Badlands National Park

Badlands National Park was originally established as a national monunent in 1939 and it was redesignated a national park in 1978. The park protects some 982.4 km² (379.3 sq mi) of sharply eroded buttes and pinnacles, as well as large areas of mixed grass prairie.

The highest point in the park is Red Shirt Table, which sits at an elevation of 1,020 m (3,340 ft). The Ben Reifel Visitor Center was built in 1957-1958.

The southern part of the park overlaps with the Pine Ridge Indian Reserve. At the end of the 19th century, the area was used by the Sioux Indians to perform their Ghost Dance, a ceremony to revive the souls of buffalo and the dead.

The black-footed ferret, which is one of the most endangered mammals in the world, was reintroduced to the wild in the Badlands National Park.

The park is located in the southwest of South Dakota, some 170 km southwest from Pierre and about 2,200 km northwest from Washington D.C.

Hotels in Badlands National Park

Images

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