Badlands

Teddy Roosevelt once said of the Badlands, "There is no place in the world like it." And he wasn't wrong. The Badlands is a place of unparalleled beauty, drawing visitors from all over the world. Its geologic deposits contain some of the richest fossil beds in the world, giving us a glimpse into the past when ancient horses and rhinos roamed here. Today, the park's 244,000 acres protect an expanse of mixed-grass prairie, home to bison, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, and black-footed ferrets. The Badlands gets its name from the Lakota people, who called it that because of its rugged terrain and lack of water.