Mammoth in the Bad Lands Day 7

 Sunday 6/26

...and a still earlier day next day. We seem to be moving our internal clocks backward as well as our physical ones. Ed got up at 5:30 and I followed suit at 6:15 or so. We were on the road by 9-ish, which is way earlier than usual. Since we had a full-hookup site, we were able to dump in place, and since we had a long pull-through, we could connect the Jeep the night before. And we did. So all we had to do was go.

And go. It was supposed to be a 3-hour drive. We filled up at a Pump&Pantry in town, and that was pretty fast. But while we were heading over to our route, I noticed that the road chosen by Google Maps for our quickest route was called "Allen Road". Not a numbered highway.

I've learned from motorhome history that any road without a number is probably a local route to people's homes and NOT a place I want the motorhome to be. I wanted to take a numbered, Nebraska State Highway. A U.S. Highway would be better, but the nearest U.S. Highway was a full hour out of our way.

So we bypassed the Allen Road and went onto Nebraska SH something-or-other. As soon as we pulled onto it, it became a gravel road and soon a sign warned us about "broken pavement". Luckily, the section of broken-up gravel was big and wide and allowed us to make a hasty U-turn. And that was that.

We went on to the next numbered road, another Nebraska State Highway. and it was okay. Also 15 or so minutes out of our way. I sat on the edge of my seat all the way up to South Dakota, worried that the pavement would end and we'd be going back again. But it was a real road and we made it to Interior, South Dakota and the Cedar Pass campground at Badlands National park.

When we went through the entry gate, the NPS worker said nothing about us needing any kind of pass nor a tag for our tow vehicle. So we assumed that the park was wide-open and didn't require an entry fee. Which, we learned next day, is true--so long as you come in the south gate. We could have driven all over the park, in and out and upside-down, without paying a fee. (Until next day, when we accidentally exited the park at the north entrance and couldn't get back in without paying. Luckily my Senior Lifetime Access pass, aka old persons' pass, did the trick)

If I do a write up on the campground I should mention that.

 

Summary: It's all about the location, and this has it.
Fairly large campground in two loops; surface was fresh asphalt that was still a little sticky.  The sites were not nearly as "tight" as people suggested, and our 32-foot Class A motorhome and tow vehicle fit our site fairly well. We might have spilled over into the next site just a  little--there weren't any markings to tell where one site ended and the next began. The sites are just curved spaces on the sides of the drive through the campground, but nicely done. I didn't see any overflow parking, so I'd hesitate to bring one of those big 45-footers with toad. I did see a few big fifth wheels.
I'd expected it to be old and run-down from people's descriptions, but it was very nice. Little, covered half-roof structures over the picnic tables. Only about 1/4 of the campsites had electric hookups (it tells on the reservations page). Ours had 50/30/20-amp electric.  No water or sewer, but there was a new, easy to access potable water hookup at the dumpstation. The water spigot had a nice, threaded end, but had a reducer that slowed us filling up our tank.  The dump station was on the same driveway as the water fillup, so if there's a line of RVs there for water OR sewer you'll have to wait. We arrived at 2pm on a Sunday and only had to wait behind one trailer, just a  few minutes.
The campground was almost completely full every night and there were a LOT of people, families and kids--but that is to be expected at the time of year (early June). It was a little noisy until dark and then it got very quiet. There weren't all that many people who strung up lights or left their outdoor lights on after dark.
The grass all in and around the campground was mowed very short, which made it a little dusty and dry with a few thorns here and there, but not bad.  Not a lot of people had their dogs, so we were able to walk ours without any altercations.
The bathroom had a big outdoors sink. Also a recycling trailer, but it was completely full when we tried to put our aluminum cans in it.
One bit of advice--if you come into the park from the south, you don't have to pay for entry. But if you then exit out the north or west exits and try to re-enter, you'll need to pay. I suspect the south entrance was on the honor system, but no one ever mentioned it.