South Dakota Badlands Boondocking

The striking thing about the Badlands is that they look like Goodlands. There is an amazing contrast between the quickly eroding cliffs and the lush green grass. The grass covers the upper and lower flat lands, along with yellow clover and sunflowers that come later in the season.

Bighorn sheep make their home here, and they do not run away when there are people and vehicles around. One mother goat even seemed to bring her kid close to us as if to show it off. It was truly beautiful. J took this picture of C5 and her kid.

The Badlands Park can be entered one I-90 exit east of Wall, SD. This road takes you to the Interior Visitors center where you take a right to the west to continue your tour. There are many stops with hiking trails to viewpoints and points of interest. We had a beautiful bluebird day with a fluffy clouds to make the drive.

We drove until we reached state highway 240 and turned north there for the short drive to the boondocking area. J and I were headed to a place called, ‘The Wall.’ The Wall is an actively eroding escarpment about 200 feet high with outstanding views. This area is on FS7158, which is east of highway 240, is about 3.1 miles long. This area is limited to 14 days camping and has been packed every time I have been here. The road follows a cliff along its entire length with literally hundreds of places to call home.

No fires are allowed here because of the wind and massive amounts of grass that could be dry later in the season. Its really amazing to be able to camp at such a scenic place for free! If you want a shade tree you will be severely disappointed, there are none.

For the rockhound, absolutely no collecting in the National Park of course, but search for Fairburn agates to find places south of this area to look for some of the rarest and most beautiful agates in the world. Avoid private land on your searches. Maps exist of places to look, and there are many sources of information online.

When we left the area, we took the Sage Creek Rim Road to the west, just inside the park entrance. From there we drove to the community of Scenic, took the Bombing Range Road to the Sheep Mountain Table Road to check more boondocking sites. The camping opportunities there are awesome. Bring your own Services, BYOS, and other people if you require them. From there we headed south on Bigfoot Trail road to Rockyford, turned west on Bureau of Indian Affairs Highway 2 which turns into highway 656 all the way to the community of Buffalo Gap. Buffalo Gap is an interesting community with all roads paved with dirt. You don’t see many towns like that anywhere else. That is real country living. Happy Trails!