Family vacation last week saw us return to South Dakota for the first time in a number of years and gave us the opportunity to add another national park to our tally.
Rising out of the western South Dakota prairie, Badlands National Park is certainly something to behold. The incredible geology of these rock formations begs to be explored and viewed and was well worth the few days we spent there.
The Lakota called the area “mako sica” which translates literally to “bad lands.” French trappers in turn derived their name for the area, “les mauvaises terres a traveser” (‘bad lands to travel across’), from the Native Americans. In comparison to the lush grasslands that surround it, those descriptions do seem fitting given the hot, dry conditions and a distinct lack of water sources.
