Across the Missouri River
Historic Bridge Across the Missouri River Chamberlain, SD
Across the Missouri River at Chamerlain South Dakota
Railroad bridge at Chamerlain, SD
The Missouri River divides Western South Dakota from Eastern South Dakota. It was a serious barrier until the state decided to build several bridges across the river starting in the 1920s. This bridge at Chamerlain is the only one of the original bridges left. The others were replaced Corps of Engineers' projects made them unusable. A full story of the bridges can be found Oral History Project. An interesting railroad bridge is also here at Chamerlain.
Plains of South Dakota
Countryside near Missouri River
Plains of South Dakota
West of the Missouri River
The landscape on the near the Missouri river is quite hilly. This is in sharp contrast to the flat plains before you reach the river and the flat plains after you cross the river. It doesn't take long after you cross the river to get back into the flat plains.
Western South Dakota Plains before Badlands
There is a beauty to the plains. They are not as spectacular as the mountains or the sea coast, but they are beautiful. The interplay of clouds, light,and land changes by the minute. When we were then in September, the ground cover had a strong red hue.
As we got closer to the Badlands National Park, we began to see the multilayers of erosion that typify the badlands. Cattle grazing made it look like something out of the old west.
Storm coming
Approaching the badlands