Badlands National Park

One of my favorite family road trips during our homeschooling days was driving across the northern states to South Dakota. There were so many special places we stopped along the way, but none left a stronger impression on us than Badlands National Park.

The landscape almost did not seem real the first time we saw it. Layer after layer of eroded rock formations stretched across the horizon in shades of red, gold, gray and purple. Deep ravines, jagged cliffs, rolling prairie grass, and endless skies created a landscape unlike anywhere else we had traveled.  

Early travelers and settlers called this area “mako sica”, a Lakota phrase translated as “bad lands”, because the rugged terrain, extreme heat, sudden storms, and lack of water made crossing it difficult. What looks breathtaking from a scenic overlook today was once considered a nearly impossible country to travel through.  

The Badlands preserve history in layers. The rock formation holds fossils from animals that lived over 30 million years ago: ancient rhinos, horses, and saber-toothed creatures buried beneath the surface. Scientists still uncover fossils here today, making it one of the richest fossil beds in the world. Here, an entire prehistoric world is hidden beneath our feet.

The Badlands became a national monument in 1939 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was later redesignated as a national park in 1978. Today it protects one of the richest fossil beds in the world with the dramatic and unforgettable landscape.