South Dakota Travel Guide

Badlands National Park

Explore South Dakota's Badlands National Park

Just miles east of Mt. Rushmore to discover and explore the Beautiful Rushmore Cave or trek into South Dakota's Badlands. Badlands National Park consists of 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles and spires. Over 11,000 years of human history can be found within the sod layers while 30-65 million-year-old fossils erode out of the rocks. Known locally to the Lakota Sioux as "mako sica" the area was first called "badlands" by early French trappers due to the difficulty of travel and the lack of water.

Badlands National Park contains rich Oligocene epoch fossil beds, dating from 23 to 35 million years ago. The rock layers hold the fossilized remains of early mammals such as three-toed horses, housecat sized deer, rhinoceros, saber-toothed cats, camels, and giant pigs. When visiting South Dakota's Badlands there are several sites to see, including:

• See paleontology in action at the "Pig Dig" as park staff and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology students work during the summer. Visitors to the Conata Picnic Area can watch paleontologists removing 33 million year-old fossils that were trapped in an ancient watering hole.
• Enjoy spectacular scenery, opportunities for wildlife viewing, wayside exhibits, and trails along Badlands Loop Road.
• Take a backcountry hike in the Badlands Wilderness to explore the prairie and rock formations. Badlands National Park presents you with a chance to look back into history. If you are looking for wide open, unspoiled places to hike and camp, the Park may be just for you.

Did you Know? - Established as Badlands National Monument in 1939, the area was re-designated a "National Park" in 1978. Here's some more Trivia to share on your trip:

• The Badlands Wilderness Area includes 2 management units and covers 64,000acres in the northern portion of the park.
• The 133,000-acre South Unit of the park is located within Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and managed in cooperation with the Oglala Sioux Tribe.
• Badlands National Park has two International Sister Parks: Vashlovani National Park in the country of Georgia and Hortobagy National Park in Hungary.

With such diverse heritage and outdoor experience to enjoy it’s no wonder so many travelers head to South Dakota.

By Rick Chapo

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Plan Your Trip

Learn more about planning your trip to South Dakota 

To plan your visit to Badlands National Park visit www.nps.gov/badl/.

To discover all the nation's National Park and plan your visit go their www.nps.gov.

 Discover more about Mount Rushmore at the Borglum Historical Center by calling 1-800-888-4369 or visiting http://www.rushmoreborglum.com. And, to visit South Dakota's Beautiful Rushmore Cave call 1-866-697-3511 or visit http://beautifulrushmorecave.com/tour1.html.

To learn more about planning your next vacation getaway visit the South Dakota Travel Bureau at http://www.travelsd.com. 

Social Networks - 

• FaceBook -  South Dakota Tourism - http://www.facebook.com/southdakotatourism
• Twitter  - South Dakota Tourism - http://twitter.com/travelsd
• YouTube - South Dakota Tourism - http://www.youtube.com/user/SouthDakotaTourism

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About The Author

Learn more about Rick Chapo

Guest Contributors - Thank you to our Guest Contributors Contributors, like Rick Chapo, who share a wide variety of topics of interest, and subjects. Rick Chapo is a writer for Nomad Journals, which is a maker of outdoor writing journals. Visit www.NomadJournalTrips.com to read more of his work.

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