Photo by: Jacob Lips
The Badlands National Park is a 242,756-acre of buttes, pinnacles and mixed-grass prairie in South Dakota. The landforms contain one of the richest fossil beds in the world. It also contains the largest undisturbed prairie in the U.S. The natural beauty here is so striking that it had been featured in the movies “Dances with Wolves” and “Thunderheart.”
The Badlands was visited by over a million people in 2018.
History
The Badlands were the hunting grounds for Native Americans, 11,000 years ago. They camped in secluded valleys with rich food sources. The Lakota tribe became responsible for giving the area its name, as they referred to it as “mako sica,” which translates to “land bad,” because of the extreme temperatures coupled with lack of water and rugged terrain.
But by the 19th century, the U.S. government forced the Native Americans to live on reservations. But some tribes fought back as their leader, Wovoka, said he had a vision that government bullets will not kill them if they do the Ghost Dance and wear Ghost shirts.
Paleontological history credits the Lakota tribe, for finding large fossilized bones and fossilized seashells and turtle shells in the area, which prove that the place was once submerged in water. Considered as rich in historical, cultural, paleontological value along with natural resources, the area became a national monument on Jan. 29, 1939. It officially became the Badlands National Park on Nov. 10, 1978.
Photo by: Jacob Lips
Things to do
Drive around the Badlands Loop Road
From afar, the Badlands are majestic. Through the Badlands Loop Road, the view is even more grandiose as visitors get to see the entire vista. The road is a 32-mile circuit that passes by the most popular views of the park.
Sightseeing at the Wall
The Badlands Wall, or simply the Wall, is one of the most popular sites in the park. It is a hundred miles of rugged cliffs with a lot of hiking trails.
Walking the Fossil Exhibit Trail
This is like hiking through a museum. Since the Badlands is rich in fossils, the park created this trail for hikers to see exhibitions of fossil replicas while on their trek. The fossils on display represent the former residents of the rugged cliffs.
Search for prairie dogs
The landscape at the Badlands is great, but so is the wildlife. One particularly interesting thing to do that no other national park offer, is the chance to watch prairie dogs running around. These residents of the park are commonly spotted at the Roberts Prairie Dog Town. This area was a former residential place that has been turned into a series of tunnels, making it easier for visitors to spot the prairie dogs.
Wildlife watching
The prairie dogs are just the most fun to look for, but there are other animals in the area, and some of them could be spotted at different parts of this enormous park. Some of the animals living at the Badlands are badgers, bighorn sheep, bison, black-billed magpies, bobcats, coyotes, elks, mule deer, pronghorns, prairie rattlesnakes, porcupines, swift foxes, and white-tailed deer. Black-footed ferrets are endangered, but the U.S. government is trying to revive their population. Part of the process is releasing them to the wild, and the Badlands was one of the wilderness areas picked, for these ferrets.
Watch paleontologists at work
The Fossil Preparation Lab or Paleontology Lab at the Ben Reifel Visitor Center is open most days, for visitors to get a glimpse of how scientific discoveries are made.
Stargazing
Because it is a huge tract of buttes and pinnacles, there aren't any artificial lights set up in most areas of the Badlands. The lack of pollution also makes the area the perfect place for stargazing. During summer, the park has the Night Sky Program where rangers help visitors find constellations, using the telescopes provided by the park.
See the Yellow Mounds
One thing about the Badlands is that the landscape has natural textures and colors. The Yellow Mounds, as the name suggests, provides the perfect bright hue. The Yellow Mounds is made up of one of the oldest rock layers at the park.
Climb the Saddle Pass
It might be challenging to go up these rugged buttes but, reaching the top means having the best view of the White River Valley.
Camping
The sunsets and sunrises at Badlands are just breathtaking. To experience them fully, visitors could camp at the park’s campgrounds. There are bountiful flowers and wildlife on any of the two camping grounds in the park: Cedar Pass Campground and Sage Creek Campground.
Photo by: Jacob Lips