Badlands, Bad Roads and the Interior-Wall Road

This morning we left Hill City heading east under clear skies and a heaviness in the air that suggested it was going to be a hot day. Our route took us around the southern outskirts of Rapid City on our way to the Badlands. The road was under repair in parts and and not much better that a goat track.

Still, if you want to go to the Badlands, perhaps a bad road is the logical route to take. As we progressed I suddenly became aware that the sky was heavily clouded. At least it was keeping temperatures down.

Our first stop was at the edge of the Badlands in the dusty little town of Interior. We stopped for a drink and a sandwich before entering the Badlands NP heading for Wall on SD 240, or the Interior-Wall Road (aka Gyprock Road), as I like to call it.

The Badlands are an area of rugged erosion gullies at the edge of a sedimentary plateau. Here, a picture (or two) is truly worth a thousand words:

I'm not sure why they are called the Badlands, I didn't even think they were very naughty. There was even a cute little bunny rabbit posing for the tourists.

We stopped at lots of overlooks along the way, and it was mid afternoon when we arrived in Wall for refreshments. From here we took off for our planned overnight stop in Pierre, 99 miles east. The cloud had disappeared as suddenly as it appeared earlier, and it was getting very warm in our gloves, jackets and helmets. Many other riders had none of these, but looked very unprotected.

We rode up SD 14, to avoid the traffic, furious pace and boredom of I-90. There was very little traffic and we were able to travel at our own pace, but the boredom was still there. Most of the time I would ride in the right hand side tyre groove on the road, but when it got boring I would cross the left hand tyre groove. When that became boring I would sometimes ride down the crown in the road between them. The roads were mainly straight and led across undulating farmland that seemed as if it would go on for ever.

This area is exposed to the winds. There are a few gullies and "gulches" however and the wise farmers would have built their homes and barns in these. Birds and animals also find protection in the trees that grow there. We stopped briefly to get off our bike and walk around a bit in Phillip, a small town in the middle of nowhere.

By the time we got to Pierre (a neat town on the Missouri River, and the capital of South Dakota) we were hot and tired after riding 261 miles and spending more than 5 hours in the saddle. We found a motel and had a shower before heading out to find dinner.