Badlands National Park in South Dakota Jul 22, 2025

Badlands National Park in South Dakota

As the sun sets over Badlands National Park, the landscape transforms into a stunning display of color. The national park, located in southwestern South Dakota, features a dramatic terrain of eroded buttes, pinnacles, and spires carved by millennia of wind and water. Spanning over 379 square miles, the park is divided into three main units: the North Unit, home to the visitor center and scenic Badlands Loop Road; and the Stronghold and Palmer Creek units. The park"s dramatic terrain is the result of sedimentary rock layers eroding at a rate of about one inch per year, revealing colorful bands of volcanic ash, silt, and clay. These formations are not only visually striking but also rich in fossils, including remains from the Oligocene Epoch (about 33.9 to 23 million years ago), such as ancient horses, camels, and saber-toothed cats.

© Petr Bednarik/Danita Delimont/Alamy

palette

Today in History

Jul 22, 2018Travel Sunday: On the Ganges in Varanasi, India
Jul 22, 2019Let’s go mothing
Jul 22, 2020Wildebeest on the move
Jul 22, 2021Singing praises of the oceans
Jul 22, 2022Our Lady of the Rocks
Jul 22, 2023National Hammock Day
Jul 22, 2026Coral Reef Awareness Week

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Dec 14, 2020I see one!
Oct 25, 2025Martimoaapa Mire Reserve, Finland
Mar 24, 2025African bush elephants in Namibia
Feb 24, 2025Group of giant cuttlefish, Whyalla, South Australia
Mar 22, 2022World Water Day
Jun 5, 2020By the light of the fireflies
Apr 26, 2021Cheese! We ll go somewhere where there s cheese!
Mar 26, 2019The forecast calls for blooms
Sep 11, 2018Inside the Oculus
Feb 9, 2022Ceremony Hall at Sweden s Icehotel
Oct 21, 2019The Guggenheim turns 60
May 31, 2025Knuthöjdsmossen, a nature reserve in Sweden
May 15, 2025Palace of Westminster, London, England
Sep 1, 2025Labor Day parade in 1915 Chicago
Dec 6, 2025Celebrating 78 years of Everglades National Park
Dec 8, 2018How lovely are your branches
Feb 19, 2023Humpback whales in Maui, Hawaii
Feb 9, 2019A tale of almonds and bees
Nov 19, 2021Zion National Park, Utah
Feb 19, 2026Dragons Eye, Uttakleiv Beach, Norway
Oct 29, 2022Sea Slug Day
Oct 9, 2022Earth Science Week
Apr 16, 2019The birth of Bauhaus
May 24, 2026European Day of Parks
Apr 8, 2020Santorini through the clouds
Apr 7, 2020Once in a pink moon
Jan 17, 2024Bavarian Forest National Park, Germany
Sep 6, 2019The old guard at Old San Juan
Nov 3, 2019It s time to fall back
Apr 30, 2022International Jazz Day