Badlands

South Dakota park

The Badlands is a region of dramatically eroded buttes and pinnacles in southwestern South Dakota, now largely protected as Badlands National Park.

The stark, layered formations are rich in fossils and draw visitors for their otherworldly beauty: We stopped at the Badlands on our way to Mount Rushmore. (Lowercase badlands describes any similar terrain.)

place

South Dakota

Northern plains state

national parkProtected land for conservation
Mount RushmoreCarved presidential memorial
fossil bedsRock layers containing preserved organisms

prairie · grassland · Great Plains · Pine Ridge · scenic byway · visitor center

landscape

buttes

Isolated flat-topped hills

pinnaclesHighest or culminating points
spiresTapering architectural towers
erodedGradually degraded by elements

dramatic · otherworldly · stark beauty · scenic · rugged

biome

prairie

Open grassy flatland

grasslandTreeless herb-covered ecosystem
shrublandBush-dominated vegetation zone
sagebrushAromatic arid-land shrub

shortgrass · sparse vegetation · juniper · yucca · prickly pear · wildlife corridor · bison · bighorn sheep

wilderness

remote

Distant or controller

isolatedSeparated from others
wildNot domesticated or controlled
untamedNot domesticated

primitive · backcountry · roadless · frontier · hiking · adventure

Badlands

South Dakota

buttes

prairie

remote

Badlands

Opposites

Phrases

Categories

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