The name “badlands” comes from early European explorers and Indigenous peoples describing these areas as difficult to cross and unsuitable for farming. French explorers called areas like this “les mauvaises terres à traverser,” which translates to “bad lands to travel across.” The Lakota people called the area “Makȟóšiča” (prounounced “Mako Sica”) which translates to “bad land” or “land bad.”
The Badlands are made up of layers of sediments recording tens of millions of years of Earth’s history. The oldest layers formed when a shallow sea covered the region during the late age of the dinosaurs, about 75 million years ago. As the environment changed, rivers, floodplains, and volcanic eruptions added layers of clay, silt, sandstone, shale, and ash. Over millions of years, these sediments hardened into relatively soft rock, creating a giant “layer cake” where each layer marks a different period of Earth’s history.
For hundreds of thousands of years, rain, wind, snow, and cycles of freezing and thawing carved these rocks into the steep cliffs, ridges, and gullies that define the Badlands today. Erosion continues to expose the minerals and colors locked inside the ancient sediments, creating a landscape that continues to be sculpted by nature.
While in the Badlands, we spotted the first Bison of the trip.
We traveled through Badlands National Park to our campground just outside of the park limits.
Our stay at Sobo’s Ranch offered a peaceful retreat during our time exploring the Badlands.
Overlooking the prairies and the Badlands, the site offered beautiful sunrise and sunset views. We think it will be hard to top this campsite.
The boys took to rock hunting here like they were sea glass hunting back home.
Scenic, South Dakota is a small town not far outside of Badlands National Park. The downtown is now deserted, but we couldn’t resist a few pictures in the hopes of capturing what once was.
Not all the land was “badlands!”
Next stop: Black Hills, South Dakota including Mount Rushmore and Jewel Cave!