[RunDownHouse]

There's more or less nothing between the Twin Cities and Badlands Nat'l Park. The only experience I have is with South Dakota, not North, so I'll give you that.

Eastern SD is basically Nebraska. About 45 minutes east of Rapid city you'll come to Wall. I'm sure you'll see billboards for it starting at the border. If you don't need to stop, don't. I worked there for a while. It's nothing but a tourist trap, of which SD is amazingly packed. Don't stop for Wall Drug, don't stop for the "Cosmic Zone" or whatever it's called, don't stop for Reptile City. I know it's bizarre, but you'll see tons of billboards for tourist traps, almost all in the western portion of the state. Trust none of them.

Wall is basically the eastern border for Badlands National Park. It encompasses a really amazing terrain; the Badlands are like nothing I've ever really seen. I wish to god I could remember the name of the small, mostly abandoned town just inside the eastern border of the park, but I can't; I'm sure once you're there locals will point you to it with ease. National Geographic did a feature on it. It's got an old, abandoned jail from the 1800's that you can simply step inside. The "town" has a few buildings along the road, one of which is a bar. The bar has a floor covered with sawdust, sawed-off 55-gallon drums for stools, a low ceiling covered with carvings of names, and numerous bullet holes from its history of lethal bar brawls. When I stopped in, back in 2001, my friend and I got the stare down from the bartender and three locals covering the stools, who then ignored us when we said we just wanted to look around. All in all, a worthy little diversion as you travel through Badlands Nat'l Park.

Once you're west of Wall, there's several places of interest on your way out of humble SD. Deadwood should be worth a visit because it's not only the deathplace of Wild Bill, but there's a casino there as well. I was there before HBO filmed Deadwood, but I still fancy I recognized the hillside where they shot Bill's funeral, since his marker really is up on a hillside. Also, I ate so much at the Deadwood Casino's buffet that I threw up.

Mount Rushmore is also in western SD, and is more or less exactly like you'd picture visiting Mount Rushmore to be. Ditto for Devil's Tower, which is a few hours over the border into Wyoming. If you're going through in August, Sturgis hosts the largest Harley-Davidson rally on the planet. They've got live concerts in addition to the thousands - and I mean thousands upon thousands - of bikers for local color. Just a warning, though, don't go through the biker campsites at night. Locals warned me that people were routinely robbed and not infrequently beat up and/or knifed in those places during Sturgis.

Something that's just a head's up, since I don't really have any details, is to look out for scenic routes and unmarked roads on your trip. Between Deadwood and Devil's Tower, we took a scenic road. Eventually, it devolved into a gravel road for part of the time. Looking for a place to spend the night, we saw a used fire ring off the side of the road. It was in a natural clearing and just over a shallow creek. We drove our truck over the creek and set up the tent, and it was far and away the most beautiful and incredible camping experience I've ever had. At the time, we had heard that you could set up a camp anywhere there was an established fire ring. Double check that everywhere you go, but we did the same thing right on the western border of Rocky Mountain National Park, and it was also fantastic there. A short drive up a trail only a 4WD could get up, no RV's ten feet away, and an incredible camping experience. If you've got the vehicle and inclination for it, don't be afraid to take gravel roads off your main travel path and spend a few minutes looking for fire rings.