Badlands National Park in South Dakota captures the eroded beauty of the South Dakota plains. The badlands are at their least impressive in the harsh overhead summer sun when most visitors come to Badlands National Park. The prairie thunderstorms that roll through the Great Plains give the bluffs an amazing palette of changing colors. At sunset or sunrise, the subtle gradations reveal themselves, and the animals emerge from hiding.
Many drive through the Badlands as a brief detour off of I-90, in between the Wall Drug store and Mount Rushmore. Unlike other parks, there aren't a lot of developed trails in the Badlands, but all of the park is open for cross-country foot travel. There is also a south unit of the national park that is not as developed or visited.
