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As it was the end of Labor Day weekend, the wall was pretty packed with RVs, trailers, vans, buses, trucks, cars, and tents. Once we made it up the hill, it was a challenge to find a spot to park. The drive up to the cliff was a narrow and bumpy dirt road, and since it was our first time driving our RWD van off the paved roads uphill to meet the edge of a cliff, we found it to be a little bit stressful!

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It’s a free camping area where you park along the edge of a cliff overlooking the Badlands. It’s not an official campground, so people refer to it as different things (Nomad View, Wall Dispersed Camping Area, the Cliff, the Wall, etc).

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Our campsite for the night was a famous boondocking area featured in the movie Nomadland. Even just by driving straight through, we encountered wildlife on and around the road, and got to witness the sun setting across from the beautiful variety of rock formations (sandstones, siltstones, mudstones, claystones, limestones, volcanic ash, and shale). Like in most national parks, dogs are only permitted in certain areas, so since we have Harvey with us, we didn’t go on any of the trail hikes and instead stuck to the scenic drive.Īt this point the sun was beginning to set, so instead of stopping at multiple overlooks, we did a park-preview and drove straight through to get to our campsite for the night. It’s about 38 miles to drive straight through, but there are also many overlooks, pull-offs, and hiking trails along the way. The Badlands Loop Road is one of two main roads that go directly through the park. Hence the name “Badlands.”Īfter entering the park, we couldn’t help but stop at the first overlook to take it all in. Travelers had deemed the land “bad” to travel across due to the many challenges it posed, and the land was considered difficult to survive in. In fact, it is beautiful! The Badlands got its name to pay homage to the people who lived there before it became a national park. So why go to a park that has “bad” in its title? It actually isn’t bad after all. Upon entering, we purchased our first National Parks Annual Pass, and we couldn’t be more excited! The annual pass costs $80 per vehicle and gets you unlimited visits to most National Parks. One week after leaving Chicagoland, we made it to our first national park of the year: Badlands National Park in Interior, South Dakota.