Badlands National Park (redirected from Badlands National Monument)

Badlands National Park: see under badlands.

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Badlands National Park

Parks Directory of the United States / US National Parks / National Parks

Address: 25216 Ben Reifel Rd
PO Box 6
Interior, SD 57750
Phone: 605-433-5361;
Fax: 605-433-5404;
Web: www.nps.gov/badl/
Size: 242,756 acres.
Established: Authorized as Badlands National Monument on March 4, 1929; redesignated on November 10, 1978.
Location: In southwestern South Dakota. From eastbound I-90, take Exit 110 near the community of Wall and go south 7 miles to the Pinnacles entrance of the park. From westbound I-90, take Exit 131 and go south 11 miles to the Northeast entrance to the park. From Hwy 44, travel north to town of Interior, and then take Hwy 377 for 2 miles to the Interior entrance to the park.
Facilities: Lodge (open mid-April - mid-October), campgrounds, picnic area, restaurant, 2 visitor centers (é), museum/exhibit, self-guided tour/trail (é). Entrance fee required.
Activities: Camping, hiking, bicycling, interpetive programs and field trips, wildlife viewing.
Special Features: Carved by erosion, this scenic landscape contains the world's richest Oligocene epoch fossil beds, dating 37-28 million years old. This land of sharply eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires, also includes the largest, protected mixed grass prairie in the United States which supports bison, bighorn sheep, deer, and antelope. The Sage Creek Wilderness is the site of the reintroduction of the black-footed ferret, and the Stronghold Unit is co-managed with the Oglala Sioux Tribe and includes the sites of 1890's Ghost Dances.

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See other parks in South Dakota.