$625
Embark into the ruggedness of South Dakota with us as we visit TWO National Parks in one week! We’ll homebase in Custer State Park, where we’ll hike and explore South Dakota’s park system’s crowning jewel before traveling to Wind Cave National Park, home of one of the world’s longest cave systems. Park rangers will guide us through a tour of the cave system’s most awe-inspiring formations and features (the tour is upright and lit, no spleunking involved). We’ll stop at the Mammoth Research Site to see a live mammoth colony excavation before going to Badlands National Park for two days & nights where towering spires and dramatic canyons paint a mesmerizing prairie landscape.
Trip Schedule
Thursday: Wanderers travel to and arrive at Custer State Park and settle in to camp.
Friday: Hike and tour Custer State Park, the premiere state park in South Dakota. See bison, prairie dogs, and amazing prairie and cliff landscapes!
Saturday: Travel to Wind Cave National Park for an in-cave ranger led tour (about 1.5 hours). The tour will take us into the cave as we see the unique rock formations built over millions of years. The tour will be lit and on walkways, but can be tricky for folks who struggle with footing. After our tour, we’ll make our way back to Custer, stopping at the Mammoth Research Site to watch the excavation of a mammoth colony while learning about the massive beasts that used to roam the Badlands.
Sunday: We’ll hit the road and head to Badlands National Park, where we’ll be camping for 2 nights. We’ll explore the trails and watch sunset as the setting sun paints a beautiful light show onto the badlands rocks.
Monday: More exploration at Badlands National Park. We’ll catch an evening ranger program about the night sky.
Tuesday: Participants head home
Trip Details
Adventure Rating: Beginner/Intermediate
Main activities: Hiking, paddling
Camping Details: We’ll be camping at both Custer State Park and Badlands National Park at tent sites with access to pit toilets. Showerhouse and flush toilets provided elsewhere in the campgrounds.
About Wind Cave National Park
Wind Cave National Park is home to one of the world’s longest and most complex caves, and the first cave designated as a national park. The park lures visitors with mixed-grass prairie and wildlife. The cave is well known for its outstanding display of boxwork, an unusual cave formation composed of thin calcite fins resembling honeycombs. The park's mixed-grass prairie is one of the few remaining and is home to native wildlife such as bison, elk, pronghorn, mule deer, coyotes, and prairie dogs. Source: National Park Foundation
About Badlands National Park
The Badlands provide some of the most mysterious sights to see in the national park system, from fossil beds to spired rocks formations. Located on the edge of our country’s Great Plains in southwestern South Dakota, Badlands National Park consists of 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires blended with the largest, protected mixed-grass prairie in the United States.
Badlands National Park contains one of the world’s richest fossil beds, permitting scientists to study the evolution of mammal species such as the horse, rhino and saber-toothed cat. From tiny shrews to 2,000-pound bison, the Badlands is home to many species of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds and butterflies. Source: National Park Foundation
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Wander Women trips are designed to be restorative and relaxing, full of connection and knowledge building. Days are filled with activities ranging from skill-building workshops (like fire building or plant identification), hammock reading and card playing, to group hikes, impromptu yoga sessions and creek stomping. Nights are spent around the campfire sharing in storytelling, often digging deep into ourselves and our place in nature.
Please know that to us, there’s no right way to wander. We ask that you come as you are — you don’t need to have the gear, the knowledge or anyone else with you to make this trip great. We grant participants and ourselves the right to be imperfect or nervous, and encourage a “challenge by choice” mentality — letting you decide when you’ll step outside your comfort zone, knowing it’s often rewarding when you do. By the end of the weekend, we want you to feel confident in newfound skills, your place in the outdoors and your part in this community. That’s what these trips are all about!
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Each Wander Women trip has an Adventure Rating attached to the trip to give Wanderers a better idea of the activity level and physical requirements of the trip. These ratings are based on general Wanderer ability. If you have specific questions about a trip’s difficulty or specific accessibility questions, please reach out to us at hello@wanderwomenmidwest.com!
Beginner: This trip is designed for the low-key adventurer. Hikes will be taken at a leisurely pace and include small elevation changes on easy to navigate trails (wide, free of roots and other obstacles). Plenty of down-time built into this trip for participants to relax and create time for themselves. No prior outdoor skills required.
Moderate: This trip is designed for the adventurer looking for a jam-packed weekend or in-depth, hands-on skill building. Hikes will be longer (6+ miles) and taken at a moderate pace. There may be other recreation activities (paddling, paddleboarding, fishing, etc.) that are beginner-friendly but require moderate physical strain. There will still be plenty of down-time built in for participants to relax and create time for themselves, but there may be optional additional adventures offered. No prior outdoor skills required, unless otherwise noted.
Challenging: Participants are expected to hike, backpack or paddle long mileage days, often with weight on their backs or in their boats. Terrain will be challenging and have elevation changes or tricky parts to navigate. Previous hiking and paddling experience is strongly recommended.
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Your trip fee includes:
Delicious meals cooked for you all weekend
Campsite and/or cabin reservations (note: most out-of-Iowa trips will require car tags or park fees — you’ll be made aware when you’ll be responsible for those)
Guided, hands-on outdoor skills instruction and facilitation from our expert guides
A Wander Women swag bundle with goodies for you to enjoy during and after the trip
Communal gear, like camp chairs, cooking equipment, guide books, activity boxes, and more
Membership in our private Facebook group and exclusive access to Wander Women day hikes, educational opportunities, and other special events
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We are once again offering gear rental this year! We know that buying camping gear on your own can be very expensive and cost-prohibitive, so we’re excited to offer affordable gear rental while maintaining the highest standards for comfort and durability.
Choose between shared tent (Wanderers who opt to share a tent will sleep in a spacious 4-or-6 person tent with one other participant during their trip), solo tent or backpacking gear.
Note: All participants signed up for backpacking trips will have their own tent.
Gear Rental: What’s Included
Frontcountry trips: Tent (solo or shared), sleeping bag, sleeping bag liner, sleeping pad and/or cot, tent lantern, camp chair, dining mess kit
Backpacking trips: Backpack, tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, backpacking stove, utensil kit, water bottles, trekking poles
*At this time, we do not have the ability to rent gear a la carte. If you have a backpacking tent but no other gear, you will still need to rent the full gear package.
HOW IT WORKS
During sign up, select your gear rental choice as an add-on to registration right in the trip page. Super easy!
Gear Rental (Solo Tent): $40
Gear Rental (Shared Tent): $35
Gear Rental (Backpacking): $45
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We want our trips to be accessible to all Wanderers. If you’re not able to afford the full trip fee now, WeTravel (our booking platform) easily lets you make a downpayment (this is also your non-refundable trip deposit!) and pay in installments throughout the year! There is NO fee for choosing the payment plan option!
All participants are subject to the Wander Women Trip Cancellation Policy.