Les mauvaises terres a traverser - The Badlands

"Whatever your feelings about the Badlands, you will not come away unaffected."
-NPS Badlands Brochure

The Badlands seem desolate, but are teaming with life. There are over 60 species of grass, hundreds of species of wildflowers, and animals like the prairie dog, black-footed ferret, bison, deer, and more! The park contains 240,000 acres and is surrounded by the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands to the north, and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to the south.


There are three park units, two of which are in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. We spent our time in the North Unit - 64,000 acres of astonishing emptiness.


Our days were spent traveling the Badlands Loop Road, the Sage Creek Rim Road, and hiking various trails throughout the park. We hiked the Cliff Shelf, Notch, Window, and Door trails. We also searched for the Cubby Hole, Pantry, Door Knob, and Window Pane trails, but didn't see them. Haha - Badlands joke!

The "ladder" on the Notch Trail.

The Badlands experience constant erosion by the winds and rains, and this erosion produces numerous shapes. We saw curves and sharp edges, smooth surfaces, and beaded streams.

Richie saw these from the overlook and thought of boobs!

We were most fascinated by the colorful layers throughout the park and the variety of textures. There were black and gray layers, yellows and reds, crumbling, chalk-like shards, and hard, solid rock. Within these layers are the highest concentration of fossils in the world.


You could see one stripe on a peak aligned with the same stripe on a peak 400 yards away. How can that be? What happend to the 400 yards between each peak? And knowing that each stripe, each layer, holds a story of the time within its clay and dirt, is incredible to think about. Not to mention the millions of years between each layer!



The very top layer, known as Sharps Formation, was deposited 28-30 million years ago - - The Top Layer! And the black layer at the wee bottom, the Pierre Shale, was deposited between 60 and 75 million years ago.


These mounds reminded me of painted Easter eggs. Where do the red and yellow colors come from, you ask? Sediment flowed throughout the shallow sea (once covering the Great Plains). As the water receded, the sediment developed into a black mud called Pierre Shale. When the mounds of the Black Hills began pushing through the sea, causing water drainage, the newly exposed shale turned yellow. With the growth and decaying of the forests, the new sediment turned into red soil. The park labels the mounds Yellow Mounds Paleosol and the Interior Paleosol.

The bunny rabbit admiring our tent, and patiently awaiting a bite to eat.
These little guys were everywhere!