Toadstool. We just have to know, and they have a campground right there. Located in Harrison, Nebraska, in the Oglala National Grasslands down a 10-mile dusty dirt road. OMG! The coach, motorcycle and Jeep are white with dust.
The Toadstool campground is very small, only six campsites and only one that can accommodate a rig of our size. There is one other motorhome and the rest are tent campers.
For such a small park, in a very out of the way location, it is well maintained. With no hook ups available we have the freedom to park the RV pointing away from the center of the campground and out towards the wilderness.
Soon after we arrive John is ready to go exploring. There are many walking trails all around the mounds. We are starting with the interpretive trail. The campground is surrounded by fencing to keep the cows out, and thank goodness too. Who wants to accidentally step in a patty on their way to the toilet in the middle of the night?
When these rocks formed this area was a river. The river brought volcanic debris and, layer by layer, formed the rocks that we see today. Over time rain and wind have eroded the soft clay and exposed the harder sandstone. In these rocks you can see the layers clearly.
The rocks in the back ground of this picture show how rain water run off has carved grooves in the mound. I wonder if at some point this big rock was a toadstool?
Lots of prehistoric animal lived and died here. Bones of miniature horses, humpless camels, gigantic tortoises, pigs, rhinoceroses and numerous fossilized tracks have been found in this small area. I think this big rock formation looks like a baby triceratops, without the horns obviously.
These are certainly interesting rock formations. You can see how the wind and water flow over the years have shaped these rocks, eroding them about one inch per year.
I love little cutouts and mini caves like this one, but where are the toadstools?
So far this is looking like just ordinary badlands that we’ve seen in other locations.
Okay, now we’re starting to see features that we haven’t seen in other badland areas. These rock formation have been severely eroded by water and wind. I feel like we’re on the moon or some alien planet.
Gosh this is just unreal. It’s like a mini landscape. The darker bands are the sandstone. It is the lighter colored rock that is the soft clay. You can get an idea of what the big mound will look like, eventually, by looking at the rocks below.
Well, what do you know? A square hole in the rock. I haven’t seen any square rocks around. Weird.
When we took the tour of Antelope Canyon in Page, Arizona our Native American guide spent time pointing out rock formation that resembled animals and faces, I’m always on the look out. Here is one. What creature’s face do you see?
Toadstools! Toadstools! Looky, looky! I kind of get it. In the 1800s when travelers first came across this area of Nebraska that is what they called these formations and the name stuck.
Since this was a watering hole for prehistoric animals there are many fossilized footprints. I saw what I thought might be a print or two but nothing exciting. If we had climbed up this big hill scrambling over rocks an stuff—there is a 1/4 mile area covered with tracks. Yeah, not into rock scrambling today.
At the other end of the campground is a what looks like a little cabin with a sod roof. Upon closer inspections, even the walls are sod. Interesting.
This is a replica of what the houses looked like in the early 1900s. John, don’t get any ideas. I like the house we live in now.
Prairie sod was harvested in strips and then stacked like you were building a traditional brick house. Well, without a lot of trees on the plains you did what you needed to do.
What I want to know is where did they get the wood? Maybe they took their wagons a part? How did they heat the houses in the winter? Cooking? I have questions people! Guess I’ll have to do my own research on pioneer living on the Nebraska grasslands. I haven’t seen any museums near by.
Awe, there’s even a little flower garden welcoming you in. Okay, okay, it’s just a weed to some people or a wildflower, I know, but isn’t it pretty?
Spacious. Maybe they cooked outside? Yeah, I’m guessing they had to disassemble the wagons and use the wood from them as support beams.
At first I thought there were wood beams mixed in with the sod, but no, it is just sod that makes up the walls. It also looks like there are patches made from the clay, or maybe there were gaps that needed filled in some spots.
Nice view out the window. Completely socially distance. Ugh. I’m so sick of hearing those words.
