I took a van trip to the Badlands & Black Hills this past weekend!
I got into the Badlands right at sunset on Friday night and got to witness this beautiful sunset!
I camped at the Badlands Boondocking campspot and it was so beautiful. Woke up and caught a lovely sunrise.
Spent Saturday exploring the Badlands. I hiked a few easy trails and really liked the "Notch Trail".
l did check out Wall Drug and was surprised that I liked it. It was very slow since it's not the busy season so I might feel differently if it was packed with people but I had a great time exploring everything it has to offer!
I headed to the Black Hills after that and drove past Mount Rushmore. I snuck this photo from the side of the road cause I was too cheap to pay to park and get up close, lol.
I did a super fun hike in the Black Hills Sunday. It took me to the Cathedral Spires, then Devil's Tower, and then to Black Elk Peak! The wind was insane at the top. I almost didn't pack one of my layers and was so happy I did when I got to the top!
There's a fire lookout at the top of Black Elk Peak. It was the only protection from the wind so I chilled in the fire lookout for a bit and then climbed back down!
I had my first mishap with the van at a random gas station that was closed and there was no one around. I went to fill it with gas and as I went to start it, I couldn't get the key to turn in the ignition. I looked to Google for some answers and tried a few things. Eventually tried jumping it with this jumper kit that doesn't require another vehicle. That didn't work, so went back to Google again and it turned out the steering wheel needed to be cranked into a locked position. This was honestly super stressful because I was in the middle of no where South Dakota, but I'm pretty proud I figured it out and only had a mild mental breakdown, lol.
I'm working on a ton of content for my travel blog to post more info about tips of things to do in the Badlands / Black Hills. I'll have that info up in the next few days. You can check out my blog here!