With a whole day to play in Badlands National Park, we wanted to mix up the adventure and try a few different things. We did the Junior Ranger program, of course – the kids are always salty, but then they’re happy to have their badges – hit a few overlooks, and visited a dinosaur site where we thought we’d see some fossils but didn’t. And we squeezed in an extra hike, for good measure – the popular Castle Trail.

The Castle Trail, I understand, is named for the towering buttes that rise in the distance and look like fairy tale castles. You can see it! It was a good family trail for us, because it was (1) flat, (2) clearly marked, and (3) as long as we wanted it to be, but no longer – it’s a long-distance trail, and we were able to go as far as little legs were up for and then turn back on our own schedule. There’s no shade, but that doesn’t stop us – we slathered extra sunscreen over our Casper the Friendly Ghost-pale faces and hit the dust.

I’d be misleading you if I didn’t admit that there was a fair amount of grumbling and a few refusals to walk, from both kids. It’s something I’ve learned over ten years now of hiking with littles: you just have to go in with no expectations, enjoy the hike you get, and not worry about the distance. If I was trying for a specific goal or wanted to hike the entire trail, I’d have been inevitably frustrated. But the Castle Trail was nice – again – because it offered up scenery the entire time, so we were able to turn back when the parents had enough kid diplomacy, and we still got in plenty of views.

Seventeen years of marriage – there’s my wisdom. Go in with no expectations.

No, but really – the Castle Trail was a great addition to our itinerary for the day, and a fun one to combine with the Door and Window Trails I showed you last week; it offered up different scenery and a different hiking experience, but was accessible and centrally located in the park. Can’t go wrong.

And that concludes our epic Dakotas (with Wyoming interlude) road trip from summer 2022! For a somewhat last-minute strategy shift after Yellowstone flooding scuttled our originally planned (and booked!) summer trip, we couldn’t have asked for a better experience. There was so much scenery to enjoy, the kids loved the cowboy culture, glamping was hilarious – it was such a fun adventure. I can unreservedly recommend the Dakotas (although if you’re not a biker, maybe check the Sturgis dates before you book…) whether you’re traveling with anklebiters or not.

Check in with me next week for the next travel series – we’re just going to keep right on rolling! And I can promise something very different: from this hot, sunny and sandy desert, we’re heading for the continent of ICE. Yep, I’m finally caught up and ready to share some pictures from Steve’s and my incredible adventure in Antarctica!