Essential Guide Resources for Discovering Badlands National Park in South Dakota

Eroded buttes and mixed grass prairie in southwestern South Dakota

Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park occupies a unique position among American protected areas, combining extraordinary geological and paleontological significance with deep Native American cultural heritage. The park's landscape developed over approximately 33 million years of geological time, as ancient seas, rivers, and volcanic activity deposited layers of sediment that have since been dramatically eroded by wind and water to create the distinctive buttes and spires visible today. The White River Badlands have attracted scientific attention since the 1840s, when fossil collectors first recognized the area's remarkable paleontological potential. Today, the park contains fossils representing dozens of species of ancient mammals, including early horses, camels, rhinoceroses, and titanotheres. The mixed grass prairie surrounding the badlands formations represents the largest remaining example of this ecosystem type in the United States, supporting diverse wildlife including bison, bighorn sheep, pronghorn, and endangered species such as the black-footed ferret and whooping crane.