Intriguing and beautiful. Adventure-filled and eerie. Badlands National Park, located in South Dakota, presents a landscape and visuals that can seem other-worldly. The layered rock landscape can look different not only from season to season, but from hour to hour. They tell the story of an area that was once an ancient seabed but is now a semi-arid grassland.

Established as a national park in 1978, the park is home to a variety of plains and grassland animals, including bison, prairie dogs, coyotes and bighorn sheep. Summer is the best time to visit and its close proximity to Wind Cave National Park allows you to visit both relatively easily.