Late in the afternoon of Day 2, I reached Wall, South Dakota. Wall is near the entrance to Badlands National Park, and it is the home of a famous retail outlet called Wall Drugs. Wall Drugs is on a street that looks like a simulation of an Old West town, and it seems to be quite a tourist trap. Not many people there on May 8, but I bet the place gets overrun during the summer – probably like Mackinac Island does. Anyway, I hung out at Wall Drugs for a little while, and a helpful store clerk there gave me directions to the national park entrance. In fact, he said he’d look me up and strangle me if I failed to see the Badlands before heading off to Mount Rushmore.
Only took 10 minutes or so to drive over to the park entrance. A nicely paved road winds through the Badlands, so it is easy to see the sights while driving along, and there are many places where one get out of the car and take a closer look at the park. Badlands is an amazing place, and I think I’d like to return and bike it someday. Apparently lots of people do that.
