Dakota 2025
We rolled out of Boca on Friday, August 1, 2025, chasing cooler air and bigger skies. First stop: the Badlands, with Glacier in our sights. It was all business at first — Boca to Chattanooga, Chattanooga to Kansas City, Kansas City to Wall, South Dakota. Long haul days, but after the endless flat of Florida, the scenery started stepping up its game.
Somewhere past Sioux Falls, after a hard left onto I-90, we started noticing flatbeds stacked with Harleys, then biker after biker roaring down the road. Turns out it was Sturgis Rally Week — and not just in Sturgis. The entire state was vibing with chrome, leather, and horsepower. We didn’t plan on riding through a biker takeover, but hey, added drama never hurt a road trip.
Day 4 we pulled into Sleepy Hollow Campground — just a couple blocks from Wall Drug. Shade trees, clean sites, easy vibe. Kodi was grateful to get on solid ground. After three days of long drives and parking lots, she leapt out of the van like she owned the campground, nose twitching, eager to take a stroll. She gave us that look; the one that says, finally. We picked it so we could roll into the Badlands at sunrise. They said the entrance was only seven minutes away… it turned out to be a completely different one than we'd used before. New gate, new storm, new story.
We rolled in at first light of dawn, crossing into the park by 5:30am. It was misty, moody; then bam, thunder, lightning, a full-on Badlands welcome. As the skies cracked open, we realized we weren’t where we thought we were. GPS finally kicked in, and I punched in Notch Trail — the one with the rope ladder I’d been dying to climb. It was 40 minutes away, in the opposite direction.. where we entered last time.
But the storm gave us something magic: a rainbow, a golden sunrise, and bighorn sheep stepping out of the shadows. The whole drive in felt like we were the first ones to discover the place. Every curve had a view worth filming. (So I did.)
Hiking Notch Trail in the cool morning air, after the rain? Unreal. The canyon walk, the rope ladder — fun going up, dicey coming down. We all walked the boardwalk at the Door Tail: an ‘out the door look’ …expansive view of rock formations. Solitude. Space. Colors so saturated it felt like Mother Nature cranked the contrast slider.
On our way out, we cruised through Sturgis — mid-party. Custom bikes, revving engines, live bands. The whole town buzzing like a live wire.
We pointed the van toward Montana, aiming for Red Lodge and the start of the legendary Beartooth Highway. Stopped for dinner and a soft bed in Billings, which had more going on than we expected. Then this morning, we rolled into Red Lodge; five or six blocks of old-school Western storefronts, a ski town with a tram, and the gateway to one of the most jaw-dropping roads in the country.
Next up: Beartooth at sunrise. Let’s ride.
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