Western National Park Trip: Part 4 (August 2025)

Day 7

This day was about Wall Drug Store, Badlands National Park, and a half day car ride to North Dakota.

Wall Drug Store located in Wall, SD is a famous tourist stop. It is hard to describe but it contains oddities, clothing, food, a drug store, and much more. We walked around, took pictures, had some famous ice-cold water (Ted Husted made his drug store famous by giving out free ice water to travelers to entice them to stop at his store), and bought a couple of homemade doughnuts.

We drove to Badlands National Park our 42nd national park to visit together. We stopped at the Ben Relief Visitor Center to get our first view of the badlands and take a short hike. We then drove the loop road and stopped at various overlooks. Finally, we hiked the 1.5-mile round trip Notch Trail. This is the most hiked trail in the park. It includes a walk through a scenic canyon, a climb up a 50-foot tall wooden and rope ladder, a brief walk along a trail cliff, and ends with an amazing view of the White River Valley.

Our day ended with a 4 1/2-hour drive from Badlands National Park to Dickinson, North Dakota.

Day 8

Our 43rd national park to visit together was Theodore Roosevelt National Park. It's the only national park named after a president. We learned a lot today. North Dakota has a lot of prairie, pasture, and farmland but few people. North Dakota has its own badlands. The Little Missouri River runs right through Theodore Roosevelt National Park and we hiked directly to it and then hiked to an overlook. Bison and prairie dogs are both hard to photograph for different reasons. The bison herd we saw was a long way away from us. The prairie dogs would give out a warning call as soon as they saw us and they would all drop into their dens to avoid being photographed. While there were a few people in the park, it was one of the least busy parks that we have visited.

At the end of the day, on our way back to Dickinson, ND we stopped for dinner and an ice cream in Medora, ND. Medora is a cowboy town with some great shops and activities just outside the park.

Day 9

Day 9 was a planned rest day for us to catch our breath, explore the town of Dickinson, ND, and get some laundry done. However, we began feeling sick on Day 7 and we were both suffering from flu symptoms, so Day 9 became a recuperation day. We stayed near the motel, did no sightseeing, but we did get some laundry done. When we left the next day, we were rested but still had some minor flu symptoms.