This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Most of the national parks I visited with my daughter in our yearlong tour were planned trips. Badlands was a last-minute stop in May while we were in Rapid City, S.D., for my brother's graduation. Why not? It's right there, and it's beautiful. I have many fond memories of Badlands, going back to my early childhood. A year earlier I had gone there with my daughter and my brothers. We watched baby bighorn sheep learning to leap from rock to rock. They ran down the steep canyon walls in a little parade and took turns jumping while a couple of adult sheep watched. It was strangely organized and orderly.
My father drove us over for a quick trip to take some pictures on a gloomy afternoon. No hikes; nap time called and a storm was brewing. South Dakota storms are no joke. Anyway, here are some photos from our brief visit. We also stopped to watch a cattle round-up just west of the park.