Camping in the Backcountry

These are all things that I think are very important to have when you go backpacking.

LIGHTWEIGHT STOVE

My Trailstove is so great that I could make a whole web site just about the Trailstove. To be brief; it burns wood, weighs a pound, 8 inches by 5 inches big. It's so much better to pick up the fuel when you get to your destination rather than carrying canisters of compressed gas on my back. (gas containers sometimes blow up by the way).

FOOD

Bring plenty of granola bars for snacks, they're a perfect high energy good tasting hiking food. You've probably tried those energy bars and if you're a normal person they make you puke.

CAMP SAW

With a camp saw you will be able to quickly cut down branches to make a shelter or for firewood. You can do this with your multipurpose tool too but having a real saw will save you a lot of energy and frustration. You can also use a camp saw as a snow saw to cut hard snow into building blocks for a snow shelter.

LAMP

Obviously you need some type of lamp when you go hiking overnight since it's overnight and it's dark at night. Bring a candle too in case modern technology fails you.

MULTI PURPOSE TOOL

It's a good idea to have two multipurpose tools, one small one with the bare essentials that you always carry in your pocket and one larger one with more features that you carry in your pack.

STRING

A little bit of string is very very light and is always very useful to bring.

TENT

There is very small difference between expensive tents and cheap tents. A 300 dollar tent is about 10% better than a 30 dollar tent, if you are planning an expedition to climb K2 the extra spending might be worth it, but anywhere below 12,000 feet a cheap tent is just fine.

Making a pair of emergency snowshoes to get to safety is extremely simple. It's surprising how many people try to get to safety in knee deep snow and drop from exhaustion.

Find two stocky branches about 3 feet long with plenty of small branches and plenty of green, preferably from a fir tree but other trees will do if there are no firs in the area.

Tie one branch to each foot at the front end of the branch. Thread the string through something on the front of your boot otherwise your foot will slip out of the binding. Make sure your foot can swivel enough to walk, the snowshoe should drag on the snow slightly in the back.

Badlands National Park

Interior, SD

Located in southwestern South Dakota, Badlands National Park consists of 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires blended with the largest, protected mixed grass prairie in the United States. The Badlands Wilderness Area covers 64,000 acres and is the site of the reintroduction of the black-footed ferret, the most endangered land mammal in North America. The Stronghold Unit is co-managed with the Oglala Sioux Tribe and includes sites of 1890s Ghost Dances. Established as Badlands National Monument in 1939, the area was redesignated "National Park" in 1978. Over 11,000 years of human history pale to the ages old paleontological resources. Badlands National Park contains the world's richest Oligocene epoch fossil beds, dating 23 to 35 million years old. The evolution of mammal species such as the horse, sheep, rhinoceros and pig can be studied in the Badlands formations.

CONTACTS

Email - badl_information@nps.gov

Fax- (605) 433-5404

Write to
Badlands National Park
P.O. Box 6
Interior, SD 57750

Phone
Visitor Information - (605) 433-5361

TRAVEL BASICS

Operating Hours, Seasons
The park is open 24 hours a day, seven days per week. Entrance fees are collected year round.

Getting There
PLANE - Rapid City and Sioux Falls have airports

CAR - I-90 to Hwy 240 "Badlands Loop Road" or Hwy 44 from Rapid City.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION - No public transportation is available to the park.

Weather & Climate
The Badlands experiences hot, dry summers with occasional violent thunderstorms. Winters are typically very cold with 12 to 24 inches of snowfall. Extremely high winds are common year-round. Sudden and dramatic weather changes are common, so it's good to dress in layers. Hats and sunglasses are recommended.

Accessibility
Fossil Exhibit Trail and Door Trail are one-fourth mile in length and wheelchair accessible. An open-captioned version of the park video "Buried Fossils, Living Prairie" is available. Accessibility guide to park free upon request.

Getting Around
A typical visit lasts three to five hours and includes the park movie, stops at four overlooks, and two walks. The 30-mile Loop Drive is accessed from Interstate 90 and is a two-lane, paved surface. The 30-mile Sage Creek Rim Road is gravel and impassable after heavy rains or snows. Five trails, varying from one-fourth mile to eight miles in length, explore park features. The remainder of the park is open to exploration using a topographic map and a compass.

FEES/PERMITS

Entrance Fee
BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK
$10.00 for 7 Days
$5.00 per bicycle or motorcycle + $5.00 per passenger

CAMPING

Cedar Pass Campground
Open All Year
Cedar Pass Campground is $10.00 per night in summer with a 14 night limit. During winter months,it is $8.00 per night. The campground is operated by the National Park Service on a first-come, first-served basis. There are four group campsites that can be reserved in advance by calling (605) 433-5235. Minimum fee for a group campsite is $25.

Sage Creek Campground
Open All Year
Sage Creek Campground is a free, primitive facility with vault toilets and no water. The campground is operated by the National Park Service on a first-come, first-served basis.

FACILITIES

Visitor Centers
BEN REIFEL VISITOR CENTER
Phone - (605) 433-5361
Location - Cedar Pass "Badlands Loop Road" Hwy 240.
Closures - The Ben Refiel Visitor Center is CLOSED on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Years Day.
Special Programs - Check at the visitor center between June 15 and August 19 for full ranger program schedule. Reduced schedule offered April through May and August 20 through Labor Day. No programs are available from Memorial Day to mid-June to allow summer naturalist staff to complete training and orientation.
Exhibits - Fossils, cultural history, prairie ecology.
Available Facilities - Cedar Pass Lodge, operated under a concession contract by the Oglala Sioux Tribe, is open from mid-April through mid-October. Call (605) 433-5460 for Lodge reservations.

Some content donated by Hikercentral.com and the National Park Service

LIGHTWEIGHT STOVE		My Trailstove is so great that I could make a whole web site just about the Trailstove. To be brief; it burns wood, weighs a pound, 8 inches by 5 inches big. It's so much better to pick up the fuel when you get to your destination rather than carrying canisters of compressed gas on my back. (gas containers sometimes blow up by the way).
FOOD		Bring plenty of granola bars for snacks, they're a perfect high energy good tasting hiking food. You've probably tried those energy bars and if you're a normal person they make you puke.
CAMP SAW		With a camp saw you will be able to quickly cut down branches to make a shelter or for firewood. You can do this with your multipurpose tool too but having a real saw will save you a lot of energy and frustration. You can also use a camp saw as a snow saw to cut hard snow into building blocks for a snow shelter.
LAMP		Obviously you need some type of lamp when you go hiking overnight since it's overnight and it's dark at night. Bring a candle too in case modern technology fails you.
MULTI PURPOSE TOOL		It's a good idea to have two multipurpose tools, one small one with the bare essentials that you always carry in your pocket and one larger one with more features that you carry in your pack.
STRING		A little bit of string is very very light and is always very useful to bring.
TENT		There is very small difference between expensive tents and cheap tents. A 300 dollar tent is about 10% better than a 30 dollar tent, if you are planning an expedition to climb K2 the extra spending might be worth it, but anywhere below 12,000 feet a cheap tent is just fine.