Cycling the Badlands

After quite a bit of research, I took two bikes with us to the Badlands: A cyclocross bike and my mountain bike. I knew that the main hiking trails in the park are off limits to bikes but that (1) the dirt roads are all fair game, and (2) riding is allowed in a good half of the park (the "South Unit") but I'd read it was more...well, brutal, than the other half: hence the mountain bike. What I didn't realize though, until the Ranger at the park explained it to me, was that not only are there no road or trail entrances into the south unit, but it's also impossible (almost) to enter that area without crossing private land or an indian reservation. It's still possible to get in, you just have to gain permission from an owner (and they have a list of them). Some warnings though, if you try to go riding in there....it used to be used by the Air Force for practice bombing runs and there are spent shells but also some unexploded shells still lying around. Also, NOBODY goes in there, so make sure somebody knows your flight path in case you get lost, and bring lots of water. And watch out for cliffs. The Rohloff hub performed spectacularly on it's first real I-will-die-if-you-break test. The only time I had an issue (I thought I had lost half my speeds) it turned out that when I replaced the rear wheel, I hadn't fully hand-tightened the screw on the Rohloff thingy that you're supposed to fully hand-tighten when you put the replace the rear wheel. Once I did that I was golden again.

Oh and I replaced the rear wheel a lot. Bring lots of tubes. The thorns out there are mean as hell.

One awesome feature of the whole area though is the ancient cars and stuff that the desert has reclaimed. Pre-dustbowl, the area attracted lots of settlers who were excited about the cheap land but disappointed to discover the land was, well, "bad." As a result you can run across some pretty cool stuff. The whole trip we had pretty bad luck with weather during the golden hours, but even though I was riding in the middle of the day in bad lighting at least it wasn't storming, so I took my little D40 with me in a little backpack (along with extra water). Some of my nicer shots ended up from the lil' guy. I guess sometimes luck trumps technology.

The cyclocrossing on the dirt roads turned out to be a bit tedious by comparison, although the scenery was still quite spectacular—especially on the (paved) loop road.

Comments

[john]

Nice report and starkly beautiful photos!

I've been thinking about a Badlands trip this Fall, and your words and pictures have inspired me further.

I have a couple practical questions:

I see the small cabin photo. Any tips for finding similar housing? Are these types of units widespread, or a rarity? Whom to contact about availability?

How much road riding (gravel and paved) did you find that would be suitable for a cross bike and/or road bike? I was really struck by the b/w gravel road pics; the endless horizon is captivating.

Any other tips for someone planning similar activities to yours?

Thanks again,
John

[Chris]

Hi John, sorry so long to reply!

The cabin we stayed at was part of the lodging right next to the ranger station, you can't miss it. It's called Cedar Pass Lodge and I highly recommend it. (http://foreverlodging.com/lodging.cfm?PropertyKey=67)

There's definitely plenty of gravel roads and paved roads for a cross bike...I was really glad I'd brought mine. The rangers are really helpful and will show you where they all are on a map, but make sure you explain it's dirt roads you're after, don't say "trails" or they'll get the wrong idea and tell you it's not allowed.

Another thing, I really recommend the South Unit. There's one dirt road (more of a mountain bike road) that has easy access...can't remember the name, something with "sheep" in it. But the rangers can help you find who to ask permission to get access to the bigger southern part which is awesome. Good luck, and post pictures!