Cedar Butte Hike, Badlands NP, South Unit, 5-13-89

This hike was the product of an aborted backpacking trip (whose planned destination I’ve long forgotten). That morning I’d driven from Lead to the Badlands in uninterrupted rain. Near the town of Scenic I decided to scrap the backpack, and instead check out the South Unit of the Badlands National Park. My first option, the Sheep Mountain Road was to muddy to drive, so I headed down to the White River Visitor Center to get some other ideas. The Visitor Center was closed, but Cedar Butte, just two miles west looked interesting, and the road was in good shape.

This hike is another I plotted on my now lost 1981 1:50K Badlands NP paper map. My rough route description is my only source for this hike. I took no pictures. Basically, I was able to circle counterclockwise all the way around the butte, except for the northeast side , which I cut off by hiking up the east side and back down the north side. The loop was about 5.3 miles around, all of it off trail.

1989 Badlands NP, South Unit, Cedar Butte.

It was only four hundred feet between the valley floor and butte top, but badlands features are notoriously steep, and the rain hadn’t helped the traction. On the east aide I followed up the main drainage, and then stayed left. There is a grassy ramp, and just past, it a tree-lined gully. I followed the trees up to the top of the table.

The top of the butte was so narrow, I could easily zig zag around to alternate the views on either side. On the north side you could probably descend anywhere down into its main drainage, but I took a route on the east side. Once down to the base of the butte I hiked around the west side, then past the south drainage. It looked possible to climb the butte from the south side as well. But the south side route was choked with gumbo, and exploring it would have required a drier day.

With the rain the gumbo was slick, but not yet at the phase where it clings desperately to any surface. I fell twice and would not have been able to carry a pack on the loop. Mostly it was possible to walk on pebbles, siltstones, or on the grasslands. I saw no wildlife, but saw plenty of tracks and scat from deer, but none from bison. Perhaps bison are fenced out of the South Unit?

I did get my first BNP wildflower displays. The tufted evening primrose was a big surprise, often growing alone in massive silt or gumbo. I could also identify some reddish milk vetch. The flowers were taking a beating from the rain. I saw no people, but even discounting the rain I doubted anyone came here. This was a great Plan B, once I realized the rain had made backpacking impossible it had gotten me exploring another new place.

The buttes and tables on the South Unit would make great targets for day hikes, just pick one and go. But this remains my only hike to date in the South Unit. My later trips from Lead would focus on off trail hiking around the Badlands Wall, and later on checking the park trails to produce, and then update, my Black Hills and Badlands hiking guide. A best first option for most people looking to explore the South Unit would be the 2.5 mile trip up to the Sheep Mountain Table from SD 589/Tribal 27, four miles south of Scenic. To repeat this hike, remember that there are several “Cedar Buttes” in the area, and this is the one just two miles west of the White River Visitor Center.