. If you like history, especially the history of the Wild West, then both the natural and human history of Badlands NP is fascinating.

[@GrandAdventure]

A&W, we couldn't have said it better ourselves. Thanks for such a thoughtful comment!

[@DownsizingMakesCents]

Marc, just rewatched your Badlands video in prep for our trip. We plan to boondock the wall. And I’m looking forward to lots of wildlife. Thanks for all the great footage, as always 🤗 Alice

[@GrandAdventure]

You bet Alice! Enjoy yourselves. It's gotten very popular there, so here's hoping that you can find some solitude.

[@mainemagic2351]

Funny thing about Wall SD and Laundromat...been there done, that for same reason on our trip from Vermont to Seattle...dogs know how to get your attention...Wall Drugs is an epic spot to stop...high 80’s when we were there but best place for doing laundry...

[@laughingram7287]

Your dispersion site was beautiful. Hilarious story about your dog and the cows. I remember driving across South Dakota and seeing all the signs for “Wall Drug”! Real nice photography. 👍🏻

[@laughingram7287]

So I went back into this video to see if I could find your spot. I used the Goggle Earth to see it. Then I checked the land owner on USGS. You’ve got a good eye! Did you scan this out on Goggle Earth before you got there or did you see that road going to the left prior to the Ranger Station and decide to just go check it out?

[@sandratessem9980]

I worked at the ABM Missile site in Langdon, North Dakota 1974. Great video

[@GrandAdventure]

Very cool! Tension back then must've been pretty heavy.

[@lostweekendscaravan]

Well that is one story if you hadn't of filmed it no one would of believed you. And you were very polite to those cows. I can see our friend Gavin has joined us. Look forward to the next film. Juliet and Phil

[@LesPaul-po5wd]

I see this was made in 2018. It's now Feb 2021 and we are planning a long trip out west this summer 2021 and The Badlands is the first park on the list(onward we go to Y-stone, Jackson Hole, and then to Glacier National in Montana). Mark, I started following you and your vids are outstanding and most helpful. I'm trying to learn as much as I can about boondocking/dispersed camping to get the very best out of our travels. Thank you for your vids and insight. I find myself stopping your vids and taking notes, writing down parks and notes to using the USGS/US forest service maps. Thank you!

[@GrandAdventure]

Thank you Joe! Your comment means a ton to us, and we sincerely appreciate it. Here's wishing you a wonderful trip west this summer! You're going to have a ball.

[@opaandomascampingadventures]

Thanks for sharing. We will be stopping at both Badlands and the missile site in Sept. Enjoy Devils Tower! We were there June 2nd. No climbers in June so you get virgin pictures of the tower. Enjoy~

[@GrandAdventure]

Oma and Opa’s Camping Adventures: Thanks O&O! For Badlands I highly recommend the Nomad View spot. Yep, the Tower is our next episode. ;) We missed one another by only a couple of weeks.

[@trbowlin]

Nasty storm...Cool time-lapse...

[@GrandAdventure]

Thanks TR! Would've preferred that it went longer, but I had to stow the camera!

[@michaelfitzgerald434]

Just so well done, Marc. The Badlands are beautiful, serene, layered and austere. Just lovely. Problems, yes. But beautiful photography!

[@GrandAdventure]

Yes, we enjoyed the area immensely, Michael. Just gorgeous to see. Thank you so much for your comment! Your chosen adjectives describe the area to perfection.

[@gavinstreetie1473]

I can’t imagine quarter inch hale and the potential damage it could cause you seam very clam about it , the cows made me laugh all that space and they found you , fantastic scenery you really know how to film thanks for sharing Gavin & Zehra

[@GrandAdventure]

Gavin Streetie thank you so much! With the hail I really got lucky - when it started I was in the middle of the National Forest but I rounded a curve and there was my savior: a gas station in the middle of the woods with a canopy over the pumps. I shot right to a spot under the canopy where I was well protected. Thanks for your wonderful feedback!

[@rambling_rob7035]

Marc, love that camp outside Badlands. Scary weather story. I've been in two situations in Nebraska over the years. Thankfully I was in a campground both times with solid block bathrooms. Great drone footage over the Badlands.

[@GrandAdventure]

Thank you! Yep, it was quite unnerving, especially after the 3" hail we encountered in the Black Hills.

[@SevenBears1]

Every video I watch I think wow I get to go there too.

[@GrandAdventure]

You sure do J!

[@BillWinterberg]

Great video! We chose to stay at the Badlands/White River KOA, about 10 minutes to the south of the Badlands Interior park entrance, while we were out there. I love that part of the country and filmed some time lapse during our trip as well.

[@GrandAdventure]

Bill Winterberg would love to see it! Is it posted up somewhere?

[@BillWinterberg]

Grand Adventure Yep, it’s this video on my channel: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6G8fZehmaiHl9U

[@GrandAdventure]

Beautifully done, Bill! Wish I could've done the Notch hike, but Patricia was in Montana and I had no one along to babysit the dogs. Not sorry about missing the rattler though! Subbed.

[@BillWinterberg]

Thank you!

[@rvamericayall]

Another great video of a place we can’t wait to visit! Thanks for sharing, Marc and glad you survived the heat, the storms, the cattle & the pups! At least you weren’t bored! 😁

[@GrandAdventure]

Bored? Hardly. 😄 Thanks guys!

[@greengateacreshomestead4324]

Thank you, I just learn something new. Did not know that I could camp outside of the campgrounds in National Parks. Am about to start heading that way in about 2 month and my starting point is from Virginia to Yellowstone by car, am very exited.

