National Parks › Great Plains & Midwest › Badlands

Badlands National Park

South Dakota · Established November 10, 1978

Striped spires, fossil beds and bison on the edge of the Great Plains

Area: 242,756 acres
Established: November 10, 1978
Recreation visits: 1,139,361 / yr
State: South Dakota
Highest point: Red Shirt Table, often cited as the highest ground
Area: 242,756 acres (982.4 sq km)

Badlands Weather Forecast

Loading the National Weather Service forecast for Badlands…

Seven-day outlook at the park's reference point (43.686, -102.483). Elevation changes everything in the mountains — expect colder, windier and wetter conditions on high ground.

Map of Badlands National Park

The Park

In southwestern South Dakota the rolling grassland suddenly breaks apart into a maze of banded buttes, knife-edged ridges and bare, crumbling spires. Badlands National Park protects both halves of that surprise: one of the most spectacular eroded landscapes in North America and a broad sweep of mixed-grass prairie above and around it.

The walls of the Badlands hold one of the world's richest records of mammal life from the Eocene and Oligocene, roughly 37 to 23 million years ago. Authorized as a national monument in 1929, it became a national park on November 10, 1978, and today covers about 242,756 acres (982.4 sq km), including a South Unit managed in partnership with the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Around 1.1 million visits a year come to a place of extremes: blistering summers, violent thunderstorms and bitter winter winds.

Geography

The park stretches along the Badlands Wall, a long escarpment that separates an upper prairie table from the lower valley of the White River. Along the Badlands Loop Road near Cedar Pass, the wall rises in pale, pinnacled cliffs; to the west it opens onto the Sage Creek basin, a quieter country of grassland, prairie dog towns and wilderness.

South of the North Unit, the Stronghold District on the Pine Ridge Reservation holds high, grassy tables such as Sheep Mountain Table and Red Shirt Table, cut by steep badland breaks. Red Shirt Table is cited as the park's highest point.

The White River and its tributaries, including Sage Creek, drain the park eastward toward the Missouri River, carrying so much eroded sediment that the water often runs the color of milky coffee.

Landmarks

Cedar PassAreaA gap in the Badlands Wall near the Ben Reifel Visitor Center and the park lodge.
Door TrailAreaA short route through an opening in the Badlands Wall into a sea of eroded formations.
Window TrailAreaA natural opening in the wall framing an eroded canyon beyond.
Big Badlands OverlookAreaA sunrise viewpoint at the park's northeast entrance looking out over the wall.
Fossil Exhibit TrailAreaA boardwalk with fossil replicas of the Oligocene animals found in these rocks.
The CastleAreaA prominent eroded butte along the Castle Trail, the longest maintained trail in the park.
Panorama PointAreaA sweeping overlook of layered spires and the grasslands below the wall.
White River Valley OverlookValleyA view south across badland breaks toward the White River valley.
Yellow Mounds OverlookAreaRounded yellow and purple hills formed from an ancient soil on top of the Pierre Shale.
Conata Basin OverlookValleyA view over the grassy Conata Basin, prime habitat for black-footed ferret recovery.
Pinnacles OverlookAreaA high point on the loop road with a panorama of jagged pinnacles.
Roberts Prairie Dog TownAreaA sprawling black-tailed prairie dog colony along the Sage Creek Rim Road.
Sage Creek Basin OverlookValleyA view over the Badlands Wilderness, where bison graze open prairie.
Sheep Mountain TablePlateauA flat-topped grassland mesa in the South Unit with dramatic views of surrounding breaks.
Red Shirt Table OverlookPlateauA remote viewpoint on the high table cited as the park's highest ground.

Geology

The oldest rocks in Badlands formed about 75 million years ago beneath the Western Interior Seaway, a shallow sea that split North America in two. Dark mud settled on its floor and hardened into the Pierre Shale, which still holds the remains of ammonites and marine reptiles such as mosasaurs.

As the Rocky Mountains rose to the west, the seaway drained away. The exposed sea floor weathered into soils, and one of those ancient soils is preserved as the Yellow Mounds, bright yellow hills capping the Pierre Shale. Then, beginning in the late Eocene, rivers flowing out of the rising Black Hills and Rockies spread sand, silt and clay across a broad floodplain. Volcanic eruptions far to the west added layers of fine ash. These deposits, laid down between roughly 37 and 23 million years ago, make up the White River Group: the Chamberlain Pass and Chadron formations at the base, the Brule Formation in the middle and the ash-rich Sharps Formation on top.

