One big wish on our wish list for our 109-day go West trip in 2021 was the Badlands. Just by the name, without seeing any photos, or having an idea of what it looks like, people will say are you going to the Badlands? Why yes, of course, we would answer. It’s on the list.
When we arrived and I saw it, I started calling it the Big Badlands, because 244,000 acres of, hot, dry, land, is vast. And there’s even a map which reads ‘the Big Badlands’ so I wasn’t the first to name it so. So, what are the Badlands?
Badland formations are found on every continent. Dry climate, sedimentary rocks, canyons, and pinnacles make up areas known as badlands. Badlands National Park in the US is ours. It is a desolate and visually stunning place to visit. And in the summer, it is hot.
This sun-bleached map will give you an idea of the size of the Badlands and where it ends and begins. The extreme heat and the sun here will bake everything. Bring water and wear a big hat.
‘When the Lakota came here, they saw Paha ska (white hills) – a place of bountiful hunting. Historically used for transitory camps, the Paha ska, and their western counterpart, the Paha sapa (black hills), lie in the heart of Lakota treaty lands set aside in 1868.’
So how did these lands come to be called the Badlands?
‘French trappers in the mid-1700s, frustrated by the land’s sharp peaks and crumbling rock, regarded the area as les mauvaises terres (bad lands). The Lakota began calling this place Mako sica (land bad).’
My husband took one trail to walk out on, while I went a different direction for a different view. This way, we could get different pictures. These were hot and thirsty walks, so it was important to hydrate. The views were well worth the effort.
If you go, carry at least one liter of water per person for the one-half mile (800 meter) hike through rugged terrain. Follow short yellow trail markers and keep to the marked trail. It is easy to lose your bearings and become disoriented. The trail ends with a yellow and red post at a dramatic canyon view.
We continued our adventure after our individual walks by driving through the badlands.
As we left the Badlands, we ended up next to a cattle ranch, where a calf came to the fence to check us out. So much green after so much brown, desolate, land was quite a big contrast.
To learn more about Badlands National Park, or to plan a trip there, visit https://www.nps.gov/badl/index.htm
For more of my pictures from Badlands National Park, visit my travel blog, https://beautifuldaytraveler.wordpress.com/2025/07/28/the-big-badlands-244000-acres/
The heat of August, which is especially hot out west, makes me think of my western historical novella, Dangerous Ties.
This story starts out with the heroine strung up over a mine shaft and the rope breaking. She is eying the water nearby and is thirstier than she has ever been in her life. The hero riding down the hills sees her, and he’d better hurry, before that rope breaks.
Every time I read the first chapter out loud to a group, it makes me thirsty, and I reach for my water bottle. My listeners reach for their water too. That’s confirmation that I made that scene come to life, as I had wanted to.
I write gritty westerns with extreme situations. (I’ll bet you’ve guessed that by now.)
If you have questions about our fulltime motorhome lifestyle, send them to my email address and they may appear in a future Tales from the Trailer article.
I’m wishing you happy reading and a beautiful day, until next time, when I return with more Tales from the Trailer.
After Lillian Hayes' fiance, Thomas Shelton, convinced the townsfolk to exchange their gold for his worthless bank notes, he disappeared with the gold. Every eye in town now turns to Lillian for the answer to where the gold is. Even her cousin Carl insists she knows where the gold is. Desperate to find it because he is deeply indebted to Kingston, small town criminal and owner of the local saloon, Carl will do anything to clear his debt. Even if it means letting Kingston's men torture Lillian for answers. Nick Brace is driving a herd of horses to town when he stumbles across Lillian, branded, strung up over an abandoned mineshaft, and left to die at the end of a rope that is breaking. He saves her, tends to her wounds, and teaches her to shoot to protect herself. But the danger isn't past. She'll have to face the men who tortured her and show them she's no longer afraid. When Nick's horse-trading deal with Kingston goes bad, Lillian races to be the one to save him this time.
Debra Parmley is a multi-genre author who after living for 23 years just outside Memphis, TN, sold everything to live full-time in a 43-foot motorhome with her Air Force veteran husband. She writes as they travel the U.S. She has written military romantic suspense, contemporary romance, historical romance, dystopian romance, holiday romance, fairy tale romance, urban fantasy romance, poetry and nonfiction.
In June 2023, Debra was disabled after a stroke. In 2024 she moved to North Carolina to be near UNC Chapel Hill, NC for medical treatment and became a North Carolina author. She continues to write and travel.
Debra travels widely, reads widely and writes widely. You will find danger, action and adventure, and romance in her stories. In her Tales from the Trailer articles, she shares the RV lifestyle and travel adventures in the U.S.
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