We arrived on Saturday and after getting the camper parked and setup, we elected to head back out the East entrance of the National Park so that we could jump on I-90 West and stop off at the town of Wall, SD to visit the famous Wall Drug Store. After seeing non-stop signs advertising the Wall Drug store along I-90 for well over 300 miles, we felt we owed them a visit. It’s definitely a tourist trap, but worth seeing at least once. We purchased a couple of trinkets (which we didn’t think were badly priced) and I enjoyed a delicious vanilla soft ice cream cone before we departed.
From there we re-entered the National Park from the West side and drove the South Dakota 240 scenic loop through the park and back to the campground. Just prior to re-entering, we pulled off of the road and watched three bison (buffalo) graze and the lay down. Shortly after pulling back onto the road, we encountered a fairly sizeable Prairie Dog town. There were hundreds of prairie dogs and they were all on alert although cars didn’t seem to bother them. Once we got inside the park we stopped at several scenic overlooks (which were all incredible). We also pulled off the road and watched a group of bighorn sheep graze in a field adjacent to the highway.
Beth of the Badlands
On Sunday we started the morning early (because we’re still on Eastern time) and we were glad we did because the temperature eventually reached 91. We went directly to the trailhead for the Notch Trail. Although it’s only a 1.3 mile (round trip) trail, it’s considered “moderate” due to the amount of climbing (including a a log ladder climb up a cliff wall). The ladder and several portions of the trail along cliff edges aren’t for those afraid of heights. Based on this, I wasn’t sure Beth would be willing to hike the trail. We even encountered one down hill drop (and switchback) that was very unnerving from a visual perspective (it looked like you’d go over the cliff if your footing wasn’t perfect), and she was quite concerned but handled it perfectly. The effort was worth it for the view once we reached “the notch” which overlooked the valley below. The view was incredible and we could actually see our campground from it. The return trip was much easier (I guess we were used to it) until we reached the ladder again. We had to climb back down the ladder backwards which was not a comfortable exercise. Once we got about one third of the way down it got easier, but our quadriceps were burning.
Notch Trail Ladder 
Us at the Notch 
Notch View Toward Campground 
View of the Notch from Below
That was it for our Badlands hiking adventures. On the way to the Visitor’s Center we pulled off the road and devoured the delicious sandwiches that Beth was kind enough to make and haul in her backpack all the way in and back out of the hiking trail.
View from Lunch Stop
From there we checked out the Visitor Center and gathered as much Badlands knowledge as we could handle. All National Parks were celebrating the 103rd anniversary of the National Park Service on Sunday by allowing free entry into the park and providing free cake and Ice cream. I partook in the cake and ice cream and it was delicious.