Notch Trail, Door Trail, Window Trail, Badlands National Park
There are three short trails that share the same trailhead on the far eastern section of Badlands National Park. The Window and Door Trails are boardwalks that explore the spires and buttes of the Badlands Wall. Notch Trail passes through the Wall and offers a great view of the White River Valley. There is even a fun rope ladder that takes you to the canyon rim as you head to the “Notch.” Some of the best views of The Badlands can be found on these short trails.
The Notch Trail in Badlands National Park is one of the park’s most popular trails. If you do much research on the Badlands, you’ll likely come across photos of a long wooden ladder on a rock face. This is the Notch Trail. It is a 1.5 mile round trip hike which is rated moderate to strenuous by the park service. I’ll admit to feeling a little nervous about the Notch Trail. In my pre-trip…
It was a short drive from Rapid City to the Badlands NP yesterday. An hour after fueling up, we rolled into our next campground. We were early for a check-in, but all of the 50 amp spots were vacated earlier. Setup went quickly and soon we were off to the park.
Our last time here was just an October fly-by. We were on our way to somewhere else when we entered the park just south of Wall, SD. The drive
through the park revealed the starkness, yet beauty of the terrain. We stopped to take a short walk though some simulated areas of fossils. In the campground, we were the only inhabitants; it was October. After setting up, we walked to the visitors center and back. The next morning, we were off again to continue our southbound journey. It was slam, bam, thank you NPS.
I didn’t really remember the trip at all. Carol seemed to remember being in the campground. This time we entered the park from the south. Our RV park was in Interior (yes, Interior, SD. It’s not a general area of the state. It’s not like, “I’m from the interior of SD; a small town you never heard of.” It’s I’m Interior, SD; a small, almost negligible speck on the map of the state.”) When we drove by the park’s campground, I recognized the site and remembered our walk to the visitors center. But that was then and this trip was a new experience.
We dropped into the visitors center to hopefully find a walking stick medallion. We’ve begun to collect these from the various national and state parks and historical sites we’ve visited. Someday, we’ll have a home where they can be displayed. In the meantime, they don’t take up much room and aren’t yet overly weighty. Purchase made, we were off again to find a hike.
We took a couple of quick walks; jaunts to overlooks labelled Door or Window for the view available. But the real hike on this outing was to a notch where we could view the the White River valley. This walk included a climb up a log ladder and numerous points where we needed to traverse a fairly steep slope. Arriving at the log ladder we found another couple attempting the climb. This was not a vertical climb, merely steep. The log ladder would avoid the need for switchbacks and help reduce erosion of the sandstone. The logs, approximately six inches in diameter were linked at two foot spaces via a half inch steel cable. Total length was probably fifty feet. The couple was about halfway when the woman decided she couldn’t make it. I don’t know why she couldn’t make it; perhaps height or the occasional unsteadiness of the ladder. The guy seemed concerned, but non motivational. We waited as they backed down the ladder. Once the way was clear, we scrambled up the logs to continue our walk. Arriving at the notch, we were afforded a breathtaking view of the valley. We could stand on the edge of a 500 foot drop and gaze out across the horizon. The day was clear and the views memorable.
The notch is way back there
A view of the White River valley from the notch
The following day, we got an early start as we headed off to the Saddle Pass trail. We would use the pass trail to connect with the Medicine Root Loop trail. Saddle Pass is billed as a short (.25 mile) strenuous trail up the Badlands wall where it over looks the White River valley. The upper section of this trail is steep and strenuous simply because of the slough on the trail. The loose sandstone provides little traction for the ascent requiring the climber to use hands and arm strength to avoid face plants.
Once we crossed over the top of the pass, another hiker mentioned there were some sheep on the other side of a low rise. Following his instructions, we climbed the short rise. Across a draw was a large swath of green resting in the shadow of a towering rock pinnacle. We spotted the sheep. Three big horn sheep, two grazing while a third was resting. Carol busied herself trying to get good shots. Finding a game trail, she tried to work closer, but the sheep were onto her and moved away.
Returning to the trail, we found our way to the Medicine Root trail. The next four miles took us through grasslands and wildflowers. There were some nice vistas of the Badlands’ formations rising up in the distance. In the east, the rising sun made silhouettes of the sandstone. If the rises to the east were the black of chess pieces, the westward formations were the white as the sun glistened off their sides.
