Sage Creek Campground

As we drove west from Blue Earth, it started to rain steadily. And the forecast was for more rain on the next day. When it rains in the Badlands, the ground turns into a soft, sticky gumbo, known for trapping vehicles, trailers and shoes.

Plan A was to camp along Nomad’s View near Wall, South Dakota. I camped there several years ago. It’s free, and the view of the Badlands is beautiful. But the wet gumbo there is treacherous after periods of rain. So we went with Plan B. Sage Creek campground is also free and within the Badlands National Park.  It’s accessible to tents, truck campers and very small trailers after about a ten mile drive on winding, gravel roads. There was gumbo here also, but it was flat and more gravel.  To get to Nomad’s View, there is a steep, deeply rutted dirt road to climb.

Sage Creek Campground

Tenters camp on the inside of the circle. Outside the circle is a bit of a free-for-all for tents and small trailers. The photo above was taken from one of the high bluffs behind the campground, where I found, paradoxically, solitude and four bars of internet. 

We stayed here four nights. As the weekend approached, it became more and more crowded, until we eventually had to leave. Unlike most dispersed camping, people packed in tight, vehicles sometimes passing less than a foot from my doorstep in order to squeeze past our tenting neighbor, an older, disabled Asian gentleman from Chicago.

What is the draw for camping here?  I’m sure some people come simply because it’s free and on the way to Yellowstone. But for us and most others, it was the chance to camp with the wild bison found here.

These guys were just a few feet from the front of our camper. Now let’s get things straight.  Nearly all of our close viewing was done from inside the Scamp. At least a dozen of the animals came through every day.  

On the other hand, we saw quite a few people who seemed to think that these wild bison were in the same class as dairy cows.

And I didn’t get photos of the most amazing interactions. One of the tenters was loading his car trunk when a bison leaned into the open rear passenger door. Another time, a dog on a long rope broke its tether and began running after the closest bison. The bison’s tail went straight up ( a sign of agitation), and it squared off against the dog.  I honestly thought the dog was going to get killed.  But the bison did not charge, and the dog’s owner got it back to the vehicle.

There were parts of Sage Creek that I absolutely loved. The trails in the surrounding bluffs were amazing. The chance to see bison close-up on their turf was a privilege. In the end, I was defeated by the encroachment of crowds of people and associated human behavior. We eventually headed over to Nomad’s View, which had finally dried out. If I ever return to Sage Creek, it will be off-season and mid-week.

There are no bison at Nomad’s View, but there is more free space and quite a view.

Ho, ho ho

 

Green Giant

During the last week of May, we moved Justin into the summer dorms at UW Whitewater. He will be taking chemistry this summer. Good luck, Justin.

We were on our way west. Our first stop was Blue Earth, Minnesota, where we stayed at the county fairgrounds’ campground. 

Blue Earth is famous for, you guessed it, the Jolly Green Giant and little sprouts too. 

But the real reason for stopping in Blue Earth was to see our friends, Brent and Michele. We had a quick dinner at a local Mexican restaurant and then spent time at their home catching up.

It was a great start to our trip. Next stop: South Dakota. There will be dispersed.camping. Julia is excited, kinda, sorta.

Muscatine, Iowa

We have grown to love the little towns of Iowa along the Mississippi River. Muscatine quickly became our favorite. 

This is the town that Mark Twain worked as a young newspaper reporter. 

We camped at another Corps of Engineers campground just north of town.

We spent one day hiking all of the trails at nearby Wildcat Den State Park. No entry fees.

And, of course, there was time for a brewpub. Muscatine has a really good one: Contrary Brewing.

That concludes our Midwest trip through Illinois and Iowa during early May. Our next trip in late May headed weat.

 

Rend Lake, Illinois

Our next stop in early May was at another Corps of Engineers campground at Rend Lake near Benton, Illinois. 

We needed to reserve a spot for the weekend, and things were already getting crowded on the first weekend in May. I made the reservation two weeks in advance, and our site was far from prime. To get level, I needed all of my leveling blocks for the rear of the trailer. 

