Badlands Nat'l Park & Buffalo Gap Nat'l Grassland

[CatskillsRunner]

Thank you for sharing your pics. I will be out there this summer and it was nice to see some photographs. I will have to do some research about the plague..am taking my dog with me and we are staying at Cedar Pass.

Anyway, thanks!

 

[98dodge]

Very nice write up with beautiful pictures! I spent about 30 min looking through this and I really enjoyed it, I want to put this trip on my bucket list for sure, thank you so much for sharing TripLeader !

 

[TripLeader]

Thank you for sharing your pics. I will be out there this summer and it was nice to see some photographs. I will have to do some research about the plague..am taking my dog with me and we are staying at Cedar Pass.

Anyway, thanks!

Good luck with the trip.
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Very nice write up with beautiful pictures! I spent about 30 min looking through this and I really enjoyed it, I want to put this trip on my bucket list for sure, thank you so much for sharing TripLeader !

It is a worthwhile trip. I think this a place that requires a little more planning than the bigger, more well known parks. Not that it is an obscure place, but the park itself is long and linear. It's better accessed at some places through the national grassland. Then there are numerous other places nearby you can visit.

 

[the matador]

OK, I need to revive this thread and ask for input. I want to plan my trip for this year. I'd like to go as soon as practical and not have access to areas and roads closed. What would be a safe starting date? I'm going to be taking my F250 with an FWC camper so a bit heavy.... but more comfortable for long trip with my wife.

XJINTX- I would try to come out in July or August, the trails should be pretty dry by then unless we get the unusual amount of rain like last year. Anytime before then you run the risk mud and still possible snow, got 10+ inches of snow in the middle of May one day and took over a month to dry up. Also have to plan around sturgis, lots of bikes everywhere in western SD.

 

[ghostingrey]

It can be tough to time a trip to the Badlands/Buffalo Gap area with regards to the road conditions. If you have a little flexibility and can wait till a couple months out to plan your trip I would. May and June are a great time to visit as it usually hasn't gotten to hot yet and there aren't too many tourists. But as Matador said we can have snow into May that can make the roads pretty muddy. I'd avoid anytime in August due to Sturgis. It's not just bike "week" anymore it's the whole damn month. So if you have to pick a safe time frame go with the end of June or early July but be aware that it can get pretty darn hot out in the Badlands area at that time of year. September is also an awesome time to visit as the crowds are gone, the weather starts to cool, and it almost never rains that time of year.

 

[grogie]

The badlands in both western ND and SD are made up primarily of volcanic ash. They weather to highly expanding and water-absorbing gumbo clay, so when they get heavy rain, not much moves. As the storm system approached, a rancher who lived nearby (near in western ND terms--about 10 miles from the dig), came by and implored us not to drive on the road until it was dry, as the ruts cut by those driving too soon could only be repaired by grading the whole length of the road. He made it clear that he, other ranchers, and the Slope County Roads supervisor would be highly annoyed if we cut their roads up.

Yes, it's easy to as you say cut up those roads when they're wet, and most annoying to the locals. I recall spring roads in Wyoming that the saying would go, "choose your rut carefully as you'll be in it for the next mile."

Anyway, great read and thanks OP for sharing your adventure. And love the LJ Rubicon.

 

[XJINTX]

My wife and I had to change our trip dates to the Dakota's. Now we will be leaving the middle of July for 3 weeks. My vehicle is an F250 4x4 with a slidein 4 wheel Camper. I guess my question is... if we run into a muddy area would it be by surprise or because of current weather conditions like rain or rain in past couple days? Would we ever run into a muddy road by surprise and have to turn back so as not to damage?
Oh and any reason not to attempt in July?

 

[ghostingrey]

By mid July the only reason I could think of you running into an impassible road would be due to a huge thunderstorm. Those don't happen very often so I don't think you would have trouble with the dirt roads that time of year.

One think to keep in mind is that Sturgis starts August 8. Bike start tricking in the week before and prices start to rise so you'll probably not want to be in the area for that.

 

[TripLeader]

...Anyway, great read and thanks OP for sharing your adventure. And love the LJ Rubicon.

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.

 

[AMBOT]

Thanks for this thread, headed out there in September for the first time and this helped understand what we can expect!

 

[TripLeader]

Thanks for this thread, headed out there in September for the first time and this helped understand what we can expect!

Glad it could be of help. Enjoy your trip.