It rained 5” last week, oh boy…not what I wanted to hear the day before I was supposed to run a big loop around Badlands National Park, a place everyone told me not to go when it rained. As I drove through the park along the Rim road the early May sunlight began to illuminate the buttes, so I stopped at the first view point to take in the views of Sage Creek far below. I was greeted by a couple of grazing bighorn sheep, and a herd of bison. My first trip to Badlands was off to a pretty good start.
Badlands National Park has very few official trails, so to create a long distance route I pulled from a 22mile off trail backpacking loop with some planned detours and exploration, because that’s what Badlands is really about, a chance to explore, unencumbered. I rolled into the Conata Picnic area just after sunrise on 5/25/19, geared up and strolled off into the meadows. It was immediately apparent I was in for a bit of adversity as the packed dirt meadow turned damp and then into full on swamp. Well, dry feet weren’t going to be an option today. I slopped my way across the valley for 1.5mi, then turned sharply right (North) for the Deer Haven saddle.
As I climbed away from the low grasslands up onto the butte, I passed through dense stands of juniper, eventually weaving my way up the steep hillside, around the cliff bands, and onto the summit of the Deer Haven plateau. Now for the long winding downhill along the North Fork of Sage Creek. The route started out pretty pleasant, running through the tall grass, occasionally hopping the creek, but the footing was pretty good. After a short side trip up one of the canyons draining The Pinnacles, I continued my descent, things slowly got muddier and muddier and the creek got deeper and deeper. By the time I hit the confluence of the North and Middle forks of Sage Creek the muddy misery had escalated.
I cut over the high plateau above the creeks hoping that the mud would dissipate, but no luck. As I rounded the bluff I dropped onto the high plateau above the Middle Fork of Sage Creek, a small herd of bison dotted the plains. Their muddy hoof prints had torn up the grasslands, and it was a total mud pit. Despite the slipping and sliding, the terrain was fairly easy and it was really nice to be jogging through the open grasslands and jagged mud buttes with no one else around. I slow jogged and fast hiked my way up the Middle Fork, headed towards Sage Creek Pass. As I made my way into the upper basin the herd of bison had grown into the hundreds, dotting the plains as far as the eye could see.
Just before reaching Sage Creek Pass I took a detour slightly NE into some really interesting buttes, hoping to climb one. I scrambled up the hard mud slope, onto the crumbling ridgeline. As I neared the summit the slope pitched up to near vertical and the mud stone showed no signs of solidifying, well that wasn’t going to happen. From my vantage on the ridgeline I could see down into several of the nearby canyons, watched the bison trotting around the grasslands and very much enjoyed my isolation deep in the backcountry of Badlands. I spent anther half hour scrambling around the canyons of the butte, finding coyote tracks, bighorn droppings and lots of bison paths. Each canyon was a new adventure, would it be passable, where did it go? I finally popped out back on the South side of the butte not far from Sage Creek Pass.
The route down from the pass was an enjoyable jog down the water course right alongside one of the mud stone buttes, alternating between lovely packed dirt and greasy wet mud. At last I hit the park boundary fence, hung a left and headed back towards the car across the flat plains that abutted the mud stone buttes of Badlands. The grasslands seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see, and as I soon discovered, were completely flooded with an inch of muddy water. I tried to jog sections, but soon gave in and was relegated to hiking. After what seemed like an endless slog I got back on the trail near Deer Haven and jogged back to the car. Tired, covered in mud, and excited to be back on hard pavement.
My first trip to the Badlands had been an overall success. Despite the crazy mud and insanely wet conditions, I got to wander through the backcountry all my by lonesome, explore the maze of mudstone buttes and towers, watch the massive herds of bison take over the planes and just be out in an undeveloped part of one of America’s more obscure National Parks. Badlands may not look as dramatic as some of the mountainous national parks, but once you’re lost wandering the backcountry you get to better understand what the park is all about. I look forward to returning to Badlands again, when it’s less muddy and I get more time to just explore all the random canyons (but beware of the rattlesnakes!).
