The largest drugstore, Badlands National Park, and the city of Buffalo Bill

03.06. / Friday / Hill City - Badlands National Park - Deadwood

At 7.30 a.m., we leave the hotel and head towards Badlands National Park. The drive initially leads to Keystone, which is supposedly much larger than Hill City and offers more for tourists. The town has 789 inhabitants, Hill City had 311. There are a few more hotels and restaurants than in Hill City, but the town ultimately looks like an extended version of Hill City. So we didn't miss anything, and I once again know that you shouldn't believe these advertisements when everything is described as great, historical, or "has it all". In reality, it's all the same and hardly impressive.

You can drive the highway to the Badlands quickly, but the route is very boring. Meadows, meadows, meadows on both sides. The road is straight as an arrow. Just before the national park, we drive through a small town called Wall. The town originated from a drugstore (Wall-Drug) that opened in 1931. Today, this drugstore has taken up an entire city block and is a wooden shack of gigantic proportions, where you can find everything from baby diapers to gun belts, countless souvenirs and ice cream.

Coffee for 5 cents and free ice water have always been the bait for customers and are still today. The stores blend into each other, you walk on creaking wooden planks, and we look in awe at the jumble of merchandise. Every cowboy can dress up here and equip himself for the rodeo.

Shortly before 10:00 a.m., we leave. Without buying anything, which makes us pretty unique, because even tour buses stop here (probably before the national park). In addition, we saw at least 100 billboards next to the highway that we drove on until here.

A few minutes later, we are at the first lookout point in Badlands National Park. Unwelcoming terrain of bright and porous rock and sand has formed hills and quirky shapes here, which are continuously eroded by rain and wind. So in 100 years, when we visit the monument of Crazy Horse nearby, the Badlands will be significantly smaller.

Some parts of the movie "Dances with Wolves" were also filmed here. We drive along meadows with different types of grass, some shining silver in the sun, and when these grasses sway in the wind, it looks like the wave motion of a sea.

We see a lot of prairie dogs again, and despite constant warnings that these critters have the plague, we take nice photos. The animals whistle and swish their tails to warn their comrades. Their underground tunnels are surely huge areas, and we see them disappear into holes and re-emerge. At the next spot, a sign says that there are rattlesnakes here.

Prairie dog

Yesterday in the Black Hills, we saw a pretty big snake, but I wouldn't want to encounter a rattlesnake. The animals like to stay warm and near prairie dogs. They probably taste good.

We drive 15 miles on an unpaved road through the park and pass by large bison. We see more pronghorns, snakes on the road (some flattened), and prairie dogs. At 6.30 p.m., we leave the Badlands and head west. We drive past Rapid City to Deadwood, which was recommended to us by the two Americans we met in Aspen recently. I am somewhat skeptical because it is a casino town, and maybe that's why the Americans liked it so much. However, the city is famous for investing large amounts in the renovation of the historic buildings on Main Street. At the end of the 19th century, the city was born from the gold boom - back then a den of iniquity with brothels and bars.

Deadwood

Famous residents of the city were the gunslinger Wild Bill Hickok, who was with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Shows in Europe. Wild Bill was not really a peaceful contemporary - he is said to have been involved in several shootings, and at least eight lives are on his account. He was probably more of a vagabond. At least that's what the story says because he was reported multiple times for it. If his income as a vagabond was sufficient, he was a gambler. As such, he showed up in Deadwood in the 1870s, but was murdered there in Saloon No. 10 while playing poker. The hand he held was a queen, two aces, and two eights - this hand has been called 'Dead Man's Hand' ever since.

So it could get leaden here in Deadwood, we think - and suddenly find ourselves in a huge construction site. Deadwood under construction. Oh great. In addition, a marathon is advertised, and we already suspect that it could be crowded here. At the visitor center, which closes at 5.00 p.m., we receive a hint about the central reservation in the neighboring building just 8 minutes before closing time, and there the fear is confirmed that Deadwood is fully booked, at least in our price category. Since we don't want to spend $130 + taxes, we decide to go to a place called Spearfish, 13 miles away. I wonder how a place in the mountains got this name. Maybe they used to catch fish in rivers with spears?

Before we set off, we stroll through Deadwood (also a pretty name...). Here, too, the city is limited to one street, which is really nicely done up. But in the historic buildings, there are nasty souvenir shops or restaurants. No matter what, almost every building has a certain number of gambling machines. If they are hotels or bars, you can usually hardly see the entrance because there are so many machines in front. Not really my thing.

At 6.00 p.m., there is a small western show with a shootout that we watch. It recreates the time of Buffalo Bill and, of course, Wild Bill Hickok.

Deadwood Shootout / daily western show on Main Street

In Spearfish, we check into a huge room and eat at Applebee's across the street. In front of our hotel, there is a truck with a complete house on the trailer. We have seen this on the highway before, and here you can look into fully furnished rooms through the windows. I wonder if the furniture is fastened securely?