The floodplains teemed with life. Ancestral horses, rhinoceroses, camels, saber-toothed cats and the enormous, elephant-sized titanotheres lived and died here, and their bones were buried in river muds. More than 250 fossil vertebrate species have been identified in the park.

Deposition ended in the early Miocene. In the geologically recent past, as the land rose and the Cheyenne and White rivers cut downward, erosion began attacking the soft layers. Because the rocks are poorly cemented, rain and snowmelt carve them rapidly, sculpting the buttes and spires into shapes that change noticeably within a human lifetime, while exposing fresh fossils with every storm.

Deep time

About 75 million years agoMuds settle on the floor of the Western Interior Seaway, forming the Pierre Shale.
By about 65 million years agoThe seaway has drained, leaving the sea floor exposed as dry land.
Paleocene to EoceneWeathering of the exposed shale creates ancient soils preserved today as the Yellow Mounds.
About 37 million years agoRivers begin depositing the Chamberlain Pass and Chadron formations, the base of the White River Group.
OligoceneFloodplain muds, sands and volcanic ash of the Brule Formation bury the bones of abundant early mammals.
Latest OligoceneThe Sharps Formation, rich in volcanic ash, caps the sequence on the park's highest tables.
Geologically recent pastDowncutting by the White and Cheyenne rivers begins rapidly eroding the soft layers into badlands.

The rocks

Pierre ShaleLate Cretaceous
Dark gray marine shale with fossils of ammonites and mosasaurs, the park's oldest exposed rock.
Yellow Mounds paleosolLatest Cretaceous to Paleogene
An ancient soil formed on the Pierre Shale, weathered into vivid yellow hills.
Chamberlain Pass FormationLate Eocene
Stream sands and gravels at the base of the White River Group.
Chadron FormationLate Eocene
Gray-green clays that weather into rounded, haystack-like mounds.
Brule FormationOligocene
Banded red and tan siltstones and mudstones forming most spires, and the richest fossil source.
Rockyford AshOligocene
A pale volcanic ash bed marking the base of the Sharps Formation.
Sharps FormationLatest Oligocene
Ash-rich siltstones and sandstones capping the highest peaks and tables.

Trees, Plants & Ecosystems

446vascular plant species recorded

Mixed-grass prairieUpland tables and basins across most of the park
A blend of tall and short grasses such as western wheatgrass, little bluestem and blue grama, grazed by bison and pronghorn.
Badland breaksButtes, spires and eroded walls
Nearly bare slopes where only scattered hardy plants take hold, but where cliff swallows, rock wrens and bighorn sheep find refuge.
Prairie dog townsLevel grasslands such as Sage Creek and Conata Basin
Colonies of black-tailed prairie dogs support burrowing owls, badgers, raptors and the endangered black-footed ferret.
Juniper draws and woody ravinesShaded north-facing slopes and gullies
Rocky Mountain juniper, chokecherry and buffaloberry cluster where moisture collects.
Riparian corridorsWhite River, Sage Creek and seasonal streams
Cottonwoods, ash and boxelder line the few watercourses, offering shade and nesting sites.

Trees

Rocky Mountain juniperJuniperus scopulorumThe most characteristic tree of the park, growing in sheltered draws below the wall.
Plains cottonwoodPopulus deltoidesGrows along the White River and creeks where roots reach water.
Green ashFraxinus pennsylvanicaA hardy hardwood of stream banks and moist ravines.
BoxelderAcer negundoA fast-growing maple found in riparian thickets.
American elmUlmus americanaScattered along drainages on the park's edges.
ChokecherryPrunus virginianaA shrub or small tree of woody draws whose dark fruit feeds birds and bears of old.
Silver buffaloberryShepherdia argenteaA thorny, silvery shrub-tree with tart red berries, typical of prairie ravines.