There was a lengthy bike/hike paved trail on the property. We took full advantage and walked at least five miles every day of our stay. After the weekend, the campground emptied out enough to score a lakeside site. 

Julia kayaked several times on the lake.

We visited two brewpubs in the area. The first was called  The Hop Brewery in Christopher, Illinois. The town was in bad economic shape.  The brewery was newer and the highlight of the town.

Julia had a Hefeweizen that she thought was ok. I had something called a white stout that I didn’t like much at all. I thought it would be light colored but full bodied, but it was more like a stout on a diet.

We also went to St Nicholas Brewery in Du Quoin, Illinois. The beer here was much better.

We spent four days at Rend Lake before heading across the river to Mark Twain country in Iowa. 

Bo Wood Campground

Our next stop south in Illinois was a Corps of Engineers Campground on Lake Shelbyville. 

COE campgrounds are interesting to me. We are usually the smallest rig in these campgrounds. Bathrooms are exceptionally clean.  Campsites all had concrete pads, 50 amp electrical service, identical fire rings, and a hooked pole for hanging trash. It was almost like the place was run by the military. Wait, it was run by the U.S Army. 

For my friends who enjoy boondocking, this represented the other end of the camping continuum. There wasn’t much hiking here so we enjoyed the lake views, sampled Illinois Amish country, and had some great stuffed pizza at a jaw-dropping low price.

The Stag beer in my hand, a second Stag, two large glasses of wine for Julia, the pizza and generous tip were less than thirty dollars. The pizzeria, Rosariti’s, near Sullivan, shared space with a gas station. Five stars—if ambiance is excluded from the rating. 

Stag was originally a local brew to Illinois. It is now owned by Pabst and has a similar flavor profile—best served very cold.

Scamping at Starved Rock State Park

I've lived in Wisconsin for over fifty years now.  During that time, I've been trained/conditioned to belittle the flatlanders who live to our south in the State of Illinois. Every summer weekend, a long procession of folks from Illinois drive up to Wisconsin for outdoor recreation.  The idea of someone from the Badger state heading south to Illinois for outdoor recreation just seems upside down. 

Nevertheless, one day in the early spring, I was reading a magazine article about Starved Rock State Park, and the photos were amazing.  In fact, the scenery reminded me of things I'm used to seeing around here at Devil's Lake, the Wisconsin Dells, and Gibraltar Rock.  

Starved Rock is just south of Interstate 80 and only about an hour from the southwest edge of the Chicago metropolitan area.  That means less than three hours from my house in Wisconsin.  So as tourists from Illinois headed up to the Dells in late April, Julia and I headed south into Illinois on a Monday morning.  

In April, you could make camping reservations at Illinois State Parks three days in advance of camping.  I could tell that there were going to be open campsites.  When we arrived, there was a helpful map at the campground entrance detailing which sites were available for the next 1 or 2 days.  We made a list of likely spots and quickly found one to our liking.  

The day was still young, so we were off to the trails.  The first thing we noticed is that this is a very heavily utilized park--even on a weekday afternoon in April.  Many families, young children and dogs were on the trail.  Thankfully, all of the other dogs were leashed. That makes all of the difference in the world where my dog Callie is concerned.  She still doesn't like other dogs, but the situation is at least safe and controllable.  If she is overly aggressive, I just scoop her up into my arms and walk by the other party.  She doesn't like it, but she puts up with it. 

The further that we hiked away from the main parking lots and lodge, the fewer people we saw.  That was okay because we were here to see nature.  And there was a lot to see.

 

We stayed two days and nights  There was plenty of time to relax at the campsite.

And in town.  We spent a pleasant late afternoon at the Lone Buffalo brewpub in Ottawa, Illinois.

With such great natural beauty and good beer, we wondered why we had not previously ventured into northern Illinois for camping.  We decided to press our luck and continued south.