After leaving Ohio our first planned stop was at Badlands National Park in South Dakota which has one of the richest fossil beds in the world. We reached the park around evening after several hours of driving through plain fields. Park has colorful spires and pinnacles surrounded by prairies which has grass as the dominant vegetation type.
Rocks are covered with sedimentary layers of different colors
forming a unique pattern as it was painted by an artist. Sand and gravel produce tan and gray color, stripes of red and orange are formed by iron oxides. While coming down from the trail I was able to capture the car with the beautiful backdrop of the park.
Some spots are perfect for taking the pictures of the car as above. These spots are found by accidents while taking the pictures of the rocks. The cloud formation in the sky above the Badlands national park helped me to frame stunning landscape pictures even though it gave overcast shadows at sometimes. One of the information board tells us that some clouds are due to air pollution from nearby oil, gas production, and power plants.
We spend around two hours in the park and covered most of the spots found along the road. Most of the spots have more or less the same pattern. However, the drive around the park was interesting as the road takes us up and down around the rocks. The park is home to many animals and it can be found on the documents that there is a wide variety of mammal, reptile, amphibian, bird and butterfly species. Unfortunately, we did not spot any wildlife in the park and the weather was perfect for these animals to come out and wander. It may be due to the fact that we didn't get time to take trails in the park. After leaving the park we head straight to Hot Springs to stay for the night.
BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK
MOUNT RUSHMORE NATIONAL MEMORIAL
Mount Rushmore National Monument is an hour away from Rock Springs South Dakota. The park has a huge parking lot so parking was not a problem. Park welcomed us with two three rectangular structures with flags of different countries across the pathway. Above the structure, you can see the carved sculptures surrounded by the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota.
As we walked into the park, there is a gift shop at left where we can get souvenirs and other products and grill on the right side. We walked straight and reached the Lincoln Borglum Museum and Amphitheater. At the amphitheater, you can get a good view of the sculptures. Fortunately, the day we reached was a bright sunny day and got a good view of the sculptures.
From the Amphitheater we took the Presidential trail found on the left. The trail is 0.6 miles long with several stairs. Trail give up close and personal with the mountain sculpture. I was able to see the sculptures through a slit kind of void formed between two rocks, which I found interesting. Its told that we were able to get some glimpse some of the area wildlife but unfortunately, we couldn't find any. Along the trail, each president is highlighted with the history provided by plaques found along the way. Gutzon Borglum selected these four presidents because, from his perspective, they represented the most important events in the history, Birth, Growth Development and Preservation.
George Washington represents the Birth of the United States by leading the American Revolutionary War to win independence from Great Britain and laid the foundation of American democracy. Thomas Jefferson helped in the Growth of the United States through Declaration of Independence and the Louisiana Purchase which was the country's largest territorial expansion. Theodore Roosevelt represented the Development of the United States through Panam Canal construction bringing the large corporate monopolies to an end. During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery and helped in the Preservation of the United States.
From Mount Rushmore National Monument we headed to our next destination which was Jackson, Wyoming. On our way, we were able to spot Bison for the first time. We spotted the bison couple of hours away from the Mount Rushmore. With the help of the zoom lens, I think this will be the closest I will ever get to a Bison in its natural habitat. Since there were no other vehicles on the road, we were able to stop and take some pictures.
There were several good spots which are completely deserted and ideal for taking the pictures of the Shelby. Green trees and lakes can be found close to Mount Rushmore but most of the time we were driving through prairies and desserts.