Wildflowers, shrubs & other plants

Western wheatgrassPascopyrum smithiiThe most common grass in the park and South Dakota's state grass.
Little bluestemSchizachyrium scopariumA bunchgrass that turns coppery red in autumn.
Blue gramaBouteloua gracilisA short grass with eyebrow-shaped seed heads, a staple of bison.
BuffalograssBouteloua dactyloidesA low, sod-forming grass that tolerates heavy grazing and drought.
Needle-and-threadHesperostipa comataA grass with long, twisting awns that drill its seeds into the soil.
Green needlegrassNassella viridulaA cool-season bunchgrass of moist upland prairie.
Silver sagebrushArtemisia canaAn aromatic shrub of floodplains and swales.
Soapweed yuccaYucca glaucaA spiky plains yucca that sends up tall stalks of creamy bells in early summer.
Plains pricklypearOpuntia polyacanthaA low cactus with showy yellow flowers on dry, eroded slopes.
Blacksamson echinaceaEchinacea angustifoliaA purple coneflower of the prairie, long used as a medicinal plant.
Prairie coneflowerRatibida columniferaA drooping yellow or red-brown flower nicknamed Mexican hat.
Dotted gayfeatherLiatris punctataPurple spikes that bloom in late summer across dry grasslands.
Scarlet globemallowSphaeralcea coccineaA low orange wildflower common on disturbed and sparse ground.
Sego lilyCalochortus nuttalliiA graceful white mariposa lily of dry prairie in early summer.

Wildlife

37mammals
206birds
6reptiles
5amphibians
15fish

Mammals

American bisonBison bisonReintroduced to the park and now roaming the Sage Creek area and surrounding wilderness.
Bighorn sheepOvis canadensisOften seen on steep slopes near Pinnacles Overlook and the loop road.
PronghornAntilocapra americanaThe fastest land mammal in North America, grazing open grassland.
Black-footed ferretMustela nigripesOne of North America's most endangered mammals, reintroduced to prairie dog colonies in the region.
Black-tailed prairie dogCynomys ludovicianusA keystone species whose towns create habitat for dozens of other animals.
Swift foxVulpes veloxA small, fast prairie fox returned to the park through reintroduction.
Mule deerOdocoileus hemionusBrowses in draws and along the badland edges.
White-tailed deerOdocoileus virginianusMore common near river bottoms and wooded areas.
CoyoteCanis latransA common predator of the prairie and breaks.
American badgerTaxidea taxusA powerful digger that hunts prairie dogs and ground squirrels.
BobcatLynx rufusHunts the rugged, brushy breaks, rarely seen.
North American porcupineErethizon dorsatumSurprisingly at home in juniper draws on the prairie edge.
Desert cottontailSylvilagus auduboniiA common rabbit of brushy draws and grassland edges.
Least chipmunkTamias minimusA small, striped rodent of rocky and shrubby areas.

Birds

Burrowing owlAthene cuniculariaNests in abandoned prairie dog burrows and bobs from mound tops.
Golden eagleAquila chrysaetosHunts prairie dogs and rabbits over open country.
Ferruginous hawkButeo regalisThe largest North American buteo, a specialist of grasslands.
Prairie falconFalco mexicanusNests on badland cliffs and strikes prey at low altitude.
Western meadowlarkSturnella neglectaIts bubbling song is the voice of the summer prairie.
Horned larkEremophila alpestrisA ground bird of short grass and bare soil, present year-round.
Black-billed magpiePica hudsoniaA long-tailed, iridescent corvid common around the draws.
Sharp-tailed grouseTympanuchus phasianellusMales dance on communal leks in spring.
Rock wrenSalpinctes obsoletusProbes crevices in the eroded walls.
Cliff swallowPetrochelidon pyrrhonotaBuilds gourd-shaped mud nests in colonies on overhanging walls.
Lark buntingCalamospiza melanocorysMales in black with white wing patches sing in fluttering display flights.
Loggerhead shrikeLanius ludovicianusA predatory songbird that impales prey on thorns and barbed wire.
Lark sparrowChondestes grammacusA boldly patterned sparrow of open, grassy slopes.
Turkey vultureCathartes auraRides thermals rising off the heated badlands in summer.

Reptiles & amphibians

Prairie rattlesnakeCrotalus viridisThe park's only venomous snake; watch where you step and reach.
BullsnakePituophis cateniferA large, harmless constrictor that hunts prairie dogs and mice.
Western plains hognose snakeHeterodon nasicusPlays dead dramatically when threatened.
Eastern racerColuber constrictorA fast, slender snake of grasslands.
Plains garter snakeThamnophis radixFound near water and damp grassy areas.
Painted turtleChrysemys pictaLives in stock ponds and slow backwaters.
Plains spadefootSpea bombifronsEmerges after heavy rains to breed in temporary pools.
Great Plains toadBufo cognatusA large, patterned toad with a loud, trilling call after storms.