[@GrandAdventure]

Just to clarify, it's rare that you can camp outside of a campground in a National Park, although some parks like Canyonlands have designated backcountry campsites. In this case we were camped about 30 feet outside of the Badlands National Park boundary, within Buffalo National Grassland (the prairie equivalent of a National Forest).

[@greengateacreshomestead4324]

@@GrandAdventure Oh so that means only in National Forest are free and not National Parks. Guess I need to do more research to be ready.

[@GrandAdventure]

@@greengateacreshomestead4324 no, everything varies. You can find free dispersed camping not only in National Forests but also on BLM land, National Monuments, National Recreation Areas, etc. Just to complicate things, some actual campgrounds on BLM and in National Forests are free, while others charge. May we suggest checking out out our Boondocking 101 video? kzbin.info/www/bejne/ioW1qGZ3Yq58kLs It helps to explain some of this stuff.

[@greengateacreshomestead4324]

@@GrandAdventure Fantastic, Thank you so much, lots of information, much to learn.

[@johnkertzman3520]

You should of went to the North Dakota badlands and Madora! Theodore Roosevelt national park is awsome!

[@GrandAdventure]

Thanks John. Gotta save something for future trips!

[@leasehound]

Heading that way in a couple of weeks. Thanks for the video.

[@GrandAdventure]

You're very welcome, Sam! Enjoy, and thanks for watching!

[@tommybouland6212]

Thanks for this, Marc. We're headed there tomorrow.

[@GrandAdventure]

Safe travels and happy trails!

[@rvingmontanezway103]

Wowow What a View You Had here this was truly Amazing 🙌👍

[@christinamcmillan6814]

They’re moooooving in🤣😂 I’m pretty sure this camping trip was one for the books. Cow poop on the dog, not once but twice, a tornado watch, (we’ve waited out a wind storm in the truck, and felt much safer) a puking dog, unexpected laundry day... Anyway, Wall Drug looks like fun! When do you think is the best time of year to visit this national park?

[@GrandAdventure]

Definitely one for the books, Christina! It was an inauspicious start to six months on the road. As for what time of year is best, I really have no clue as this was our only time in South Dakota. I can tell you, though, that I watched the weather in western South Dakota for the next two months and it always seemed to be an epicenter for severe weather throughout that period.

[@christinamcmillan6814]

Grand Adventure That’s good to know. We’re avoiding crazy weather after experiencing this crazy New Mexico wind!

[@kenmcelroy7250]

Marc is your Tundra four wheel drive? Do I need a four wheel drive to access some of the areas you go? Love your work and share it every chance I get.

[@GrandAdventure]

Yes Ken, it's 4WD and we'll engage it when on a steeper, loose dirt road while towing. Many of the places we go, though (like our camp in this episode) don't require it at all. Appreciate both your kind words and your sharing!

[@catherinehicks8771]

hahaha......what a grand adventure!

[@GrandAdventure]

On this episode, no doubt!

[@brendaschroeder2166]

beautiful video

[@stuwardw]

Great videos, thank you! Can you tell me what the outdoor chair is call that you are always sitting in please?

[@GrandAdventure]

We get more questions about those chairs than any of our other gear! They're called club chairs or moon chairs, depending on who's selling them. There's an Amazon affiliate link to a nearly identical chair in the description of each of our videos. We got ours at Camping World.

[@stuwardw]

Thank you for the quick response, we will look them up👍

[@kristiejacobs4854]

Oh, life would be so boring without our dogs, right??!!😂😂😂

[@GrandAdventure]

Definitely not as "eventful".

[@chivas123186]

Amazing views ⛰ 👍

[@GrandAdventure]

Ivan Nava thank you! It's an amazing place.

[@rickmurray5345]

Never a dull moment...gotta love dog puke at 6am. Better than 3am...

[@GrandAdventure]

Rick Murray for sure!

[@jukeman57]

Marc, you’re old enough to know $h!t happens sometimes. Ya just deal with it and move on, enjoying life. Excellent video. Better days again brother.

[@GrandAdventure]

So true, Michael - thank you!

[@williamkeil8414]

I would be out of there so fast............LOL

[@GrandAdventure]

LOL! One of our most entertaining stops last season, for sure.

[@larryreno8293]

Rolling in shit!!! Nothing like the life of a dog. But daddy, I smell so gooood!

[@GrandAdventure]

Exactly! Oh man, that was such a mess. Thanks for the sub, too!

[@barbwire65]

Hi Mark I enjoyed your video. Got a question for you, my boyfriend and I are considering going to the Badlands National Park in mid September. I have been in the park once before but my boyfriend has not. My question is do you think that we can find enough things to do within the park if we was there for 4 days? Time I had been there before I was just basically one night and a drive-thru. This time I want to explore the park more.

[@GrandAdventure]

Thank you Barb! We've got short attention spans, and I don't think that I could find enough to occupy us for 4 days. You do a drive-through, a few hikes, but then what? You could do the Minuteman Missle exhibit that we visited, but take a tour down below -- that takes a good chunk of a day. You could also technically daytrip to Rushmore from there, it's not that far.

[@barbwire65]

Thank you Mark I appreciate you replying back

[@GrandAdventure]

@@barbwire65 happy to, Barb. Just let us know anytime we can possibly help.

[@RussellBond13]

So did you collect any rain water?

[@GrandAdventure]

Ian: negative. I was too busy trying to keep everything from flying away a la the Wizard of Oz.

[@ffernando13]

Great video! +1 sub... Thanks!

[@GrandAdventure]

Thrilled to have you along, Luiz... Thank you!