Located in southwestern South Dakota, Badlands National Park consists of nearly 244,000 acres of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires, blended with the largest protected mixed-grass prairie in the United States. The 64,000 acres of designated official wilderness are a reintroduction site for the black-footed ferret, the most endangered land mammal in North America. The Stronghold Unit of the park, co-managed with the Ogallala Sioux Tribe, includes sites of 1890's Ghost Dances.

The more than 11,000 years of human history here pale in comparison to the eons-old paleontological resources. Badlands National Park contains the world's richest Oligocene epoch fossil beds, dating from 23 to 35 million years old. The evolution of mammal species such as the horse, sheep, rhinoceros, and pig are studied in the Badlands formations.

• North Unit -
• Palmer Creek Unit -
• Stronghold Unit -

• Stroll the Cliff Shelf Nature Trail (.5 mile) or the Fossil Exhibit Trail (.25 mile) in the company of a ranger naturalist.
• Hike out along one of the longer trails and spend a night in the Badlands backcountry.
• Go for a scenic 10-mile round-trip drive (unpaved road!) to the Roberts Prairie Dog Town, the largest easily-accessed prairie dog town in the park.