Fish

Channel catfishIctalurus punctatusA whiskered bottom feeder of the muddy White River.
Flathead chubPlatygobio gracilisA native minnow adapted to turbid prairie rivers.
Sturgeon chubMacrhybopsis gelidaA rare native minnow of silty, fast-flowing plains rivers.
StonecatNoturus flavusA small native catfish that hides among stones in the current.

Insects & other invertebrates

Painted ladyVanessa carduiA wide-ranging migratory butterfly that visits prairie flowers.
ViceroyLimenitis archippusAn orange butterfly that mimics the monarch, found near willows along streams.
Mourning cloakNymphalis antiopaA dark, cream-edged butterfly often among the first seen in spring.
Edwards' fritillarySpeyeria edwardsiiA large orange fritillary of western grasslands.

Species totals are the park's certified NPSpecies checklist (occurrence: present).

Climate & When to Visit

Badlands has a harsh continental climate at the heart of the northern Great Plains, far from any moderating ocean. Temperatures have ranged from about 116 F in summer to minus 40 F in winter, and conditions can swing wildly within a single day.

Summers are hot and mostly dry, but afternoon thunderstorms can erupt with sudden violence, bringing lightning, damaging winds, hail and occasionally tornadoes. Winters are cold and windy, with about 12 to 24 inches of total snowfall and dangerous wind chills. Spring and autumn are short, changeable transition seasons, and the bare clay soils turn to slick, sticky gumbo after any rain.

Spring
Unsettled and windy, with late snowstorms possible into April, greening prairie by May, and the first severe thunderstorms.
Summer
Hot and sunny, often above 90 F and occasionally far hotter; afternoon storms may bring hail, lightning and flash flooding.
Autumn
Often the most pleasant season, with warm days, cool nights, golden grasses and active wildlife, though early cold snaps can arrive.
Winter
Cold and wind-scoured, with light to moderate snow, subzero nights and a stark, quiet beauty along the wall.

Weather hazards

Severe thunderstorms: Summer storms can bring large hail, lightning and damaging winds with little warning; there is no shelter on the open prairie, so seek a vehicle or building.
Extreme heat: Exposed badlands reflect heat and offer almost no shade; carry water and avoid hiking during midday in summer.
Tornadoes: Occasional tornadoes accompany spring and summer storms; know where to shelter if warnings are issued.
Slick gumbo clay: After rain the bentonite-rich soils become extremely slippery and can make unpaved roads like Sage Creek Rim Road impassable.
Blizzards and wind chill: Winter winds and blowing snow can reduce visibility and create dangerous cold; check conditions before traveling.

Badlands Questions

When is the best time to visit Badlands National Park?

Late spring and early autumn bring the most comfortable temperatures, active wildlife and softer light on the formations. Summer is busiest and can be very hot with afternoon storms, while winter is quiet, cold and windy.

What is the weather like in the Badlands?

Expect extremes: summer highs often top 90 F with violent thunderstorms, and winter can drop well below zero with strong winds. Temperatures in the park have ranged from about 116 F to minus 40 F.

How did the Badlands form?

Layers of sediment and volcanic ash were deposited by rivers between roughly 37 and 23 million years ago on top of older marine shale. In the geologically recent past, rivers began cutting down through these soft rocks, and rain and runoff have been rapidly carving them into buttes and spires ever since.

Where can I see bison and bighorn sheep in Badlands?

Bison are most often seen in the Sage Creek area along the Sage Creek Rim Road. Bighorn sheep frequently appear on the slopes near Pinnacles Overlook, and prairie dogs, pronghorn and burrowing owls live around Roberts Prairie Dog Town.

Are there fossils in Badlands National Park?

Yes. The park holds one of the world's richest fossil beds of Eocene and Oligocene mammals, including ancestral horses, rhinos and saber-toothed cats. Collecting is prohibited, but you can see replicas on the Fossil Exhibit Trail and report any fossils you find to rangers.

Is Badlands National Park worth visiting in winter?

It can be, for travelers prepared for cold and wind. The loop road is usually open, crowds are gone, and snow outlining the striped formations is striking, but storms can close roads quickly.

More parks in the Great Plains & Midwest

← Arches National Park Big Bend National Park →

Sources: www.nps.gov · www.nps.gov · www.nps.gov · irmaservices.nps.gov · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · Official NPS site