Baddest of the badlands Nov 10, 2020

Baddest of the badlands

Heading west on Interstate 90, peek out the driver"s side when you"re about three-quarters of the way across South Dakota. It"s the first clue you"ve entered the Wild West: the expansive, layered landscape of Badlands National Park. It"s enjoyed government protection since 1939, first as a national monument and more completely after it was upgraded to national park status on this day in 1978. The park protects 244,000 acres of dramatically eroded bedrock replete with fossil beds—as well as the nation"s largest mixed-grass prairie, hosting bison, prairie dogs, and endangered black-footed ferrets.

© Dennis Frates/Alamy

palette

Today in History

Nov 10, 2018The Badlands celebrates a milestone
Nov 10, 2019Sunny day, sweepin the clouds away
Nov 10, 2021Cumberland Island National Seashore
Nov 10, 2022Badlands National Park turns 44
Nov 10, 2023Badlands National Parks 45th anniversary
Nov 10, 2024Caribbean flamingos, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico
Nov 10, 202547 years of Badlands National Park

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Jul 18, 2021Grand finish of Le Tour
Aug 9, 2020A peek at an explosive peak
Mar 14, 2022Pi Day
May 13, 2023World Migratory Bird Day
Jul 7, 2022Heceta Head Light, Florence, Oregon
Apr 22, 2019Meet our fuzzy Earth Day mascot
Aug 4, 2025Great gray owls in their nest, Finland
Sep 25, 2022World Rivers Day
Jun 23, 2020Flowers by the sea
Feb 7, 2025Blue hour in Trondheim, Norway
Sep 17, 2018Gateway to America
Jun 10, 2021A Portuguese fort takes a star turn
May 22, 2019The artists come to Venice
Jun 6, 2025Arromanches-les-Bains for the 81st anniversary of D-Day
Jan 22, 2026Karlovy Vary, Bohemia, Czechia
Aug 9, 2024International Day of the Worlds Indigenous Peoples
Aug 24, 2021Surf s always up in Paia
May 15, 2021Happy Astronomy Day!
Dec 29, 2019Helloooooo, Innsbruck
Jul 10, 2023A field of English lavender
Feb 21, 2020Carnival comes to Olinda
Oct 20, 2024International Sloth Day
Sep 3, 2020Tall, taller, tallest
May 31, 2021Here we honor the women who ve served
Nov 26, 2023Fallow deer, Bradgate Park, Leicestershire, England
Mar 18, 2021A sizzling summit hides in the clouds
May 20, 2022World Bee Day
Jul 22, 2025Badlands National Park in South Dakota
Jan 31, 2019A bohemian feline
May 10, 2026Happy Mothers Day!