Let's Get a Little Mud on the Tires

Most of you don't know this, so I will point out that the title of this post is a reference to a Brad Paisley song. My attempts to appreciate country music have for the most part stalled--we don't really get any radio stations out here in Wanblee, so it's hard to get the necessary exposure--but "Mud on the Tires" is one of three or four songs that comes with my seal of approval.

Usually I drive out to Rapid City taking the "scenic route," on 44, rather than taking the interstate. Yesterday, though, I decided to get a little mud on the tires and take the extra-scenic route, and get a chance to explore the dirt road I've been running on, which, according to maps, runs through to just south of Interior.

The beginning of the road: about a half-mile from home. This is the way I run out almost everyday.

A view of the school water tower through a tree.

This pink house serves as a decent three mile marker. At this point, as you can see, I am still driving through open plains.

It's a decently hilly route.

A little over three miles out, you pass the Wanblee dump, clearly the least pleasant portion of the route. But somewhere between three and four miles is also where I really start to appreciate the road: the road narrows down to one lane and the fences end, so all of a sudden the landscape opens up around you with no barriers between you and the openness.

A glimpse of the badlands on the horizon.

Badlands getting closer. Out this way, these powerlines are some of the only things tethering this road to civilization.

A little over five miles out, the roads starts to dip and you first start to get into the badlands.

These kinds of gratings allow cars to pass through the fences, but cattle can't cross them. You see them a lot out on this road. This one is just about six miles out.

A sign for Crazy Horse School at that six-mile grating. I'm not sure who it is there to help.

A car overturned in the ditch beside the road. You see this kind of thing a lot.

I took this slightly rougher turn-off in order to get a little closer to the badlands and get the next couple pictures. I thought this was a good indication of what the road was like, though.

Rock formations. The movie Thunderheart, starring Val Kilmer, was filmed out here; I haven't seen it, though.


You head down this hill, and the road starts to get a little rougher, but you also end up right in the middle of the badlands.

Another abandoned car. This one looks pretty old.


Eventually the road gets really bad. Here is a pretty massive pothole. This is pretty much a new piece of the badlands being formed as the ground erodes away.

As you can see in the second photo, these are right next to the road.

"Open Range."

As you get closer to Interior and return to the prairie, the condition of the road improves a lot.

Another junked-out car.

Cool dead trees outside of Interior.