Badlands National Parks 45th anniversary Nov 10, 2023

Badlands National Parks 45th anniversary

The strange stripes in our homepage image reveal tiers of fossil beds in Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Beneath the multicolored surface lies the land"s history, including the remains of ancient horses, camels, tigers, and rhinos. The barren landscape, dotted with pinnacles and prairies, was formed by two geological processes: deposition, where the layered rocks were gradually stacked up on top of each other by inland seas, winds, and rivers over millions of years, and erosion, which began about 500,000 years ago. The Red Shirt Table, at 3,340 feet, is the highest point in the park, which was established on this day in 1978. It protects 379 square miles of rocky buttes, pinnacles, and prairies. This inhospitable terrain was called "Mako Sica," or "land bad" by the Oglala Lakota people, who have lived here for hundreds of years. Still thirsty for knowledge? Visit the national park"s museum collection. There are over 360,000 objects that have a lot more to reveal!

© Grant Ordelheide/Tandem Stills + Motion

palette

Today in History

Nov 10, 2018The Badlands celebrates a milestone
Nov 10, 2019Sunny day, sweepin the clouds away
Nov 10, 2020Baddest of the badlands
Nov 10, 2021Cumberland Island National Seashore
Nov 10, 2022Badlands National Park turns 44
Nov 10, 2024Caribbean flamingos, Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico
Nov 10, 202547 years of Badlands National Park

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Mar 10, 2019In praise of the pipes
Jul 7, 2022Heceta Head Light, Florence, Oregon
Jun 20, 2025Summer solstice
May 21, 2018Is that a face in the sand?
Sep 6, 2019The old guard at Old San Juan
Jul 6, 2023International Kissing Day
Oct 18, 2019Fall color sweeps across the West
Jun 3, 2020For the love of bikes
Mar 4, 2020A different kind of dive
Apr 12, 2020Who created the Easter Bunny?
Jan 14, 2024Whooper swans in Lake Kussharo, Japan
May 28, 2021Freeloaders of the avian world
Mar 17, 2020It s a good day to be green
Oct 24, 202075 years of the United Nations
Aug 31, 2020At the shore of an inland sea
Feb 19, 2026Dragons Eye, Uttakleiv Beach, Norway
Dec 3, 2020A Carpathian Christmas celebration
Mar 13, 2024Lake Magadi, Kenya
Mar 4, 2025Happy Fat Tuesday!
Jan 31, 2020Dance of the egret
Sep 27, 2018High seas commerce
Mar 3, 2024World Wildlife Day
May 13, 2018Happy Mother’s Day
Oct 19, 2023Mekong River Delta, Long An, Vietnam
Sep 30, 2020All eyes on moths
Jul 20, 2018Composite of photographs from the Apollo 15 mission
Apr 25, 2025World Penguin Day
May 30, 2019A day to celebrate the sun
Apr 29, 2024Fujian Tulou, China
Aug 17, 2019The buzz about bees