Badlands NP, South Dakota

This is the park that you stop at between Wall Drug and Mount Rushmore. I stopped here in the middle of July----so hiking is not what you want to do when it is 112 degrees F. In the middle of the day there was no silence---just that sound of wind. But the wind made the grass move in waves. I think that the wind and the waving grass helped soften the harshness of the landscape and the heat. A rabbit even hopped through the grass as I sat on the boardwalk.

Looking at the rest of the park, there is a moonscape look about it----lines of color---mounds of earth in many shapes. I read about some short hikes that you can do----or you can go back country with map and compass.

There is an inn right outside of the park---I listened to cows mooing and waited for the stars to come out.

To find out more about the park and surrounding area, here is the National Park Service Badlands NP website.

Arches NP, Utah

It is a rainy evening, so instead of hiking I will add my next park I have visited, Arches National Park. I even get to drive around with the Delicate Arch on my license plate. Ironically, I have only visited the park two times----first time in 1991 and the last time in 1998.

The first time was in the beginning of July. This is not the time to come to enjoy hiking unless you like 100F temperatures. We hiked early in the morning to arches in the Devils Garden area in the north end of the park. This is the Landscape Arch in two views----from in front----and from underneath.

This is the park of arches---in fact 2000 cataloged arches. The most famous is the Delicate Arch, but since it was so hot and we were camping in the north end of the park, we never hiked to it. I would highly recommend hiking to it----you may have seen it during the 2002 Olympics----the torch stopped there.

Another hike we did at sunset (after the first hike, we spent the mid-day at the air-conditioned Moab library) was the hike to the Windows. Sunset in the desert treats you to many colors---and silence.

We enjoyed the campground. The sites are separated by rocks. The only thing lacking is shade.

My second time to the park was another quick trip with an out-of-town guest. That time was spent on the south end of the park in the Park Avenue area.

For more information on the park, I would visit the Arches NPS site.