Sunset in Badlands National Park, South Dakota Jun 13, 2026

Sunset in Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Layered ridges stretch across Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Their bands of pink, gray, and gold shift with the light as eroded peaks and valleys come into view. Wind and water continue to shape this terrain, steadily wearing away soft sedimentary rock and exposing millions of years of Earth"s history in layers formed by ancient rivers, volcanic ash, and periods when shallow seas covered the region.

© Troy Harrison/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Jun 13, 2019A unique elephant encounter in Nantes
Jun 13, 2020A gorge-ous mill in the Causses
Jun 13, 2021Bear watching in the Finnish forest
Jun 13, 2022Okavango Delta, Botswana
Jun 13, 2023Okefenokee Swamp
Jun 13, 2024Registan Square, Samarkand, Uzbekistan
Jun 13, 2025Vila Franca Islet, São Miguel Island, Azores, Portugal

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Sep 25, 2019Chilling out in the Arctic
Jun 28, 2025Pride 2025
May 21, 2020A visionary artist paints his own garden view
Feb 22, 2025Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri
Oct 6, 2021A valley view at 9,000 feet
Apr 15, 2026World Art Day
Nov 26, 2019Staring down winter
Apr 12, 2023Earth seen from the International Space Station
Nov 4, 2018And they’re off!
Sep 18, 2019Celebrating Chile’s Independence Day
Nov 22, 2020Birds of the Drömling
Oct 21, 2020Does this chameleon look a little insecure?
May 30, 2024Everglades National Park marks 90 years
Feb 2, 2022Groundhog Day
Jul 20, 2019Bringing the moon to Earth
Oct 14, 2026National Fossil Day
Oct 12, 2025Village of Saranac Lake, New York
Jul 20, 2021Fly me to the moon
Jun 3, 2023National Trails Day
Sep 21, 2026Sea Otter Awareness Week
Apr 21, 2024National Park Week continues
Jan 15, 2025Anniversary of the British Museum
Sep 7, 2019Cloudy with a chance of enlightenment
Oct 8, 2021An uncommonly cool critter
Apr 13, 2020Floating temples in the Land of Smiles
Feb 11, 2024Folegandros Island, Cyclades, Greece
Jan 3, 2019How do ladybugs winter?
Nov 23, 20191, 1, 2, 3: It s Fibonacci Day!
Jan 4, 2024Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California
May 22, 2019The artists come to Venice