Backroads cruising to Badlands Nat'l Park:
Taking the road less travelled?
Interstate 90 will get you to the Badlands, quickly, efficiently, but is that what a cool ride is all about? If you like wide open spaces, and few cages, head from Sturgis/Rapid City the back way!
From Sturgis, head for Rapid City. Beware the "urban" deer. Last Sturgis, ABM's group of five bikes was "jumped" by an equal number of deer. Yes, in the city. They bounded out from behind a car wash, near a fast food joint, likely working off a hamburger-gut-bomb-gas attack. This wasn't one of those far away deals..we slid to a halt, brakes locked to the max.
On the east side Rapid, on I-90, exit south onto N Elk Vale Road. This takes you up over a domed ridge, and to the intersect of rt 16/79 and rt 44. Take a left onto rt 44, and head east until you reach "Scenic", a tiny speck of a town. Scenic is your jumping off point for southern entry to the Badlands National Park. For a libation, and perhaps a freshly ground buffalo burger to go with it, drop into the little bar on the right side of rt 44. The roof is adorned with skulls, you can't miss it. Across the street, and down a bit, is the only gas station for miles. You may have to wait a bit in a motorcycle lineup, and the gas is anything but primo. Don't expect anything over 87 or maybe 89 octane.
Blow thru Scenic, and keep on rt 44 until it branches off to the left on rt 387, which leads into the park. Although there are several days each year when entrance to the park is free, bike week isn't one of them. Bikers over the age of 62 can purchase a lifetime national park pass for a one time charge of ten bucks. For the rest of the biker nation not wanting a yearly pass, it's ten bucks a bike, and should you wish to return, it's good for a week. Now that you have your money out, look for the town of "Interior", then you'll see 387. Once inside the park, many make the mistake of taking 240 back up to the I-90, and miss 90% of the park. Hang a left onto 240 west at the fork, and it will take you all the way back on the highest ridges overlooking the spires, canyons, and bluffs. Keep going, and eventually, you'll end up in Wall, SD, home of a famous biker-tourist trap, "Wall Drugs". It's a huge drug store with cheesy souvenirs too numerous to count. If riding two up, it may take some time to extricate from the joint.. it's like fly paper to the fairer sex!
When in the park, please show some respect. Candy wrappers, cig butts, riding your bike on the trails, speeding, all possibly come with a price to pay.
Badlands National Park is home to nearly a quarter million acres of mixed grass prairie, spires, and pinnacles. Keep your eye open as you cruise, looking for the occasional sharply eroded bluff for a perfect photo opportunity!
Warning:
Last August, the meadows surrounding rt 44 were awash in grasshoppers. Bikes were absolutely covered in a weird smear of green and yellow, which for lack of a local car wash, baked into a powdercoat. Clouds of the suckers, and if you don't own a windshield, it's like being shot over and over with rubber bullets.. To be fair, it's the first time in our ten trips to the Black Hills that this ever happened.
Interstate 90 will get you to the Badlands, quickly, efficiently, but is that what a cool ride is all about? If you like wide open spaces, and few cages, head from Sturgis/Rapid City the back way!
From Sturgis, head for Rapid City. Beware the "urban" deer. Last Sturgis, ABM's group of five bikes was "jumped" by an equal number of deer. Yes, in the city. They bounded out from behind a car wash, near a fast food joint, likely working off a hamburger-gut-bomb-gas attack. This wasn't one of those far away deals..we slid to a halt, brakes locked to the max.
On the east side Rapid, on I-90, exit south onto N Elk Vale Road. This takes you up over a domed ridge, and to the intersect of rt 16/79 and rt 44. Take a left onto rt 44, and head east until you reach "Scenic", a tiny speck of a town. Scenic is your jumping off point for southern entry to the Badlands National Park. For a libation, and perhaps a freshly ground buffalo burger to go with it, drop into the little bar on the right side of rt 44. The roof is adorned with skulls, you can't miss it. Across the street, and down a bit, is the only gas station for miles. You may have to wait a bit in a motorcycle lineup, and the gas is anything but primo. Don't expect anything over 87 or maybe 89 octane.
Blow thru Scenic, and keep on rt 44 until it branches off to the left on rt 387, which leads into the park. Although there are several days each year when entrance to the park is free, bike week isn't one of them. Bikers over the age of 62 can purchase a lifetime national park pass for a one time charge of ten bucks. For the rest of the biker nation not wanting a yearly pass, it's ten bucks a bike, and should you wish to return, it's good for a week. Now that you have your money out, look for the town of "Interior", then you'll see 387. Once inside the park, many make the mistake of taking 240 back up to the I-90, and miss 90% of the park. Hang a left onto 240 west at the fork, and it will take you all the way back on the highest ridges overlooking the spires, canyons, and bluffs. Keep going, and eventually, you'll end up in Wall, SD, home of a famous biker-tourist trap, "Wall Drugs". It's a huge drug store with cheesy souvenirs too numerous to count. If riding two up, it may take some time to extricate from the joint.. it's like fly paper to the fairer sex!
When in the park, please show some respect. Candy wrappers, cig butts, riding your bike on the trails, speeding, all possibly come with a price to pay.
Badlands National Park is home to nearly a quarter million acres of mixed grass prairie, spires, and pinnacles. Keep your eye open as you cruise, looking for the occasional sharply eroded bluff for a perfect photo opportunity!
Warning:
Last August, the meadows surrounding rt 44 were awash in grasshoppers. Bikes were absolutely covered in a weird smear of green and yellow, which for lack of a local car wash, baked into a powdercoat. Clouds of the suckers, and if you don't own a windshield, it's like being shot over and over with rubber bullets.. To be fair, it's the first time in our ten trips to the Black Hills that this ever happened.
posted by americanbikerminute at 5:18 AM
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