• Introduction
• 1. Arches
• 2. Badlands
• 3. Big Bend
• 4. Biscayne
• 5. Cape Breton Highlands
• 6. Congaree
• 7. Grand Canyon North Rim
• 8. Gwaii Haanas
• 9. Hawaii Volcanoes
• 10. Sequoia & Kings Canyon

Badlands

Situated in southwestern South Dakota, the Badlands National Park marries mixed-grass prairies with pinnacles, spires, canyons, and otherworldly buttes of varied colors and shapes to create a lunar-worthy landscape. The product of millions of years of erosion and deposits, this geological anomaly is loaded with rockfaces laced with rose, green, and golden rock layers rich in ancient fossils and home to roaming wildlife like bighorn sheep, bison, coyote, rabbits, and prairie dogs. Named after the Sioux’s original name for the place – mako sika or "land bad” – for the difficulty they had in crossing it, modern-day visitors will be relieved to know that a nicely paved road now connects the nine scenic overlooks, trailheads, and visitor’s center.

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