A Storm, Wildlife, and Return to Winter

April 18th, 2024

By 9 a.m. on Saturday, the 13th of April, I had crossed the plains from Minnesota and arrived on the Wall. That is a north-south ridge overlooking the badlands between Wall, South Dakota and Badlands National Park that is popular for dispersed camping. It is often crowded and full of campers enjoying the long views overlooking the Badlands, close to the park entrance. However, at this time of April, there were few campers, especially after the weekend had ended. The nearest people to me were about 1/2 mile away.

While being a well known stop on the way to the western mountains, it is also known for troublesome weather. On Sunday, while taking a walk, I met with a camper from the local area. He came to the location often during the less popular times of the year. He pointed out a distant red roofed barn about 2 miles away towards the northwest. He told me that while it was calm and 83 degrees out, the wind was predicted to come up on Tuesday morning and I might want to face my trailer towards that barn in order to reduce the effect of the wind. I planned to leave early on that day to avoid the winds before they came up later in the morning. Unfortunately, a front started moving through on Monday afternoon, and the winds gained speed early. I quickly re-oriented my truck and trailer so they faced into the south-east direction, opposite the direction he indicated. This greatly reduced the swaying motion of the trailer.

However, by evening, the wind had increased and thunderstorms were heading my way from the south. I was now trapped on the ridge. I couldn’t leave as driving the trailer through the high winds would be dangerous. The weather service for Rapid City had already put out high wind warnings along the interstate highway. I would have to ride out the storms and wind on top of the ridge, a very exposed place to be. My trailer was the highest object in the area on a grassland with no trees. The first storm rolled through about 9 p.m. I could see lightening strikes all around the area and the heavy wind driven rain made it sound like a dump truck dropping a load of gravel on the roof of my trailer. Marble sized hail began to fall and the trailer was bouncing on its axled. I felt very unsafe until about 1 a.m. when the storms had passed and the wind died down a little.

At 4 a.m. I woke up and heard near silence. I quickly secured everything in the trailer and jumped out to drive off the ridge in the lull, hoping to make the 1.5 hour drive to the next campground in Custer State Park before the wind came back up. The campground was in a narrow creek valley with much more protection from high winds.

Of course, temperatures were much lower at the higher elevation of the Black Hills. Nighttime temperature was down to the low 20s. My campsite had an electrical hookup, so the cold was not an issue.

On Wednesday morning, I awoke to my alarm at 5 a.m. I wanted to be up in time for a drive at sunrise to look for wildlife. I headed out from the State Game Lodge campground on Wildlife Loop Drive. This turned out to be a fitting name, as I no sooner crested the hill behind the campground, when I began to see small groups of Mule Deer. For fun, I started to count them. In less the 5 miles, I had seen 30 Mule Deer, 3 Pronghorn Antelope, well over 100 Elk, at least 200 Bison, and a single Turkey. Shortly after, I passed a Prairie Dog town. I did not bother to count those as there were too many and they were running around to fast. The rolling grassy hillsides with sparse pine forest allowed one to see herds of Bison and elk far into the distance.

The sun finally made an appearance on Thursday morning. Of course, the cloudless night invited the temperature to drop to 21 degrees. At the higher elevations in the park, an inch of snow had carpeted the ground. I drove up the Needles Highway to view the picturesque rock formations along the way to Sylvan Lake. I only made it 6 miles before coming to the “Road Closed” barricade. I am not sure why the park service did not post a dead end sign 6 miles earlier. I backtracked and took a longer route to Sylvan Lake. I wanted to hike the loop trail around the lake, but upon arrival found the it covered with snow, a temperature of 20, and a very brisk wind. All my mid-winter clothing was packed away for spring conditions, so I cancelled my hike.

So, if you want to head west for a vacation at this time of year, passing through the Black Hills on your way, you will find great photo opportunities for wildlife. You might also find 80 degree daytime temperatures. There are very few people. I drove the whole Wildlife Loop road while only seeing 2 other vehicles. There are available campsites at State Game Lodge campground.

Check the weather before camping on “The Wall”. Bring a good coat and hat, in case it goes down to the low 20s and check the South Dakota Department of Transportation website for closed roads. Only 1 of the campgrounds is open in Custer State Park. The stores and most of the visitor centers and lodges are closed until May 1st. You will see wildlife. You won’t see traffic jams, lines, full parking lots, or feel a lot of stress.

I give two thumbs up for the Badlands and Black Hills in April.